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Turkish Press Review, 01-05-03
From: Turkish Directorate General of Press and Information <http://www.byegm.gov.tr>
Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning
03.05.2001
CONTENTS
[01] PRIME MINISTER ECEVIT IN SPAIN
[02] CEM TO VISIT SWEDEN FOR EU TALKS
[03] DERVIS: "GERMAN BUSINESSMEN ARE PLEASED WITH THE ECONOMIC PROGRAM"
[04] DENKTAS: "VERHEUGEN'S STATEMENT CONTROVERSIAL"
[05] GREECE REAFFIRMS IT WILL BLOCK EU EXPANSION IF GREEK CYPRUS EXCLUDED
[06] TANTAN TO VISIT IRAN
[07] CILLER TO GO TO THE US
[08] TURKEY SUPPORTS MISSILE DEFENSE SYSTEM
[09] IMF FOREIGN AFFAIRS DIRECTOR DAWSON: "REFORMS IN TURKEY HAVE
ACCELERATED"
[10] "LEVEL OF SOCIAL STANDARDS SHOULD BE INCREASED"
[11] NUCLEAR KNOW-HOW, FROM UKRAINE TO TURKEY
[12] POLISH-TURKISH INTERPARLIAMENTARY FRIENDSHIP GROUP VISITS TURKEY
[13] KINZER'S ARTICLE ON TURKEY
[14] COOPERATION BETWEEN FRANCE AND ARMENIA DURING THE WORLD WAR I
[15] PARLIAMENT APPROVES LAWYERS BILL
[16] SYRIAN GENERAL ADNAN BEDR AL-HASSAN TO VISIT ANKARA
[17] FEHRIYE ERDAL ON COURT TODAY
[18] LIMITATION OF THE POLITICAL IMMUNITY
[19] KIEKENS:"GLOBAL ECONOMY WILL BENEFIT FROM CREDIT EXTENDED TO TURKEY"
[20] NATURAL GAS MARKET LAW ENACTED
[21] GOLDEN SHARE FOR SECURITY
[22] FOREIGNERS RETURN TO IMKB
[23] EXIMBANK LOANS
[24] NEW TENDER BILL IS READY
[25] GERMAN MAN COMPANY TO INCREASE ITS INVESTMENTS IN TURKEY
[26] AIZANOI ANCIENT CITY TO DRAW IN TOURISTS
[27] PAINTERS OF FOUR COUNTRIES TO MEET
[28] WIND OF FESTIVAL IN ANKARA
[29] CHECHEN PANEL AT BILKENT UNIVERSITY
[30] TURKISH MUSICIANS RECEIVE AWARDS
[31] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...
[32] FREEDOM OF THE PRESS BY OKTAY EKSI (HURRIYET)
[01] PRIME MINISTER ECEVIT IN SPAIN
Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit is traveling to Spain today as the
official guest of his Spanish counterpart Jose Maria Aznar. On Ecevit's
agenda will be Turkey's accession process to the EU, reforms in human
rights and democracy and bilateral economic relations with Spain. It
was stated Spain, who allows education and publication in different
languages, is expected to convey her proposals and expectations on the
issue of minorities' "right to use their own mother tongue in education
and publications" to Turkey. Ecevit, who will visit Spain with a
delegation consisting of Foreign Minister Ismail Cem and top-level
economy bureaucrats, will request support for the new economic program.
He will also invite Spanish investors to Turkey. Meanwhile, economy
bureaucrats will inform Spanish officials about the economic program
and new opportunities for foreign investors at the Turkey-Spain
Business Council meetings. Ecevit will meet Aznar today and will be
received by Spanish King Juan Carlos. /Cumhuriyet/
[02] CEM TO VISIT SWEDEN FOR EU TALKS
Foreign Minister Ismail Cem will visit Sweden to be present at the
working lunch of the informal meeting of the European Union Foreign
Ministers to be held on May 5-6. Foreign Ministry sources said on
Wednesday that Cem will go to the city of Nykoping in Sweden at the
invitation of Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh, the current
term-president of the EU. At the meeting, which is to hold debates over
the future of Europe at the level of foreign ministers, the foreign
ministers of member and candidate states are to present their views
according to the realities of their states. Foreign Minister Ismail Cem
will present his views at the working lunch of the informal meeting.
