Anadolu Agency: News in English, 00-04-04

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Anadolu Agency: News in English, 00-04-04

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

[01] AA News

04 April 2000 Tuesday

[02] TURKEY-PRESS SCAN

These are some of the major headlines and their brief stories in Turkey's press on April 4, 2000. The Anadolu Ajansi does not verify these stories and does not vouch for their occuracy.

HURRIYET (LIBERAL)

TWO DECISIONS TAKEN IN SUMMIT
The leaders of the coalition parties took two decisions in their meeting. One of these decisions was made public while the other was not. The declared decision was that 324 deputies who had earlier signed the motion for a constitutional amendment, should back their promises and that the leaders will take measures because this support is important for the reliability and respectability of the parliament. The undeclared decision was that the government will not resign even if the constitutional amendment which will pave the way to the second term in office of President Suleyman Demirel, will not be passed from the parliament.

INFLATION STARTS TO DECREASE
The wholesale prices increased 3.1 percent and consumer prices rose 2.9 percent in March 2000 when compared to prices in March 1999. The annual inflation in wholesale prices as of March 2000 became 66.1 percent, and the annual inflation in consumer prices as of March 2000 became 67.9 percent. Thus, the inflation decreased in March 2000 when compared with the inflation rate of February 2000.

MILLIYET (LIBERAL)

DEMIRALP:''INFLATION WILL DROP WITH A FAST RATE''
Treasury Undersecretary Selcuk Demiralp said the inflation figures are going parallel with the foreign currency programme of the Central Bank and added that the private sector started adjusting to the economic programme. ''We will witness the inflation's quick drop in the next quarter,'' Demiralp said. He also noted that he believed there would not be any deviation on the target of the economic programme.

ZANA:''EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT SHOULD NOT ACT PROVOCATIVELY''
Leyla Zana, former deputy of the banned Democracy Party (DEP) asked the European Parliament to avoid provocative behaviour when she spoke with Daniel Cohn-Bendit, the Co-Chairman of Turkey-EU Joint Parliamentary Commission. Following his one hour meeting with Zana, Bendit told reporters that Zana was one of the best defenders of the Turkish government.

SABAH (LIBERAL)

FIVE BIDS FOR GSM TENDER
Five consortiums submitted bids for the tender for operation of two new mobile communications network. The envelopes including amount proposed by these consortiums will be made public on April 12. These five consortiums are as follows:

''Consortium 1: Dogan Holding-Dogus Holding-Sabanci Holding and Spanish Telefonica,

Consortium 2: Genpa-Atlas Yapi-Norwegian Telenor-Mobile Communications,

Consortium 3: Is Bank-Telecom Italy,

Consortium 4: Fiba-Suzer Holding-Finansbank-Nurol Holding and French Telecom,

Consortium 5: Koctel Telekomunikasyon and SBC Communications Inc.''

BOMBS IN ANKARA
Two persons who were the members of illegal terrorist fundamentalist IBDA-C organization, were captured in Ankara. These two persons planted bombs in some schools and dustbins. The suspects said that they had planted five pipe-bombs in dustbins in Kecioren district and that they were captured as one of the bombs exploded in their car. The suspects also planted bombs in one elementary school, one vocational school and one high school.

CUMHURIYET (LEFT)

SIX DEAD BODIES IN INTERROGATION CENTER OF HEZBOLLAH
Seyhmuz Kinay, a member of the terrorist Hezbollah organization who was captured in southeastern Batman province, said that there were dead bodies in an empty field in Pembeviran. Following Kinay's testimony, the security forces launched excavations in this field in Cinar township of southeastern Diyarbakir province which was used as an interrogation and execution center by the terrorist Hezbollah organization. The security forces unearthed six dead bodies in this field and they are expected to unearth six more dead bodies from this field.

NUCLEAR TENDER MAY BE POSTPONED
The possibility of postponing the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Station tender, the bid evaluation term of which is continuously postponed, increased. The Treasury said that it will not guarantee the construction of five-billion U.S. dollar power station until the end of 2000 and that it cannot announce definite opinion about 2001. The Energy and Natural Resources Ministry plans to implement this project with ''build-operate-transfer'' model.

