Anadolu Agency: News in English, 98-04-01

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From: The Anadolu Agency Home Page at <http://www.anadoluajansi.gov.tr/>

01 APRIL 1998

CONTENTS

[01] TURKEY-PRESS SCAN

[02] TURKEY-TOURISM - GURDAL, THE MINISTER OF TOURISM: ''I INVITE THE GERMANS TO MAKE INVESTMENTS IN TURKEY'' - ''THE RELIGIOUS BELIEF TOURISM BEGINS''

[03] NEGATIVE APPROACH FROM THE UN SECURITY COUNCIL TO DENKTAS' REQUEST

[04] TURKEY-TOURISM - ENCOURAGEMENT FOR THE TOURISTS FROM THE CIS

[05] FOREIGN MINISTER CEM IN PAKISTAN

[06] COALITION LEADERS' SUMMIT

[07] PRIME MINISTER YILMAZ SPEAKS TO THE PRESS

[08] THE EVENTS IN THE PRISONS

[09] KANDEMIR, AMBASSADOR TO THE US: - ''THE TURKISH-AMERICAN RELATIONS ARE EXCELLENT DESPITE THE HARMFUL LOBBIES''

[10] PRIME MINISTER YILMAZ SAYS CHILL BETWEEN KOHL AND TURKEY WILL NOT CAST A SHADOW ON OUR FRIENDSHIP

[11] THE PROFILES OF THE TOURISTS WHO COME TO TURKEY

[12] TURKEY-PRESS REVIEW

[13] A TOTAL OF 296 TERRORISTS KILLED IN SOUTHEASTERN TURKEY IN THREE MONTHS - A TOTAL OF 4,287 CIVILIANS, INCLUDING 508 WOMEN AND 487 CHILDREN DIED DURING THE RAIDS OF THE SEPARATIST TERRORISTS

[14] KARADAYI, THE CHIEF OF GENERAL STAFF DUE TO GO TO GREECE TO ATTEND THE WEU MEETING

[15] LANGUAGE UNITY OF THE TURKISH WORLD

[16] FILE OF ACZMENDI'S IN HIGH COURT OF APPEALS

[17] TURKEY-ENVIRONMENT - PROJECT TO KEEP THE MANYAS BIRD LAKE ALIVE

[18] CHP PARTY GROUP MEETING TAKES PLACE

[19] FOREIGN MINISTER CEM IN PAKISTAN - CEM MEETS WITH PAKISTANI FOREIGN MINISTER EYUP KHAN

[20] SPAIN, ITALY AND GREECE TARGET TO INCREASE THEIR HAZELNUT PRODUCTION TO MAKE THE TURKISH HAZELNUT MARKET SMALLER

[21] FOREIGN MINISTRY: - ''TURKEY-TRNC ECONOMIC FIELD WILL NOT CONTRADICT WITH THE STRUCTURE OF THE CUSTOMS UNION AGREEMENT'' - ''IT IS NOT CERTAIN IN WHICH DIRECTION THE S-300 MISSILES ISSUE WILL PROCEED'' - HOLBROOKE, THE US SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE TO CYPRUS, DUE IN THE TRNC

[22] EVENTS IN PRISONS... - THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE SUNGURLU SAYS THAT EVENTS CONTINUE IN 10 PRISONS AND 55 PERSONNEL HAVE BEEN TAKEN HOSTAGE

[23] HUGE PROJECTS FROM PATENT INSTITUTE... - TPE PREPARES WORLD'S FIRST ''INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY SITE'' PROJECT - THE WORLD BANK AND GERMAN GOVERNMENT TO ASSIST THE 18 MILLION US DOLLARS PROJECT - TPE TO SET UP AN INFORMATION DOCUMENTATION CENTER

[24] DEMOCRATIC LEFT PARTY (DSP) GROUP MEETING - ECEVIT SAYS DECLARATION OF AN ELECTION DATE WILL HAMPER THE STRUGGLE AGAINST FUNDAMENTALISM

