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Turkish Press Review, 00-09-27Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>27.09.00Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morningCONTENTS
[01] EU HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION DELEGATION VISITS IZMIR GOVERNOR YUKSEL AND EPHESUS[02] FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...[03] PRESIDENT SEZER VETOES THE GOVERNMENT DECREEPresident Ahmet Necdet Sezer vetoed the government decree concerning the privatization of three state banks. The decree with the power of law (KHK), concerning tax exemptions for transactions related to the state banks' restructuring and stock sales, was sent to Mr. Sezer last Wednesday and it was a precondition for World Bank financial sector adjustment loans (FSAL). It was reported that the President vetoed the KHK since issues concerning the `tax' can not be regulated through decrees with the power of law according to the Article 91 of the Constitution. In addition the President stated that bank shareholders are not authorized to issue regulations according to Article 124 of the Constitution. Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said, "We will take up the issue at the next meeting of the Council of Ministers." Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz stated that the KHK was a regulation which the government attached great importance and said, "Privatization of three state banks , which was also included in the letter of intention that we had given to IMF, is an important part of our economic program. We will discuss the issue in the following days." /Cumhuriyet/[04] TURKS MASSACRED BY ARMENIANSIt has been stated that in the archives of the Ottoman and General Staff Military and Historical Strategic Studies Archives (ATASE) there are ample evidence which show that the attacks of Armenian Dr.Hamparsun Boyaciyan and the militia at his command killed 500.000 Turks in 1916-1917. Historian Cezmi Yurtsever regarded the approval of the so-called Armenian genocide bill by the US House of Representatives' International Operations and Human Rights Committee as a 'distortion of history'. Yurtsever said, "In fact, Turkish people are the ones who were assassinated and this truth has been put forward by many historians. Armenians assassinated Turks not only in Eastern Anatolia, but throughout the whole of Anatolia." /Aksam/[05] CAKMAKOGLU'S STATEMENT ON THE SO-CALLED ARMENIAN GENOCIDE BILLMinister of National Defense Sabahattin Cakmakoglu stated that the allegations for the so-called Armenian genocide were totally groundless. Pointing out that there were no historical document or evidence to confirm the genocide allegations, Mr. Cakmakoglu said, "If the decision to accept the so-called Armenian genocide bill in the US House of Representatives is taken, then Turkey will clarify its policy over the issue. We will give the necessary response to such kind of attempts." Meanwhile, retired ambassador Omer Engin Lutem stated that since the US Administration was against the approval of the bill and tried to do its utmost to prevent it from being passed, Turkey should not put pressure on the US Congress, as it would lead to a misunderstanding. /Cumhuriyet/[06] FOURTH TOUR OF CYPRUS PROXIMITY TALKS ENDSThe fourth tour of Cyprus proximity talks ended in New York yesterday. President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Rauf Denktas will leave New York today. The fifth tour of Cyprus proximity talks will be held in Geneva probably in the second week of November but face-to-face meetings are not on the agenda again. Denktas evaluated the fourth round of Cyprus talks in New York and said, "The attitute of the TRNC is being understood better. These talks contributed to a better understanding of the situation of the TRNC by the United Nations (UN) Secretariat and other diplomatic sources. Thus, these two weeks were not spent in vain." Denktas also assessed the proposals that were presented to them during these meetings and said, "They are more complicated than the 1960 Constitution. We want a confederation with two States. The Greek-Cypriot side wants to place an international force on the island. We are not going to give up Turkey's guarantee." /Aksam/[07] EU HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION DELEGATION VISITS IZMIR GOVERNOR YUKSEL AND EPHESUSEuropean Union Human Rights Commission delegation visited Izmir Governor Alaaddin Yuksel. The General Directorate of Foreign Affairs of Public Security, office manager Cavit Aydin, said that there were 13 representatives in the delegation from Germany, England, France, Switzerland, Finland, Greece and Portugal. The delegation, which came to Izmir in order to develop relations between Turkey and the EU, also visited Ephesus and will visit Ankara, Istanbul, Van and Adana. /Turkish Daily News/[08] A NEW PERIOD WITH SYRIASyrian Minister of the Interior Mohammad