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Turkish Press Review, 00-10-09Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>09.10.00Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morningCONTENTS
[01] US AMBASSADOR PEARSON'S STATEMENT ON THE SO-CALLED ARMENIAN GENOCIDE BILL[02] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...[03] ECEVIT SENDS A MESSAGE OF DIALOGUE TO ATHENSPrime Minister Bulent Ecevit attended the reception of the Turco-Greek Second Media Conference organized by the Foundation of Media Council Solidarity and Development in Istanbul yesterday. At the reception, Mr. Ecevit said," The Aegean Sea has the most complex structure in the world. Time has come to find a fair solution to the problems regarding the Aegean issue. The differences and disputes between the two nations are artificial, and there is a natural friendship between the Turkish and Greek peoples. To solve our problems through dialogue will now be easier, since the nations support the efforts of both governments. Mr. Ecevit said that the problems regarding the continental shelf with Russia and Bulgaria had been solved through dialogue and the problem in the Aegean can also be solved in the same manner. /Milliyet/[04] FM CEM'S STATEMENT ON THE SO-CALLED ARMENIAN GENOCIDE BILLForeign Minister Ismail Cem stated that the allegations of the so-called Armenian genocide bill had stemmed from Armenia's identity crisis. Stating that the Armenians based their unity as a nation on their hostility against Turkey, Mr. Cem said, "The US Administration is trying to prevent these attempts since it did not desire to lose one of its closest allies." He added, "Turkey will react with commonsense." Pointing out that certain circles could also support the so-called genocide bill allegations in Europe since the fundamentalists were trying to accelerate such attempts, Mr. Cem said, "There is a different panorama in the US. Armenian circles are influential in the US and it is an election period now. However, the US Administration views its long-term interests in preventing the bill from being passed in the House of Representatives." Meanwhile, Mr. Cem also spoke on the EU, Uzbekistan, Yugoslavia and the Cyprus issues. Stating that Turkey had two major objectives for the first decade of 21st century, Mr. Cem said, "One is to enter the EU and the other is to become the center and powerful country of Eurasia." He added that Turkey was pleased with the advance of democracy in Yugoslavia. In addition, Mr. Cem said, "We are further developing our position concerning the Cyprus issue. The UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan supported us by saying that the political equality of both sides on the Cyprus island was the political end but not the means." /Cumhuriyet/[05] US AMBASSADOR PEARSON'S STATEMENT ON THE SO-CALLED ARMENIAN GENOCIDE BILLUS Ambassador to Turkey, Robert Pearson, stated that the US Administration was strongly against the so-called Armenian genocide bill and added that the Administration comprehended Turkey's sensitivity over the issue. Mr. Pearson claimed that all flights over the Iraqi territory should be first approved by the United Nations Committee formed to supervise the implementation of the sanctions imposed on Iraq. "Our partnership with Turkey is a strategic one and we want to maintain it.", Mr. Pearson added. /Turkish Daily News/[06] TURKEY CONCERNED OVER THE MIDDLE EASTTurkey actively participates in maintaining peace in the Middle East. Foreign Minister Ismail Cem met Israeli Acting Foreign Minister Schlomo Ben Ami yesterday. Later, Mr. Cem met Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit and Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Musa. The government recommended both parties not to lose calm and supported the idea of establishing an international commission which would investigate into the clashes. /Milliyet/[07] GUREL'S STATEMENT ON THE ACCESSION PARTNERSHIP DOCUMENTState Minister Sukru Sina Gurel returned from Spain where he attended the Foro Formentor Round Table Meeting. Mr. Gurel said, "We hope that there will not be any issues in the Accession Partnership Document that are not directly related to Turkey's full EU membership, since the presence of these issues in the document may be considered as a sign of a negative attitude, and the negotiations may be interrupted." Mr. Gurel said that Turkey aims to be a full EU member in order to reach international standards of development. /Aksam/[08] YILMAZ: "SPAIN SUPPORTS TURKEY IN EU"Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz met Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar in Spain and received full support for Turkey's full EU membership. Mr. Yilmaz praised Mr. Aznar in his contribution to the efforts of Turkey for the full EU membership. Mr. Yilmaz said that they searched for new ways to develop their relations with Spain. Mr. Yilmaz said that he explained the developments in privatization process in Turkey to Mr. Aznar who will invite Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit in February to Spain. Mr. Yilmaz said that there was