[25] ENERGY PRODUCTION AT THE GAP... - 3 BILLION 405 MILLION KWH ENERGY PRODUCED AT THE ATATURK DAM IN THE FIRST THREE MONTHS OF 1998 - 68 TRILLION 100 BILLION TURKISH LIRAS IN INCOME OBTAINED

[01] TURKEY-PRESS SCAN

HURRIYET (LIBERAL)

MILLIYET (LIBERAL)

SABAH (LIBERAL)

CUMHURIYET (LEFT)

RADIKAL (LEFT)

YENİ YÜZYIL (LIBERAL)

TÜRKİYE (RIGHT)

ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)

FİNANSAL FORUM (ECONOMY)

[02] TURKEY-TOURISM - GURDAL, THE MINISTER OF TOURISM: ''I INVITE THE GERMANS TO MAKE INVESTMENTS IN TURKEY'' - ''THE RELIGIOUS BELIEF TOURISM BEGINS''

Addressing a meeting organized for the German journalists and tourism agencies, Gurdal said that 2.5 million Germans visited Turkey in 1997, and added that he hopes this number will be increased. He said that the number of German tourists increased 16.5 percent in the first two months of this year, and 9.7 million tourists visited Turkey in 1997 and this number put Turkey in the 19th rank, and it also provided 7 billion US dollars in revenues.

Gurdal stated that Turkey is starting a new tourism project, religious belief tourism. Gurdal said, ''there are many monuments and works from the eras of the three monotheist religions. These monuments provide Turkey with a great potential for the religious belief tourism. Officials from the Vatican say that the year 2000 has a significant meaning for the Christians and 50 million persons will visit the sacred places. Therefore we expect visitors from all over the world.''

[03] NEGATIVE APPROACH FROM THE UN SECURITY COUNCIL TO DENKTAS' REQUEST

Denktas said that the negotiations should be carried out between the two equal states, after the Greek Cypriot side started the full membership negotiations with the European Union.

Some members of the UN Security Council mentioned Denktas's request for being recognized as a state, and said, ''this event has been solved with the decisions of the UN Security Council which were previously accepted. These decisions reject the TRNC being recognized as a separate state.''

Momodou Salah, the Chairman of the Council, said in his statement after the meeting that the members of the Council support the UN process which aims to find a solution to the Cyprus problem. Meanwhile the members also support the good will mission of Kofi Annan, the Secretary General of the UN, and the attempts of Diego Cordovez, the UN Secretary General's Special Representative to Cyprus.

Requesting that the attempts be carried on for finding a solution to the Cyprus problem, the members of the Council wanted the direct negotiation process to start as soon as possible.

[04] TURKEY-TOURISM - ENCOURAGEMENT FOR THE TOURISTS FROM THE CIS

Ahmet Hamdi Ozdogan, the Chairman of the Board of the Trabzon Exporters' Association, said that the number of the tourists who come to Turkey for the carpetbagger trade, has been decreasing and they decided to encourage them to put a halt to this decrease.

Addressing a press conference, Ozdogan said, ''the flight and two day hotel expenses of the tourists who make deals of 4 thousand US dollars will be covered with a fund which will be formed by the exporters. We will cover the expenses of the tourists who come to Turkey by ship and make deals of 2 thousand US dollars, as well.'' Ozdogan also added that the first application will begin after the religious holiday next week.

[05] FOREIGN MINISTER CEM IN PAKISTAN

Cem is scheduled to meet with the Pakistani Foreign Minister Gohar Eyup Khan and will be received by Prime Minister Nawaz Shariff.

During the two day visit, the sides will exchange views on bilateral and regional issues and the talks will also focus on further improvement of cooperation.

[06] COALITION LEADERS' SUMMIT

Yilmaz said that Bulent Ecevit, the Deputy Prime Minister and Democratic Left Party (DSP) leader and Husamettin Cindoruk, the Democrat Turkey Party (DTP) leader will participate at the meeting.

[07] PRIME MINISTER YILMAZ SPEAKS TO THE PRESS

Yilmaz said he would meet with the coalition partners on Thursday and evaluate the proposals of Baykal and pointed out that they would make an effort to find a mutual point on the condition of determining a date for elections.