Harba and the accompanying delegation, who arrived in Turkey yesterday as the official guest of the Turkish Minister of the Interior Sadettin Tantan, held contacts on issues regarding security that concern both countries. The Syrian Minister was welcomed by Tantan at Esenboga Airport, where Tantan said, "We will review the issues that concern both countries' Ministries of the Interior and the cooperation in security as a whole. I hope our struggle against narcotics trafficking, organized crime, terrorism, man smuggling and other issues will contribute to developing the relations between the two countries." Then Harba and the accompanying delegation met at the office of Tantan. After this meeting, the two Ministers were received by State Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Devlet Bahceli. The meeting was closed to the press. /Aksam/[09] MILITARY AGREEMENT BETWEEN TURKEY AND MALIAn agreement on military training, technical and scientific cooperation was signed between Mali and Turkey. Chief of the General Staff, General Huseyin Kivrikoglu, delivered a speech at the signing ceremony and said that this agreement, which aimed at developing relations between Mali and Turkey, would form a basis for future agreements. General Kivrikoglu added, "It is very pleasing to sign this agreement. I believe that this agreement will contribute to the improvement of the relations between the people of the two countries and the manintenance of peace in the world." Meanwhile, Chief of Mali's Armed Forces and former Minister of Warriors Doubeye Maiga said, "Although our countries may be far from each other geographically but they are close in terms of the common values." /Turkiye/[10] BAYKAL ANNOUNCES HIS CANDIDACYFormer Chairman of the Republican People's Party (CHP) Deniz Baykal announced yesterday his candidacy for the CHP Chairmanship. At a press conference organized in Istanbul, Baykal recalled that he had resigned from the leadership in the wake of the defeat of the CHP in the election on April 18, 1999. He said: "I have been far from politics for one and a half year. However, citizens and party members have called on me to be a candidate and to lead the CHP again." Mr. Baykal also emphasized that he had learned his lesson from the past and he will struggle with a new understanding. /Turkiye/[11] KUTAN DISAPPOINTED IN BRUSSELSChairman of Virtue Party (FP) Recai Kutan, who is currently in Brussels to discuss the Article 312 of the Constitution with the European officials, was disappointed since he did not receive the reactions that he expected. After meeting with the member of European Parliament Johannes Swoboda, Mr. Kutan stated that the Article 312 of the Turkish Constitution should be amended as a pre-condition for Turkey's full EU membership. In response, Mr. Swoboda said that since their priority for Turkey is the Copenhagen criteria, they were not interested in the issues concerning particular figures and details and said, "We want to Turkey to enter the EU as it is a secular country. We view fundamentalist actions as gravely dangerous." /Sabah/[12] MINISTER OF HEALTH DURMUS IN CROATIAMinister of Health Osman Durmus traveled to Croatia as an official guest of the Croatian Health Ministry in order to sign a health agreement between the two countries. /Turkish Daily News/[13] STATE MINISTER CAY IN KAZAKHSTANState Minister Abdulhaluk Cay traveled to Almati in Kazakhstan to attend to the International El Farabi Congress, organized by the Kazakhstan Philosophy Institute and sponsored by the Turkish Cooperation abd Development Agency. /Turkish Daily News/[14] KIVRIKOGLU TO LAY THE FOUNDATION OF NEW NAVAL COMMANDThe foundation of the Naval Command Headquarters in Yenikale, Izmir will be laid by Chief of the General Staff, General Huseyin Kivrikoglu today. In a statement issued by the General Staff's Secretary General of the Naval Forces, it was stated that within the framework of the change in the location of the Command after the earthquake, it was planned that the new Naval Command would be located in Yenikale, Izmir. /Turkiye/[15] TUSEV'S LETTER CONCERNING FEHRIYE ERDAL'S EXTRADITIONThe Turkish Third Sector Foundation (TUSEV) sent a letter to Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt stating that the Belgian government's stance concerning the extradition of Fehriye Erdal to Turkey caused uneasiness among the non-governmental organizations in Turkey. In the letter, it was stated that the attitude of the Belgian government would negatively affect the economic, commercial and cultural relations between Turkey and Belgium. /Cumhuriyet/[16] RE-ENACTMENT FOR KISLALI KILLINGRustu Aytufan, one of the suspects in the murder of journalist and intellectual Ahmet Taner Kislali, has carried out a re-enactment for police. Aytufan, who is a member of the terrorist organization, Al-Quds (Jerusalem) Warriors, was captured last Thursday. /Hurriyet/[17] KING MIDAS OPERATIONAs