RADIKAL (LEFT)

INFLATION DROPS IN MARCH
The inflation, which was higher than the estimated rate in January and February, dropped in March. The inflation rate last month was the lowest since 1996. Consumer prices increased by 2.9 percent while wholesale prices increased 3.1 percent. In March 1999, consumer and wholesale prices were 4.0 and 4.1 percent respectively.

''CRISIS IS NOT LIKELY IN TURKEY''
Amer Bisat from the world's leading investment banks Morgan Stanley said the foreign capital was happy about the government's economic activities in Turkey and noted that the presidential elections would not turn into a crisis. ''There is a trend of decrease in the inflation and this decrease will continue if Turkey continues to follow its economic programme,'' Bisat said.

YENI BINYIL (LIBERAL)

ERBAKAN INVOLVED IN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS
President Suleyman Demirel requested help from Necmettin Erbakan, the leader of the banned Welfare Party (RP), through Ali Sener, his brother-in- law. Erbakan accepted to support the constitutional amendment which will ensure the election of the president for an additional five-year term. However, there was chaos in the Virtue Party (FP) this time.

WORLD BANK DELEGATION IN TURKEY
The World Bank Financial Sector Adjustment Loan delegation visited the Treasury Undersecretariat yesterday. The delegation including experts of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), is expected to stay in Turkey for a week. The delegation will hold contacts in the Treasury Undersecretariat, Central Bank and the public banks. The World Bank delegation is expected to examine the initiatives regarding the privatization of the public banks.

TURKIYE (RIGHT)

TURKISH DOCTOR DEVELOPS MEDICINE THAT KILLS
CANCEROUS PROSTATE CELLS
The medicine ''Aptosyn'' (Exisulind), which was developed by Dr.Rifat Pamukcu who lives in the U.S., is killing the cancerous prostate cells without causing any harm in the healthy tissues. The same medicine was earlier used in clinical tests to combat large intestine polyps. Pamukcu is the second Chairman of the Pennsylvania based Cell Pathway company and they applied to the U.S. Department of Health to obtain a permission to use the medicine in patients who also have large intestine cancer.

TURKEY COMMEMORATES TURKES
Leader of the Turkish nationalism, Alparslan Turkes who died three years ago today will be commemorated with ceremonies throughout Turkey. Turkes's wife, Seval Turkes and the leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) will attend the ceremony which will be held at his tomb.

ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)

EROL EVCIL RELEASED
The court ruled to release businessman Erol Evcil pending trial in Turkbank tender case. However, Evcil will stay in prison as he is being tried in the lawsuit which was filed regarding the murder of businessman Nesim Malki.

FOREIGN INVESTOR HOPEFUL
Amer Bisat, a high level official of Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, one of world's leading international investment bodies, said that the recent economic program of Turkey could be carried out successfully only by a strong and stable government. Bisat also said that Turkey was no longer in a position to stage political crises, and continued:

''foreign capital is very content with the new economic program of the government. There is a ''Presidential Question'' occupying the top of Turkey's agenda these days, but we believe that this will not bring about a governmental deterioration.'' Bisat added that they neither think that anyone would want early elections before this government's new economic program attains a success.

[03] LPG CANISTER EXPLODES KILLING 3 PEOPLE IN IZMIR

IZMIR - Three people died and four others were injured when a LPG canister exploded in the kitchen of an apartment in Izmir's Bornova township close to midnight on Monday.

The four people who were injured were hospitalized.

The fire brigades put out the fire which was caused by the explosion.

It was stated that the bodies of the victims were burnt beyond recognition.

[04] FIRE BREAKS OUT NEXT TO HURRIYET MEDIA TOWERS

ISTANBUL - A fire broke out in the paper storage room next to Hurriyet Media Towers on Tuesday morning in Istanbul's Ikitelli district.