/Turkish Daily News/
[03] DERVIS: "GERMAN BUSINESSMEN ARE PLEASED WITH THE ECONOMIC PROGRAM"
State Minister for the Economy, Kemal Dervis, said he is hopeful that
foreign private financial institutions will support Turkey, but
everybody wonders whether there is a political support behind the
economic program. Dervis said, "The interest rates are declining. The
current condition is not satisfactory, but we aim to decrease the
inflation to single digit figures in 2003 and remove all kinds of
depression in Turkey. It is of great importance that both internal and
foreign investors be active in Turkey and create employment. The
biggest problem in Turkey is unemployment." Responding to a reporter
asking how do the German businessmen view the economic program, Dervis
said, "Everybody is happy with the program. I am also happy that a
definite amount of financial assistance will be given by an official
institution(IMF)and this will ease the markets. Private sector always
wants to get profit. We expect foreign investors to come into both
financial area and real sector. But, everybody asks whether the
program will be implemented on time and properly. We try to assure them
that the program will be implemented successfully." /Milliyet/
[04] DENKTAS: "VERHEUGEN'S STATEMENT CONTROVERSIAL"
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Rauf Denktas said
EU Commissioner responsible for Enlargement, Gunther Verheugen's speech
stating while the UN was responsible for the current situation on
Cyprus, EU's responsibility was to carry Cyprus to full EU membership
was a great contradiction. Denktas said the path towards the EU meant
the colonization of Turkish Cypriots by the Greeks. /Cumhuriyet/
[05] GREECE REAFFIRMS IT WILL BLOCK EU EXPANSION IF GREEK CYPRUS
EXCLUDED
Greece reaffirmed yesterday it will veto the expansion of the European
Union if the Greek Cypriot administration is excluded, a stand that
could put Greece at odds with EU partners wary of accepting the divided
island. "This is the steady Greek stand," Greek President Costis
Stephanopoulos said the following meetings with the visiting Greek
Cypriot leader Glafcos Clerides. Turkey does not approve Greek Cyprus'
EU membership before the Cyprus issue is resolved. /Turkish News/
[06] TANTAN TO VISIT IRAN
The Minister of the Interior, Sadettin Tantan's visit to Iran, which
kept on being postponed due to the operations against the terrorist
Hizbullah organization, which will take place next week. Tantan will
maintain contacts concerning the organized crime and his visit will
last for four days. /Sabah/
[07] CILLER TO GO TO THE US
True Path Party (DYP) leader Tansu Ciller will visit Washington and New
York on 7-9 May. She is expected to arrive in Washington on 7 May and
will make a speech at the Washington Institute. /Sabah/
[08] TURKEY SUPPORTS MISSILE DEFENSE SYSTEM
Representatives of the US President George W. Bush will start a tour to
European and Asian countries including Turkey to brief about a new
missile defense system which is planned to be established by the US.
