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Turkish Press Review, 01-06-26Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Turkish Directorate General of Press and Information <http://www.byegm.gov.tr>Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning26.06.2001CONTENTS
[01] PRESIDENT SEZER'S APPROVALSPresident Ahmet Necdet Sezer approved the Bill on Amending the Mining Law, and on the Abolishment of the Salt Law, and the Law on Removing the Losses of the Producers Using Liquidified Petroleum Gas. Sezer also approved the Law concerning the acceptance of the signing of the agreement on the Black Sea Maritime Cooperation Working Group Organization. /Cumhuriyet/[02] SEZER'S MESSAGE TO HATEMIThe Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ambassador Faruk Lologlu presented President Ahmet Necdet Sezer's message to the Iranian President Mohammed Khatemi. Ambassador Lologlu, on a visit to Iran, received by President Khatemi yesterday. Reportedly, the message from Sezer, said it is time for both presidents to pay reciprocal visits. /Turkiye/[03] MACEDONIAN PRESIDENT TRAJKOVSKI TO VISIT TURKEYMacedonian President Boris Trajkovski will arrive in Turkey tomorrow as an official guest of the President Ahmet Necdet Sezer. Recent developments in Macedonia will be at the top of the meetings' agenda. /Cumhuriyet/17 BILLS TO BE ENACTED BEFORE SUMMER RECESS At a meeting yesterday, the leaders of the coalition parties decided 17 priority bills to be debated in the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TGNA) before the summer recess. The bills regarding the selling of the Treasury's estates, Personal Retirement, amendment to the Turkish Armed Forces Personnel Law, and establishing a Housing Undersecretariat, are among the bills expected to be debated in the TGNA in the next couple of days. /Turkiye/ [04] BUMIN SAYS VERDICT IN HARMONY WITH CONSTITUTIONAnswering newly defunct Virtue Party (FP) leader Recai Kutan's criticisms, Constitutional Court Chief Judge Mustafa Bumin said on Monday that they save the decision in accordance with the Constitution. After meeting with the German Minister of Justice Hertha Daeubker-Gemlin, Bumin organized a press conference where he focused mainly on the closure of the main opposition FP. Noting that the Constitution has not been amended yet, Bumin said they reached the verdict according to the current laws. /Turkish Daily News/[05] "THERE IS NO LINK BETWEEN THE TSK AND CLOSURE OF THE FP"The Office of the Chief of the General Staff Secretariat General reacted strongly to the allegations arguing that there was a link between the closure of the Virtue Party (FP) and the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK). The Secretariat also denied the allegations stating that certain newly emerging political structures, including Tayyip Erdogan bargained with the TSK and ensured a guarantee. The statement by the Secretariat General said that trying to show that there was a link was a significant indelicacy and unfairness to both The Constitutional Court and the TSK. Emphasizing the TSK always refrains from interfering into daily political matters, the statement said, "That is why it would be very unjust and disrespectful to try to connect the closure of a party which was the center of the anti-secular movements with the military." /Cumhuriyet/[06] ECEVIT: "PARLIAMENT WILL COMPLETE ITS WORK BY THE END OF THIS MONTH"Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said he assumes the Parliament will complete its work by the end of this month. Replying to questions regarding the closure of the Virtue Party posed by journalists yesterday, Ecevit said, "The Constitional Court decided on the topic, it will be implemented." To another question, whether the Parliament will continue to work or not, Ecevit said, "Of course, it will. We hope the Parliament will complete its work by the end of this month." /Turkiye/[07] CENSURE MOTION ON ECEVIT REJECTEDThe censure motion tabled at the Parliament by the main opposition party True Path Party (DYP) on the Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit accusing him of interfering in the judiciary system was rejected at the Parliamentary Plenary Session. Replying to the censure motion, Minister of Justice, Hikmet Sami Turk, said that everybody in the government respected the independence of the judiciary. He accused the DYP of tabling a censure motion which has no legal base. /Cumhuriyet/[08] RECONNAISSANCE OPERATION EXTENDEDThe Turkish Grand National Assembly (TGNA) decided yesterday to extend the term in duty of the Reconnaissance Operation from the North, six more months, beginning from June 30. /Turkiye/[09] NATO SHIPS TO ARRIVE IN ISTANBULEight ships from the NATO Mediterrenean Permanent Naval Forces and six ships from the NATO Mediterreanean Against Mine Precautions Forces will arrive in Istanbul on June 28. The visit will end on July 4. /Turkiye/[10] ORDER OF MERIT FOR SPANISH COMMANDERThe Spanish Land Forces Commander Gen. Alfonso Pardo De Santayana Coloma was presented by the Turkish Armed Forces' an "Order of Merit" for his contributions to the