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Turkish Press Review, 00-07-28Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>28.07.00Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morningCONTENTS
[01] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS[02] SEZER APPROVES DECREE ON GOVERNORSPresident Ahmet Necdet Sezer approved the decree on the appointment of 43 governors prepared by the Interior Affairs Minister Sadettin Tantan. According to the decree Balikesir governor Alaaddin Yuksel was appointed to Izmir Governorship, Deputy Director General of the Public Security Turan Genc to Elazig, Director of the Public Security in Istanbul Hasan Ozdemir to Ardahan, Administrative Inspector general Muzaffer Dilek to Sanliurfa. /Cumhuriyet/[03] SEZER TO ATTEND THE "MILLENIUM SUMMIT"President Ahmet Necdet Sezer will attend the "Millenium Summit" which will be held on September 6-8 in New York. Sezer is expected to meet with the US President Bill Clinton and other world leaders. At the opening of the Summit, co-chairmen of the Summit, Finnish President Tarja Halonen, Namibian President Sam Nujoma and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan will deliver speeches. President Sezer is also expected to address at the meeting. /Turkiye/[04] SEZER TOURS THE CONGRESS AND CULTURAL CENTRE IN AYAZAGAPresident Ahmet Necdet Sezer held inspections at the Congress and Cultural Centre in Ayazaga, which began to be built by the Foundation of Culture and Arts in Istanbul, but could not be completed. After being briefed by the officials concerning the situation of the construction, Sezer gave instructions to the State Inspection Council so that this issue can be examined. /Milliyet/[05] SUPPORT FOR SEZERThe speech of President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, carrying out his work in Istanbul, was supported by politicians. While he received the Zeugma Initiative Group yesterday in Huber Palace, Sezer said that a civil constitution had to be prepared and non-governmental organizations should also contribute to this formation. While politicians from the Nationalist Action Party (MHP), the Motherland Party (ANAP) and the True Path Party (DYP) claimed that the non-govermental organizations views of which were taken, should be selected carefully, Lutfu Esengun from the Virtue Party (FP) called on to take the views of everybody. Esengun said, "We fully heart support the ideas of the President on Constitutional amendment. Turkey needs a modern Constitution. During its preparation, non-governmental organizations should also be have a say on the issue." /Turkiye/[06] CEM RECEIVES KOSOVO DELEGATIONForeign Minister Ismail Cem received the political representatives of Kosovar Turks. After the meeting, Cem said that Turkey and Kosovar Turks were not happy with the administration of the United Nations in Kosovo. Cem emphasized if the discrimination and exclusion politics continue, Turkey would restrict its contribution to the system established in Kosovo. The Kosovar Turkish Representatives also visited Premier Bulent Ecevit and discussed the issues of Kosovar Turks. /Turkiye/[07] YILMAZ RESPONSIBLE FOR COORDINATION WITH EUEU Internal Economical and Technical Coordination Board will be chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz. Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit met with Minister of Foreign Affairs Ismail Cem and said that he delegated his duties regarding internal affairs of EU to Mesut Yilmaz. /Hurriyet/[08] TALAY'S STATEMENT CONCERNING ZEUGMAMinister of Culture, Istemihan Talay, stated that 90 archeologists and 150 workers was working very hard to save the ancient Zeugma city, which will be inundated. Talan met 12 members of the Zeugma Initiative Group, which consists of a total of 38 people from the business, press and university circles, yesterday. Talay added, "Rescue excavations aim at taking the historical artefacts to a proper place as fast as possible". /Aksam/[09] JOINT STATEMENT CONCERNING THE CO-PRODUCTION OF AIRBUSESMinister of National Defence, Sabahattin Cakmakoglu, participated in a meeting in Farnborough during which an official statement was announced concerning the A-400 Airbus heavy transportation plane that will be jointly produced by seven countries. Cakmakoglu held a meeting with the Defence Ministers of France, Italy, England, Germany, Spain and Belgium, which are the partners of the project, and then organized a press conference with his six colleagues. Cakmakoglu said, "This project proves that Turkey is ready and willing to participate in big defence industry projects". /Aksam/[10] PARTNERS OF THE GOVERNMENT COALITION DISCUSS YOKAfter President Ahmet Necdet Sezer's veto on the rectors list of Higher Education Board (YOK), the partners of the government coalition also started to discuss YOK. Motherland Party (ANAP) prepared a proposal on limiting YOK's authorities. Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Istanbul deputy Bozkurt Yasar Ozturk stated that ANAP's proposal brought minor changes which were not enough and added that certain radical changes should be made about YOK. Both Ozturk and Democratic Leftist Party (DSP) Istanbul deputy Masum Turker argued that YOK should be turned into a coordination council. It is expected that when the TGNA opens, the discussions on YOK's restructuring will begin and different views on the issue among the coalition partners will lead to new debates. /Cumhuriyet/[11] VERHEUGEN: "TURKEY HAS NOT DONE HER HOMEWORK"The EU Commissioner Responsible for Enlargement Gunther Verheugen said that Turkey's EU full-membership was not a probability in the near future. Verheugen made a statement to German "Allgemeine Zeitung" and said that Turkey had overcome many bilateral issues with EU, however, there was no important changes in Turkey. Verheugen said, "There is no change especially in human rights issue." /Turkiye/[12] SCHOLARSHIP FOR SUCCESSFUL STUDENTSTurkey Education Foundation (TEV) which is one of the oldest education foundations of Turkey will pay a million dollars worth scholarship for the students it will send to foreign countries for education. The students who will start a graduate program in the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany or Denmark were introduced to the press yesterday. The authorities from the foundation said that they will continue to pay the scholarship as long as the students are successful. United Kingdom Istanbul Consul-general Peter Hunt stated that they are planning to increase the number of those receiving scholarships. /Hurriyet/[13] STATE SUPPORT TO SUCCESSFUL STUDENTSThe educations of the students who have extraordinary talents and great success in fine arts, science and technology will be financed by the state. According to the draft submitted to TGNA, the students who will receive state support in fine arts will be determined by the councils to be established by the Ministries of Culture and National Education and the ones successful in science and technology by the councils to be founded by TUBITAK and again National Education Ministry. /Hurriyet/[14] TURKISH STUDENTS' SUCCESS IN MATHEMATICSTurkish students, trained by TUBITAK, won three silver and one bronze medals and one mansion during the 41st International Mathematics Olympics which was held on July 13-25 in Taejon, South Korea. /Turkiye/[15] NEW ECONOMIC PACKAGE FOR IMFIt has been definitely understood that there will be deviation in the first year's objectives of the economic program which was carried out in coordination with the International Monetary Fund in Turkey. The Turkish Government is planning to implement a more strict economic program to reach the objectives on inflation, foreign trade and current deficit. According to the new economic package it is expected that the investments, salaries and the expenditures on education, infrastructure and health will be more restricted. The privatization of the State Economic Enterprises which means a decrease in the number of people working in state institutions is also in the package. According to Treasury Undersecretary Selcuk Demiralp's statement certain state institutions which suffered losses will be closed. /Cumhuriyet/[16] ONAL: WE WILL SELL THE BANKS IN THE FUND AS A PACKAGEMinister of State Recep Onal said that the banks under the protection of the Deposit Accounts Insurance Fund, whose structures resemble each other, would be united and then sold. Onal added that McKinsey Consulting firm has prepared a report on these banks. " We will discuss the report with the Undersecretariat of Treasury and Central Bank and put forward an offer to the Council of Ministers. There is an inclination to unite one or two banks with similar structures", said Onal. /Hurriyet/[17] LOAN FROM THE EUROPEAN COMMISSIONEuropean Commission decided to give a loan amounting to 450 million euros to Turkey in order to strengthen ties with the Customs Union. The loan offer will be presented to the approval of the European Parliament and of the European Council by the end of this year. This loan will replace the loan, which was suggested to be given, but not approved in 1995. /Milliyet/[18] US PREPARES LOAN FUND FOR NINE COUNTRIES INCLUDING TURKEYA loan fund amounting to 150 million US dollars was established by the cooperation of the US government and the international financer George Soros for nine Southeastern European countries, including Turkey. The money in the fund will be used in the investments in Turkey, Albania, Bosna-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Romania, Slovenia and Yugoslavia. It is expected that Turkey will be able to use 10 million US dollars of this amount. /Star/[19] EXPORT IN AUTOMOTIVE SECTOR GROWS FASTAccording to the research `500 BIG' prepared by Istanbul Chamber of Industry (ICO) Turkey's automotive sector made a fast attack in exports compared to the other sectors in 1999. While exports of other sectors fell by %1.7 in the year 1999, automotive industry increased its exports by %66 in the same year earning $1.629 billion. Oyak Renault is placed first with its $612.227 million in the category of automotive./Turkiye/[20] ERDEMIR COMPANY'S RECORD PROFIT: 63 TRILLION TLTurkey's fifth biggest industrial company, Erdemir, improved its situation this year and stated that its net profit was 63 trillion TL during the first half of the year 2000. The fact that the metal-steel industry experienced its golden age and that the investments were completed to a great extent caused Erdemir Company to achieve such a great success. /Sabah/[21] 1.9 MILLION DOLLARS ENTERED INTO TREASURYAdministration of Privatization Board sent (OIB) the profit of privatization amounting to 825 million US dollars to the Treasury. Thus, the amount sent to the Treasury since the beginning of this year reached 1 billion 888 million