Anadolu Agency: News in English, 00-01-10

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

[01] AA News

10 January 2000 Monday

[02] TURKEY-PRESS SCAN

HURRIYET (LIBERAL)

FIRST RAMADAN BAIRAM WITHOUT WIRES
Relatives who are citizens of Turkey and Syria met each other for the first time without wires due to the Ramadan holiday (Bairam). Hundreds of Syrians entered Turkey by taking administrative permission and were hosted by their relatives in Turkey.

MILLIYET (LIBERAL)

TURKEY'S TOURISM AREAS TO BE DISCOVERED
Turkey Travel Agencies Union (TURSAB) asked for information from 80 provinces in order to reveal the natural assets of Turkey which remained undiscovered until today. Under the light of this information, a report will be prepared for people who are employed in tourism sector. TURSAB Chairman Basaran Ulusoy said they received reports from 25 provinces so far. Talking about the report sent by Elazig Governor Lutfullah Bilgin, Ulusoy said ''Even I did not know there was a 1,800 year old Virgin Mary Church in Elazig.'' TURSAB will organize alternative tours for tourists using the new information.

SABAH (LIBERAL)

REASONABLE COMMENT FROM MHP:''STATE IS IMPORTANT, NOT OCALAN''
Kenan Tanrikulu who is very close to Devlet Bahceli, the leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) said ''It is not important whether to execute Ocalan or not. We must evaluate the issue considering the future of our country.'' Tanrikulu also noted that the most logical thing to do was to discuss the issue at the Parliament.

CUMHURIYET (LEFT)

''DO NOT BE AFRAID OF MINORITIES''
German Ambassador to Ankara, Hans-Joachim Vergau who completed his five year post in Turkey told Cumhuriyet that there were 25 minority groups living in Turkey. If Turkey rejects the European terminology regarding minorities, it will make things difficult for itself, Vergau said. ''According to this terminology Turkey has many minority groups just like Germany. We have 7.5 million foreigners living in Germany and 12-13 minority groups. And Turkey has 25 different minority groups,'' he explained. ''I was very glad to see that the southeast problem was openly covered by the press. I also appreciate the responsible attitude of Foreign Minister Ismail Cem who said it was an individual right to speak Kurdish. I agree with him. But Turkey should not be afraid of the word ''minority'', he said.

RADIKAL (LEFT)

800 TRILLION LIRAS OF FAKE INVOICE
Barboros Holding which is owned by Orhan Aslıturk, the husband of Gulay Aslıturk, the former mayor of Sisli district of Istanbul, had given fake invoices to 250 firms worth of 1.5 billion dollars. The state paid 121.5 trillion liras of unjust Value Added Tax (VAT) of 225 million dollars to these firms.

TURKIYE (RIGHT)

"SOLUTION WITHOUT TURKEY IS DIFFICULT"

Haydar Aliyev, the Azerbaijani President came to Ankara yesterday upon the invitation of President Suleyman Demirel. Aliyev pointed out that Turkey supports the right cause of Azerbaijan regarding the conflict with Armenia, adding they announced a ceasefire with Armenia, but peace hasn't been installed yet. Aliyev stressed that the problems in the region can't be solved without the participation of Turkey and the events in the Caucasus can't be solved without Turkey. President Demirel said in his part that Caucasus will be peaceful by the contributions of Aliyev.

ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)

[03] TURKISH CYPRIOTS RETURN TO TRNC AFTER VISITING HALA SULTAN TOMB IN GREEK SIDE

Greek Cypriot police tightened security measures around the tomb and UN Peace Keeping Forces accompanied the visitors.

No incidents occured during the visit.

[04] EUROPAY INTERNATIONAL, TARGETS TO HAVE 60 PERCENT MARKET SHARE IN TURKEY IN 2000'S

Europay International which gathers Mastercard and Maestro credit cards under its roof, last year increased its market share in Turkey to 49 percent and number of credit cards to 15 million.

Ozlem Ercelen Imece, the General Director of Turkey and Central Asian Republics, told A.A that they achieved to increse their turnover from 7 billion U.S. dollars to 10.5. billion U.S. dollars despite the economic crisis.

Imece said they work to improve their technologies in order to offer attractive products to masses of people. She also noted that Turkey was a very dynamic market. ''There are 30 credit and bank cards in Turkey. 9 percent of them are credit cards. This figure can easily be increased to 15 million. 70 percent of card holders have more than one credit card. However, there are about 6 million people who actively use credit cards. There is a long way to go but there is also a big potential in this area,'' she explained.

Imece who is responsible for eight countries including Turkey said Central Asian countries were trying to adapt to new payment systems and added that they wanted to use their experience in Turkey in these countries.

The usage of credit cards is growing very rapidly in Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan. They are recently giving cards to Armenia, Turkmenistan and Georgia but they are not planning to give credit cards anytime soon to Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan whose economies are very new, Imece explained.

In Turkey, besides big cities, Europay International wants to increase Master Card and Meestro Card sales in other places of Anatolia. They also want to introduce ''smart card'' in Turkey.

''Credit cards will be more important in Turkey after the inflation drops. We are targeting to increase our turnover by 70-80 percent in 2000's,'' she said.

[05] GREEK FIRM ROKAS S.A. PROPOSES PARTNERSHIP TO GUCBIRLIGI HOLDING

Christos Rokas, the Executive Board Chairman of Rokas S.A., in a letter said that his company had 40 years of experience and proposed partnership to Gucbirligi in the energy investments that will be made in Greece and Turkey.

In the proposal, Rokas said they were planning to market the energy that will be obtained through the joint investment. ''Regardless of which country the investment is made, the energy can be transferred to the other contry through undersea cables. We can even sell energy to Greek islands,'' he explained.