development of the land forces regarding relations of the two countries. The Turkish Land Forces Commander Gen. Hilmi Ozkok decorated Gen. Coloma with the medal at a ceremony. /Turkiye/[11] TURKISH DELEGATION VISITS BELGIAN PRISON IN BRUSSELSA group of Turkish deputies have paid a visit to the Forest Prison in the Belgian capital of Brussels, and said on Monday that conditions in the Belgian prisons were much more worse than in Turkish prisons. The Turkish delegation, consisting of Kursat Eser, Ali Tekin, Mehmet Arslan and Remzi Cetin, visited the Forest Prison in Belgium, accompanied by Turkish Ambassador Temel Iskit, and Turkish and Belgian Ministry of Justice officials. Prison Director Michel George, using a scale model , furnished the Turkish officials with information on the architecture and structure of the prison building. /Turkish News/[12] GREEK PRESS SPLITWhile the Greek press stated that the Kusadasi meeting between Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs George Papandreou and his Turkish counterpart Ismail Cem took place in a very productive and positive atmosphere, the Greek Cypriot press criticized the Greek Administration for neglecting the problems between the two countries in the meeting. Greek press connected the positive atmosphere of the meeting to the lack of tense discussions on the problems. Simerini, the Greek Cypriot Daily, accused Papandreou of neglecting the problems of the Greek Cypriots. /Cumhuriyet/[13] GMELIN TOURS THE F-TYPE PRISON IN SINCANGerman Minister of Justice, Hertha Daeubler Gmelin, who came to Turkey as the guest of the Turkish Minister of Justice Hikmet Sami Turk, maintained contacts at the F-type prison in Sincan. Gmelin and the accompanying delegation toured the prison for about one and a half hours. The guest minister had no comments on her visit. /Sabah/[14] TAM RELEASES 'EI IMMIGRATION POLICY' REPORTGerman-based Center for Studies on Turkey (TAM) Chairman Professor Faruk Sen said on Monday that European Union countries preferred to meet their immigrant worker needs from the 12 EU candidates. Evaluating TAM's report on 'EI Immigration Policy,' Sen said that many EU countries were in need of young and qualifying staff, due to dramatic increases in the older population, adding, "It has become a must for EU countries to accept immigrant workers, preferably from the 12 EU candidate members. Through this report, we tried to determine and understand the immigration policies pursued by EU countries." According to TAM's report, there are 17 million immigrants living within the EU borders. Some 3.4 million are Turks, and 2.4 million of these Turks live in Germany, which needs foreign workers mostly to meet its vacancies in the IT sector. /Turkish News/[15] TURKEY AND ISRAEL TO COOPERATE IN MARINE SCIENCESThe "Hydography and Oceanography Cooperation Agreement," which was signed between the General Staff and the Israel Defense Ministry, has now been published in the Official Gazette. The agreement was signed on March 12, in Tel-Aviv. It envisages cooperation in hydography and oceanography between the Turkish and Israeli navies, and other related institutions. /Turkish News/KOREAN WAR'S 51ST ANNIVERSARY MARKED Those killed in the Korea War were remembered on Monday on the anniversary of the Battle of Kumyang Jang-Ni, from which the First Turkish Brigade emerged with a victory. A ceremony was held by the Veteran's Association of Turkey and the Korean Embassy at the Korean Monument in Ankara. The participants laid wreaths at the monument. Veteran's Association Deputy Chairman Retired Col. Kemal Serbetcioglu said in his speech that they had gathered to pay respect to the victims on the 51st anniversary of the Korean War. Sebetcioglu said that the request made from Turkey for soldiers by the UN was not a declaration of war, but an initiative to preserve peace. /Turkish News/ [16] SUCCESS SHOWN IN WEAPON SMUGGLING PREVENTIONIt has been announced that in recent years, thanks to planned operations, there were large reductions in military supplies and weaponry smuggling. According to a report prepared by the Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime Department, in the first 5 months of this year 268 criminal were detained in 110 events. Along with these criminals 230 guns and 6,441 other arms were seized. /Turkish Daily News/[17] EARTHQUAKE IN OSMANIYEThe earthquake measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale that occurred in Osmaniye at 16:28 yesterday, caused panic. 