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Turkish Press Review, 98-06-03
From: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>
03.06.98
Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning
CONTENTS
[01] YILMAZ AND BAYKAL MEET TODAY
[02] RUSSIAN GUARANTEE FOR S-300 MISSILES
[03] PANGALOS TO VISIT TURKEY
[04] ANKARA: WE HAVE NOTHING TO HIDE
[05] TURKEY CRITICIZES FRENCH 'GENOCIDE' BILL
[06] DEFENSE WEEKLY REPORT
[07] TURKEY PUTS TRUST IN AUSTRIA
[08] MAY INFLATION SEEN AT 3-4 PCT
[09] TURKISH-SLOVAKIAN JEC MEETING
[10] MARCOMET-98 MEETING IN ISTANBUL
[11] 7,000 RUSSIAN TOURISTS IN ONE WEEK
[12] MIGROS TO SET UP KAZAKH VENTURE
[13] SEVEN FIRMS BID FOR ADVISER ROLE IN THY SALE
[14] AWARD TO SARTEN PACKING INDUSTRY
[15] NEIGHBOUR'S SUPPORT FOR PKK
[16] SEA-WOLF '98 EXERCISES
[17] 14 PKK TERRORISTS KILLED
[18] OPPOSITION TO GREEK CYPRIOT EU MEMBERSHIP
[19] POLICE APPREHEND ORGANIZER OF ATTACK ON BIRDAL
[20] STOCK EXCHANGE RECOVERS
[21] SALOMON SMITH BARNEY APPROVES INVESTMENT IN TURKEY
[22] GERMAN COMPANY INVESTING IN SOUTHEAST ANATOLIA
[01] YILMAZ AND BAYKAL MEET TODAY
A critical summit will be held between Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz
and Republican People's Party (CHP) Chairman Deniz Baykal today. During
the summit, it is expected that the leaders will discuss the date of
early elections and the government's need for CHP support for its new
reform proposals awaiting parliamentary approval. /All papers/
[02] RUSSIAN GUARANTEE FOR S-300 MISSILES
Russia has given guarantees for the delivery of Russian-made S-300
missiles to the Greek Cypriot Administration in spite of possible
serious increases in tension in the Eastern Mediterranean. Russian
Representative in Southern Cyprus, Georgi Muratov, said in a statement
to the AFP news agency yesterday that the two countries had committed
themselves to agreements that the S-300 missiles would certainly be
deployed in southern Cyprus. /Sabah/
[03] PANGALOS TO VISIT TURKEY
Greek Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos has stated that he is
ready to meet with his Turkish counterpart Ismail Cem during a meeting
of Foreign Ministers from the Balkan countries to be held in Istanbul on
8-9 June. /Sabah/
[04] ANKARA: WE HAVE NOTHING TO HIDE
In response to a New York Times report on the controversy over Nazi
gold, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Necati Utkan stressed yesterday that
Turkey had nothing to hide. "Turkey is very open and ready to
cooperate" Utkan said. Utkan stated that Turkey had given the necessary
response to a previous report, which alleged that it had been involved
in the transfer of Nazi gold during World War II. "Currently a team
headed by State Minister Sukru Sina Gurel is carrying out very serious
work in response to these new claims" he added. /All papers/
[05] TURKEY CRITICIZES FRENCH 'GENOCIDE' BILL
Turkey is continuing intensive protests days after a bill
recognizing the historic claims of a so-called Armenian genocide by
Turks in 1915 was passed in the French National Assembly. Turkey's
Ambassador to Paris, Sonmez Koksal, handed a protest letter to the
French Foreign Ministry yesterday. In the written note, Turkey
requested better protection for its diplomats in the country, arguing
that the bill might provoke racist attacks against Turkish diplomats and
families and staff, who have suffered 31 deaths at the hands of Armenian
terrorists.
