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Turkish Press Review, 98-08-26
From: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>
26.08.98
Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning
CONTENTS
[01] TANER TO MEET WITH CHERNOMYRDIN
[02] EXPLOSION IN FEED PLANT: 16 INJURED
[03] TURKEY TO DEFEND MEAT PROHIBITION
[04] SAVAS SUBMITS A REPORT TO ANKARA CHIEF PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE
[05] TURKEY REJECTS SYRIAN CALL TO CONVENE JOINT WATER COMMITTEE
[06] CHIEF OF GENERAL STAFF CHANGES, NOT THE POLICY
[07] INTERNATIONAL TOURISM, CULTURE CONGRESS
[08] DENIZKURDU HOLDS PRESS CONFERENCE
[09] INTERNATIONAL TOURISM FAIR IN TURKEY
[10] BUSINESSMEN MEET IN ISTANBUL
[11] EDUCATION RIGHTS OF KOSOVO TURKS
[12] DANGER IN BOSPHORUS
[13] MILITARY PLANE CRASHES
[14] TURKEY TO JOIN FOREIGN MARKETS IN SEPTEMBER
[01] TANER TO MEET WITH CHERNOMYRDIN
State Minister Gunes Taner will meet with Russian Prime Minister
Victor Chernomyrdin today. President of the Central Bank Gazi
Ercel, Deputy Undersecretary of the Treasury Cuneyt Sel, and
Deputy Undersecretary of the State Planning Organization Faik
Oztrak will also participate in the meeting during which Turkey's
contributions to a solution to the Russian economic crisis will
be taken up. President of the Russian Central Bank Sergei Dubinin
and high-level bureaucrats are also expected to attend the
meeting.
Yesterday morning, Taner visited Ramstore, the biggest
hypermarket in Moscow. Later, Taner called Turkish bankers in
Moscow to a meeting. Taner put questions to Turkish bankers about
Russian foreign exchange reserves and other macro-economic
indicators.
Meanwhile, Russian newspapers published in Moscow noted yesterday
that Turkish State Minister Gunes Taner and his accompanying
delegation were visiting Russia to look into how Turkey could
extend financial and technical assistance to Russia. Taner is the
first state minister to visit Russia following the outset of the
current economic crisis there. /Sabah/
[02] EXPLOSION IN FEED PLANT: 16 INJURED
Sixteen people including three seriously were injured in an
explosion at Abalioglu Feed Industry Facilities on the
Denizli-Pamukkale highway. Environment Minister Imren Aykut and
Denizli Governor Yusuf Ziya Goksu visited the injured at the
local hospital and wished them a rapid recovery. /Sabah/
[03] TURKEY TO DEFEND MEAT PROHIBITION
Turkey will defend a prohibition on animal and meat imports
dating from 1996 to support domestic animal husbandry at a
meeting in September in Geneva. On 15-16 September, the World
Trade Organization (WTO) will meet to discuss complaints from the
US about Turkey which has prohibited imports of meat by claiming
that Turkey blocks free trade. In order to prepare Turkey's
defense, meetings have started among the Agriculture and Rural
Affairs Ministry, the Foreign Trade Undersecretariat and other
government departments. /Sabah/
[04] SAVAS SUBMITS A REPORT TO ANKARA CHIEF PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE
Vural Savas, the chief prosecutor of the High Court of Appeals,
has submitted a report to the Ankara chief prosecutor's office to
enable former officials of the now-defunct Welfare Party (RP) to
be put on trial and face sentences of up to three years for their
involvement in trying to conceal a total of TL 1 trillion from
Ministry of Finance auditors. Savas stated that it was mandatory
by law to transfer all of a party's assets to the Treasury upon
its closure. /All papers/
[05] TURKEY REJECTS SYRIAN CALL TO CONVENE JOINT WATER COMMITTEE
Putting forth "adverse developments" in bilateral relations as
the reason, Turkey has rejected demands from Syria that a joint
Turco-Syrian-Iraqi technical committee dealing with water issues
be revived in 1998. The joint Turco-Syrian-Iraqi technical
committee convened for the last time in 1992. "It is too early to
revive the water committee process. This does not appear to be
possible in the near future. First Syria should take steps on a
number of disputed issues, including terrorism" a Foreign
Ministry official was quoted as saying yesterday. /Cumhuriyet/
[06] CHIEF OF GENERAL STAFF CHANGES, NOT THE POLICY
Chief of General Staff Gen.Ismail Hakki Karadayi, who will retire