130 people were injured due to the earthquake, which caused damage in the drinking water system in the buildings. Experts from Kandilli observation center say the earthquake has occurred on the South-Southeastern Anatolian fault line and that the center of the earthquake was 150 km northeast of Osmaniye. /Milliyet/[18] SEARCH FOR NEW BRIDGES DESPITE CONFLICTS IN CAUCASUSThe recent meeting of Turkish, Armenian and Azeri journalists has been an important step paving the way for the establishment of a bridge between the people of each of the three countries, despite the fact that each group had the hesitation to trust their counterparts. The Soros Foundation, the Turkish Democracy Foundation (TDV) and the Diplomatic Correspondents Association (DMD) were the main organizers of the meeting, which was planned to be held in Baku, Ankara and Yerevan. "Trust" was the key word for the organization for such a meeting, according to Bulent Akarcali, Motherland Party's (ANAP) Istanbul deputy and founder of the Turkish Democracy Foundation (TDV) /Turkish Daily News/[19] THE WORLD APPRECIATES TURKEYDuring the World Drug Congress in London, England, which started yesterday, Turkey was appreciated due to the operations she organized against the drug trafficking and drug gangs. General Director of English Customs, Richard Broadbent, spoke during the Congress, which was attended by 750 delegations, including the high ranking officials of the Security and Justice Ministries from 46 countries. He said, "Turkey has played the key role in capturing the leaders of the drug gangs in three important operations, which was aiming at the US and Europe in the last two years." All the speakers of the Congress said Turkey was the key country in terms of the anti-drug operations, which were held in the G8 countries. According to the report presented to the Congress, Turkey has played the key role in 29 operations, 5 of which were in the US and 25 in the European countries in the last two years. Thus, as a result of these operations which amounted to a total of 20 billion US dollars, the drug trafficking, led by the PKK, was destroyed. /Sabah/[20] TURCO-EU PARTNERSHIP COUNCIL MEETINGThe Turco-EU Partnership Council meeting which will be held today in Luxembourg is very important especially after the Constitutional Court's closing of the Virtue Party (FP). The EU is expected to criticize Turkey and to request Turkey implement the necessary reforms as soon as possible in the meeting where the developments concerning Turkey accession period will be discussed. A delegation chaired by the Minister of Foreign Affairs Ismail Cem will represent Turkey at the meeting. /Cumhuriyet/[21] DERVIS TO MEET BANKERSMinister of State Kemal Dervis will attend the European Economic Summit in Salzbourg, Austria, between July 1-3. Dervis will meet prominent European bankers and finance authorities in the meeting. The main theme of the meeting will be the enlargement of the EU. /Cumhuriyet/IMF TO CONVENE JUNE 3 The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Executive Board Council will discuss the eighth revision of the stand-by agreement signed with Turkey at its meeting on July 3. If the Council decides the completion of the revision, an addition of 1-billion 201.5 million SDR funds are expected to expend for Turkey. /Turkiye/ [22] TUSIAD TO DECLARE ITS REPORT ON POLITICSThe Turkish Industralists and Businessmen Association (TUSIAD) will declare its views on the Political Parties Law at a press conference to be held in Ankara today. Previously, on May 18, TUSIAD declared a report, "Democratization Perspectives in Turkey and EU Copenhagen Political Criteria", including ten urgent topics to be taken up on the road of democratization. /Turkiye/[23] IS BANK'S BREAKTHROUGHSIs Bank Executive Board chaired by the Director General Ersin Ozince decided to establish a bank in the Netherlands with a capital of max.25million Euro. Meanwhile, Is Bank's the fourth branch was opened in Guzelyurt yesterday by the President Rauf Denktas in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). The fifth branch will be opened in Kucuk Kaymakli today. /Turkiye/[24] EU: "WE ARE IN DEBT TO TURKEY"The European Union (EU) representative to Turkey, Ambassador Karen Fogg, said Turkey's share in its trade with the EU in terms of import and export has increased equally after the Customs Union. Fogg added, "In spite of all the difficulties, the Turkish initiation is resistant to the competitive pressure to come from the EU. The Turkish industry has proven its resistance and the ability of adaptation. The EU has not done what is necessary in terms of foreign investment. The political stability is the key point here." Fogg spoke during the program called "Turkey-EU Business Partners", which was attended by 120 European businessmen and organized by the Economic Development Foundation (IKV) and the Italian Mondimpresa, and stated, "All of our support will favor Turkey's being a member of the EU through a strategic approach. We want to accelerate our efforts in Turkey and bring them to the level of the agreements made with the other candidate countries." /Milliyet/[25] ERIS ON RELATIONS WITH THE EUThe Chairman of the Economic Development Foundation (IKV), Meral Gezgin Eris, said the European Union's (EU) financial support to Turkey was limited in terms of amount and content when compared to the other candidate countries. Eris said, "Central and Eastern European countries can make use of broad funds such as Phare, ISPA and SAPARD, whereas Turkey is within the context of the MEDA program, which was designed for the Mediterranean countries. We appreciate the European Parliament's suggestion to open the above-mentioned funds to the use of Turkey and the Commission's