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Turkish Press Review, 97-12-23
From: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>
CONTENTS
[01] YILMAZ: "US FIRMS HAVE REDISCOVERED TURKEY"
[02] SPY ROW BETWEEN TURKEY AND GREECE
[03] SATISFACTORY LEGISLATION ON PREVENTION OF MONEY LAUNDERING
[04] MASSACRE ON ISTANBUL-EDIRNE HIGHWAY
[05] KARADAYI: "WE ARE DETERMINED TO DEFEND SECULARISM"
[06] NSC MEETING
[07] COUNTDOWN FOR TURKEY-US-ISRAEL MANEUVRES
[08] NEW TURKISH AMBASSADOR IN ATHENS
[09] IMF DELEGATION TO TURKEY IN JANUARY
[10] ZIRAAT BANK OFFICE IN BULGARIA
TURKISH PRESS REVIEW
DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION,OFFICE OF PRIME MINISTER
23.12.97
Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning
[01] YILMAZ: "US FIRMS HAVE REDISCOVERED TURKEY"
Summarizing both his meeting with former President George Bush in
particular, and his four-day visit to Washington, in general, Turkish
Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz said the top two issues of his visit had
been the big interest US firms had shown in doing business in Turkey's
interests with senior administration officials.
"We had a very nice meeting with Mr.Bush", Yilmaz said. "I informed
him about the meetings I had in Washington. I also shared with him
what our expectations were regarding our relationship with the United
States, as well as the European Union (EU). He said he was not a US
president anymore. But he would do all he could because he was a
friend of Turkey. 'In the energy area, I have also some connections.
I have some contacts in the Congress as well, as in the the Republican
Party', for example, Bush said", Yilmaz told the Turkish press.
Yilmaz said that they also discussed Iraq with Bush during their
closed-to-the-press meeting. "We discussed Iraq's future. Bush told
me he was a hard-liner in that regard. 'I don't believe adopting a
soft approach will yield any results. The more pressure put on
Saddam, the easier it will be to get some results', Bush said. He
also thinks that the EU has committed a very big mistake", and Yilmaz,
echoing what Mr.Bush himself said earlier to the Turkish press. /All
papers/
[02] SPY ROW BETWEEN TURKEY AND GREECE
Greek Ambassador to Ankara Dimitrios Nezeretis met yesterday with
Foreign Minister Deputy Undersecretary Inal Batu "to convey Athens'
protest" over the latest espionage row between Turkey and Greece which
has so far cost Greece one of its attaches. Earlier, Ankara confirmed
it has asked the Greek military attache in Istanbul, Efstratios
Haralambous, to leave the country on grounds of engaging in activities
not in line with his official duties, or, as the press reported, for
espionage with the PKK terrorist organization. /All papers/
[03] SATISFACTORY LEGISLATION ON PREVENTION OF MONEY LAUNDERING
Turkey has entered into a better position than many Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member countries in terms
of its current legislation on the prevention of money laundering, the
Anatolia news agency reported yesterday.
According to Anatolia, Turkey is now in a better situation than EU
member countries such as Greece, Austria, Belgium, Finland and
Luxembourg with the new amendments it has carried out on the
legislation on the prevention of money laundering. An international
delegation is expected to visit Turkey next month to make on-the-spot
studies at the computer centre set up to prevent money laundering.
[04] MASSACRE ON ISTANBUL-EDIRNE HIGHWAY
Six people were found shot dead yesterday in a bus on a parking lot on
the Istanbul-Edirne highway. The bus was travelling from the Polish
capital of Warsaw to Istanbul. There are speculations that the people
were involved in money laundering and were carrying money to be
delivered to Sami Hostan, a key figure in the Susurluk corruption
scandal. /All papers/
[05] KARADAYI: "WE ARE DETERMINED TO DEFEND SECULARISM"
In a message released on the 67th anniversary of the murder of
Lieutenant Kubilay by religious extremists in 1930, Chief of the
General Staff, General Ismail Hakki Karadayi, voiced his commitment to
the secular and democratic regime in Turkey. He stressed that the
Turkish Armed Forces were determined to defend secularism. /Sabah/
[06] NSC MEETING
The National Security Council (NSC) will convene for its last meeting
this year. During the meeting that will be chaired by President
Suleyman Demirel, decisions that emerged from the EU Luxembourg
Summit, latest developments in relations with Northern Cyprus and the
fresh Turco-Greek crisis that flared up when a Greek Consulate
official was caught as he was trying to find out secret information
about Turkish military facilities are issues high on the agenda of the
meeting. A recent sweeping-up operation in Northern Iraq against the
PKK terrorist organization will also be discussed in detail.
/Milliyet/
[07] COUNTDOWN FOR TURKEY-US-ISRAEL MANEUVRES
On January 5-9, Turkey, Israel and the US will stage joint military
maneuvres in the Eastern Mediterranean. The "Reliant Mermaid"
maneuvres will include search and rescue training operations.
/Milliyet/
[08] NEW TURKISH AMBASSADOR IN ATHENS
New Turkish Ambassador to Athens Ali Tuygan presented yesterday his
letter of credentials to Greek President Kostis Stefanopoulos.
Tuygan, who was given a warm reception by the Greek President, vowed
to work for improving relations between Turkey and Greece. /Milliyet/
[09] IMF DELEGATION TO TURKEY IN JANUARY
At the end of recent meetings in Washington it was decided that an IMF
delegation will visit Ankara in January for technical discussions. It
was also announced that meetings will be continued between the Turkish
and IMF delegations in February and March. /Hurriyet/
[10] ZIRAAT BANK OFFICE IN BULGARIA
As a result of initiatives taken by the Istanbul Chamber of Trade
(ITO), Turkish Ziraat Bank will open a branch in Bulgaria. Chairman
of the Executive Board of ITO, Mehmet Yildirim said that there were
almost 600 Turkish firms in Bulgaria and these companies needed a
Turkish bank to facilitate their activities. He added that ITO had
been closely following economic developments in Bulgaria which was
taking steps towards a full market economy. /Hurriyet/
END
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