When reporters asked if they were planning an election calendar during his meeting with Baykal, Yilmaz said he did not think that Baykal wanted an election and that he was not ready for elections.

Responding to a question if local elections should take place before the general elections, Yilmaz said ''I think local elections should be first. However, according to the recent arrangement in the Constitution the possibility of holding both elections together is strong.''

When asked why the union rights to civil servants were suspended, Yilmaz said, ''We could issue only half of them in three weeks. The issuing of the law is an order of the constitution. Its withdrawal is out of the question.''

Yilmaz also said the government should increase measures in prisons as there was an intense communications network between them. Yilmaz stressed that solving this question requires radical measures. We have established a special fund within the Ministry of Justice to this end. This is a question which Turkey can solve in the medium term. The absolute solution would be to build new and contemporary prisons.

[08] THE EVENTS IN THE PRISONS

Sungurlu told the A.A correspondent that they moved the prisoners because of the capacity of the prisons, and added that the prisoners misunderstood this move and will end the action soon.

Sungurlu said that there are no interventions to the events in the prisons, officials are trying to persuade the prisoners.

In the meantime tension is still high in the Umraniye E type Prison after the prisoners took 11 prison officials hostage. The prisoners says that they will continue their action until their inmates, who were moved to the other prisons, return. The gendarmes have tightened the security measures around the prison.

The leftist prisoners in the Bergama E type prison also started an action by taking 12 prison guards hostage to support the inmates' action in the Buca prison.

The prisoners who are members of a leftist organization, took 8 person including Hasan Eren, the second director of the prison, hostage in the Cankiri Prison.

Meanwhile the prisoners in the Ankara Central Prison are still holding 4 people hostage.

[09] KANDEMIR, AMBASSADOR TO THE US: - ''THE TURKISH-AMERICAN RELATIONS ARE EXCELLENT DESPITE THE HARMFUL LOBBIES''

Addressing a meeting at the George Washington University, Kandemir, who will return to Turkey in a few weeks time after completing his nine years of duty in Washington, D.C., said that the wife of John Porter, a member of the US House of Representatives, accepts money from the Greek Cypriot and Armenian lobbies. He added that they cannot help Armenia by developing hate against Turkey.

Responding to a Greek student's question, Kandemir said that the Greek Cypriots are in a ''great'' armament process on Cyprus and in an effort to deploy the Russian S-300 missiles. He stressed that this clearly shows that the side which doesn't want peace and stability on the island, is the Greek Cypriot side.

Kandemir pointed out that the US's support for the Baku-Ceyhan oil pipeline is continuing. He said, ''the capacity of the Straits are over. Istanbul is under an environmental threat. I believe that the Baku-Ceyhan oil pipelines will be realized with the support of the US, Azerbaijan and others.''

Reminding that Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz visited Germany before the Luxembourg Summit and he received Prime Minister Kohl's positive support for the membership in the EU, Kandemir said, ''Germany deceived Turkey. I hope that the EU and Germany will correct their mistakes. Germany doesn't give citizenship to the Turkish workers and their children who have been living in Germany for a long time.''

Kandemir said that the numbers concerning the so-called Armenian genocide are the products of imagination. He asked why nobody talks about the Turkish people massacred by the Armenians. Kandemir said that Turkey wants to set up good relations with Armenia.

Reminding that Turkey will not receive economic aids or military credits from the US as of 1999, Kandemir said that Turkey defends the principle of ''more trade, less aid''.

Baki Ilkin will take over the ambassadorship in the US after Kandemir.

[10] PRIME MINISTER YILMAZ SAYS CHILL BETWEEN KOHL AND TURKEY WILL NOT CAST A SHADOW ON OUR FRIENDSHIP

Addressing a symposium on ''Turkish Tourism'' Yilmaz responded to the questions related to the Turkish-European Union (EU) relations and noted that friendship between the Turks and Germans was historical. Yilmaz said that the German Government did its best to spoil this idea of Turkish people.

Yilmaz noted that during a visit German Chancellor Kohl promised him that Turkey would be taken into the EU ''but, these hopes were destroyed three months later.'' Yilmaz said that the German government wanted Turkey to accept the Luxembourg decisions, but Turkey rejected this.