efforts. These suggestions should be approved and the financial aids should be activated as soon as possible." /Milliyet/1.7 BILLION DOLLARS FROM THE WORLD BANK The World Bank will debate the Agricultural Reform Project Loan (ARIP) amounting to 1.1 billion US dollars and the Financial Sector and Public Sector Structural Harmonization Program loan (PEPSAL) during the meeting of the Executive Board on 5 July. It was revealed that some of the remaining performances should be completed so the loans can be evaluated in the Executive Board. It was reported that a social aid loan amounting to 500 million US dollars, which is debated currently, is expected to be resolved by the end of September. /Milliyet/ [26] EU STANDARD FOR TURKISH PRODUCTSAccording to a project approved by the EU, $13.1 million will be donated toTurkey for a period of five years, which aims to develop Turkey's quality infra-structure. The project foresees to harmonize Turkish products quality with EU. /Turkiye/[27] ORLANDO: "TURKEY IS A MARKET WITH A HIGH POTENTIAL"The Deputy Chairman of the Italian Private Sector Representative Establishment, Mondimpresa, Rosolino Orlando, said Turkey is a country which commits foreign investors good future and has a high potential. During his speech at a meeting yesterday, Orlando said 120 European managers in Turkey are to attend the meeting, and want to cooperate with Turkish businessmen. Stressing the EU will be a giant market with a 450 million population, Orlando said, " I believe we will be a power bigger than the US." /Turkiye/[28] ITALIAN MAGAZINE TREND GIVES COVERAGE TO TURKISH TOURISMItalian Tourism Magazine Trend gave coverage to Turksih tourism im its last edition. The magazine said since she is much more inexpensive than the past, due to the economic crisis, Turkey is more beneficial concerning tourism now. The Trend stated that 400,000 Italians are expected to visit Turkey this year. /Hurriyet/[29] AIRBUS: "TURKEY WILL OVERCOME THE CRISIS IN A VERY SHORT TIME"The European passenger plane producing company, Airbus Industrie's, Deputy Chairman responsible for Sales and Business Development, Habib Fekih, stated that Turkey would overcome the economic crisis in a very short time and added, "The consequences of the crisis are not bad as we expected. The dynamic structure of the Turkish economy will help her recover. /Hurriyet/[30] BLACK SEA UNION CALLS FOR INVESTMENT IN RUSSIATrabzon's Exporters Union Chairman Mehmet Ozer called for investments in Russia in order to raise exports to Turkey. Ozer said that Russia was the gate opening to a market of 350 million strong ex-Soviet republics. It is a must that Turkey develops its trade with Russia. /Turkish News/[31] ADDITIONAL TAXES TO COMEIt was revealed that the draft law concerning additional taxes was signed during the Leaders' Summit. Within this framework, TL 1.5 million tax added to both telephones and SM mobile phones, and TL 1 million tax added to the airfare tickets, TL 12 million to Motorized Vehicles, 12 million to the Corporation Tax declaration and 2.5 million TL to the Value Added Tax declaration. In addition, Educational Contribution Shares and the Special Transaction Tax will also be increased with the additional taxes. /Milliyet/[32] THE FIRST TURKISH FASHION FAIR IN JORDANFor the first time a Turkish company is organizing a fashion fair in Amman, Jordan. Turkel Fairing Company will organize the "Fashion Amman Show" Fair on 6-8 November 2001 in Amman. This fair, which will be the first fashion fair to be organized in Amman, will be located in an area of 3,500 square meters. This fair is expected to contribute to the development of the relations between Turkey and the Middle East. The fair also aims to increase the export to this region. /Milliyet/[33] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...[34] NOT ONLY BECAUSE OF THE VIRTUE PARTY BY SAMI KOHEN (MILLIYET)Columnist Sami Kohen writes on the possible repercussions of the closure of the Virtue Party at the EU. A summary of his column is as follows:"To what extent will the closure of the Virtue Party influence Turkey's relations with the EU? Notwithstanding the pessimistic estimates made both in Turkey and abroad, it will be wrong to say that Turkey's chances of full EU membership have dwindled just because of this. From the words of a diplomat in Brussels, a new crisis should not be expected in the Turkish-EU relations due to this event. Certainly, the EU and the member countries are criticizing the closure of another political party in Turkey and are disturbed over the fact. They believe it is concerning that such an incident has occurred at a time when Turkey is trying to pass from candidacy to full membership. However, the EU officials are reacting fairly moderately and are not taking steps blocking the process. This does not mean that Europeans are indifferent towards the closure of a political party nor are they just ignoring the fact. The Council Of Europe, along with the EU believes that the recent ruling is a blow on the expectations for the improvement of democracy in Turkey. The official circles in the EU are