a result of the `King Midas Operation', 285 pieces of historical works worth TL 3 trillion were seized in 11 cities over the past four months. Four smugglers were detained in the operation carried out by gendarmerie forces. The historical works including statues and gold jewellery belonging to the Byzantine and Roman periods were given to Afyon Museum. /Star/[18] COMPULSORY EARTHQUAKE INSURANCEIn the wake of the quakes which hit Turkey last year, the "Compulsory Earthquake Insurance" is being put into action beginning from today. With this application, the Treasury is expected to collect more than one quadrillion TL. The Ministry of Public Works and Settlement has divided Turkey into five regions on the basis of Turkey's earthquake regions' map. Citizens will pay more insurance premium in the regions where the quake risk is higher. The insurance amount will be determined according to the type of the construction of the building and the flat's area. /Turkiye/[19] TANRIKULU'S STATEMENT ON DOMESTIC PRODUCTSMinister of Trade and Industry Ahmet Kenan Tanrikulu stated in the conference organized jointly by Istanbul Chamber of Industry and Ministry of Trade and Industry, entitled `Domestic Products and Quality Awareness in Consumption' that the domestic products should attain therir due place which they deserved in the national market and added that this could only be achieved by the high-quality commercials. Emphasizing that the way to overcome the competition among the companies and the countries is to increase the dynamics in the domestic market and to motivate the society, Mr. Tanrikulu said, "Turkish products are produced at a global quality level. Our aim is to create an industry which is capable of competing in the international arena." /Cumhuriyet/[20] CENTER OF SOUTHEAST EUROPEAN COOPERATION INITIATIVE OPENSThe Business Development Center of the Southeast European Cooperation Initiative (SECI) was opened yesterday in Istanbul. SECI was established to promote regional cooperation and stability among southeastern European states. The Chairman of the Executive Board of Koc Holding Rahmi Koc and Greek Businessman Costa Carras are the co-chairmen of the Advisory Board of the Association. SECI is known for its activities including the promotion of border trade and prevention of smuggling along the borders of the member countries Albania, Croatia, Hungary, Moldovo, Macedonia, Romania, Slovenia, Greece and Turkey. At the opening night, co-chairman Costa Carras said, "Turkey and Greece have become closer after the earthquakes, but our cooperation dates back to SECI, which is the most important cooperation initiative in this region. Our aim is to ensure the economic and political stability in the region." Mr. Carras added that they were working in harmony with Turkey. /Hurriyet/[21] ANNOUNCEMENT FOR TURKISH AIRLINES BIDDING IS IN NOVEMBERThe Head of the Privatization Administration Board (OIB) Ugur Bayar said that the announcement for the bidding of the block sale of the Turkish Airlines (THY) will be made in the first week of November. It was expected that 51 percent of the stocks will be transferred in the block sale. /Hurriyet/[22] WORLD BANK CREDITS INCREASEWorld Bank Europe and the Middle East Chief Economist Marcello Selowwsky said that they strongly supported the implementation of the stability program and the reforms. Mr. Selowwsky said, "The credits given so far are the proof for this. We doubled the credits given last year. We will increase the credits up to $5 billion in 2001. We will support Turkey until the end of the economic program and with the success of the program, Turkey will enter the group of countries which have a high rate of growth potential. Stressing on the difficulties for carrying out the reforms, Mr. Selowwsky said, "It is rather difficult to carry out reforms on social security and to decrease subsidy for agricultural products all around the world and Turkey has accomplished these reforms. Turkey gets only $1 billion from the total influx of foreign capital and this is too low when compared with other countries. Turkey has to overcome this difficulty. " /Sabah/[23] ENERGY SAVING PROGRAMMETurkey is preparing to take strict measures to save energy. A series of measures proposed by the Ministry of Energy will be put into implementaion on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2000 after its approval by the Council of Ministers at the meeting which will be held on Thursday. The programme planned to be applied between October 2000 and March 2001, envisages measures such as higher electricity prices for a consumption over 150 kwh in dwellings, restrictions on the street lighting and prohibition of the decoration illumination and a change in the working hours in the public institutions. /Turkiye/[24] RECEP ONAL: "TURKEY WILL ATTRACT INVESTMENTS"State Minister Recep Onal delivered a speech at the panel entitled "New Face of Turkey", which was