Speaking about his recent statement related to Germany, Yilmaz said that his statements were misinterpreted by the press of this government. Yilmaz said he did not want to link the existing German policy and its policy during World War II period, adding, ''I said the German government made a great mistake.''

Noting that Turkey's key role assumed in the military field in previous years would continue, Yilmaz said that Turkey formed a trivet in Central Asia and in the Middle East where the world natural gas and oil reserves are present.

Yilmaz said it was very disappointing that the German government failed to realize that Turkey assumed such a role. ''I hope that this won't be repeated. I also hope that our traditional friendship will not be endangered by such acts.''

Noting that Germany will also suffer from Turkey's exclusion from the EU, adding that if the citizenship law is suitable, then the number of Turkish citizens who will become German citizens will be increased to one million.

When asked if his recent statements would effect the number of tourists coming to Turkey, Yilmaz said although there was a significant increase in the number of tourists coming to Turkey, this potential couldn't be evaluated well. Noting that Turkey was the least expensive among the countries with which she is a rival, ''if Germans are so sensitive and do not accept what has been said, then this potential will be evaluated by others.''

[11] THE PROFILES OF THE TOURISTS WHO COME TO TURKEY

The retired persons who prefer the autumn and winter seasons for holidays, contribute to the tourism facilities and save their full rates. The Tourism Ministry works to develop this tourism called ''Third Age Tourism'' with the thermal fields services.

According to the TURSAB's research, tourists prefer Turkey for climatic conditions. A total of 37 percent of the tourists come to Turkey for sea, sun and sand, 25 percent for seeing an unknown place or city, 20 percent for the appropriate holiday opportunities, 12 percent for sports opportunities, 2 percent for visiting the historical and cultural places, and 1 percent for business.

[12] TURKEY-PRESS REVIEW

(Derived from the Newsspot of the Turkish General Directorate of Press and Information.)

FOREIGN MINISTER CEM IN PAKISTAN
Ismail Cem, the Foreign Minister has gone to Pakistan. During his two-day official visit Cem will exchange views on bilateral and regional issues and discuss ways to strengthen cooperation between Turkey and Pakistan. Completing his Pakistan visit Cem will go to Turkmenistan tomorrow for a two-day official visit to discuss bilateral, political and regional relations. /Sabah/

''PKK IS A TERRORIST ORGANIZATION''
James Rubin, a Spokesman for the US Secretary of State has evaluated the PKK as a ''brutal and separatist'' terror organization. He added that the department had evaluated the escape of high level leaders from the PKK organization. /Cumhuriyet/

TURKISH-MACEDONIAN-GREEK CULTURE MINISTERS IN STOCKHOLM
''A Power of Culture'' summit organized by the UNESCO in Stockholm started on Monday. A 30-member Turkish delegation is headed by Istemihan Talay, the Minister of Culture. The Macedonian, Greek and Turkish ministers of culture, Slobodan Unkovski, Evangelos Venizelos and Istemihan Talay met at the opening of the Historical Macedonian Photograph exhibition. Inviting Talay to Athens, Venizelos said that culture was a means for finding peace. Talay also said that he would like to host his Greek counterpart in Ankara and Istanbul. /Cumhuriyet/

EIGHT PERCENT GROWTH RATE
Turkey's Gross National Product (GNP) amounted to 29.7 quadrillion Turkish Liras in 1997 according to current rates. In a report by the State Institute of Statistics, the per capita GNP in 1997 was 3,048 US dollars. Turkey's growth rate was 8 percent in fixed prices in 1997. /Milliyet/

ECONOMIC INTEGRATION
While the European Union (EU) was meeting with the Greek Cypriot Administration in Brussels yesterday, the first meeting of the Association Council of Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), which aims at economic integration between the two countries, was being held in Ankara. A declaration following the Association Council gave a message to the EU and the Greek Cypriots that a historical mistake was being made. In the declaration, measures to be taken for the realization of economic integration between Turkey and the TRNC were outlined.

