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Turkish Press Review, 98-05-14
From: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>
14.05.98
Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning
CONTENTS
[01] 7,000 EURASIAN ENTREPRENEURS
[02] DEMIREL: "ECONOMIC BORDERS BEING LIFTED"
[03] ISMAIL CEM IN BULGARIA
[04] IMF TO DISCUSS TURKEY IN JULY
[05] "TURKEY IS IMPORTANT"
[06] GREEK CYPRIOTS TO PURCHASE 18 S-300 MISSILES
[07] INTERNATIONAL ENERGY CONFERENCE IN ISTANBUL
[08] TURKEY, GEORGIA HOLD JOINT MILITARY EXERCISES
[09] ASILTURK JOINS FP
[10] MILLER TO VISIT CYPRUS AT THE END OF MAY
[11] BIRDAL IS RECOVERING
[12] "INCLUDE TURKEY IN EU"
[13] OPERATIONS IN SOUTHEAST
[14] TURKISH-GREEK JOURNALISTS IN PARIS
[15] TURKEY DENOUNCES INDIA'S NUCLEAR TESTS
[16] TURKISH-UAE JEC MEETINGS START IN ANKARA
[01] 7,000 EURASIAN ENTREPRENEURS
President Suleyman Demirel, who attended the First Turkish States
Economic Summit held in Istanbul yesterday, said that the Central Asian
Republics were trying to develop by using their own enormous underground
resources. Demirel noted that Turkey was a key country in the region.
He also recalled that 7,000 Turkish businessmen had achieved a trade
volume worth $7 billion in the region and that Turkey had extended
credits worth $1 billion to those countries.
Noting that Turkey should form a "Eurasian strategy", State
Minister Ahad Andican said for his part that such a strategy would open
the way for the private sector. Andican, who also participated in the
Summit, stated that 7,000 entrepreneurs, who could be called "Eurasian
Turks", were making investments in these countries. He added that
Turkey would play an important role in the transfer of capital, in
energy distribution and technological investments in those countries.
Meanwhile, World Bank Director for Turkey Ajay Chhibber said that
the Turkish economy was the most dynamic economy in the Eastern
Mediterranean and that with an average 5 % growth rate, Turkey had a
strong position in exports. Chhibber noted that Turkey played a
significant role in the development of economic cooperation among the
economies of the Eastern Mediterranean and Central Asia.
/Hurriyet-Sabah/
[02] DEMIREL: "ECONOMIC BORDERS BEING LIFTED"
The 23rd Economists' Week organized by the Economy Faculty of
Istanbul University started yesterday. Delivering an opening speech,
President Suleyman Demirel said that people were living in a world where
economic borders were being lifted. Demirel added: "The Turkish
economy will receive its share from these developments". /Hurriyet/
[03] ISMAIL CEM IN BULGARIA
Foreign Minister Ismail Cem has begun his mini-Balkan tour to
Bulgaria and Romania. During the first day of his two-day visit to
Bulgaria Cem met yesterday with his Bulgarian counterpart Nadezhda
Mihaylov. Bilateral relations, Bulgaria's NATO membership, bilateral
investments, security in the Balkans, the Kosovo issue, and a
NATO-framework peacekeeping force were the top issues on the agenda of
the two ministers.
Later in the day, Cem met with members of the Bulgarian
parliamentary commission on foreign and integration policies, and with
Bulgaria's national security council. He then opened an exhibition on
Ataturk in the Bulgarian National Library. /All papers/
[04] IMF TO DISCUSS TURKEY IN JULY
An IMF delegation headed by Turkish Desk Chief Martin Hardy, which
has been holding contacts for two weeks, left Ankara yesterday. Two
separate reports to be prepared by the delegation will be presented to
the IMF Executive Board in the second half of July. A report on "Recent
Economic Developments" will explain developments in Turkish economy.
