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Turkish Press Review, 98-04-29
From: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>
29.04.98
Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning
CONTENTS
[01] FOREIGN EXCHANGE RESERVES EXCEED $24 BILLION
[02] SEVEN TERRORISTS KILLED
[03] CALL FOR DIALOGUE FROM EUROPE
[04] VISIT OF CONDOLENCE FROM PM YILMAZ
[05] 21 PEOPLE TAKEN INTO CUSTODY
[06] FUEL HIKES POSTPONED FOR TWO MONTHS
[07] GREAT INTEREST IN IS BANK SHARES
[08] IMF: TURKEY'S CREDIBILITY IS IMPROVING
[09] ECEVIT CRITICIZES THE WEST
[10] ASSOCIATION COUNCIL MEETING WITH EU COULD BE POSTPONED
[11] ITALIAN JOURNALIST RELEASED
[12] PALESTINIANS CRITICIZE TURKEY
[13] CYPRUS CONFERENCE ON THE HORIZON
[14] US FILM ABOUT ATATURK
[15] "NEW ATLANTIC INITIATIVE CONGRESS" IN ISTANBUL
[16] HAKKARI SUMMIT
[17] TURKEY URGES CONTACT GROUP TO ACT ON KOSOVO
[18] YILMAZ-VERGAU MEETING
[19] ITALY CALLS ON GREEK CYPRUS TO RECOGNIZE DENKTAS AS HEAD OF STATE
[20] TURKISH BUSINESSMEN'S COUNCIL MEETING IN IZMIR
[21] GREECE SAYS IT WILL CONTINUE TO VETO EU AID TO TURKEY
[22] TRIAL WATER BALOON ON WAY TO TRNC
[23] OLAF PALME MURDER CLAIMS UNDER INVESTIGATION
[24] TURKISH-GREEK WOMEN WORK ON TRUST-BUILDING
[01] FOREIGN EXCHANGE RESERVES EXCEED $24 BILLION
Central Bank foreign exchange reserves increased by $2 billion over
the last 10 days, reaching $24.2 billion. Replying to questions from
journalists following a meeting of the General Council yesterday, Head
of the Central Bank Gazi Ercel said that $1 billion of this increase had
come from the GSM licence transfers of Telsim and Turkcell, two mobile
telephone companies, on April 27. /Sabah/
[02] SEVEN TERRORISTS KILLED
During current operations being carried out in Mus, Bingol,
Diyarbakir and Bitlis, seven members of the PKK terrorist organization
have been killed, two terrorists have been wounded and one captured
alive. The number of terrorists killed in this region during the last
few days has reached 41. /Sabah/
[03] CALL FOR DIALOGUE FROM EUROPE
A report on Turkey taken up by the European Parliament yesterday
calls for political dialogue. The report, prepared by British
conservative parliamentarian Edward McMillan-Scott, said that Customs
Union was a step towards Turkey's full EU membership, and called on
Ankara to establish political dialogue which has been suspended for a
while with the EU. The report also noted that current agreements
between Turkey and the EU, including financial cooperation, should be
fully implemented and that efforts should be exerted for the
normalization of relations. /Sabah/
[04] VISIT OF CONDOLENCE FROM PM YILMAZ
Turkish Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz went to the Greek Embassy in
Ankara yesterday and signed the book of condolences opened for former
Greek President Konstantin Karamanlis, who passed away on April 23.
Later, Yilmaz met with Greek Ambassador Dimitris Nezeritis for 20
minutes. Following the meeting, Yilmaz noted that he had extended his
condolences to Nezeritis over the death of Karamanlis. /Sabah/
[05] 21 PEOPLE TAKEN INTO CUSTODY
During operations against organizations preparing for illegal May 1
activities, 21 members of the illegal DHKP-C organization have been
taken into custody. /Hurriyet/
[06] FUEL HIKES POSTPONED FOR TWO MONTHS
The High Planning Council headed by Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz
convened yesterday and decided that automatic fuel price implementations
envisaged to be applied on May 1 would be postponed for two months.
Following the meeting, Finance Minister Zekeriya Temizel made a
statement and said that this decision had been taken because of certain
conditions creating unfair competition in the market. /Hurriyet/
[07] GREAT INTEREST IN IS BANK SHARES
Foreign investors in New York are showing great interest in Is Bank
shares. Within the framework of privatization, 12.3 % of Is Bank's
shares have been put on sale. Head of the Prime Ministry Privatization
Administration Ugur Bayar, who went to New York to promote the shares,
said that they were very pleased with the interest they were receiving
in New York. /Hurriyet/
[08] IMF: TURKEY'S CREDIBILITY IS IMPROVING
Martin Hardy, Head of the Turkish Desk in the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) and his accompanying delegation visited the Turkish
Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association (TUSIAD) yesterday.