The declaration also noted that the integration process already established in military and economic areas between the Greek Cypriot Administration and Greece was now completed at the political level with full membership negotiations initiated between the EU and Greek Cyprus. The declaration said, ''it is seen that it is not possible to achieve an improvement in finding a solution to the Cyprus problem unless it is accepted that there are two separate and equal states on the island.'' /Milliyet/

EU MESSAGE TO ANKARA: NO BLOCK TO EXPANSION
The European Union (EU) which officially started full membership negotiations with the Greek Cypriot administration yesterday sent a message to Ankara saying, ''Don't obstruct''. The EU term-president and British Foreign Minister Robin Cook said, ''No one should obstruct the EU expansion process.'' French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine said that while the EU has kept its 1995 promise to Greek Cyprus regarding full membership negotiations, the EU hasn't kept its promise to Turkey for financial assistance. Hans Van Den Broek, the EU Commissioner responsible for Foreign Relations also pointed out that financial aid should be released.

Cook further noted that they were seeking to find a way for the development of the EU Association Agreement with Turkey and that the Association Council would convene next month. /Milliyet/

DEMIREL OPENS ANTALYA AIRPORT TERMINAL
A new international flights terminal was opened yesterday with a ceremony in which President Suleyman Demirel, Prime Minister Mesut Yılmaz and other high level ministers participated. Speaking at the ceremony, Demirel complained about bureaucratic obstacles preventing Turkey from improving. /Hurriyet/

YILMAZ TALKS TO THE GERMAN PRESS
Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz yesterday met with the German journalists in Antalya, who were invited to Turkey by Oger Tur, tourism agency. Responding to a suggestion by a German journalist that the number of German tourists would be reduced because of recent remarks against Germany by Yilmaz himself, Yilmaz said that his remarks had been misinterpreted and that the Turkish and German friendship would easily overcome problems arising from this misunderstanding. /Hurriyet/

[13] A TOTAL OF 296 TERRORISTS KILLED IN SOUTHEASTERN TURKEY IN THREE MONTHS - A TOTAL OF 4,287 CIVILIANS, INCLUDING 508 WOMEN AND 487 CHILDREN DIED DURING THE RAIDS OF THE SEPARATIST TERRORISTS

The Emergency Rule Regional Governor's office told the A.A that as the operations continue to render the separatist terrorist organization ineffective, a total of 296 terrorists were killed in January, February and March. It was also said that 39 terrorists were captured and 17 others surrendered to security forces.

Officials said that the separatist terrorist organization received heavy blows in recent years and noted that there were desertions within the separatist organization recently.

During operations carried out in the region since 1987, 20.2 thousand persons were killed, 560 wounded, 2,566 captured and 2,111 surrendered to security forces. Thus a total of 25,452 terrorists were rendered ineffective during operations.

It was also reported that a total of 4,287 civilians of whom 508 were women and 487 were children died during the raids of the separatist terrorists. A total of 4,477 security forces, 173 of them policemen, 1,050 of them village guards and 3,254 of them soldiers died.

Officials said that logistic support to the organization was halted to a great extent with the cross border operations.

[14] KARADAYI, THE CHIEF OF GENERAL STAFF DUE TO GO TO GREECE TO ATTEND THE WEU MEETING

It is expected that the meeting will focus on the ''Crisex-98'' military maneuvers which will be organized by the WEU between December 20-26, 1998. Another meeting was organized by the WEU in Antalya between March 23-27 and Greece joined in the meeting, officials told the A.A correspondent.

After the meeting of the chiefs of staff, the defense ministers will come together on Rhodos between May 11-12, 1998.

The two countries have not demanded a bilateral negotiation between Karadayi and his Greek counterpart.

General Karadayi will return to Turkey on April 7.

[15] LANGUAGE UNITY OF THE TURKISH WORLD

Speaking with the A.A correspondent, Gulensoy said that studies for language unity in the Turkish world first started seriously in 1988 and became mature after concluding a growth period of 10 years.

Gulensoy said that Azerbaijan removed the Cyrillic alphabet and progressed to Latin alphabet and that the Crimean Turks also began to use the Latin alphabet. He also said that the draft resolution which Turkmenistan prepared to progress to the Latin alphabet was passed in the parliament.

