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Turkish Press Review, 00-08-23
From: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>
23.08.00
Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning
CONTENTS
[01] KHK GOES TO PARLIAMENT
[02] ELCIBEY DIES
[03] NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL CONVENES
[04] TURKISH AND IRANIAN OFFICIALS ON SECURITY
[05] CEM MEETS WITH ARAFAT
[06] IRAQ CONDEMNS TURKEY
[07] EARTHQUAKE IN ANKARA
[08] TALAY IN DIYARBAKIR
[09] OECD SEES GOOD PROGRESS IN ECONOMY
[10] ERCEL: "TURKEY'S CREDIT WILL INCREASE IN SEPTEMBER"
[11] COTTARELLI PRAISES ECONOMIC STABILITY PROGRAM
[12] TURKEY PREPARES FOR THE EUROPEAN QUALITY AWARD
[13] INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY FAIR IN ISTANBUL
[01] KHK GOES TO PARLIAMENT
After President Ahmet Necdet Sezer's second refusal to sign the
decree with the power of law (KHK) concerning the dismissal of
the civil servants who are allegedly involved in reactionary and
separatist actions, the leaders of the coalition partners met
yesterday to find a solution to the crisis. The coalition
partners have agreed to submit the KHK to the Parliament in an
effort to pass it as a law and also decided to discuss the issue
at the Council of Ministers. After the meeting the coalition
leaders issued a written statement. "Council of Ministers will
try to bring the KHK into the parliament's agenda as soon as
possible. The leaders of the coalition partners believe that the
President's veto is a violation of the Constitution,"said the
statement.
[02] ELCIBEY DIES
Ebulfez Elcibey, Azerbaijan's first democratically elected
President following its independence in 1991, passed away
yesterday at the Gulhane Military Medical Hospital at the age of
62. For the last two months Elcibey had been undergoing treatment
in Ankara for prostate cancer. His death has led to deep sorrow
in Azerbaijan and Turkey. Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, Deputy
Prime Minister Devlet Bahceli and other high-level officials
issued messages expressing their sorrow. Elcibey's body was
transported to Azerbaijan by a Turkish Air Force plane following
a state ceremony at the Ankara Esenboga Airport. Deputy Prime
Minister Devlet Bahceli, Minister of Defence Sabahattin
Cakmakoglu, Minister of Transportation Enis Oksuz, Ministers of
State Abdulhaluk Cay, Ramazan Mirzaoglu, Edip Safter Gaydali and
Hasan Gemici represented Turkey at the ceremony. Ministers Oksuz,
Cay, Gemici and Gaydali flew to Azerbaijan by the same plane in
order to attend Elcibey's funeral to be held in Baku today.
[03] NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL CONVENES
The National Security Council (MGK) to be presided over by
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, will meet today at 9:30 in Cankaya
Palace. Although it is not included in the formal agenda, the
controversial decree over the civil servants is also expected to
be discussed at the meeting. The issues such as various
operations carried out by security forces and latest developments
in Cyprus will be taken up during the meeting.
[04] TURKISH AND IRANIAN OFFICIALS ON SECURITY
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Muhsin Eminzade met with Foreign
Ministry Undersecretary Ambassador Faruk Logoglu yesterday.
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Foreign Minister Ismail Cem
received Mr. Eminzade as well. The Iranian official presented a
letter to Mr. Sezer from Iranian President Muhammad Khatami. Mr.
Eminzade came to Turkey at Logoglu's invitation to hold political
consultations between the two countries. Topics of bilateral
relations including political, economic and security issues which
cause problems between Turkey and Iran were discussed. It is
reported that during the meetings, Turkey and Iran reached to a
mutual understanding on making a military cooperation in fighting
with terrorist activities. During the meetings, Turkey and Iran
have decided to strengthen the common cooperation mechanisms
because they said the security problems led also to economic and
political problems between the two countries. It was agreed upon
that the military forces of the two countries will cooperate on
the security issues. Meanwhile, it was reported the Presidents of
the two countries are expected to meet in the United Nations
General Assembly meeting in New York in September and Foreign
Ministers Ismail Cem is expected to visit Tehran in the following
months.
[05] CEM MEETS WITH ARAFAT
Foreign Minister Ismail Cem left for Palestine today to hold
talks with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat on the Middle East
peace process. Mr. Cem will meet Mr. Arafat in Gazze today to
convey his views on the latest developments in the peace process.
Turkey tries to help Israel and Palestine in overcoming the
crisis between the two countries. Diplomatic sources said Mr.