Martin Hardy noted that there was development in the private sector and
in the Turkish economy and that Turkey's credibility was improving.
Pointing out that they believed that the present Turkish government
would continue with its economic reforms, Hardy said that he would meet
later with officials from the government in Ankara. /Hurriyet/
[09] ECEVIT CRITICIZES THE WEST
Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said in a conference on "Recent
developments in the Cyprus issue and Turkish-Greek relations" in Ankara
yesterday that those who particularly helped to erode relations between
Turkey and Greece were their Western allies. Ecevit noted that
Turkish-Greek relations were going through a period of chronic tension.
/Hurriyet/
[10] ASSOCIATION COUNCIL MEETING WITH EU COULD BE POSTPONED
It is reported that because Greece refused to lift its veto on
financial aid to Turkey during a meeting of the European Council held in
Luxembourg two days ago, a Turkish-EU Association Council meeting
planned to be held on 25 May could be postponed. On the other hand,
while there are no negotiations being held at the political level
between Turkey and the EU, meetings at the technical level are
continuing. Head of the Turkish Desk of the EU Commission, Eric Van Den
Linden, came to Ankara last week and discussed technical details of the
Association Council meeting with Turkish diplomats. /Hurriyet/
[11] ITALIAN JOURNALIST RELEASED
Italian journalist Damiano Giovanni Frisullo, who was taken into
custody because of sharing in demonstrations during recent Nevruz
celebrations in Diyarbakir, was released yesterday. Frisullo, who
displayed a photograph of a female terrorist and shouted slogans, noted
in his defense that he had had no intention of interfering in Turkey's
domestic affairs and added that all he wanted was peace. /Hurriyet/
[12] PALESTINIANS CRITICIZE TURKEY
Palestinian Minister Faysal Huseyni yesterday criticized relations
between Turkey and Israel. Noting that Turkey and Palestine shared a
number of things in common, Huseyni said that developing countries like
Turkey should think more about what the results of stronger ties with
Israel could lead to. "While other countries develop their ties with
Israel, we get pushed more into the background" complained Huseyin.
It is anticipated that in the near future Faysal Huseyni will visit
Ankara to talk about developments in the region. /Cumhuriyet/
[13] CYPRUS CONFERENCE ON THE HORIZON
Reports from Cyprus have taken on a more positive note as plans for
a more "comprehensive" approach to problems there are taken up by US
special representative Richard Holbrooke. Starting from May 2, new
initiatives between the two communities on the island will get started,
leading up to a four-party conference to bring leaders together-
especially Northern Cyprus President Rauf Denktas and Leader of the
Greek Cypriot side Glafkos Klerides. /Cumhuriyet/
[14] US FILM ABOUT ATATURK
In a move to introduce founder of the Turkish Republic, Ataturk, to
the American public, the US Public TV services channel is preparing to
make a film about developments in Turkey at the turn of the century.
The film will be ready to be shown by the end of October this year to
mark Turkey's Republican Day. It is planned that the film will be shown
in a number of countries and throughout the US through at at least 360
TV channels.
Turkey's Net Holding Group and other organizations have a share in
production costs which have been budgeted at 550 thousand dollars.
/Cumhuriyet/
[15] "NEW ATLANTIC INITIATIVE CONGRESS" IN ISTANBUL
The annual meeting of the "New Atlantic Initiative Congress" will
be opened by President Suleyman Demirel in Istanbul on Monday, May 3.
State leaders, academicians and diplomats are going to discuss
international and strategic issues closely related with Turkey such as
"Democracy and Islam", "Turkey's Role in Regional Stability and
Security", "Protection of Peace: Bosnia, Kosovo and Other Places".
US Acting Secretary of State, Strobe Talbott, Israel Trade Minister
Nathan Sharanski, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nadezhda Mihailov, former
US congress member Steven Solarz, US former Ambassador to Ankara Morton
Abramowitz and present Ambassador Mark Paris, and President Head of the
Iraqi National Congress Ahmet Celebi are expected to attend the
three-day meeting in Ciragan Palace, Istanbul. /Cumhuriyet/Milliyet_
[16] HAKKARI SUMMIT
President Suleyman Demirel, Deputy Prime Minister Ismet Sezgin,
Chief of General Staff Ismail Hakki Karadayi and force commanders went
to Hakkari yesterday. Demirel spoke to the public at the 3rd
Gendarmerie Border Brigade in Yesilova. Later he went to Hakkari and
visit the Mountain Commando Brigade and was briefed by the Commander of
the 2nd Army Corps, Rasim Betir. /Milliyet/
[17] TURKEY URGES CONTACT GROUP TO ACT ON KOSOVO
Turkey has urged the Contact Group to act to a well increasing
turbulence in Kosovo, the Foreign Ministry announced, yesterday. The
written statement emphasized "Turkey is monitoring the situation in
Kosovo with concern and is making efforts towards ending the crisis."