on 30 August, said that the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) are
determined to continue the struggle against fundamentalism and
remain the guard of Turkey during his official farewell visits
yesterday to the Defense Ministry, Chief of Gendarmery and the
Air Force. He added that the chiefs may change but the policy
remained the same. /All papers/
[07] INTERNATIONAL TOURISM, CULTURE CONGRESS
The "First International Cultural Heritage, Multicultural Points
of Attraction and Tourism Congress" a joint undertaking of
Bosphorus University's Applied Tourism Administration and
Research Centre, the Comparative European Studies Centre, the
Economic and Social History Foundation of Turkey and the World
Tourism Organization convened in Istanbul yesterday. Until the
year 2020, Turkey's tourism policy will follow world trends in
emphasizing diversification of services and products. The
conference continues until 27 August. /All papers/
[08] DENIZKURDU HOLDS PRESS CONFERENCE
Justice Minister Hasan Denizkurdu yesterday announced to members
of the press following an hour-long meeting with Prime Minister
Mesut Yilmaz that a dossier containing six charges had been
prepared and would be sent to France on Monday. A hearing is
scheduled for mid-September as to whether or not French
authorities would extradite Alaattin Cakici, the head of a large
criminal organization, who faces criminal charges in Turkey. The
justice minister further noted that the claim that Cakici could
face execution if returnd to Turkey was erroneous. It did not
create an obstacle for his return because Turkey had only to
guarantee that he would not be executed. Therefore, there could
be no objection to returning to Turkey for trial. /Sabah/
[09] INTERNATIONAL TOURISM FAIR IN TURKEY
Turkey will host EMITT'99, the East Mediterranean International
Travel and Tourism Fair, in Istanbul between 18-21 February 1999.
Nearly 500 organizations from 50 different countries will
participate in the fair, which is the largest of all the fairs
organized in the Mediterranean countries. /Hurriyet/
[10] BUSINESSMEN MEET IN ISTANBUL
A "global business policy council" meeting, organized by
A.T.Kearney, a management consultancy firm, will be held in
Istanbul on September 1-3, when presidents of 50 international
firms will attend. Bulent Eczacibasi, the head of the executive
board of Eczacibasi and Muharrem Kayhan, the chairman of the
Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association will
represent Turkish business circles. /Sabah/
[11] EDUCATION RIGHTS OF KOSOVO TURKS
Turks living in Kosovo are asking for equal rights in education
along with Albanians. Albanians who have refused the education
programme imposed by the Serbian administration have been
applying their own education programme for seven years. However,
Turkish children are forced to continue their education in
government-run official schools. /Cumhuriyet/
[12] DANGER IN BOSPHORUS
A Greek tanker loaded with crude oil run aground yesterday in
Uskudar, Istanbul. According to officials the tanker, called the
'Crudegulf', was transporting 140 thousand tons of crude oil from
Russia to Italy, and ran aground while passing through the
Bosphorus. A technical fault caused the incident and rescue work
was started immediately, noted officials. /Milliyet/
[13] MILITARY PLANE CRASHES
A C-37 type military training plane crashed yesterday in Saruhan,
Izmir. According to military sources, the crew of the plane
parachuted to safety. After crashing, the plane exploded and
burst into flames. /Milliyet/
[14] TURKEY TO JOIN FOREIGN MARKETS IN SEPTEMBER
Because of the instability prevailing in international markets,
Turkey is going to join foreign borrowing markets in September.
Treasury officials announced yesterday that Turkey together with
Poland and the Czech Republic have the chance to join
international markets following the Russian economic crisis.
Despite the economic crisis in Asia, Turkey has succeeded in
obtaining the support of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
and international rating institutions. The Treasury will give
authority to international broker institutions for selling
securities. /Milliyet/
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