The US Deputy Secretary State, Richard Armitage, National Security
Deputy Advisor, Stephen Hadley, and Deputy Secretary of Defense, Paul
Wolfowitz, will visit the countries including Turkey, Japan, South
Korea, China, Singapore, Australia, India, Britain, France, Germany,
Denmark, Poland, the Netherlands, Canada and NATO Headquarters in
Brussels to explain the US views on the new missile defense system and
ask support for it. /Turkiye/
[09] IMF FOREIGN AFFAIRS DIRECTOR DAWSON: "REFORMS IN TURKEY HAVE
ACCELERATED"
IMF Foreign Affairs Director Tom Dawson sent a letter to the US daily
The Washington Times in a reply to a criticism naming the IMF
(International Monetary Fund) as "International Misery Fund". Dawson
said IMF programs were approved by an international society including
US President George Bush himself. Emphasizing many countries in Asia,
Latin America and Europe benefited greatly from their cooperation with
the IMF, Dawson said the success of the economic program in a country
was totally dependent on the determination of that country. Stating
reforms in Turkey did not slow down as the Washington Times argued,
Dawson said, "On the contrary, reforms have accelerated as in the case
of the restructuring of the banking sector." He added President Bush
supported Turkey's efforts to overcome the crisis. /Cumhuriyet/
[10] "LEVEL OF SOCIAL STANDARDS SHOULD BE INCREASED"
The Turkey-Europe Foundation sent messages of congratulations to the
associations constituting Labor Platform on the May 1 Labor Day. The
Foundation said social conditions and democratic structure in the EU
countries must be a target for Turkey. Emphasizing the minimum social
standards foreseen by the EU are very important, the Foundation argued
the improvement of Turkish people's social standards depends upon
developing the organizations on the issue at a global level. "The
principles of Maastricht Treaty institutionalizing the social dialogue
culture in Europe should be implemented by the parties of social life
and the government in Turkey. Improving social standards of the labor
is very important for an advanced democracy and is also a guarantee for
social peace." said the statement by the Turkey-Europe Foundation.
/Cumhuriyet/
[11] NUCLEAR KNOW-HOW, FROM UKRAINE TO TURKEY
Turkey and Ukraine signed an agreement which foresees cooperation
between the two countries on early warning systems for nuclear
incidents, and know-how transfer for nuclear power plants. According to
the agreement, which was published on the Official Gazette yesterday,
each country will immediately warn the other in the event of a nuclear
incident. In addition, should Turkey or Ukraine find that levels of
radioactivity within their countries is higher than average, they will
inform each other according to the agreement. /Turkish News/
[12] POLISH-TURKISH INTERPARLIAMENTARY FRIENDSHIP GROUP VISITS TURKEY
Polish-Turkish Interparliamentary Friendship Group President Tadeusz
Iwinski and the Polish delegation arrived in Ankara yesterday, and in
the evening a reception was held at the Polish Embassy for them.
Iwinski will meet Bekir Ongun, his Turkish counterpart, at the Turkish
Parliament building today, after which he will have a meeting with
Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Kamran Inan. Later in the day,
Iwinski and his group are scheduled to visit the Anatolian
Civilizations Museum in Ankara. He will hold another important meeting
during the day with the chairman of the Polish-Turkish Joint
Commission, State Minister Hasan Gemici. In the evening, the group will
be on route to Nevsehir to visit ancient cities. Iwinski and other
members of the Polish-Turkish Interparliamentary Friendship Group will
arrive in Istanbul and depart for Poland on Saturday evening. /Turkish
Daily News/
[13] KINZER'S ARTICLE ON TURKEY
Completing his term of duty, 'The New York Times' correspondent in
Turkey, Stephen Kinzer, has gone back to the US. However, the
successful writer cannot break his ties with Turkey. Kinzer, who is
currently writing for the culture and art department of the journal,
wrote an article titled 'Turkey's Art and Culture Kaleidoscope',
including Turkey's richness of historical artifacts. The article
wrote, "During the time I spent in Turkey, people kept on asking my
opinion about the museums to be visited. I had an answer for this
question, that is, a list of the collections to be visited as an
introduction. However, I have experienced some difficulties while
making suggestions. Because Turkey itself is a museum. No country in
the world has hosted such a variety of civilizations during such
periods of time." /Sabah/
[14] COOPERATION BETWEEN FRANCE AND ARMENIA DURING THE WORLD WAR I
It was uncovered that France had been in cooperation with the Armenians
during the World War I. The facts were proven by documents showing that
France provided military training to the Armenians against Turks during
the military maneuvers in Egypt, Syria, Cyprus, Iskenderun and Adana
during the World War I. The documents in the archives of the times
prove how France used the Armenians, who lived as the Ottoman citizens,
against Turks. /Turkiye/
[15] PARLIAMENT APPROVES LAWYERS BILL
Parliament in its plenary session has approved the first two chapters
of the Lawyers Bill, which will bring radical reforms to the
profession, the Anatolia news agency reported yesterday. The bill
requires that prospective lawyers complete an internship and then pass
an exam in order to be lawyers and that these exams are to be conducted
by the Student Selection and Placement Center (OSYM). Only lawyers
starting their internships after the law goes into effect will have to
take the exam. The exam will be held twice a year and should the
applicant fail six exams she_he will not be allowed to apply again.