Gulensoy said that despite the negative aspects, the Sixth Turkish World Convention showed that there were great developments in the unity of language. All communities and participants began to read the statement in Turkish which they had formerly read in Russian. This gives the signal that there was a great improvement in the Turkish language.

Stressing that the Turkish world needed at least 10 years to establish a language unity, Gülensoy said ''it is possible to reduce this time. First of all resources are required. Some of the oil and natural gas resources in Central Asia should be used to this end.''

[16] FILE OF ACZMENDI'S IN HIGH COURT OF APPEALS

The defendants appealed the decisions made by the Ankara State Security Court No. 1 against the Aczmendis.

In the written notice of High Court of Appeals Republic Prosecutor's Office, it was said that the local court asked for information from the Security General Directorate on whether or not the Aczmendis were a terrorist organization. The written notice also said that the Aczmendis threw a firebomb at a location in Kahramanmaras Province and that there were no more concrete activities specified.

The written notice said that the Aczmendis went against the ''law foreseeing that several apparels shouldn't be worn'', the ''Law about the Crimes Committed against Ataturk,'' ''Law for Meeting and Demonstration'' and with the ''Law About the Closure of Dervishes Lodges and Convents.''

Many Aczmendis were taken into custody following an outlawed demonstration at a Mevlut (Religious prayer) staged on the commemoration of the death of Said-i Nursi at the Ankara Kocatepe Mosque.

[17] TURKEY-ENVIRONMENT - PROJECT TO KEEP THE MANYAS BIRD LAKE ALIVE

Officials from the Ministry of the Environment told the A.A correspondent that the Ankara University Faculty of Agriculture and the General Directorate of the National Parks and Wildlife have prepared the project and the project has been started last December.

It was reported that the contribution of the public institutions and organizations and of the volunteers are very important for the implementation of the project. A meeting will be organized to discuss the issue in Bandirma on April 20.

[18] CHP PARTY GROUP MEETING TAKES PLACE

Addressing his party group meeting, Baykal said ''however, Turkey should not direct 1999 according to the election accounts as Turkey will receive harm from this.''

Baykal said the government needed a fresh support in the Parliament, adding that this could be met by themselves and by any other party in the Parliament, adding that they would respect this.

Noting that they welcomed the good will process which the government initiated with the CHP, Baykal said, ''Turkey entered into an election process. There is time required to realize all the laws which the government wants to issue. The aim is not to go to early elections. We aim to contribute to the commitments of the government. These should take place without losing time.''

''The second important point is that everybody should be given facilities to reach a just election atmosphere. It is very negative to compete with the facilities of the state,'' he said.

Baykal stressed that the local elections which should take place in March 1999 should be realized with the general elections. He said that Turkey should be rescued from the obligation of two separate elections. Turkey's 1999 should not be wasted, he added.

[19] FOREIGN MINISTER CEM IN PAKISTAN - CEM MEETS WITH PAKISTANI FOREIGN MINISTER EYUP KHAN

Addressing a statement after the bilateral meeting, Khan said that he informed Cem about the recent developments in the region, particularly the recent elections in India and the issues of Kashmir and Afghanistan.

Noting that they are expecting a response from India concerning the future of the dialogue which Pakistan started with this country, Eyup Khan described the elections held in Kashmir as ''falsified.''

Eyup Khan stated that he also informed Cem about the recent initiatives of Lakhdar Ibrahim, the UN Special Representative regarding the Afghanistan problem.

Turkey, which is a member of the Organization for Islamic Conference (OIC) Kashmir Contact Group, defends the view that the Kashmir problem that exists between India and Pakistan can be solved by respecting the principle of international legitimacy and through direct negotiations.

Diplomatic sources stressed that there are not any problems between Turkey and Pakistan, adding that the legal framework of more than 20 agreements signed between the two countries have been completed. The same sources recalled that Pakistan defends the views of Turkey on the international platforms and supports Turkish candidates in international institutions.

Interdelegationary meetings were held after the Cem-Eyup Khan meeting.

The two sides described the political relations between the two countries as ''perfect,'' and stressed that there is the potential to increase the trade volume between the two countries. The Turkish side also asked for support to its firms working in Pakistan.