The fire started about 7.45 a.m. in the two-storey building where Hurriyet's promotional products and paper were kept. The fire spreaded to a wide area in a very short time when the papers caught fire.

Fire teams from Istanbul's Fatih, Merter, and Bakirkoy teams rushed to the area. Efforts to put out the fire is still continuing.

It is not yet known what caused the fire.

[05] POLICE REVEALS REAL CAUSE OF EXPLOSION IN IZMIR - AN UNEXPLODED CANNON- BALL, NOT A LPG CANISTER, CAUSES EXPLOSION

IZMIR - The explosion in Izmir's Bornova district which killed 4 people was caused by a cannon-ball although it was first thought to have caused by a LPG canister used for cooking.

The 45 year old Ihsan Hattuza found an unexploded cannon-ball in the woods, took it back home, and left it in the empty area next to his yard. The cannon-ball exploded with a very loud noise when another member of the family, Dilaver Hattuza who was 26 started playing with the cannon-ball with a screw-driver.

Out of the 18 people who lived in the two-storey building, Rustem Tokman and Hakim Tokman who were high school students died in the explosion. Riza Tokman, who was seriously injured, lost his life at the hospital. Two other people are currently under treatment.

Security forces said they felt a very strong gas smell when they first entered the building, so they first thought the explosion was caused by a LPG canister which was in the kitchen. Later, they found several pieces of a cannon-ball which also damaged the LPG canister. The investigation made it certain that the LPG did not cause the accident.

Security forces said the house was closed to the shooting range, therefore there could be unexploded ammunition in the area. A week ago, a similar cannon-ball was found in the area and submitted to the military authorities.

Ihsan Hattuza said he did not know the piece he found was a cannon-ball and he thought it was only an iron piece which he can sell and make some money.

Investigation related to the incident is still continuing.

[06] WORLD BANK TO PLAY A MORE ACTIVE ROLE IN ENERGY PROJECTS

ANKARA - The World Bank will play a more active role in determining the energy projects and investments.

Officials told A.A correspondent on Tuesday that the World Bank proposed to re-arrange build-operate-transfer (BOT) projects as build-operate (BO) projects, and to totally remove the treasury guarantee in the BOT projects.

The World Bank thinks that the Turkish Electricity Inc.'s (TEAS) making a contract on purchasing electricity from the electricity power plants in private sector, and the Treasury's providing treasury guarantee to the BOT projects within the scope of foreign loan, increase the public finance deficit and deteriorate the free market conditions.

The officials said that 150 companies within the framework of BOT, are standing in queue to produce electricity and to benefit from the 30-35 billion U.S. dollar energy projects.

These companies can be listed in two groups, including the companies which received investment consent, signed convention and reached finance and the companies which cannot probably find finance, the officials added.

The World Bank officials said that the Treasury guarantee cannot be maintained and that if it is maintained, the energy can become a ''black hole'' like the social security.

The officials noted that there is one billion U.S. dollar loss resulting from the Treasury guarantees.

Meanwhile, officials of the State Planning Organization (DPT), Treasury Undersecretariat and the Energy and Natural Resources Ministry prepare energy production and consumption plan until 2005.

In accordance with the plan, the electricity deficit will increase to high figures in 2001 and 2002.

Four or five companies which will be chosen for electricity production, will not be sufficient to close this deficit.

Turkey targets passing Energy Law in June and forming Energy Supreme Board until the end of this year.

[07] 110 POLICE CHIEFS ATTEND SEMINAR ON FIGHT AGAINST ORGANIZED CRIME ORGANIZATIONS

ANTALYA - Emin Arslan, Chairman of Struggle with Organized Crime and Smuggling Department of the Security Directorate said on Tuesday that they were determined to continue their struggle against organized crime organizations.

A total of 110 police chiefs from 81 provinces are attending the Struggle Against Smuggling and Organized Crime seminar in Antalya.

Arslan said the organized crime organizations thrive in areas where there is an authority vacuum. He noted that the police forces were quite successful in catching criminals, however he said, they fail to eradicate the financial sources of these organizations and execute punishments.

