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Turkish Press Review, 98-05-12
From: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>
12.05.98
Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning
CONTENTS
[01] TURKEY BLOCKS RUSSIAN PLAN
[02] DEMIREL ADDRESSES ECO MEETING
[03] ANKARA DENIES CHANGE IN S-300 POLICY
[04] WEU MEETING CONTINUES IN RHODES
[05] BEWILDERING WORDS FROM PANGALOS
[06] COOK TO VISIT TURKEY
[07] HARDY: A COMPREHENSIVE PROGRAMME SHOULD BE IMPLEMENTED
[08] AWARD FOR SURMELI
[09] POOR TREATMENT FOR TURKISH AMBASSADOR IN US
[10] EUROPEAN QUALITY CHAMPIONS IN ISTANBUL
[11] HEROIN WORTH OF TL 10 TRILLION SEIZED
[12] 112 PKK TERRORISTS KILLED
[13] RUSSIAN PRESS DISCUSSES RUSSIA'S TRICKS OVER CYPRUS
[14] RECONSTRUCTION OF BOSNIA
[15] STATE MINISTER LEAVES FOR US
[01] TURKEY BLOCKS RUSSIAN PLAN
Turkey prevented yesterday a Russian attempt to change Turkey's
straits policy at the International Maritime Organization's (IMO) Safety
Committee meeting in London. Turkey also promoted the new safety
systems to be used in the Istanbul and Canakkale Straits. Prime
Ministerial Advisor Guven Erkaya, chaired the Turkish delegation at the
meeting and said that Turkey was improving its Vessel Traffic System
(VTS) to ensure safety in the Straits, adding that the system will
include nightvision cameras, radar, a Positioning System,
direction-finders and similar measures. The IMO meeting will end on May
20. /Milliyet/
[02] DEMIREL ADDRESSES ECO MEETING
President Suleyman Demirel yesterday addressed at the 5th summit of
the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) in Almaty, the capital of
Kazakhstan, saying that ECO meetings confirm the real solidarity and
mutual dependency between the 10 states. The summit ended with the
signing of all "Almaty declaration". More focus on the fields of
strategy for economic cooperation, trade, transportation, communications
and energy was agreed to at the summit. The next ECO summit will be
held in Bishkek in 2000.
President Suleyman Demirel had the opportunity to meet with member
country presidents, including Iranian President Muhammed Khatemi and
Afghanistan President Burhaneddin Rabbani. /Milliyet/
[03] ANKARA DENIES CHANGE IN S-300 POLICY
Ankara denied on Monday Greek reports that Greece had agreed to
deploy controversial Russian-made S-300 missiles in Crete instead of in
Greek Cyprus following talks with Turkey. Foreign Ministry spokesman
Sermet Atacanli said yesterday that Turkey's stance on the issue has not
changed. He also protested against remarks by Greek Foreign Minister
Iannakis Cassoulides who said there was nothing suprising about the
Greek position regarding PKK. Atacanli said that the Greek statement
that there had been no court decision to outlaw the PKK was not true.
/Milliyet/
[04] WEU MEETING CONTINUES IN RHODES
Foreign and Defense Ministers from 28 European Countries met on the
Greek island of Rhodes on Monday to discuss the turmoil in the Balkans,
including Kosovo. It is expected that Turkish Defense Minister Ismet
Sezgin, who participated in the meetings, will meet with his Greek
counterpart. Before the meetings, Sezgin met at the Turkish Consulate
with a group of Turks living on Rhodes and later visited historical
sites dating from time to of the Ottoman Empire. Sezgin will return
home on Tuesday.
NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana will reportedly offer a new
package of confidence building measures for both the Turkish and Greek
sides. /Milliyet/
[05] BEWILDERING WORDS FROM PANGALOS
Greek Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos said at a meeting of the
Western European Union (WEU) in Rhodes yesterday that Turkey had assumed
a "contructive stance" in the WEU. Pangalos noted that Defense Minister
Ismet Sezgin, attending the meeting on behalf of Turkey, stated that he
was against of an application of the Greek Cypriot Administration for
becoming a WEU partner and pointed out that the Greek Cypriot
Administration could not represent the Turkish Republic of Northern
Cyprus (TRNC). /Sabah/
[06] COOK TO VISIT TURKEY
British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook, whose country holds the
current European Union (EU) term presidency, will visit Turkey on May 19
in order to improve the strained relations between Turkey and the EU,
the Turkish Foreign Ministry announced on Monday. Foreign Ministry
spokesman Sermet Atacanli said, however, that the government's decision
to freeze political dialogue with the EU stands. Adding that it was up
to the EU to take steps to improve relations, Atacanli said that Cyprus
would be one of the many issues taken-up at the talks.