Loans will be given to interns by the Union of Turkish Bar Associations
(TBB). /Turkish Daily News/
[16] SYRIAN GENERAL ADNAN BEDR AL-HASSAN TO VISIT ANKARA
As a follow-up to the ongoing talks between Turkish and Syrian military
officials, Syrian General Adnan Bedr Al-Hassan will visit Ankara in
June for talks with his Turkish counterpart Gendarmerie Forces
Commander Aytac Yalman, diplomatic sources told the Turkish Daily News.
Yalman and Bedr Al-Hassan will debate within the context and as a
follow-up to the Adana agreement, which was signed between the two
officials in 1998. The agreement paved the way for the opening of a new
page in relations between the two countries, after the PKK leader
Abdullah Ocalan left Damascus. /Turkish Daily News/ IMF DIRECTORS
MEETING ON MAY 8 The IMF executive directors will evaluate Turkey's
letter of intent on May 8. The $8 billion loan which will be extended
by the IMF is expected to be approved at that date. The letter of
intent includes performance criteria, such as net internal assets and
budget. The IMF directors meeting may be postponed if the Banking Law
and the Law on Privatization of Turk Telekom are not ratified until May
8. /Milliyet/
[17] FEHRIYE ERDAL ON COURT TODAY
One of the assassins in the Ozdemir Sabanci murder, terrorist Fehriye
Erdal, will be on court today in Brussels for the second hearing of a
case appealed by the Sabanci family demanding her trial for her crimes
committed in Turkey. The Belgian government insists on her trial for
her crimes committed in Belgium such as carrying weapon, joining the
activities of an criminal organization and bearing a false identity
card, not for the crimes committed in Turkey. /Turkiye/
[18] LIMITATION OF THE POLITICAL IMMUNITY
Supports came from other parties for Nationalist Action Party leader
(MHP) and Deputy Prime Minister Devlet Bahceli's declarations on the
"necessity for the limitation of deputies' immunity." In their
statements, Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, Deputy Prime Minister and the
Motherland Party (ANAP) leader Mesut Yilmaz, Virtue Party (FP) leader,
Recai Kutan, and True Path Party (DYP) leader, Tansu Ciller, all
expressed their desires for the restriction of the deputies' immunity.
/Turkiye/
[19] KIEKENS:"GLOBAL ECONOMY WILL BENEFIT FROM CREDIT EXTENDED TO
TURKEY"
The IMF Belgium Representative, Willy Kiekens, said the global economy
will benefit from the support given to Turkey. Speaking to the Belgian
newspaper "La Libre Belgique", Kiekens said, "$10 billion credit that
we decided to extend to Turkey last week will be added to the $10
billion credit that was previously given. This the highest amount that
the IMF has extended to a country following the case in Korea." Kiekens
said this credit will be useful for the balance of the global economy.
/Milliyet/
[20] NATURAL GAS MARKET LAW ENACTED
The Natural Gas Market Law, one of the 15 reform laws of the
government, was enacted yesterday and went into effect after its
promulgation on the Official Gazette. Accordingly, an Energy Marketing
Regulation Institution will be formed, municipalities can cooperate
with distribution firms and firms which violate the law will have to
pay a fine of TL 500 billion. /Turkiye/
[21] GOLDEN SHARE FOR SECURITY
State Minister Kemal Dervis had a phone call with Second Chief of the
General Staff, Gen.Yasar Buyukanit regarding the "security" reservation
of the Office of the General Staff on the privatization of Telekom.