[20] SPAIN, ITALY AND GREECE TARGET TO INCREASE THEIR HAZELNUT PRODUCTION TO MAKE THE TURKISH HAZELNUT MARKET SMALLER

According to the research made by the Samsun Provincial Directorate of Agriculture, 95 percent of Turkey's total hazelnut production is realized in Ordu, Giresun, Trabzon, Sakarya, Bolu and Samsun Provinces, while Ordu leads in production with nearly 29 percent. Ordu is followed by Giresun with 21 percent and by Trabzon with 13 percent. A total of 11 percent of Turkey's total hazelnut production is realized in Bolu, 10.5 percent in Sakarya and 10.5 percent in Samsun. A total of five million persons are employed in the fields of production and marketing of hazelnuts.

The research showed that the reasons for Turkey's not being able to increase the exports of hazelnuts are ''a sharp incline in the domestic demand, not entering into new markets except the classical ones, not establishing a full hazelnut production industry able to supply the variable demands of consumers and the increase in the hazelnut production of Italy and Spain''.

The research mentioned that the annual average hazelnut production in the 1990-1992 period was nearly 178 thousand tonnes; this amount increased to 198 thousand tonnes in l996 and finally reached 202 thousand tonnes last year, but the exports of hazelnuts did not increase with the increased production.

Stressing that Italy, Spain and Greece were increasing their production of hazelnuts, the research said, ''these countries have priority in the exports of hazelnuts, as they are the member countries of the union. Thus Turkey may face some difficulties in exports to Europe in the coming years.''

[21] FOREIGN MINISTRY: - ''TURKEY-TRNC ECONOMIC FIELD WILL NOT CONTRADICT WITH THE STRUCTURE OF THE CUSTOMS UNION AGREEMENT'' - ''IT IS NOT CERTAIN IN WHICH DIRECTION THE S-300 MISSILES ISSUE WILL PROCEED'' - HOLBROOKE, THE US SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE TO CYPRUS, DUE IN THE TRNC

Necati Utkan, the Foreign Ministry Spokesman said at a weekly press briefing, ''it has been decided to improve the ecomonic cooperation with the TRNC in conformity with the structure of the Customs Union agreement signed with the EU,'' responding to questions on the ''Customs Union between Turkey and the TRNC'' comments in the Turkish press after the decisions of the Partnership Council between Turkey and the TRNC.

Utkan also said that there was no reaction so far to the joint statement issued by Turkey and the TRNC after the Partnership Council meeting.

Responding to a question of Vladimir Chizov, Russia's Special Envoy to Cyprus, Utkan said that Chizov and the special representatives to Cyprus from other countries met prior to the meeting in Geneva between the TRNC President Rauf Denktas and the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan.

Utkan added that Mehmet Ali Irtemcelik, the Deputy Undersecretary of the Foreign Ministry, conveyed Turkey's views to Chizov concerning Cyprus on Tuesday. Stating that the deployment of the S-300 missiles on the Island was also brought onto the agenda, Utkan said, '''it is not certain in which direction the S-300 missiles issue will proceed.''

Utkan also said that Richard Holbrooke, the US Special Representative to Cyprus, will visit the TRNC late on Friday to discuss the latest developments concerning the island.

Holbrooke will meet with President Denktas on Friday evening. The US Special Envoy will leave the island on Saturday after meeting second time with Denktas at breakfast. Utkan said that he has no information on whether or not Holbrooke will later visit Athens or Ankara.

[22] EVENTS IN PRISONS... - THE MINISTER OF JUSTICE SUNGURLU SAYS THAT EVENTS CONTINUE IN 10 PRISONS AND 55 PERSONNEL HAVE BEEN TAKEN HOSTAGE

Responding to the questions of journalists about the protests in prisons, Sungurlu stated, ''there is no just reason for the protests. I suppose they will give up soon.''

Noting that the hostages are fine, Sungurlu stressed that they are not being treated badly by the prisoners.

Recalling that the events started after the move of 10 prisoners from the Izmir Buca Prison to other prisons, Sungurlu added that this is a general application, but the prisoners didn't want to go to other prisons.