Rokas also noted that the partnership will help to develop friendship and trade relations between Turkey and Greece and encourage other enterpreneurs.

Kemal Zorlu, the Executive Board President of Gucbirligi Holding told A.A that they recognized no boundries in wind energy investments and were ready to invest in any region they thought would be productive. Gucbirligi Holding will start talks with the Greek firm after the Ramadan holiday. Wind energy investments are on the top of their priority list, Zorlu told A.A.

Zorlu also pointed out that a clean environment was desired by both Turkey and Greece as tourism was a significant source of income for the two countries.

[06] CONFLICTS WITHIN TERRORIST ORGANIZATION PKK COME TO LIGHT IN ITS SOCALLED 7TH CONGRESS

Supporters of Cemil Bayık and Osman Ocalan, the brother of the head terrorist, sit in different places during the congress, the intelligence units determined.

The socalled congress convened in an extraordinary meeting to discuss the call of Abdullah Ocalan, the head terrorist who was imprisoned to death penalty and who wanted the PKK ''to give up arms for a democratic republic.'' The socalled congress stressed that the accession of new members to PKK decreased by 80-85 percent in 1999 compared to 1998 and the fugitives increased by 230 percent compared to 1998.

The congress was held in a big cave and nearly 900-1000 terrorists participated in it. The supporters of Osman Ocalan seemed to be more than others. Osman Ocalan defends the view that ''PKK should not carry out armed struggle anymore and pursue political activities for an independent state.''

A report in which 1999 was evaluated was also taken up in the socalled congress. The report noted that: ''PKK lost respect and support after the capture of its head. Nearly 14 million dollars were seized by traitorous members. 8 million dollars were spent for armament, 1 million dollars for training and shelter and 2 million dollars for propaganda. A total of 325 members who cheated PKK were killed. The aids coming from Iran, Armenia and Iraq can keep PKK alive.''

[07] PRESIDENT DEMIREL AND PREMIER ECEVIT ISSUE MESSAGES UPON JANUARY 10 WORKING JOURNALISTS DAY

President Demirel said that the Turkish press developed very rapidly despite certain delays in the legal regulations.

Presidentail Press Centre quoted Demirel as saying ''the Turkish press can determine its borders itself and this is a very pleasing development.''

''However it is not easy to say that the press members reached the life standart, social and economic conditions they deserve despite the difficult mission they have undertaken. The deficiencies in this issue should be completed as soon as possible and enter into force,'' he added.

Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said in his part that the Turkish press contributed a lot to the national unity and secular and democratic Republic.

''The Turkish press also monitors the foreign affairs closely and informs the public opinion about them,'' he added, congratulating the press members.

[08] TUSIAD CHAIRMAN YUCAOGLU:''TURKEY NEEDS COMPANIES WHICH CAN COMPETE IN GLOBAL WORLD''

Commenting about the transfer of five banks to Savings Deposit Fund, Yucaoglu said having 100 percent state guarantee over savings was wrong.

''In Europe, a bank is allowed to make banking transactions after it proves itself. The same did not happen in Turkey. There is state guarantee and banks were allowed to be set up with minimum capital,'' he commented.

The new banking law, if implemented according to world norms, will bring a rational structure to the sector and some mergings are necessary for this formation, he explained.

''We are expecting bank mergings during the restructuralization process in financial sector. Big size companies are competing in the global market and Turkey needs companies which can take place in the global world. Turkish companies must cooperate in some sectors,'' he said.

[09] COE QUAKE RAPPORTEUR TO VISIT TURKEY

Hungarian parliamentarian Surjan will make observations in the quake struck region after meeting with high ranking officials in Ankara and Istanbul.

The report and the recommendatory decision he will prepare, will be discussed and voted by the COE Parliamentary Assembly in the general council meeting to be held at the end of January in Strasbourg.

European Social Fund, which acts as the bank of COE, had decided to give a credit worth of 300 million EUROs to Turkey by low interest rate following the quake in Turkey.

[10] PRESIDENT DEMIREL:''TURKEY MUST HAVE AN EXTENSIVE AGRICULTURAL REFORM''

''Turkey, due to the changing world conditions, must bring new regulations to stock breeding and agricultural policies. This has become a must,'' he said.

''Important developments took place in Turkey in modernization of agriculture, its mechanization and increasing of productivity. The percentage of people who make their living from agriculture dropped from 80 percent to 40 percent. Our schools which give agricultural education and training has a big role in this,'' he noted.

Today, with almost half of the Turkish population making its living from agriculture, agricultural problems remain as an issue in Turkey's agenda, Demirel said.

''We must drop the population of people who make their living from agriculture to the level of developed countries. In the EU, this figure is only 8 percent. When compared to the EU, it becomes apparent that agricultural employment rate is too high and productivity is too low in Turkey. Problems that might be faced while working on this issue can be solved through industrialization,'' Demirel went on to say.

Another point is that people who make their living from agriculture get a very little share from national income, he stressed. ''Turkey must make the best use of its present potential and take measures to increase agricultural productivity to reach agricultural targets,'' Demirel said.

[11] TURKISH AMBASSADOR IN BERLIN VISITS BERLIN STATE PRESIDENT EBERHARD DIEPGEN

During the visit, Diepgen noted that a great number of Turks lived in Berlin and stressed that speaking German and receiving vocational training made adjustment easier.

Ulucevik said he agreed with Diepgen about the importance of speaking German. He asked Diepgen to inform the Turkish citizens about the German language test that is required to be taken to become a German citizen.

Ulucevik also thanked Diepgen for the earthquake aid sent by German people.

A.A

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