''Financial sources feed these organizations and help them grow. We have to confiscate their financial sources in order to eradicate them. Unfortunately, we fail to do this in Turkey,'' Aslan commented.

About the organized crime leaders who run their criminal activities by giving instructions from Kartal Prison, Aslan said these people must be isolated with the outside world in order to stop their activities.

Aslan also stressed that they have the full support of the political will in Turkey in their fight against organized crime.

[08] ITF'S ANNUAL GENERAL ASSEMBLY TO BE HELD IN ANTALYA

ANKARA - The International Tennis Federation (ITF) will hold its annual general assembly in southern Antalya province between June 12 and 17, 200.

The chairmen of federation from 400 countries will participate as delegates in this general assembly.

The schedule of 2000-2001 season will be determined in this general assembly.

Officials of Tennis Federation said that this general assembly will be an important opportunity for the promotion of Turkey.

[09] DANISH DELEGATION STARTS BILATERAL CONTACTS

IZMIR - The Danish delegation, including representatives of Danish textile companies, started to hold bilateral contacts with officials of 110 Turkish companies on Tuesday.

Claes Dalhof Jensen, a representative of the Denmark Chamber of Commerce who heads the delegation, said that they think that these contacts will increase the exports.

Turkey has an important place in the exports of the European Union (EU), Jensen noted.

Jensen stated that Turkey's textile and ready-made cloth exports to Denmark increased 30 percent in the last four years and that some of the companies in the delegation have business deals with the Turkish companies.

They expect positive results from their contacts, Jensen stressed.

Sebahattin Gazanfer, the Secretary General of the Aegean Exporters' Unions, said that such organizations are very beneficial and that the Danish delegation will be followed by British and Spanish delegations.

Emre Ergin, Trade Counselor in Turkey's Embassy in Copenhagen, said thatmore than 50 percent of the trade between Turkey and Denmark is composed of textile and ready-made cloth sector.

The Turkish companies show their products to the Danish delegation to have business deals.

The Danish delegation will hold bilateral contacts with the Turkish businessmen for two days.

Then, they can visit the installations of the Turkish companies if they wish.

[10] BELGIAN SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS THAT TURKEY'S REQUEST FOR EXTRADITION OF ERDAL IS LEGAL AND RIGHTFUL

BRUSSELS- Belgian Supreme Court upheld on Tuesday that Turkey's request for extradition of Fehriye Erdal, a member of the illegal Revolutionary People's Salvation Party-Front (DHKP-C) who was involved in businessman Ozdemir Sabanci assassination, was legal and rightful.

Erdal has no right to raise an judicial objection any more.

Marc Verwilghen, the Belgian Justice Minister, will take the final decision about extradition of Erdal to Turkey.

Meanwhile, following announcement of the verdict, supporters of the terrorist organization have started a demonstration in the court hall.

[11] ITALIAN MOVIE TEAM IN SANLIURFA TO SHOOT DOCUMENTARY

SANLIURFA - A team of 12 people from Italian Trans World movie company came to Sanliurfa to shoot a documentary at the historical sites and tourist attractions in the area. The team will later go to Mardin and Antakya.

The Italian TWF team are shooting the documentary ''Roma Imago Urbis'' in the areas crowded by historical houses. Excavation areas, Harran's citadel and Ulu Mosque will also be featured in the documentary.

The team will travel to Mardin on Wednesday where they will shoot at the ancient Deyrul Zafaran Monastery.

[12] DR. PAMUKCU ANNOUNCES ANOTHER DRUG WHICH KILLS CANCEROUS BREAST CELLS

CHICAGO- Dr. Rifat Pamukcu, who recently developed a medicine called Aptosyn (Exisulind) which kills cancerous prostate cells, also announced at the American Research Association's Congress that he managed to kill cancerous breast cells using a medicine called Toxol and a chemical CP461.

