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Turkish Press Review, 98-07-30
From: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>
30.07.98
Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning
CONTENTS
[01] GREEK HARASSMENT AT MERIC RIVER
[02] FIVE SUSPECTS RELEASED IN HADEP TRIAL
[03] TOPRAK AND BEKO SUCCESS IN UK
[04] EUROPEAN ALLIED FORCES COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF VISITS TURKEY
[05] DEMIREL RATIFIES TAX LAW
[06] TURKEY HOPEFUL ABOUT OIL
[07] MOODY'S RATES AKBANK
[08] IMKB BOOK ON ASIAN CRISIS
[09] TURKISH BALLET RANKS THIRD
[10] EU TAX LAW FAVOURS TURKEY
[11] MUMTAZ SOYSAL RESIGNS FROM DSP
[12] ELECTION ON APRIL 18
[13] SUSPECTED PKK SUICIDE BOMBER
[14] PENTAGON: "US NOT ENFORCE CYPRUS NO-FLY MORATORIUM"
[15] TSKB NAMED BEST TURKISH SECURITIES BANK
[01] GREEK HARASSMENT AT MERIC RIVER
It is reported that yesterday Greek soldiers patrolling the
Greek side of the Meric river opened fire on the Turkish side. No
one was killed or injured as a result of the shooting. Tension
rose high when the Greek soldiers opened fire on the Turkish side
following verbal exchanges. It was learned that Turkish soldiers
also answered in kind. The situation returned to normal following
the shooting incident which happened at 18.00-19.00 hours in a
military zone. Military prosecutors have begun to examine the
cause of the shooting. /Sabah/
[02] FIVE SUSPECTS RELEASED IN HADEP TRIAL
Chairman Murat Bozlak, high level officials and other members of
the HADEP (People's Democracy Party) were in court yesterday, at
the Second Ankara State Security Court, accused of being the
political wing of the separatist PKK organisation. The court
later released five of the suspects, leaving only four under
arrest. /Sabah/
[03] TOPRAK AND BEKO SUCCESS IN UK
A Turkish corporation, Toprak, has become a well-known enterprise
in the United Kingdom after the announcement of its plan to set
up a huge ceramics factory in Wales.
Beko is another Turkish firm active in the UK, which has sold 2.5
million items of household goods to the British public since
1991. Beko holds a 6.5 percent share in the British household
products market. /Sabah/
[04] EUROPEAN ALLIED FORCES COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF VISITS TURKEY
NATO European Allied Forces Commander-in-Chief Gen.Wesley K.Clark
visited Turkish Deputy Chief of General Staff Gen.Cevik Bir
yesterday. Gen.Bir noted that he was very pleased to see
Gen.Clark in Turkey and said: "This visit is within the framework
of a chain of visits held between the NATO Command and NATO
Headquarters. There is no specific issue. We will exchange views
on regional, NATO and Turkish relations", the Anatolia news
agency reported yesterday.
[05] DEMIREL RATIFIES TAX LAW
President Suleyman Demirel ratified yesterday law No.4369, which
makes amendments to 12 tax laws, on the condition that the grants
to foundations and associations should also come within the
context of paying taxes. /Cumhuriyet/
[06] TURKEY HOPEFUL ABOUT OIL
Aladdin Middle East, an oil research company, will initiate
important new exploratory activities in August along the
Turkish-Syrian border. With a project jointly carried out with
Trans-Mediterranean Oil in southern Mardin, hopes have emerged
that Turkey can meet its requirements for crude oil from its own
resources. Officials anticipate that Turkey will reach the level
of other countries exporting crude oil in four years' time.
/Cumhuriyet/
[07] MOODY'S RATES AKBANK
Moody's, one of the world's leading rating institutions, has
given a Baa2 rate to certificates issued by Akbank. The total
value of issued certificates is $250 million. /Cumhuriyet/
[08] IMKB BOOK ON ASIAN CRISIS
The Istanbul Stock Exchange (IMKB) has examined the effects of
the Southeast Asian crisis on the Turkish economy and the IMKB
and published a book which evaluates the Asian crisis which has
affected all international financial markets. /Hurriyet/
[09] TURKISH BALLET RANKS THIRD
In the 18th International Varna Ballet Festival, Turkish ballet
dancer, Ogulcan Borova has come third. The wife of the Turkish
Prime Minister, Berna Yilmaz, who went to Bulgaria yesterday,
congratulated Borova and wished him further successes. 150
dancers from 29 countries performed in the ballet festival.
/Hurriyet/
[10] EU TAX LAW FAVOURS TURKEY
The European Union (EU) has excluded Turkey from a new tax
application on textiles. The EU will apply heavy taxes on wool
fabrics from five Asian countries, India, Indonesia, Pakistan,
Egypt and China. The EU's recent decision on excluding Turkey
from this application, is evaluated as an important step towards
easing the serious crisis in Turkey-EU relations. /Milliyet/
[11] MUMTAZ SOYSAL RESIGNS FROM DSP
Democratic Left Party (DSP) member and former Foreign Minister
Mumtaz Soysal resigned from his party yesterday. After the
resignation of Sosyal, the number of DSP seats in Parliament
decreased to 61 and those of the independent increased to 12.
/Milliyet/
[12] ELECTION ON APRIL 18
The date of the combined municipal and general elections which
were originally set for April 25, 1999, has been moved up one
week. The Constitutional Commission which discussed the election
date yesterday, decided that the joint elections should be held
on April 18.
The main reason behind the change is the official holiday which
takes place on Friday, April 23. The commission members are
trying to avoid having elections coincide with a three-day
weekend created by the national holiday. /All papers/
[13] SUSPECTED PKK SUICIDE BOMBER
A woman has been detained by Gendarmerie Forces in the central
province of Sivas after authorities searched her house, and
finding documents belonging to the PKK. The security forces,
operating in a rural area in Sivas, had suspicions about the
woman, named Melike Acar. During interrogation the woman
confessed that she has awaiting orders from the PKK to carry out
a suicide attack.
Meanwhile, the authorities in Eskisehir rounded up another
suspected, believed to be the chief representative of the PKK in
that city. In the interrogation, the detained man, Zeki Kutluk,
told the authorities that he was planing to send a group of young
people to Romania for weapons training. /Cumhuriyet/
[14] PENTAGON: "US NOT ENFORCE CYPRUS NO-FLY MORATORIUM"
The United States has reiterated that it will not be involved in
the enforcement of a no-fly moratorium over the divided island of
Cyprus as proposed by Greece and Greek Cyprus. "We believe that
an agreement on military flights over the Cyprus will contribute
to defusing the tension on the island. However, such an agreement
can be achieved only through compromise between the related
parties. The United States will not be the enforcer of such an
implementation," Pentagon spokesman Micheal Doubleday told a
press conference on Tuesday. /Cumhuriyet/
[15] TSKB NAMED BEST TURKISH SECURITIES BANK
The Industrial Development Bank of Turkey (TSKB) has been named
Turkey's best securities Bank by Euromoney Magazine, the Anatolia
news agency reported yesterday. In its July edition, the British
financial magazine said the TSKB would receive an Award for
Excellence. It is the second year in a row that Euromoney has
listed the TSKB, an investment and development bank, as Turkey's
best securities bank. The TSKB is run by a group of Turkish banks
and has been the lead manager of the top Turkish stock public
offerings of private and state institutions in the past three
years.
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