Sungurlu added that the prisoners have earlier said that they would give up the protests after their friends were transferred to their new prisons, Sungurlu pointed out, ''those whose cases continue, haven't been transferred to other prisons, but generally they don't have the chance to choose their prisons. Public opinion doesn't support them, I think the prisoners have heard the wrong news.''

Responding to a question about any intervention in the prisons, Sungurlu said, ''I think the protests will not continue. You all know the problems that interventions will bring''.

Sungurlu pointed out that the problems in prisons can only be solved by the construction of modern prisons.

Sungurlu, the Minister of Justice added that there are four hostages in the Ankara Prison, 11 in the Bursa Prison, 11 in the Umraniye Prison, six in the Sakarya Prison, 12 in the Bergama Prison, nine in the Cankırı Prison and two in the Aydın Prison.

Sungurlu said that 350 of the 750 members of the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) in prisons are participating in the protests.

[23] HUGE PROJECTS FROM PATENT INSTITUTE... - TPE PREPARES WORLD'S FIRST ''INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY SITE'' PROJECT - THE WORLD BANK AND GERMAN GOVERNMENT TO ASSIST THE 18 MILLION US DOLLARS PROJECT - TPE TO SET UP AN INFORMATION DOCUMENTATION CENTER

Yalciner told the A.A correspondent that they concluded the feasibility study of the project whose preparation had started five years ago.

Pointing out that the cost of the site including the building would be 18 million US dollars, Yalciner said that half of this amount would be provided from the World Bank as a loan.

Noting that the German government would meet one-sixth of the total cost, Yalciner said, ''we will provide the remaining cost, that is six million US dollars, or we will find other sources.''

''The Industrial Property Site, which is planned to be constructed with the World Bank loan, will include service units of the TPE, information centers and documentation centers. The site will meet the structural requirements of the institution and enable the concerned industrialists to get information by visiting the site or via computer,'' Chairman Yalciner said.

Yalciner stated that they had started the studies for the establishment of an ''Information Documentation Center''.

''Our most important lack is not having an information documentation center. We have a project which will gather up to 36 million documents. The feasibility studies of this project were concluded. When we implement this project, the countries applying for patents such as Britain, Austria and America will not need a preliminary research.''

[24] DEMOCRATIC LEFT PARTY (DSP) GROUP MEETING - ECEVIT SAYS DECLARATION OF AN ELECTION DATE WILL HAMPER THE STRUGGLE AGAINST FUNDAMENTALISM

Addressing the DSP Group, Ecevit stated that Turkey has been in an atmosphere of early elections for 15 years. Ecevit pointed out that there is a continuous instability in Turkey for this reason.

Noting that the ambiguity caused by the early elections debate can also impede the implementation of economic reforms which have been started in the Eastern and Southeastern regions, Ecevit added, ''if we can adopt a tax reform and law on the Wholesale Food Market on time and implement them properly, then inflation will probably decrease.''

Noting that the Turkish Cypriots are living under sanctions which are not imposed on any other people of a country in the world, Ecevit added that the economic power of Turkey is sufficient to make the TRNC economy stand on its own feet.

[25] ENERGY PRODUCTION AT THE GAP... - 3 BILLION 405 MILLION KWH ENERGY PRODUCED AT THE ATATURK DAM IN THE FIRST THREE MONTHS OF 1998 - 68 TRILLION 100 BILLION TURKISH LIRAS IN INCOME OBTAINED

Nevzat Erdem, the Chairman of the Turkish Electricity Inc. (TEAS) Ataturk Dam, told the A.A correspondent that the energy production at the Ataturk Dam HPP was expected to reach 8 billion 310 million KWH at the end of 1998.

''When you look at the first quarter of this year, you can see that we have realized more than 30 percent of the production programme for this year. This means that the production at the Ataturk Dam HPP will increase to over the level mentioned in the programme. Of course, this will also make a great contribution to the Turkish economy,'' Erdem said.

Erdem said that last year the production reached 10 billion 610 milion KWH, although it had been programmed to be 9 billion 100 million KWH.

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