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Turkish Press Review, 98-09-15
From: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>
15.09.98
Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning
CONTENTS
[01] TURKISH AIRLINES PLANE HIJACKED
[02] INDIAN PRESIDENT TO VISIT TURKEY
[03] EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT TO VOTE ON REPORT ON TURKEY
[04] AKTAS TO VISIT ITALY
[05] CEM COMPLETES HIS CONTACTS IN IRAN
[06] DRUG OPERATION IN ANKARA
[07] ENERGY SUMMIT IN HOUSTON
[08] 'TURKEY'S SITUATION IS GOOD'
[09] SECURITY FORCES KILL 22 PKK TERRORISTS
[10] TEMA BEGINS NEW REFORESTATION
[11] TANER TO VISIT GERMANY
[12] JOHNSON-ECEVIT MEETING
[13] AWARD TO TURKISH TOURISM OFFICE
[01] TURKISH AIRLINES PLANE HIJACKED
An Airbus type plane of the Turkish Airlines (THY), flying from
Ankara to Istanbul, was hijacked yesterday evening. Ihsan Akyuz,
26, forced the pilot to fly to Trabzon threatening him by
directing a plastic gun at him. The plane landed in the Trabzon
Airport where the hijacker let the passengers go and then
surrendered to the security forces, following a brief bargaining.
There were a crew of eight and 76 passengers aboard during the
hijacking which ended in two hours. Asked by the security forces
to explain his reason for the hijacking, Akyuz initially said
that he protested a decision to prevent female students with
"turban" (a head-covering) from registering universities. Soon
afterwards he made a contradictory statement by saying that he
tried to draw attention to the Chechen problem. /Milliyet/
[02] INDIAN PRESIDENT TO VISIT TURKEY
Indian President Shri K.R. Narayanan will arrive in Ankara
tomorrow. During his official visit, agreements concerning the
encouragement of investments, struggle against drug-trafficking
and cultural fields. Raising the trade volume to one billion
dollars, and improvement of political, military and technological
relations will also be on the agenda.
Prior to his visit, Narayanan, who was the Indian Ambassador to
Ankara in the 1970s, interviewed by Sami Kohen for Milliyet: he
noted that the rapprochement between Pakistan and Turkey had not
affected Indian-Turkish relations and that Turkish stance on the
issue of Keshmir was constructive. /Milliyet/
[03] EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT TO VOTE ON REPORT ON TURKEY
The European Parliament this week is scheduled to discuss and
vote on a report on Turkey and on a draft recommendation
concerning the operability of the European Union's customs union
agreement with Turkey, the Anatolia news agency reported. The
report, which was written by Conservative British Deputy Edward
McMillan Scott, will be put to a vote on September 16. The report
also expresses regret for Turkey's suspension of its political
dialogue with the EU, which was Turkey's reaction to its exlusion
from the list of full membership candidates at the Luxembourg
Summit last December.
[04] AKTAS TO VISIT ITALY
Interior Minister Kutlu Aktas will visit Italy on September 21.
According to a statement made by the Interior Ministry, Aktas
will sign an agreement for "Cooperation in the Struggle Against
Terrorism, Organized Crimes and Drug Smuggling" between Turkey
and Italy, which was initialled on June 26, 1998. Italian
Interior Minister Giorgio Napolitano will meet with Aktas, who
will return to Turkey on September 23, the Anatolia news agency
reports.
[05] CEM COMPLETES HIS CONTACTS IN IRAN
Foreign Minister Ismail Cem completed his contacts in Iran and
returned to Turkey yesterday. Meanwhile, Greek Government
Spokesman Dimitri Reppas suggested that Cem's statements in
Tehran regarding Greece were the repetition of known Turkish
allegations. Reppas held a press conference yesterday and
criticized Cem's statements regarding Greek, Armenian and Iranian
cooperation. Reppas said: "Greece supports the establishment of
confidence and stability in the region. The statements of the
Turkish Foreign Minister could only be described as
speculations".
Cem, who completed his contacts in Tehran, proceeded on to
Isfahan. Cem met with Deputy Governor Resul Goreysiyan. Cem
departed from Isfahan yesterday evening and returned to Turkey.