at least one country supporting Turkey within the EU. /Aksam/[09] PHILIPPINE MINISTER VISITS TURKEYPhillipine Deputy Head of State and Minister for Social Welfare and Development Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and an accompanying delegation arrived in Ankara for an official visit. They visited Ataturk's Mausoleum, Anitkabir and the Anatolian Civilizations Museum. Ms. Arroya will meet Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit today. /Star/[10] CZECH PRESIDENT HAVEL TO VISIT TURKEYA press release by the Embassy of the Czech Republic announces that Czech President Vaclav Havel will be visiting Turkey as the guest of President Ahmet Necdet Sezer on Oct. 10-12. He will meet the President, the Prime Minister and prominent journalists as well as human rights activists, representatives of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and intellectuals. The press release notes that President Havel is a renowned author and human rights activist who was repeatedly jailed by the former totalitarian regime. He will also open the Turkish-Swiss Business Forum at the Swissotel and visit historical sites in Selcuk and Ephesus. /Turkish Daily News/[11] CAKMAKOGLU IN GREECENational Defence Minister Sabahattin Cakmakoglu left for Greece to participate in the Southeastern European Defence Ministers' Meeting which will be held in Thessaloniki today. Before his departure, Mr. Cakmakoglu said that after the meeting he would also attend NATO Defence Ministers' non-official meeting on Oct. 10-11 in Birmingham, Britain, where he would express Turkey's concern over the Armenian bill. /Turkiye/[12] COHEN: "TURCO-GREEK RAPPROCHEMENT STRENGTHENS NATO"The US Secretary of Defence William Cohen, in Greece for an official visit, held a joint press conference with his Greek counterpart Akis Cohacopulos. Replying to questions over Turco-Greek relations, Mr. Cohen said that the rapproachement between Turkey and Greece would strengthen the NATO and lead to a more secure region. He also praised Turkish and Greek Foreign Ministers, Ismail Cem and George Papandreou for their efforts for rapproachement. /Turkiye/[13] ELECTION OF THE TGNA SPEAKERThe Turkish Grand National Assembly (TGNA) will hold the first two rounds of voting on Thursday to elect its new Speaker. The applications for the Office of Speaker will end tomorrow. The only application up to now was made by Mail Buyukerman, an independent deputy from Eskisehir, the others are expected to announce their candidacy tomorrow. If none of the candidates obtain the two thirds of the votes, the third and fourth rounds of voting will be held on Oct. 17 and 18. /Turkiye/[14] STAR FISH 2000 NAVAL EXERCISES BEGINStar Fish 2000 naval exercise will be staged by the Turkish Naval Forces in the Black Sea and the Aegean Sea on Oct. 9-17. Turkish frigates, assault boats, submarines, planes affiliated with the Turkish Air Forces and a sea patrol plane from the Pakistani Naval Forces will participate in the manoeuvres. Two ships from the Turkish Naval Forces are expected to visit Georgia as part of the exercises. /Turkish Daily News/[15] CABINET RESOLUTION FOR SPLITTING T.E.A.S. INTO THREEThe Turkish Electiricity Generation and Transmission Corp. (TEAS) was splitted into three by a Cabinet Resolution. The Resolution, which foresees the tripartite organization of TEAS as Turkish Electricity Transmission Corp., the Turkish Electricity Generation Corp. and the Turkish Electricity Trading and Contracting Corp, was published in the Official Gazette yesterday and went into effect. According to the resolution, the transfer and establishment process will be completed within 60 days. /Cumhuriyet/[16] INDUSTRUAL PRODUCTION RATE INCREASES BY 17.1 %According to data announced by the State Institute of Statistics yesterday, Turkey's industrial production rate rose by 17.1 % in August 2000. In August, the manufacturing industry output soared by 19.8 % versus a 13.4 percent decline in the same month of last year. In addition, utilities output increased by 10.8 percent compared to a 0.3 percent fall last year. /Sabah/[17] THIRD GSM TO BECOME FUNCTIONALAfter Turkcell and Telsim, the Is-Tim, a consortium of Turkish Is Bank and Telecom Italia, which acquired the right of operation for the third GSM mobile phone, will become officially functional in the near future. The draft contract regarding the establishment of GSM 1800 mobile phone network and the right of operation for 25 years by the consortium, has been ratified by the Council of State and the Competition Board. After signing the final agreement by Oct. 17, the new GSM network is expected to begin operating in December. /Turkiye/[18] TURKISH TEXTILE IN PARISTurkish textile firms participated in the Texworld Fair organized in Paris. Representatives of the Turkish firms have stated that they secured important contacts at the first day of the fair and added that the demands for the Turkish textile products came especially from Germany, France, Britain, Netherlands, the US and Israel. /Sabah/[19] GAP FAIR 2000The third International GAP (Soultheastern Anatolia Project) Fair will be held