dollars. OIB issued a written statement and announced that it paid 694 million US dollars, which had to be paid in the third quarter of the year 2000 as part of the stand by agreement that was signed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), to the Treasury. It was added that OIB also paid 131 million US dollars of 580 million dollars, which was envisaged to be paid in the fourth quarter, to the Treasury. /Cumhuriyet/[22] DECLINE IN INTERESTSThe interest rates declined below 30 percent level for the first time since 24 January 1980, when new economic decisions were taken including export promoting measures. Ziraat Bank and Emlakbank lowered interest rates for deposit accounts to 28 percent. Other important Banks, such as Isbank and Akbank also lowered interest rates to 31 percent and 30 percent, respectively. The Treasury, on the other hand, sold bonds for 31.96 percent, the lowest cost for borrowing for 16 years. These are considered as positive signs for the improvement of the Turkish economy. /Hurriyet/[23] TRADE FAIR IN KENYA: MADE IN TURKEYNowadays, the capital city of Kenya, Nairobi, has become a headquarters of Turkish businessmen. The "Made in Turkey Fair" has been opened today and will last 7 weeks. During the fair, one production is exhibited every week. As Nairobi is visited by hundreds of businessmen, Turkey and Turkish products began to be talked about everywhere. Kenya, which has a population of 30 million is at the same time a passage to the COMESA which is known as the Union of Africa consisting of 22 countries. Total population of COMESA member countries is more than 300 millions. At the fair, food, chemicals, aotomotive, construction, furniture and textile productions are being presented./Turkiye/[24] NARROW ESCAPE IN THE BOSPHORUSWhile passing through the Bosphorus Strait, a failure in its engines caused a tanker, which was loaded with crude oil, to stop and it blocked the traffic for two hours. Since it had taken precautions by demanding a guiding captain and support of a tugboat no accident occured. The tanker named Iris Star sailing under the flag of Malta was carrying 136.000 ton crude oil from Russia to Greece. The engines of Iris Star broke down off Istinye and it was towed by a tug. In the meantime, the strait was closed to traffic for two hours. /Hurriyet/[25] KOMMAGENE TO BE FILMEDA film about the Kommagene Empire, which is one of the Anatolian civilizations, will be shot under the title of 'Nemrut; Throne of the Gods' and introduced to the world. The movie, which will be made with the support of the Ministry of Culture and with the contribution of the Turkish Is Bank and Istanbul Stock Exchanges (IMKB), will start in 20 August and continue for 20 days. The film will be marketed abroad via US. /Cumhuriyet/[26] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS[27] THE EUROPEAN UNION BY BULENT AKARCALI (MILLIYET)Istanbul deputy Bulent Akarcali comments on the views concerning Turkey's membership to the EU. A summary of his column is as follows:"We have worked hard and long, conducted negotiations, fought to have our views accepted and finally, in Helsinki achieved to have the decision we have dreamt of accepted. We were never so close to turning this dream into reality. However, instead of trying to find ways which would start full-membership negotiations we seem to impede our own progress. We asked to be a member of the EU, we tried hard for it, no one forced us to do so. We were aware of the EU criteria when we set out to be admitted into the EU. What I cannot understand today is that today certain circles are behaving as if they have seen these criteria for the first time in their lives and reacting to them. We have to know that this is no joking matter. Either Turkey takes the necessary steps until 2003 and becomes ready for full-membership or we shall never be a member of the EU. This is a calendar implemented by the EU on every country and we have to adhere to it. If not, there is no chance of seizing the opportunity we have missed in the future as the EU will not be enlarged any more. This is the last train to catch. We should not miss this train we have missed twice, once at the beginning of the 70s due to the understanding, 'they are partners, we are the market' and at the end of 70s as Erbakan did not let Demirel and the Justice Party to apply for full-membership. I believe that membership to the EU is in harmony with Mustafa Kemal's aims. Atatürk's ideals of reaching modern civilization, to uphold high standards and live accordingly can be found in full-membership to the EU. Adapting ourselves to the Copenhagen criteria will not provide any opportunity for separatists or fundamentalists. On the contrary, Turkey as a member of the EU, will be supported by the EU in the fight against these organizations if they still exist. The EU is democratic, respects human rights but is against fundamentalists, fascists and terrorists. What is more, as a full-member, Turkey will have the chance to express itself better and influence the decision-making mechanisms. In the 700 member EU Parliament Turkey will form the most dynamic group with 62 deputies. With the EU membership Turkey will realize its long-sought dreams. If Ataturk had been alive today, he would have put the membership as a goal in front of us." Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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