/Cumhuriyet/
[06] DRUG OPERATION IN ANKARA
According to a statement made by the Ankara Security Office, 14
kilograms of heroin were seized by members of the Ankara
Narcotics Department yesterday. Seyfi Sungurlu was arrested
regarding the incident. /Cumhuriyet/
[07] ENERGY SUMMIT IN HOUSTON
A World Energy Congress started yesterday in Houston, the US,
with the participation of 5,000 people from 73 countries. A
166-person delegation headed by Turkish Energy and Natural
Resources Minister Cumhur Ersumer is representing Turkey at the
summit. Former US President George Bush delivered an opening
speech and said that all governments should invest in energy.
The Congress, which will last until September 18, bears
importance for Turkey from the standpoint of meetings on Turkmen
natural gas (Caspian passage) and Baku-Ceyhan oil pipeline
projects. Ersumer will meet with US Energy Secretary Bill
Richardson and Ambassador Richard Morningstar, US President's
envoy in energy, in addition to representatives of many companies
such as Amaco Bechtel, Unocal, Westinghouse and Pacific
Corporation. /Hurriyet/
[08] 'TURKEY'S SITUATION IS GOOD'
General Director of Reuters, one of the most important news
agencies in the world, Peter Job, replied to questions of the
Hurriyet daily newspaper during his short visit to Turkey. Job
said that Turkey was not highly affected with the global crisis.
He added that Turkey was among the industrialized countries such
as Italy and Spain. /Hurriyet/
[09] SECURITY FORCES KILL 22 PKK TERRORISTS
Sixteen members of the PKK terrorist organization have been
killed in recent operations by the security forces in the
southeastern province of Sirnak, the Anatolia news agency
reported. According to a statement by regional officials, the
operation was named after a late Gendarmerie officer whose
helicopter was shot down by the PKK last year. In other
provinces, the security forces are reported to have killed six
more terrorists. The operations took place in the southeastern
provinces of Hakkari, Diyarbakir, Batman, Tunceli and Mus.
[10] TEMA BEGINS NEW REFORESTATION
As nearly two dozen forest fires raged on the periphery of
Istanbul, Turkey's leading environmentalist group announced a new
reforestation campaign. Forestry officials said 200 hectares of
forests had been destroyed in nearly 24 separate fires in the
past week. Eighteen new fires were reported on Sunday. Sudden
rains Sunday night helped fire fighters extinguish the blazes.
The Turkish Foundation for Combatting Soil Erosion for the
Reforestation and the Protection of Natural Habitats (TEMA) on
Sunday said it would begin a campaign to plant 10 million oak
tree seeds across Turkey. /All papers/
[11] TANER TO VISIT GERMANY
State Minister Gunes Taner, accompanied by an economy delegation,
will go today to Germany to meet with financial and economy
circles. Taner and Deputy Undersecretary of the Treasury, Cuneyt
Sel, will give a speech at the information meetings to be
organized by Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank. The Turkish
delegation headed by Taner will later go to London to attend an
economy meeting. The delegation will return to Turkey on
Saturday.
On the other hand, the Turkish Treasury has started meetings to
inform foreign market investors in the U.S. The meetings at which
Turkish economy will be explained are being held in New York,
Boston, New Jersey and Los Angeles. /Sabah/
[12] JOHNSON-ECEVIT MEETING
Norwegian International Development and Human Rights Minister,
Hilde Johnson and Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit met
yesterday in Ankara. It was announced that Ecevit and Johnson
discussed bilateral relations and recent international
developments at the meeting. After visiting Interior Minister
Hasan Denizkurdu, Johnson flew to Diyarbakir. /Sabah/
[13] AWARD TO TURKISH TOURISM OFFICE
Turkish Tourism Office in London won the "the most creative
summer holiday platinum award" of the Daily Mirror newspaper.
Head of the Advertisement Department of the Daily Mirror
newspaper, Mark Pritchett presented the award to Turkish Tourism
Attache, Savas Kuce, yesterday during a ceremony in London. After
the ceremony, Kuce said that the Turkish Tourism Office also won
the "1998 Pegasus" advertisement award given by Reader's Digest.
/Hurriyet/
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