The second report, an "Experts Report", will include policies and
suggestions about future projects. /Hurriyet/
[05] "TURKEY IS IMPORTANT"
US Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright said in a conference on
the Middle East that Turkish-American relations was very important for
them. She recalled that during the last meeting with her Turkish
counterpart Ismail Cem, that they had stressed the importance of these
relations. Regarding the Cyprus issue, Albright said that they were for
a bi-communal federation on the island. /Sabah/
[06] GREEK CYPRIOTS TO PURCHASE 18 S-300 MISSILES
It is reported that the Greek Cypriots are going ahead with the
purchase of 18 S-300 missiles from Russia. Greek Foreign Ministry
Undersecretary Yannos Kranityotis said in a statement yesterday to the
Simerini newspaper published in Greek Cyprus that the number of S-300
missiles that will be deployed in Greek Cyprus will be 18 and that these
missiles were not a threat to Turkey. /Hurriyet-Cumhuriyet/
[07] INTERNATIONAL ENERGY CONFERENCE IN ISTANBUL
The US government's Trade and Development Agency is organizing an
energy conference in Istanbul between May 27-29, aiming to introduce
American companies, interested in projects worth 20 billion dollars in
the Black Sea, the Caucasus and Central Asia, to the regional countries
involved. Representatives of 13 countries, including Armenia,
Azerbaijan, Russia, Turkmenistan and Ukraine will participate in the
conference which will be hosted by the Turkish government. /Milliyet/
[08] TURKEY, GEORGIA HOLD JOINT MILITARY EXERCISES
The first Turkish-Georgian joint sea manoeuvres, planned during
Chief of General Staff Ismail Hakki Karadayi's visit to the Georgian
capital of Tbilisi last month, have been staged in the Black Sea. The
exercises were Turkey's first joint military manoeuvres with an
erstwhile Soviet Republic country. /Milliyet/
[09] ASILTURK JOINS FP
Malatya Independent Deputy Oguzhan Asilturk joined the Virtue Party
(FP) yesterday. Thus the number of FP seats in the Turkish Parliament
reaches 143. /Hurriyet/
[10] MILLER TO VISIT CYPRUS AT THE END OF MAY
US Cyprus Coordinator Thomas Miller will visit Cyprus again at the
end of this month. It is expected that high-level meetings between
representatives of the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities on the
island will be held in June. /Sabah/
[11] BIRDAL IS RECOVERING
Chairman of the Human Rights Association (IHD) Akin Birdal, who was
shot and taken to hospital on Tuesday, is recovering. Meanwhile, a
draft decision regarding Turkey prepared by political groups in the
European Parliament has been put on the agenda of an "urgent issues"
session of the European Bureau of the Assembly. French Ambassador to
Ankara Daniel Lequertier has described the attack on Birdal as
"treacherous". /Sabah/
[12] "INCLUDE TURKEY IN EU"
The U.S. President, who went yesterday to Germany for an official
visit, asked the European Union (EU) to take Turkey into the EU.
Clinton said that the EU should evaluate Turkey's membership application
according to the standards applied to other Central European countries.
/Cumhuriyet/
[13] OPERATIONS IN SOUTHEAST
Four more PKK members were killed during security operations being
conducted in the Tanin region of Sirnak. Ten PKK members were also
captured in the Bismil, Hazro, and Kulp provinces of the Diyarbakir and
Nusaybin townships of Mardin. According to military sources operations
will continue in the region. /Cumhuriyet/
[14] TURKISH-GREEK JOURNALISTS IN PARIS
Turkish and Greek journalists met on 12-13 May in Paris. The
meeting was organized by UNESCO, which announced 2000 as the "year of
peace". Bilateral problems in the media, professional ethics and
principles, the foreign policies of the Turkish and Greek governments
and the PKK terror organization were some of the topics discussed during
the meeting. A final communique prepared by senior UNESCO officials was
issued at the end of the meeting declaring that dialogue between Turkish
and Greek journalists would be sustained and that UNESCO would create
the necessary opportunities for these meetings. /Cumhuriyet/
[15] TURKEY DENOUNCES INDIA'S NUCLEAR TESTS
Turkey has denounced the recent nuclear tests conducted by India.
"As a country which was one of the first to sign the Comprehensive
Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, Turkey views the recent nuclear tests conducted
by India as a worrisome development," Foreign Ministry spokesman Sermet
Atacanli said on Wednesday. /All papers/
[16] TURKISH-UAE JEC MEETINGS START IN ANKARA
The Turkey-United Arab Emirates (UAE) Fifth Term Joint Economic
Commission (JEC) meetings started yesterday in Ankara under the
co-chairmanship of State Minister Metin Gurdere, the Anatolia news
agency reported yesterday. An Undersecretariat of Foreign Trade
statement said that an UAE delegation, headed by Sheikh Fahem bin Sultan
Al-Quassimi, the UAE Economy and Trade Minister, had arrived in Turkey
to participate in the meetings and to hold contacts. The statement
stressed that many infrastructural and industrial projects would soon be
realized, adding that the contribution of Turkish construction companies
to these projects would primarily be discussed during the JEC meeting.
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