After the talk, Dervis said, "The problem is not that big and can be
solved by retaining the golden share of Telekom to the state. With
holding the golden share, Turkey's all kinds of security concerns can
be eliminated. Privatization, if implemented in an honest manner and
taking into account the transparency principle, will strengthen the
economic position of Turkey." /Milliyet/
[22] FOREIGNERS RETURN TO IMKB
Chairman of the Istanbul Stock Exchange (IMKB), Osman Birsen said,
"Foreigners' share in the IMKB rose to 37%-38% in the last ten days."
Stressing that foreign investors were in the IMKB even in the worst
days, Birsen said, "The IMKB is an inexpensive stock exchange. Due to
the losses in index and devaluation, it becomes cheaper in foreign
currency. This is an opportunity not to be missed." /Turkiye/
[23] EXIMBANK LOANS
According to the US economic sources, the US, Japan and Germany will
grant Eximbank loans to Turkey this year under very convenient
conditions to be used in financing Turkey's foreign trade. Reportedly,
the total amount of loan will be over $2 billion. Meanwhile, this
year, Turkey's exports are expected to go beyond the level of $30
billion. /Turkiye/
[24] NEW TENDER BILL IS READY
The "Construction 2001 Istanbul Fair" was opened by Minister of Public
Works and Housing, Koray Aydin, yesterday. Replying to a question posed
by a journalist regarding the new tender bill, Minister Aydin said,
"Preparation of the bill is completed. We will convey it to the EU
Secretariat General to be examined by the EU and then we will present
it to the Parliament. Everybody agreed on the bill and I expect it
will pass through the Parliament rapidly." /Turkiye/ 17% INCREASE IN
EXPORTS Exports in April increased by 17% compared to the same month
last year. In four months, the exports increased by 11.8%. /Milliyet/
93% INCREASE IN AUTOMOTIVE EXPORTS The automotive exports increased by
93% in April compared to the same month last year. Tofas and Oyak
Renault export almost all of their production. In four months,
automobiles worth $350.9 million were exported. /Milliyet/
[25] GERMAN MAN COMPANY TO INCREASE ITS INVESTMENTS IN TURKEY
The German MAN Company decided to enlarge its factory in Ankara. MAN
Company's second biggest investment is in Turkey following Germany. The
Company now produces 500 buses in the facilities in Turkey and this
number is expected to reach 2,000 with the new investments. Group
Director of MANAS Marketing, Tuncay Bekiroglu, said, "All sorts of
instability and economic crisis cause a question mark but the Germans
think that Turkey can overcome these problems immediately. We predict
that the situation of the business world will be better during the last
quarter of the year. However, the conditions are harder when compared
to those in 1994. If the determination in the economic program
continues and the political stability is maintained, then the year 2002
will be much better." /Sabah/ 1 MILLION TOURISTS IN ANTALYA The amount
of tourists to visit Antalya is expected to reach 1 million by the end
of May of this year. The governor of Antalya, Ertugrul Dokuzoglu, said
this year Antalya will host around 4.5 million tourists. /Milliyet/
350,000 BELGIAN TOURISTS IN TURKEY The Belgian bank Fortis' Istanbul
branch manager, Jacques Laloux, evaluated the economic crisis in Turkey
to the Belgian newspaper and said it is the right time to invest in
Turkey. In the economy section of the newspaper, tourism is considered
to be an important asset for Turkey and said that around 350,000
Belgians will come to Turkey this year. /Milliyet/
[26] AIZANOI ANCIENT CITY TO DRAW IN TOURISTS
The 5,000 year of city of Aizanoi in the Cavdarhisar district of
Kutahya and which boasts the only undamaged 'social complex' in
Anatolia still standing, is expecting more attention, the Anatolia news
agency reported yesterday. Mayor of Cavdarhisar Ismail Tanriverdi said
that Aizanoi, which contains works dating back to 3,000 BC, had not
been promoted well enough and was unknown to tourists. /Turkish Daily
News/
[27] PAINTERS OF FOUR COUNTRIES TO MEET
The second Painting Exhibition to be organized with the participation
of the German, Austrian, Swiss and Turkish painters will be opened at
the European College on 4 May. The painting exhibition was organized by
Die Brucke (The Bridge) Association, established by the Turkish people
living in Germany, and the works of 18 painters will be exhibited. The
exhibition will be open on 5-6 May between 10:00 and 17:00. /Hurriyet/
[28] WIND OF FESTIVAL IN ANKARA
In spite of the economic crisis, the wind of festival keeps on blowing
in Ankara. Following the 18th Ankara Music Festival, the 4th Flying
Broom Women's Films Festival and the 7th International Ankara Cartoon
Festival will begin as well. Fourth Flying Broom Women's Films Festival
will be opened tonight. The festival will bring together women film
producers from 27 countries in six continents and will end on 10 May.