Ankara continued to urge France not to further harm bilateral
relations with the genocide bill. "France is not a foe of Turkey. It
is a country with which Turkey has an economic, political and cultural
partnership. However, the negative impact that this decision will have
on Turco-French relations is inevitable" Foreign Ministry Spokesman
Necati Utkan said in his weekly press conference yesterday. /All
papers/
[06] DEFENSE WEEKLY REPORT
Turkish and Greek military officers have begun meeting secretly in
recent months in an attempt to ease long-standing tensions between the
two NATO allies, the magazine Defense Weekly reported yesterday. In its
June 3 issue, the military affairs magazine said NATO sources had
confirmed that talks had taken place, mainly in Brussels, at the
initiative of NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana, the Associated Press
reported. By mid-year, Solana hopes to announce that both countries
will have agreed to a series of confidence-building measures on sharing
the Aegean Sea, the report said.
These measures will be based on two memoranda of understanding
which Greece and Turkey signed in 1988 that were never implemented,
except for a provision to halt military exercises during the summer, the
magazine was quoted as saying by Associated Press. /All papers/
[07] TURKEY PUTS TRUST IN AUSTRIA
Turkey yesterday urged Austria, the upcoming holder of the European
Union's (EU) rotating term presidency, to take Turkish concerns into
account when it inherits a row between the EU and its southeastern
neighbour. "We hope that the new presidency will come closer to
realities and have a more realistic evaluation of the prevailing
situation" Turkish Foreign Ministry Spokesman Necati Utkan told a weekly
press briefing yesterday. /All papers/
[08] MAY INFLATION SEEN AT 3-4 PCT
Turkish inflation is expected to have slowed down in May because of
a government policy to freeze public sector prices and falls in
international oil prices, analysts said. A Reuters poll, based on
forecasts by eight banks, five brokerage houses and one economist,
showed predictions centered on the 3.9-4.0 percent range for monthly
consumer price rises and 3.0-3.8 percent for wholesale prices. Analysts
said a government move at the start of the year to freeze public sector
prices and adjust them every six months would be the main driving force
in pushing inflation lower during the spring and summer. /All papers/
[09] TURKISH-SLOVAKIAN JEC MEETING
State Minister Yucel Seckiner went to Slovakia yesterday to
participate in the First Term Turkish-Slovakian Joint Economic
Commission (JEC) Meetings as the official guest of Milan Cagala,
Slovakian Minister of the Economy, the Anatolia news agency reported.
Seckiner will be received by Vladimir Mechiar, Prime Minister of
Slovakia. Seckiner is also expected to meet with the Slovakian
Ministers of Public Works and Finance, the Chairman of the Federation of
Football and the Deputy Chairman of the Olympic Federation. Seckiner
will return to Turkey on June 5.
[10] MARCOMET-98 MEETING IN ISTANBUL
The Marcomet-98 meeting, which will be held among the NATO Naval
Forces Commanders of the Southern Region and the Partnership for Peace
(PFP) countries will start on June 3 in Istanbul, the Anatolia news
agency reported yesterday. The General Secretariat of the Naval Forces
said in a written statement that commanders from Turkey, Italy, Greece,
Spain, Romania, Albania, Georgia, the Ukraine and observors from
Bulgaria, representatives from the NATO Secretariat, Supreme
Headquarters Allied Powers, Europe (SHAPE) and the British
Representative to NATO will participate in the Marcomet-98 meeting.
[11] 7,000 RUSSIAN TOURISTS IN ONE WEEK
The interest of Russian tourists in Turkey is increasing day by
day. In May, 7,000 Russian tourists visited Antalya in one week.
According to 1997 statistics issued by the Russian Foreign Ministry,
930,000 Russian tourists visited Turkey last year. /Sabah/
[12] MIGROS TO SET UP KAZAKH VENTURE
Turkey's leading supermarket chain Migros Turk T.A.S. said
yesterday it had signed an agreement to set up a joint venture
supermarket firm in Kazakhstan with $9,619,250 in capital. Migros,
controlled by the Turkish industrial conglomerate Koc, will hold a 42 %
stake in the joint venture, Koc's foreign trade arm Ram Dis Ticaret will
own 28 % and Kazakh Butya Holding will have the remaining 30 %. The
accord was signed on Monday, Migros said in a statement sent to the
Istanbul Stock Exchange. Migros operates around 180 supermarkets,
including five big stores in Azerbaijan and one in Moscow under the name
Ramstore. /All papers/
[13] SEVEN FIRMS BID FOR ADVISER ROLE IN THY SALE
Seven international companies have bid for a tender under which
Turkey's Privatization Administration (OIB) will pick out an adviser to
carry out a partial privatization of Turkish Airlines (THY). The OIB
will sell up to 25 % of its total stake of 98.17 % in the national
carrier through international and local public offerings. The remaining
stake is listed on the Istanbul Stock Exchange. The statement said the
bidders were invited to give oral presentations to be held on June 8-9.