Foreign Minister Ismail Cem also urged the members of the group to take
action in a letter addressed to them. Talking to reporters at an
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) meeting in
Paris, Cem said his letter said that he feared that a tragedy similar to
the one in Bosnia could happen again in Kosovo. /Milliyet/
[18] YILMAZ-VERGAU MEETING
Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz received German Ambassador to Ankara
Hans Joachim Vergau yesterday. After the meeting Prime Minister Yilmaz
said that they had discussed bilateral relations which have cool for
sometime, and the membership process of Turkey into the European Union
(EU).
Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz also met with the US Ambassador to
Ankara, Marc Parris yesterday. Yilmaz said after the meeting that they
had exchanged views on the Cyprus issue. /Milliyet/
[19] ITALY CALLS ON GREEK CYPRUS TO RECOGNIZE DENKTAS AS HEAD OF STATE
Following the United States, Italy has now demanded that Greek
Cyprus recognize Turkish Cypriot President Rauf Denktas as "head of
state of the Turkish Cypriot federation." Greek Cypriot government
spokesman Christos Stilianides confirmed that the Italian demand had
been conveyed to Greek Cypriot leader Glafkos Clerides through the
Italian Embassy in Nicosia. /Milliyet/
[20] TURKISH BUSINESSMEN'S COUNCIL MEETING IN IZMIR
The Second World Turkish Businessmen's Congress will be held
between 30 April and 1 May in Izmir with the participation of 1350
Turkish businessmen from 42 countries. The congress is organized by the
Aegean Economy Development Foundation (EGEV) and the Turkish Foreign
Trade Foundation (TDV). General Secretary of EGEV, Sahire Erturan said
that it was expected that together with foreign mission representatives
1,600 businessmen will attend the meeting. /Milliyet/
[21] GREECE SAYS IT WILL CONTINUE TO VETO EU AID TO TURKEY
Greek Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos said that Greece would
continue to veto the release of European Union (EU) financial aid to
Turkey but would "conditionally" accept the conventions of the Turkey-EU
Association Council. EU foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg on 27
April agreed to release 375 million ECU ($ 140 million). Only the Greek
delegation refused to give consent. Speaking at a press conference
later in the day, Pangalos said that Turco-Greek dispute over the Aegean
islet of Kardak should be brought before the International Court of
Justice at the Hague. During Monday's meeting, Greece agreed that
Turkey should be invited to join a Turkey-EU Association Council meeting
in late May, but refused to bend on any move that would persuade the
Turks to take part.
In a related development on Tuesday, Greek government spokesman
Dimitri Reppas said that Greece and Turkey have exchanged protests over
Athen's plans to use EU money to fund sustainable tourist development on
some Aegean islands, the ownership of which, Ankara claims, is
undetermined. /Cumhuriyet/
[22] TRIAL WATER BALOON ON WAY TO TRNC
A giant water-filled baloon left on Tuesday from Antalya to the
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) on a trial journey as part of
Turkey's project to supply the drought-stricken TRNC with drinking
water. The balloon, which holds 10,000 cubic metres of water, will
travel to TRNC shores and then come back without unloading the water.
The balloons carrying the water are supplied by a Norwegian firm.
Speaking at the inauguration of the trial journey, Energy Minister
Cumhur Ersumer said that the project was the first of its kind in the
world. /Sabah/
[23] OLAF PALME MURDER CLAIMS UNDER INVESTIGATION
Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said that authorities were
investigating details in PKK terrorist leader Semdin Sakik's confession
which states that the PKK was responsible for the 1985 assassination of
Swedish Prime Minister Olaf Palme. State Minister Sukru Sina Gurel told
reporters yesterday that authorities had briefed Swedish officials on
the latest claims in the murder case. /Hurriyet/
[24] TURKISH-GREEK WOMEN WORK ON TRUST-BUILDING
Thirty women from Turkey and Greece are expected to meet in Bodrum
and on Cos Island following initiatives by various women's
organizations. A conference will take place on Cos April 30 and May 1
and the Greek and Turkish women, especially academicians, housewives and
journalists, will arrive in Bodrum on May 2 to continue their
discussions. The four-day meeting will end in a press conference on May
3. /Cumhuriyet/
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