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Turkish Press Review, 00-07-06
From: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>
06.07.00
Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning
CONTENTS
[01] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS
[02] ERBAKAN BANNED FROM POLITICS
[03] REACTIONS TO VERDICT ON ERBAKAN
[04] KUTAN: "ARTICLE 312 SHOULD BE ABOLISHED"
[05] PROXIMITY TALKS
[06] ATTACK ON TURKISH CONSULATE IN RHODES
[07] US WANTS TURKEY IN THE EU
[08] ABOLITION OF DEATH PENALTY
[09] EXTRADITION CRISIS WITH RUSSIA
[10] HADEP CRISIS BETWEEN TWO LEFTIST PARTIES
[11] RIOTS IN PRISONS
[12] ECEVIT ASKS FOR WORLD BANK'S SUPPORT
[13] LETTER FROM WORLD BANK
[14] ARCELIK'S SMART PRODUCTS
[15] US PRESS: TURKISH JERRY LEWIS DIED
[16] BONUS FOR CONTRACTED WORKERS
[17] MERCEDES MEETING IN BOSPHORUS
[18] INTERNATIONAL FOLK DANCE FESTIVAL
[19] ROBIN DOUGLAS WILLIAM FILM MAKER IN MOUNT NEMRUT
[20] LYRICAL HISTORY PERFORMANCE IS NOW IN EPHESUS
[21] COMMEMORATION FOR CHARLES MINGUS
[22] A?KIN ERSUNEN KARMA PROJECT
[23] AZIZ NESIN TO BE COMMEMORATED
[24] RIFAT ILGAZ TO BE COMMEMORATED
[25] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS
[26] WHAT AN UNNECESSARY DISPUTE? BY RAUF TAMER (SABAH)
[01] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS
[02] ERBAKAN BANNED FROM POLITICS
High Court of Appeals ratified the verdict of the Diyarbakir
State Security Court's (DGM) decision which has sentenced
Necmettin Erbakan, former Prime Minister and the leader of the
closed Welfare Party, to one-year jail. He was charged with
"provocating hatred" in a 1994 election campaign speech in the
southeastern city of Bingol. Erbakan will be imprisoned for four
months and 26 days according to the Law on the Execution of
Penalties and will be banned from politics for a life time.
Erbakan's lawyer, Yasar Gurkan told, "We still have not exhausted
all domestic legal channels, and then, of course there is the
European Court of Human Rights." /All Papers/
[03] REACTIONS TO VERDICT ON ERBAKAN
Politicians, especially those from the Virtue Party (FP), reacted
harshly over the court's decision. FP Deputy Chairman Mehmet
Bekaroglu claimed the verdict on Erbakan is political rather than
judicial decision. Meanwhile, commenting on the verdict, Prime
Minister Bulent Ecevit said, "We are respectful to the decision
of judicary and we have to. However, I want to express that I
will not feel happy to see Erbakan put into jail for his speech,
made six years ago." /All Papers/
[04] KUTAN: "ARTICLE 312 SHOULD BE ABOLISHED"
The leader of the Virtue Party (FP), Recai Kutan, asked the
abolishment of the article 312 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK).
During a press conference held at the FP Party Center, Kutan
emphasized that all of the anti-democratic laws should be lifted.
In the meantime, Kutan paid visits to Premier Bulent Ecevit and
Minister of State and Deputy Prime Minister, Devlet Bahceli, and
proposed them to cooperation in abolishing the article 312. FP
leader stated that he would also visit the leaders both of the
Motherland Party (ANAP) and True Path Party (DYP) and he would
ask for an appointment from the President to discuss the issue.
/Turkiye/
[05] PROXIMITY TALKS
The third round of proximity talks on Cyprus issue started
yesterday in Geneva under the auspices of the Secretary General
of the UN, Kofi Annan. On the first day of the talks, Annan met
with the Greek-Cypriot Leader Glafkos Klerides and President of
the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), Rauf Denktas,
separately. Following his bilateral meetings, recalling that they
were trying for a permanent solution on the island, Annan said,
"We expect to tackle with the issues in a couple of months." In a
press conference, Cyprus Special Representative of Kofi Annan,
Alvaro de Sato, said that they aimed to continue to proximity
talks with short intervals until the Fall and then they wanted to
start "direct" negotiations. Sato also called both sides not to
comment on the talks to the press and said, "During the talks,
the discussions in the public over the subject, jeopardize the
solution of the issue." /Cumhuriyet-Hurriyet/
[06] ATTACK ON TURKISH CONSULATE IN RHODES
Turkish Consulate in Rhodes was attacked by molotov-coktails
yesterday. It was reported that the attack was made yesterday
morning at 04.30 and damaged the Consulate building. Officials in
the Turkish Embassy launched initiatives by the Greek Foreign
Ministry on the issue and the Greek Foreign ministry Spokesman
Panayotis Beglitis denounced the incident in a written statement.
/Turkiye/
[07] US WANTS TURKEY IN THE EU
The US Deputy State Secretary, James Dobbins is holding talks
with Turkish Governmental and business circles, non-governmental
and professional organizations for a few days. These meetings are
of great significance not only for Turkey's relations with the US
but also for those with the EU. Dobbins has three important
issues on his agenda. The first of them is the instability in the
Balkans, and the second, concerns the security of Europe.