/All papers/
[14] AWARD TO SARTEN PACKING INDUSTRY
Turkey's Sarten Packing Industry Co. has won the "World Star
Award" for tinned food packaging. At the end of international
competition held in Mexico City, Mexico, Sarten Packing Industry came
first among 137 firms from 24 countries. /Milliyet/
[15] NEIGHBOUR'S SUPPORT FOR PKK
According to a recent report by the Turkish intelligence services
Turkey's neighbours, Iran, Syria, Greece and Armenia, have all recently
increased their support for the terrorist PKK organization. The report
said that Iran provides arms for the organization whereas Greece trains
PKK members in camps in its territories. It is claimed in the report
that the Syrian government has not been honest in its statements that it
had closed down PKK camps in Syria. /Milliyet/
[16] SEA-WOLF '98 EXERCISES
The Sea Wolf '98 exercises which are among the planned exercises of
the Naval Forces Commander will start today in the Marmara Sea, the
Aegean Sea, and the Central and Eastern Mediterranean. Air Force units
will share in the exercises. /Cumhuriyet/
[17] 14 PKK TERRORISTS KILLED
During current operations in the southeast regions of the country
14 PKK terrorists have been killed. According to the Regional Emergency
Administration 12 terrorists were killed in Semdinli, near Hakkari, and
two in Bingol. It was also added that three terrorists had surrendered
to security forces in Siirt and Sirnak. /Cumhuriyet/
[18] OPPOSITION TO GREEK CYPRIOT EU MEMBERSHIP
It has been noted that five powers of the European Union (EU) have
decided that "Greek Cyprus should not be a member of the EU". According
to news from Athens senior officials of British, French, German, Spanish
and Italian foreign ministries held a secret meeting in Paris to
evaluate the current EU situation before the Cardiff Summit to be held
in June. At the meeting it was decided "to block" Greek Cyprus EU
membership if the process should have a negative impact on EU-Turkey
relations.
Meanwhile, Greek deputy Foreign Minister Yanos Kranidiotis
evaluated the meeting as a "secret matter" which was against the EU
Charter. /Milliyet/
[19] POLICE APPREHEND ORGANIZER OF ATTACK ON BIRDAL
Police teams have apprehended Semih Tufan Gulaltay who has been
accused of being the chief planner of the assassination attempt against
Akin Birdal, head of the Turkish Human Rights Association. Prime
Minister Mesut Yilmaz yesterday announced the arrest in a group meeting
of his Motherland Party (ANAP), stressing the swiftness of the police in
operations against the assassins. /Hurriyet/
[20] STOCK EXCHANGE RECOVERS
After a downward trend in recent days, the Istanbul stock exchange
has started to recover with an avarage rise of 4.1 % in shares, while
there has been a notable increase in transaction volume which has
reached over TL 88 trillion.
Meanwhile interest rates have started decreasing due to a recent
decision taken by the Central Bank concerning the Turkish lira.
/Hurriyet/
[21] SALOMON SMITH BARNEY APPROVES INVESTMENT IN TURKEY
One of the leading investment consultancy firms, Salomon Smith
Barney (SSB) has declared that Turkey is in a secure situation for
investors, and sressed the recent improvements and stability in the
Turkish economy. /Hurriyet/
[22] GERMAN COMPANY INVESTING IN SOUTHEAST ANATOLIA
"Man", a German technology company is planning to make investment
in southeastern Anatolia. The company will establish an integrated
energy producing plant in the free trade area near Mardin. The board
director of Man's Turkey department, Faik Hamidi said yesterday that the
company had received approval for the project from the Turkish Ministry
for Energy and Natural Resources. /Hurriyet/
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