The 7th International Ankara Cartoon Festival will be organized by the
Cartoonists Association with the participation of cartoonists,
academicians and artists on 4-8 May. /Hurriyet/
[29] CHECHEN PANEL AT BILKENT UNIVERSITY
The panel titled 'Chechnia' was organized by the student organizations
of Bilkent University, Faculty of Fine Arts, during which the Chechen
war and some incidents that occurred concerning the Chechen people in
Turkey were discussed. A lecturer at Bilkent University, Associate
Professor Hakan Kirimli made a speech at the Conference Hall of Bilkent
University and said, "The Chechen war has been one of the most
successful wars of independence in the course of history." /Turkiye/
[30] TURKISH MUSICIANS RECEIVE AWARDS
In the 10th International Discovery 2001 Music Competition held in
Bulgaria in April, famous Turkish composer Selmi Andak and singer Nur
Yoldas were presented with awards. In order to promote this
international success, a press conference was organized yesterday at
Istanbul's Ataturk Culture Center. /Turkish News/
[31] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...
[32] FREEDOM OF THE PRESS BY OKTAY EKSI (HURRIYET)
Columnist Oktay Eksi writes on the recent developments concerning the
World Press Freedom Day. A summary of his column is as follows: "The
intellectuals in civilized countries or those considering themselves to
be civilized, wonder how their country is graded on the World Press
Freedom Day. Every year, on May 3 countries where there is no freedom
of press are being exhibited. Turkey constantly appears on these lists
for years. Sometimes the criticism is well deserved and sometimes it is
unjust. However, we are not able to get our name off these lists. On
the World Press Freedom Day, the news that journalists are prevented
from entering the lobbies of the Parliament will attract your
attention. You cannot expect a Parliament afraid of journalists to
tolerate freedom of the press. In Turkey there are many disagreeable
facts but the number of those who are distorting these facts to treat
Turkey unfairly is more. For example there is an organization called
'Reporters Sans Frontiers' based in Paris. This organization while
listing some of the bitter realities of Turkey exaggerates others as
much as possible, as if multiplying them by five. The Director of this
organization Robert Menard, in a conference in Berlin on 30 March 2001
said that there were 60 journalists in prison. Etching the number 60 in
the minds of the listeners he added that it was not known how many were
in prison due to their profession. The same organization, in a report
it published on 3 May World Press Freedom Day said 13 journalists were
imprisoned in Turkey and then changed this into '13 journalists were
detained'. However, it could not give more than five names. As it is
the trend to discredit Turkey, Committee to Protect Journalists(CPJ) in
its report claimed that 14 journalists were in prison in Turkey. World
Association of Newspapers took the same number and said that the number
of journalists in prison in Turkey were 14. However, the figure given
by the CPJ covered journalists who were imprisoned for crimes in no way
related to journalism. The search conducted by Turkish Press council
revealed that there was no one in prison except Kemal Evcimen as of
January 1, 2001. In fact, International Press Institute (IPI) taking
this study into consideration did not say that there were journalists
in prison in Turkey. However, neither the efforts of those acting with
good intentions nor the pressures of those bearing malice helped to
correct the situation in Turkey."
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