On the second day of the congress held in San Francisco, Dr. Pamukcu said the tests they made on mice showed that Toxol and the CP461, which is used in chemotherapy, kills cancerous breast cancer cells. This method significantly increases Taxol's effect in combating against the cancerous cells, Pamukcu explained and said he is continuing his research on this method. CP-461 increases the amount of cGMP in the cancerous cells and therefore kills them.

Pamukcu is the Second President of the Cell Pathways firm which is working in biotechnology field and the company is expected to present some medicines which can be a break-through in cancer treatment.

[13] CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT BILL TO BE DISCUSSED ON WEDNESDAY

ANKARA - The Parliamentary General Assembly will discuss the constitutional amendment bill on Wednesday.

The second-round discussions on the bill which foresees constitutional amendment in three articles, will start at 1.00 p.m. on Wednesday. The discussions will be adjourned for one one hour at 7.00 p.m. and the General Assembly will re-convene at 8.00 p.m. and continue the discussions until the discussions are concluded.

The second-round discussions are expected to last for six or eight hours.

The second-round discussions will start by taking up the articles of the constitutional amendment bill.

Only amendment motions regarding the presidential elections and the closure of the politicial parties, can be submitted in the second-round discussions.

Secret ballot will be held for the motions which will be adopted by the parliament.

In the second-round, the article on which the three-fifth majority of the deputies (330 votes) cannot be provided, will be abated.

If votes in favour of 330 deputies cannot be provided on the whole bill, the bill will be rejected.

IN the last voting which will be held not to open referendum for the constitutional amendment bill, th two-third majority of the deputies (367 votes) are necessary.

If the votes remain between 330 and 367, a referendum will be held.

The distribution of seats in the parliament are as follows:

Democratic Left Party (DSP)............................137

Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).......................127

Motherland Party (ANAP)................................ 87

Virtue Party (FP)......................................104

True Path Party (DYP).................................. 85

Independent............................................ 5

Vacant................................................. 5

The results of the first-round voting held on March 29 are as follows:

Deputies participated in the voting (DPIV)

Votes in Favour (VIF)

Rejection Votes (RV)

Invalid Votes (IV)

Abstained (ABS.)

Empty (E)

. DPIV VIF RV ABS. IV E
. -------------------------------------------
To discuss articles 531 303 202 11 6 9

Article 69 523 260 238 10 4 11

Article 86 494 265 207 9 6 7

Article 101 514 253 236 4 4 17

Validity article 466 261 184 3 5 13

[14] PETROLEUM FAIR TO BE HELD IN ISTANBUL

ISTANBUL- Petroleum 2000, the 4th International Oil, Gas and Service Equipment Fair will take place in Istanbul between April 27 and 30.

Turkish Oil Refineries Inc. (Tupras), Pipeline Oil Transportation Inc. (Botas), Turkish Petroleum Inc. (TPAO), Petroleum Office Inc. (POAS), fuel- oil distribution companies, LPG gas and fuel-oil equipment firms will participate in the fair.

Attenders will discuss the problems of the petroleum sector at the panel which will be organized on the same days. The fair will take place at the fair area of Istanbul Technical University (ITU).

[15] A TOTAL OF 26 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS INTERCEPTED

VAN- Security forces intercepted on Tuesday 26 foreigners who entered Turkey illegally, in Gevas township of eastern Van province.

The immigrants including 18 Iraqis, 5 Iranians and 3 Afghans were taken into custody for violating the Turkish borders and the passport law.

Officials told the A.A correspondent that the immigrants would be deported once the legal proceedings are completed.

[16] FOREIGN MINISTER CEM ARRIVES IN TOKYO

TOKYO- Ismail Cem, the Foreign Minister, arrived in Japanese capital of Tokyo on Tuesday for an official visit.

Yaman Baskut, the Turkish Ambassador to Japan, welcomed Cem at the Narita Airport.

Cem is expected to start his official contacts on Wednesday.

[17] PARLIAMENTARIANS ASSESS RESULTS OF THE LEADERS' SUMMIT ON AMENDMENT

ANKARA- Parliament members on Tuesday expressed their views pertaining to the results of the leaders' summit, in which the coalition leaders took up the measures to be taken to pass the proposed amendment to the constitution.