Washington would like Europe to solve its matters by itself.
However, the exclusion of Turkey from the formation of the
European Security and Defence Identity disturbs the US. Thirdly,
the US wants the EU to be functional. If Turkey becomes a member
of the EU, the US will not have to deal with two important
problems such as the Balkans and the Aegean-Cyprus. Dobbins
leaves with the impression that a great majority of the people in
all layers of the society wants to join the EU. /Sabah/
[08] ABOLITION OF DEATH PENALTY
Stating that there is a consensus on the abolition of death
penalty among the parties except for Nationalist Movement Party
(MHP), Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said, "The abolition of death
penalty is a necessity for Turkey's EU membership". Ecevit added
that there is no need for either a constitutional amendment or a
government decision for the abolition of the death penalty and
that the death penalty could be abolished by certain amendments
in laws. Ecevit said, " I do not think that MHP will let this
issue lead to a coalition crisis." /Milliyet/
[09] EXTRADITION CRISIS WITH RUSSIA
Russia demanded the extradition of Muhammed Tagayev who was taken
into the custody in Turkey. Russia claims that Tagayev was
involved in certain bombing activities in Russia. An authority
from Russian Embassy stated that they gave a diplomatic note to
Turkish Ministry of Justice and Ministry of Foreign Affairs for
the extradition of Tagayev. The Deputy Spokesman of Foreign
Ministry, Huseyin Dirioz, confirmed that they received the note
concerned. /Milliyet/
[10] HADEP CRISIS BETWEEN TWO LEFTIST PARTIES
HADEP crisis between the Republican Peoples Party (CHP) and
Democratic Left Party (DSP) goes on. While Prime Minister Bulent
Ecevit repeated his claim on the existence of information proving
the cooperation between HADEP and CHP, the Leader of CHP, Altan
Oymen stated that Ecevit's claim encourages the division in the
society. Ecevit said, "Oymen and his friends' recent speeches
showed that there is at least a dialogue between HADEP and CHP. I
am worried about both CHP and the political regime of Turkey."
Asserting that Ecevit's stance was not in agreement with the
duties and responsibilities of a Prime Minister, Oymen stated
that CHP did not cooperate with any political party. /Milliyet/
[11] RIOTS IN PRISONS
Members of an organized crime organization, detained in the
Bayrampasa prison, started a riot to protest the transfer of some
of the prisoners to another jails. During the riot, 500 prisoners
took 11 guards hostage, put into fire their beds and made
barricades behind the doors of their wards. Hanging also a
pancard of asking for amnesty, prisoners have ended their riot
after nine hours. In addition to that, in Burdur prison, some
prisoners held a riot to support their friends who did not want
to testify in the State Security Court (DGM). The riot finished
with the intervention of the security forces. /Turkiye/
[12] ECEVIT ASKS FOR WORLD BANK'S SUPPORT
Yesterday, Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit received Ajay Chibber,
World Bank Director in charge of Turkey Desk. During the meeting,
Ecevit asked for the financial support from World Bank to remove
the deficiencies of the infrastracture, education and health
services in the southeastern region. In the meantime, stating
that the Financial Structure Adaption Loan (FSAL) had arised to
780 million dollars with an increase of 20 million dollars,
Chibber said that the loan would be put into effect after the
government signals for the privatization of the state banks.
/Cumhuriyet/
[13] LETTER FROM WORLD BANK
The Chairman of the World Bank, James Wolfensohn, who had
visited Turkey last month, sent a letter of thanks to Prime
Minister Bulent Ecevit and Minister of State Recep Onal. In his
letter he said "I will do my best to promote and make known your
stability program as long as you are determined to carry out this
program". Wolfensohn said that the general impression about the
process of the program was optimistic and Financial Structural
Adjustment Loan (FSAL) would be finalized in a short time.
/Milliyet/
[14] ARCELIK'S SMART PRODUCTS
Arcelik became a partner with an American technology company
named Scenix which designs special chips and applications
enabling electronical household appliances to communicate with
each other and through the Internet. The chairman of the
administrative Board of Scenix, Mehmet Celebi said, "With this
partnership, consumers will observe their appliances through the
Internet, remote control and update their programs." The general
director of Arcelik, Mehmet Ali Berkman, said that the chips that
were going to be put on the appliances are 5 dollars and hence
would not increase the costs. /Milliyet/
[15] US PRESS: TURKISH JERRY LEWIS DIED
Famous comedian, Kemal Sunal, who died on Monday morning, was
laid to rest after a funeral held in Istanbul yesterday by
attendance of a large crowd. Meanwhile, his death was also
covered by the world press. A special comment on Kemal Sunal
appeared in the obituaries section of "the New York Times"
newspaper. Stephen Kinzer, reporting from Istanbul, said that the
simple sense of humour in his films emotionally affected ordinary
people and in that sense he was compared with American comedian
Jerry Lewis. Kinzer said that Sunal had become famous with the
movies, where he impersonalized Anatolian peasant immigrating
into the big city (Istanbul), but in recent years he took part in
political comedies. /Milliyet/
[16] BONUS FOR CONTRACTED WORKERS
General Council of Administrative Case Departments of the Council
of State, decided in the context of Civil Servants Law that the
contracted workers should take bonus after the retirement. Hasan
Onder who worked for Tunisian Embassy as a contracted worker went
to court after the rejection of his application for a retirement
bonus. General Council of Administrative Case Offices of the
Council of State emphasized that, in accordance with the equality
principle, contracted workers should be given retirement bonus.