Cem's visit should not be interpreted as an effort to mediate
between Israel and Palestine. "Turkey is trying to contribute to
the peace and stability in the Middle East," said the sources.
[06] IRAQ CONDEMNS TURKEY
Iraq on Monday strongly condemned what it called the latest
agression by Turkey on its territory and threatened to retaliate.
The official Iraqi News Agency quoted a Foreign Ministry
spokesman as saying, "Iraq condemns the agression and violations
carried out by Turkish forces and reserves the right to determine
the time and means to respond to this act of agression." The
spokesman claimed that latest agression took place on Aug. 15
"causing the killing of 40 and injuring tens more." On Friday the
Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement that an operation
against PKK terrorists had taken place on Aug. 15 and that all
the necessary precautions had been taken to ensure that no
civilians were harmed. The statement said that Turkey was
investigating the allegations about the death of civilians.
[07] EARTHQUAKE IN ANKARA
An earthquake measuring 4.3 on the Richter scale struck Turkey
near the capital Ankara yesterday, the Kandilli Observatory
Center said. The quake's epicenter was near the town of Beypazari
100 kilometres west of Ankara. Local officials said there was no
damage to buildings and no injurires reported.
[08] TALAY IN DIYARBAKIR
Minister of Culture Istemihan Talay went to Diyarbakir to inspect
the excavations that are being carried out in the regions which
will be inundated under the Ilisu Dam and Karkamis Dam. Mr. Talay
said: "State Hydraulic Works extended financial support for the
excavations in the framework of the 'Rescuing the Cultural Assets
in the Southeastern Anatolia Region' project."
[09] OECD SEES GOOD PROGRESS IN ECONOMY
Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD)
Turkey bureau chief Alexandre Iwanchuk Bibee said that the
disinflation program was creating many changes in the Turkish
economy. Bibee said, "The OECD is following developments in the
Turkish economy closely and an OECD report on Turkey will be
published in November. All sectors bear a common responsibility
to get rid of high inflation. We have observed very hopeful
developments in the Turkish economy." He said that in his latest
visit to Turkey he got the impression from his talks with labor
and employers' unions that they are ready to do what they should
in order to reduce inflation in a coordinated effort with other
sectors in society.
[10] ERCEL: "TURKEY'S CREDIT WILL INCREASE IN SEPTEMBER"
At a meeting of Turkish and American investors, bankers and
businessmen held in New York yesterday, Central Bank Governor
Gazi Ercel evaluated the IMF stand-by greement in terms of a
period of seven months. Ercel said, "Turkey does not deserve a
single 'B' as a rating. Standards and Poor Company officials will
come to Turkey in September and make new evaluations. Our rating
will increase. We are not in a hurry to remove zeros from the
Turkish lira but we are determined to do so. First of all, the
inflation rate should go down sufficiently and then the necessary
laws should be enacted in the Turkish Grand National Assembly.
Turkey will tightly link its currency, the lira, to the euro in
the future." The Turkish lira is presently indexed to a foreign
currency basket of 1 US dollar and 0.77 euro.
[11] COTTARELLI PRAISES ECONOMIC STABILITY PROGRAM
IMF Chief of Turkey Desk Carlo Cottarelli said that despite the
increase in oil prices, Turkey had managed to keep the inflation
at a lower point in the last six months. Attending the conference
given by Turkish Central Bank Governor Gazi Ercel in New York
Plaza Hotel, Mr. Cottarelli answered the questions of reporters.
Mr. Cottarelli said: "Public borrowings decreased at a drastic
level and economic program is being carried out within the
framework of set targets. Current rate of inflation declined to
the lowest level for the last 16 years."
[12] TURKEY PREPARES FOR THE EUROPEAN QUALITY AWARD
Chairman of the Executive Board of Quality Organization (KalDer)
Dr. Yilmaz Arguden said: "The European Foundation for Quality
Management (EFQM) Forum 2000, which will be held in Istanbul on
27-28 September this year, will be the biggest one in the last
ten years. More than 1,500 guests will participate in the forum
and this will play a very important role in terms of uniting
Turkey with the whole world. EFQM Forum 2000 will provide the
Europeans with the opportunity of understanding Turkey in a
better way." During the forum the European Quality Awards will be
distributed.
[13] INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY FAIR IN ISTANBUL
"Information 2000- A CEBIT Event" the biggest information
technology fair in Turkey will begin on September 6, 2000.
Companies from the United States, Singapour and Germany will
participate in the fair. Office Technologies, Home Information
and Communication Technologies will be exhibited in the fair.
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