organized within the framework of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank meetings, and said, "We will turn Turkey into a country which can be invested in. We expect a breakthrough in foreign investments in terms of energy, agriculture and industry." Meanwhile, Treasury Undersecretary Selcuk Demiralp also delivered a speech at the panel and said that Turkey would save 20 billion US dollars from the interest in the year 2001. /Aksam/[25] DARDANEL COMPANY TO BREED FISH WITH JAPANDardanel Company will breed tuna fish at the facilities that will be jointly established with the Japanese. In a statement issued by Dardanel Company, it was stated that as part of the agreement signed between the Japanese S and T Company and Dardanel Company, tuna fish will be bred for six months at the fish farm to be established in a convenient place in the Mediterranean. /Aksam/[26] LANGUAGE FESTIVALThe 68th anniversary of the "Language Festival" was celebrated yesterday. In the scope of the festival, headed by Prof. Olcay Onertoy, the members of the Association of Language visited the Ataturk's Mausoleum and laid a wreath. President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, the Speaker of the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TGNA) Yildirim Akbulut, Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, the True Path Party (DYP) leader Tansu Ciller and the Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Altan Oymen issued messages to mark the festival. Stressing that a language spoken in a country reflects its people's national identity and personality, President Sezer said: "With the Language Reform, Ataturk envisaged Turkish to be a language of culture upholding modern standards based on its own values. To overcome the difficulties in the Turkish language, every kind of support should be given and legal arrangements should be made when necessary." /Turkiye/[27] AWARD TO TURKISH JOURNALIST FROM GREEK PRESS"The Konstantinos Kalligas and European Orientation" award of the Greek Press will be presented to the correspondent of Hurriyet in Brussels, Zeynel Lule. Mr. Lule is the first Turkish journalist taking this award. Zeynel Lule was elected for this award by the Greek section of the Association of European Journalists. /Hurriyet/[28] FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...[29] KOCHARIAN IN MOSCOW BY YILMAZ OZTUNA (TURKIYE)Columnist Yilmaz Oztuna writes on Armenian President Robert Kocharian's visit to Moscow and the reason behind it. A summary of his column is as follows:"Dashnak party, is a terrorist committee formed by the Armenians with the encouragement of Russians in 1889. It was later supported by France and Britain. Its aim was to kill as much Turks and Kurds as possible and proclaim an autonomous Armenian State. The President of Armenian Republic Robert Kocharian is one of the leaders of the Dashnak party. The party which was closed in Armenia in 1994, was re-opened when Mr. Kocharian came to power. Mr. Kocharian is on a three-day visit to Russia. President Putin, who is said to be a modern day tsar, most probably encouraged him and his policies against Turks and Azerbaijanis. Is not this a deja vu of the incidents witnessed in 1890s, 1915, and 1920? What if a new version of it is brought before us in 2000? In the end, the Western countries will state that now is the time for peace and the Armenians have to reach an agreement with the Turks. How can a nation as intelligent, industrious, mastercraftsmen as Armenians who have lived together with the Turks for centuries believe these? Meanwhile the ruthless terrorism waged by Dashnak and Hunchak committees against their own kinsmen should not be forgotten. The bloodshed, a few months ago, during the raid on the parliamentary building in Yerevan is an example for this. What will Turkey do if the Armenian argument is accepted at the US House of Representatives before 15 October? It will most probably close the air corridor to Yerevan and Armenia will fall into the hands of Russia and Iran. If Iran increases its support to Armenia which occupies a quarter of the Azerbaijani territory, it will offend Azerbaijani citizens of Turkish origin. Iranians are intelligent people well-versed in history and they know what Turks do when they are greatly upset. Tomorrow, the US deputies will cast their votes in Washington. The next day, National Security Council will meet in Ankara to evaluate the results of the voting. We are certain that it will make correct assessments. We shall not damage our ties with the US in a manner pleasing to the Armenians. We shall not forget that the Armenian question is not as important as our main objective which is to enter the EU. However, we should be able to explain to everyone that we have not perpetrated a genocide but have been subjected to one." Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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