/Milliyet/
[17] MERCEDES MEETING IN BOSPHORUS
This year, Daimler-Chrysler, one of the biggest automotive
companies, will hold their annual meeting in Istanbul. The
Chairman of its Executive Council, Schrempp and US ex-president
Bush will attend the meeting. Mercedez Benz' Director General of
Turkey Desk, Till Becker will host the meeting. In addition,
Chairman of the Executive Council of Deutsche Bank, Rolf Breuer
is expected to attend the meeting. After the merge of Chrysler
and Daimler Benz, the company is restructuring also in Turkey. As
a first step of this restructuring, a Chrysler Jeep Commercial
Company was established in Turkey. /Milliyet/
[18] INTERNATIONAL FOLK DANCE FESTIVAL
Anatolian Folk Dance Group Society (AFDAG) organized a festival,
in which 300 amateur dancers will come together from 7 different
countries. Bulgarian Pastrina, Georgian Phazisi, Makedonian
Bitola, Romanian Avram Iancu, Russian Kamushka, Ukranian Suzirya
and Turkish AFDAG will take part in the festival. /Cumhuriyet/
[19] ROBIN DOUGLAS WILLIAM FILM MAKER IN MOUNT NEMRUT
Hollywood film maker, Robin Douglas William came to Kahta
district of Adiyaman province, to make a film to promote the rich
historic treasures of the Mount Nemrut for faith tourism. R.
Douglas William said that he came to area to shoot the treasures
for faith tourism. He added that he also made the films `The Joys
of Turkey' in 1979 to promote Turkey in America, and a film
called "St. Paul's Journey from Tarsus to Rome", in 1990.
/Turkiye/
[20] LYRICAL HISTORY PERFORMANCE IS NOW IN EPHESUS
Lyrical History Performance, which fascinated large diplomatic
delegations during the OSCE Summit in Istanbul, now is going to
perform in Izmir. The show will also be performed in Ankara,
Istanbul and then in the GAP region (Southeastern Anatolia
Project) soon to promote Turkey's cultural richness through the
symbolic language of dances and varity of music. Lyrical history
performance, will begin its European tour in the October.
/Türkiye/
[21] COMMEMORATION FOR CHARLES MINGUS
The masters of Jazz, Mingus Amungus and Mingus Big Band will play
at the Cemil Topuzlu Open Air Theatre tonight to commemorate the
legend of Jazz, composer and bass player Charles Mingus. Mingus
Amungus and Mingus Big Band came to Istanbul to participate in
the seventh Istanbul International Jazz Festival. /Cumhuriyet/
[22] A?KIN ERSUNEN KARMA PROJECT
At the Babylon tonight, A?kin Arsunen Ethno-Karma Project who
synthesize jazz with ethnic melodies in their own original style,
will perfom nine pieces in their program at the seven Istanbul
Jazz Festival. /Cumhuriyet/
[23] AZIZ NESIN TO BE COMMEMORATED
A picnic will be organized to commemorate famous humorist writer
Aziz Nesin on the fifth anniversary of his death, today. The
commemoration ceremony will take place as the gathering of
friends instead of mourning for him in accordance with Nesin's
will. /Turkiye/
[24] RIFAT ILGAZ TO BE COMMEMORATED
Poet, and novelist Rifat Ilgaz will be commerated on the seventh
anniversary of his death with various activities. A ceremony will
take place at his tomb in Zincirlikuyu Cemetery at 11.00 on July
6. Two-day Rifat Ilgaz Culture and Art Festival will begin
tomorrow at Cide, Kastamonu. /Turkiye/
[25] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS
[26] WHAT AN UNNECESSARY DISPUTE? BY RAUF TAMER (SABAH)
Columnist Rauf Tamer comments on the prison sentence passed on
the former Chairman of the Welfare Party (RP), Necmettin Erbakan.
A summary of his column is as follows:
"There is such a climate of mistrust that even the decisions of
the judiciary could be labeled as 'political'. Prime Minister
Ecevit stated that he received the verdict of the court with
respect, however, added that he will not be pleased to see
Erbakan in prison. He is correct and we do agree with him.
However, the courts do not rule for the happiness of others. They
study the case and give a verdict according to the rules. The
problem here is to see if the rules answer to the needs of the
modern society. Should they be changed or not? Erbakan may be a
victim, but the judicial system is more of a victim as their
verdict may be labeled 'political'. Such a label will be left on
the judicial system even though Erbakan may be freed after four
months. This is an unnecessary dispute at present." /Sabah/
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