Cook is also expected to try to convince Turkey to attend a regular
Turkey-EU meeting, scheduled for May 25. /Milliyet/
[07] HARDY: A COMPREHENSIVE PROGRAMME SHOULD BE IMPLEMENTED
Chief of the IMF Turkish Desk, Martin Hardy, said yesterday that
there was no single way to reduce the rate of inflation in Turkey and
that a comprehensive programme had to be implemented. Turkish State
Minister Isin Celebi, IMF Executive Director Willy Kiekens and Chief of
the Turkish Desk Martin Hardy held a meeting yesterday. Replying to the
questions of journalists following the meeting, Taner said that the
materialization of a social security reform was not easy and that a new
strategy should be determined initially. He added that all parties at
the assembly should support a draft to be prepared to that end. Taner
also noted that the agricultural sector should be opened up to world
competition. /Hurriyet/
[08] AWARD FOR SURMELI
Deputy President of Anatolian University Prof.Fevzi Surmeli has
been presented with the "State Honour and Merit Medal" by Ambassador
Daniel Lequertier on behalf of France for his contributions to the
development of civil aviation cooperation between Turkey and France.
The award ceremony was held at Anatolian University yesterday.
Delivering a speech at the ceremony, Surmeli said: "I would like to
thank French President Jacques Chirac and the French Ambassador
wholeheartedly". /Hurriyet/
[09] POOR TREATMENT FOR TURKISH AMBASSADOR IN US
US President Bill Clinton has still not given an appointment to
Turkey's new Ambassador to Washington Baki Ilkin for the presentation of
his letter of credentials. Turkey's former Ambassador to Washington
Nuzhet Kandemir was also obliged to wait for nearly one month to present
his letter of credentials to the then US President George Bush.
/Hurriyet/
[10] EUROPEAN QUALITY CHAMPIONS IN ISTANBUL
"Quality leaders" will come to Istanbul to participate in a
"Winners Conference" organized by the European Foundation of Quality
Management (EFQM). The conference, to be attended by the winners of the
1997 European Quality Awards, will be held on May 15. /Hurriyet/
[11] HEROIN WORTH OF TL 10 TRILLION SEIZED
The Narcotics Department of the Istanbul Security Office has seized
216 kg of heroin and 800 gr of opium found in a truck. It is reported
that the market value of the drug confiscated in the truck coming from
Pakistan via Turkey to Germany totals TL 10 trillion. /Sabah/
[12] 112 PKK TERRORISTS KILLED
The "Murat Operation" being carried out by the Turkish Armed Forces
against the PKK terrorist organization is continuing in a region
including the provinces of Diyarbakir, Bitlis, Bingol and Mus. War
planes and helicopters are also supporting the operation during which
112 PKK terrorists have so far been killed. /Sabah/
[13] RUSSIAN PRESS DISCUSSES RUSSIA'S TRICKS OVER CYPRUS
Over the last few days, Russian newspaper editorials have been
suggesting that peace proposals for Cyprus made by the Russian
government are in fact "tricky". Russia has been making disarmament
proposals which are not acceptable in current circumstances because
Russia wants to show the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus as
"uncompromising" so that it can sell S-300 missiles to the Southern
Cyprus Administration without being seen as responsible for the crisis.
/Milliyet/
[14] RECONSTRUCTION OF BOSNIA
During the current fourth International Contribution Conference,
staged for the re-construction of Bosnia, Turkey has promised to give a
$20 million Eximbank credit by the end of this year. A Foreign Ministry
statement said besides the $20 million Eximbank credit, a $15 million
"risk insurance facility" was extended. Five million of the total will
be short term and $10 million will be medium term. A total of $1.25
billion in aid was promised during the meeting from the participant
countries, the Anatolia news agency reported.
[15] STATE MINISTER LEAVES FOR US
Salih Yildirim, State Minister, said on Sunday that the
Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP), which is a giant development
project, is not only on the agenda of all Turkey, but also of the world.
Yildirim, accompanied by a delegation including Aydin Arslan, Governor
of the State of Emergency Region, left for the US for a 10-day visit,
the Anatolia news agency reported.
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