Emre Kocaoglu, Motherland Party (ANAP) MP from Istanbul, who said he had cast an ''against'' vote in the first round, said that he would not change his idea, and cast an ''against'' vote in the second round of voting, which is due to take place on Wednesdapy, April 5th.

Kamran Inan, ANAP MP from eastern Van province said, ''I shall vote as the constitution orders,'', while vice-chairman of ANAP, Mustafa Tasar said ''I will not show my vote, and do as my post necessitates.''

Yilmaz karakoyunlu, ANAP MP from Istanbul said that the parliament members will act in line with their free will in Wednesday's voting, and added, ''I don't think that anyone would dare to intervene.''

ANAP-member Ertugrul Yalcinbayir, Chairman of the Constitutional Commission said that each member of the parliament had sworn to remain loyal to the Constitution before taking their seats, and underlined that this counted also for the leaders of the coalition leaders. He added that it would be the major piece of evidence in a case for cancellation, if the MP's were forced to reveal their votes.

Turhar Guven, acting chairman of the True Path Party (DYP) Parliamentary Group, said that it was against the rules of procedure for parliament members to reveal their votes, and assured that the members of his party were not under any kind of pressure. Guven said that they had collected 82 signatures for an amendment to the article no:101 of the Constitution, and said they were clear and determined in their stance.

[18] KUTAN, FP LEADER, SPEAKS AT PARTY GROUP MEETING

ANKARA- Recai Kutan, leader of the Virtue Party (FP), said on Tuesday that the parliament is an institution where will of the people is materialized.

Addressing his party group meeting at the parliament, Kutan reiterated his words regarding constitutional amendments, and claimed that they wanted to change Article 101 in fact, and noted that others were artificial. Kutan said results of the first tour of voting shocked government partners.

Kutan evaluated invalid votes, used for Article 101 in the first voting, as ''against'', and claimed that Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) casted these votes. Kutan also claimed that at least 49 deputies from MHP and DSP casted against votes.

[19] TENDER FOR AKKUYU NUCLEAR POWER PLANT - CONSORTIUM OFFICIALS UNEASY ABOUT A STATEMENT BY TREASURY

ANKARA- The statement of Treasury Undersecretar�at say�ng that they could not g�ve f�nance guarantee to the Akkuyu Power Plant for the year 2000, particularly in a time when a strict economic program is being implemented, created uneas�ness among the consort�um off�c�als.

Speaking to A.A correspondent on Tuesday, consortium officials said that the companies involved in the tender for the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant, were required to give a 100 credit guarantee by the Electricity Production- Communication Corporation(TEAS).

An official pointed out that the construction of the plant would be financed by foreign credits anyway, and added that they had not been asked for a credit guarantee for the year 2000.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said further that ''the whole process would not have been completed before the end of 2001 even if the tender were to result this very day.''

Another consortium official said that the plant would start operating in 2007-2008 the earliest, if the construction started in 2002, that TEAS would be able to pay its debts after six months, and thus the project did not contradict the anti-inflationist program.

Consortium officials expressed anxiety over the statement issued recently by the Treasury Undercesrearniat, in which it was said that there could be an extension of deadline set for the submission of bids, and said they hoped that this would not come to happen.

The deadline for the submision fo bids is April 7, 2000.

The three consortiums vying in the tender are as follows:

''Westinghouse-Mitsubishi Consortium: Westinghouse (USA), Raytheone and Duke (USA), Mitsubishi heavy Int. (Japan), Enka Construction (Turkey), MNG (Turkey).

AECL Consortium: AECL (canada), Hitachi (Japan), Itochu (Japan), Gama Industries (Turkey), Guris Construciton (Turkey), Bayindir Construction (Turkey), Ansoldo (Italy), Daewoo (S. Korea)

NPI Consortium: Siemens (Germany), Hochtief (Germany), Framatom (France), Gec-Alsthom (France), Campenon-Bernard (France), Garanti-Koza Construciton (Turkey), Tekfen Construction (Turkey).