voicing these concerns more diplomatically and moderately. However European parliamentarians and columnists in the press express their views more openly. Therefore, we should not be surprised when we receive strong criticisms at the Parliamentarians Assembly of the European Council. Tough days are waiting ahead for the Turkish diplomats at the European platform shadowed by the closure of the Virtue Party. It is evident that both the EU and the European Council do not want to push ahead in a way to damage the relations. However, this should not come to mean that the relations with the EU will not be affected by the EU due to the Virtue Party's closure. Brussels will not forget the issue easily. The EU diplomats are evaluating the recent incident together with 'unrealized expectations.' They view the dragging of feet on some Constitutional amendments and some basic reforms foreseen in the National Program as disappointing, and are wondering to what extent will these reforms have priority or does Turkey have the will to keep her promises as stated in the National Program? True, in Turkey the Government, the Turkish Grand National Assembly and the decision-making mechanisms did not include the reforms and measures among top priorities, which would accelerate integration with Europe. There are various problems occupying Turkey's agenda such as the economic crisis or the political fluctuations, which surfaced with the closure of the Virtue Party. Meanwhile, the items, which should be given priority, are not going as smoothly and some negative developments are seen. The closure of the Virtue Party has increased the already existing suspicions and hesitancies in Europe." [35] BAKU-TBLİSİ-CEYHAN PIPELINE BY OZGEN ACAR (CUMHURIYET)Columnist Ozgen Acar writes on the agreement reached on the construction of Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline. A summary of his column is as follows:"It was known all along that the obstruction to the transportation of Caspian oil and natural gas through Turkey via the pipelines, came from Western oil companies rather than Russia. The multi-national British Petroleum Group led these companies. The Chairman of the Group Sir John Browne met with the new Turkish Energy Minister Zeki Cakan four days after the Slovenia summit. President Ahmet Necdet Sezer also received this prominent businessman. During the meeting, Sir John not only gave a hundred percent guarantee and support on BTC oil and natural gas pipelines but also promised that the oil pipeline will reach Turkey in 2004 at the latest, and the natural gas pipeline in 2005. Sir John Browne repeated the same guarantees in a statement he delivered at the Esma Sultan Kiosk before Turkish and foreign officials. Due to the increase in population and prosperity, in the next ten years 10 to 15 millions of barrels of additional oil would be necessary and natural gas would be the most important energy-generating source. Therefore, in the last ten years investment in the amount of six million dollars was made for exploration and improvement of facilities. It was inevitable that the BTC would be carried out. The pipeline would be constructed in 2002, and at the beginning only one million barrels of oil would flow, but in ten years this amount would reach two million. The BP Group Chairman also said that the development of oil natural gas sources in the Caspian Region and the construction of pipelines for their export represented one of the greatest construction and engineering works. In the next five years the amount of investments made in the region would reach 13 billion US dollars. The BTC line was one of the greatest international infrastructure projects of the 21st century. Sir John also added that Turkey would gain a new importance as a key country who would play an important role in the transportation of the oil to Ceyhan and natural gas to Erzurum and then to the European Union. This in turn would help Turkey in her efforts for development. Sir John reversing his old views said that BTC pipeline was economic considering the volumes, which are expected to come from regions being developed in Azerbaijan. He stressed that they desired to build a pipeline, which could be widened to lessen the burden on the Straits and therefore would like to include other sources in this pipeline. With these words Sir John Browne meant that the oil pipeline would be widened and the engineering project would be prepared in such a way that a second pipeline could be constructed right beside it. With the widening of the oil pipeline's capacity the tanker traffic would be lessened in the Straits. These pipelines would handle not only the Azerbaijani oil, but also the transportation of Kazakh oil. Certainly, the finding of natural gas in extraordinary dimensions at the Shahdeniz in Azerbaijan has been influential in the reversal of former opinions. This gas will constitute the most important competition source for the Russian natural gas, providing heating and lighting for Turkey and Europe." Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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