between 13 and 17 October 2000 in Sanlyurfa. More than 200 firms from inside and outside the country will participate in the fair. Turkish and foreign investors will come together and observe the potential in the region. In the GAP Fair 2000 which is the greatest exhibition in Anatolia, the aim is to channel the 10 billion dollar-investment to the region by 2010. Scientific, social and artistic activities will take place in the Fair. /Star/[20] TURKISH PARADE IN SYDNEYA Turkish Parade was held in Sydney, Australia within the framework of the traditional Turkish Day Festival. A military band took part in the parade which was an important opportunity to promote Turkey in Sydney where the number of tourists was relatively high due to the Olympics 2000. After the concert in which Turkish musicians participated, Turkish handicrafts were demonstrated. /Sabah/[21] NEW YORK TIMES COVERS TURKEY'S HISTORICAL HERITAGEThe New York Times included Turkey and its historical beauties in a touristic guide supplement. The New York Times gave wide coverage especially to Istanbul's historical and touristic beauties. In two separate articles entitled "Two Continents in Three Days" and "Hidden Empire in Turkey", the Times gave travel tips to its readers. Among the recommended sites to visit were: Dolmabahce and Topkapi Palaces, Hagia Sophia Museum, Sultan Ahmet and Suleymaniye Mosques, Yerebatan Palace, the Covered Bazaar, Galata Tower and Rustem Pasha Mosque. /Star/[22] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...[23] IS IT THE TURN OF THE CAUCASUS? BY FERAI TINC (HURRIYET)Columnist Ferai Tinc writes on the developments in the Caucasus, following the revolution in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. A summary of her column is as follows:"Retired Ambassador Ozdem Sanberk is now carrying the tradition of think-tank meetings to TESEV which he chairs. Following the meeting held on the Caucasus last week an interesting picture has emerged. In the year 2000 when the crisis in Yugoslavia began to be solved, the Caucasus has entered an active period. With the disintegration of Yugoslavia, the US is strengthening its presence in the Balkans. After Milosevic's withdrawal from the presidency, Washington in a statement said that the US military presence in the region would be continued. The US is becoming dominant as a problem solver in the 21st century. In order to fulfil this role, it creates a problem if necessary. During the post-Soviet era the reins of power are controlled by Washington. While the Middle East is vacillating between fire and cease-fire, the turn has now come to the Caucasus. It would not be correct to tie the genocide claims of the Armenian lobby only to the approaching US elections. There have been initiatives during former election campaigns but none of them had been this insistent. The advance of this claim moving step by step in the US Congress gives the first signals of a turbulence in the Caucasus. The persistence of the Armenian lobby, strengthens the 'Greater Armenia' dreams mentioned in the first declaration of independence prepared after its secession from the Soviet Union and carries the risks of leading Armenia into a situation fanning regional conflicts. Today no one is talking about the fact that 20% of the Azerbaijani territory is under Armenian occupation. No one is taking into consideration the social results of the dreams and hatred of more than a million people waiting to return to their lands. Lately Yerevan has turned its eyes on Cevahiti region in Georgia. Tbilisi is restless and Georgians believe that Armenia is creating problems in the region and that the Caucasus is the victim of Greater Armenia dreams. The allegations of genocide led by the Armenian lobby are fostering another point of conflict, that is the 'Western Armenia' mentioned in the declaration of independece of the State and trying to draw Turkey into the turbulence area in the Caucasus. The Armenian problem is being pumped by the Armenian lobby under the control of the US. Does the US want unrest in the Caucasus? Is an atmosphere of conflict is being created to strengthen the American supervision in the energy corridor of the 21st century? The reasoning of the Congress is far from convincing and these questions come to mind as the closeness of the relations between the US Administration and lobbies are apparent. It is worth considering that Washington, which punishes Iraq and Yugoslavia because of their belligerence, can see the demands of Armenia as mere lobby activities and does not issue them the necessary signals. The security in the Caucasus can be achieved not through interventions based on conflict but relations of friendship, good-neighbourliness and cooperation. We have to explain this fact to Washington, Brussels and even Yerevan. Those living in the Balkans are the living witnesses of the fact that only the people suffer from fights over lands and hatred fanned among them. There is no need to repeat the same experience in the Caucasus." Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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