Anadolu Agency: News in English, 00-04-13

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[01] AA News

13 April 2000 Thursday

[02] TURKEY-PRESS SCAN

HURRIYET (LIBERAL)

TERIM: ''STATE SHOULD LAUNCH INITIATIVES''
Galatasaray Coach Fatih Terim said, ''we are expecting the diplomacy to intervene in the issue. Why should Galatasaray fans have deprived of its fans? Galatasaray did not do anything. Turkish people came to the stadiums to watch our previous matches abroad and nothing happened. Galatasaray is not alone, but the issue is developing against us.'' ''Why is the UEFA asking for a guarantee only from the Leeds this year while it requested state gurantee from Turkey last year? You see, it is impossible to understand this,'' Terim stressed.

PRIME MINISTER ECEVIT APPEARS BEFORE REPORTERS
Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit appeared before reporters 124 hours after he got influenza. ''As you see, my condition is fine. I am planning to rest at home on Thursday as well,'' he told reporters. He also added that the leaders summit which was scheduled to be held on Tuesday, but cancelled later due to his illness, would be held over the weekend.

MILLIYET (LIBERAL)

EXPLOSION IN ISTANBUL
An explosion occurred in a sideboard in Carsikapi in Eminonu district of Istanbul province at about 12:00 a.m. The explosion caused stampede among resident. Six people were injured in their hands and faces in the explosion. They were rushed to the Haseki Hospital for medical treatment. Doctors said that one of them was in critical condition. Gas compression caused the explosion.

SABAH (LIBERAL)

TURKISH PILOT DIES IN JORDAN
Squadron Leader Erol Ahmet Yaldiz died in a helicopter crash in Jordanian capital of Amman on Wednesday. Squadron Leader Erol Ahmet Yaldiz was in Jordan, participating in a vocational training program. The body of Squadron Leader Yaldiz is going to be taken to Ankara on board an ambulance plane attached to the Turkish Air Forces on Thursday.

CELLULAR SCANDAL AT KARTAL PRISON
Gendarmery units discovered a cellular phone in mafia leader Alaattin Cakici's cell at Kartal Prison, renowned as the ''strictest and safest'' prison in Turkey. Acting on a tip-off, the gendarmeries found another cellular phone and a Melior brand pistol, as well as 13 bullets in Ali Kuleberoglu's cell. The cellular phones and the pistol was understood to have been transfered between the cells during an exchange of refrigerators in the cells of Cakici and his man, Kuleberoglu.

CUMHURIYET (LEFT)

CEM RETURNS TO TURKEY
Ismail Cem, the Foreign Minister, returned to Turkey from Luxembourg where he attended the Turkey-EU Association Council meeting. Addressing journalists at the Ataturk Airport in Istanbul, Cem said that the meetings were ''better than he expected,'' and noted that they made progress in a few basic points. Cem said he wasn't totally satisfied with the developments in economic issues, but added that they still made some progress. In institutional relations, Cem said, there were also some positive developments including free circulation in service and contracting sectors.

TURK: ''INMATES' EXPECTATIONS HAVE BEGUN TO TURN INTO DESPAIR''
Hikmet Sami Turk, the Justice Minister, said, ''adoption of the Amnesty Law in a short period of time will be useful. Inmates throughout Turkey are waiting for it. Their expectations have begun to turn into a restless despair.'' Turk left for Austrian capital of Vienna to attend the 10th Prevention of Crime and Treatment of Criminals Congress organized by the United Nations. Staging a press conference at the Ataturk Airport in Istanbul prior to his departure, Turk said that the Parliamentary Constitution Commission had debated and accepted the Amnesty Draft Law for two times after it was vetoed by President Suleyman Demirel. Turk noted that the Amnesty Draft Law was not discussed again at the Parliamentary Constitituon Commission due to some differences of opinion among coalition partners.

RADIKAL (LEFT)

IMF PRAISES ECONOMIC PROGRAM
The ''World's Economic Outlook'' report, presented during the inaugural session of the spring term meetings of the IMF and the World Bank, praised the economic program of the ruling government of Turkey. In the section reserved for Turkey, it was said that Turkey had implemented an anti- inflationist economic program in late 1999, and the initial results of the program were qualified as being ''rather hope inspiring''.

TURK: ''COMPROMISE CAN BE REACHED''
Justice Minister Hikmet Sami Turk said that a compromise could be reached in the first two rounds of voting at the parliament in presidential elections, and added that it would not be so hard to find a suitable candidate upon whom a majority could agree. Turk, who spoke to reporters at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport before taking off for Vienna, said that there were allegations to the effect that he himsbelf was a candidate for the post, but that these claims had no truth in them.

YENİ BİNYIL (LIBERAL)

TURKEY TO TAKE A BIG STEP
Turkey, currently a candidate for EU membership, is getting ready to establish a ''Human Rights Directorate'' within the framework of her efforts to translate into life the Copenhagen Criteria. A proposal foreseeing the foundation of the said unit has been opened for signature. Within this framework, ''Supreme Board for Human Rights'', ''Human Rights Advisory Board'', and ''Board of Investigation for Alleged Human Rights Violations'' will also be established.

TURKIYE (RIGHT)

''EAST MEDITERRANEAN 2000 MANOEUVRES'' START
The ''East Mediterranean 2000 Naval Manoeuvres'' which is one of the concerted manoeuvres of the Turkish Naval Forces started with harbor exercises in Izmir. Admiral Metin Atac, the Commander-in-Chief of War Fleet and South Mission Group, staged a press briefing together with the Commanders of the U.S., French, Spanish and Italian units. Admiral Atac said 25 vessels of the Turkish Naval Forces, and frigates, sea outpost patrol planes and submarines of the U.S., French, Spanish, and Italian Naval Forces would participate in the manoeuvres which would be exercised between April 12 and 22.

ONAL TO REPRESENT TURKEY IN IMF-WORLD BANK SPRING TERM MEETINGS
Recep Onal, the State Minister responsible for Treasury, will represent Turkey in the annual spring term meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank. Onal will leave for Washington D.C. on April 14, 2000 and start his contacts in the U.S. on April 15. Meanwhile, security forces have begun to take tight measures in Washington, D.C. where the meeting will be held, to prevent demonstrations from holding protests.

ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)

FASSINO: ''WE WILL FURTHER STRENGTHEN OUR RELATIONS WITH TURKEY''
Piero Fassino, the Italian Foreign Trade Minister, expressed his satisfaction over succes of the Telecom Italia consortium in the GSM phone network in Turkey. Fassino said that such developments would help relations between Turkey and Italy to further strengthen.

[03] PROFILE OF EXPORTS FROM GAP REGION - IN FIRST THREE MONTHS, 73.2 MILLION U.S. DOLLARS OF TEXTILE PRODUCTS EXPORTED

In the same period last year, the region exported 76 million 632 thousand U.S. dollars of textile products.

Officials at the Southeastern Anatolia Exporters' Union, told the A.A correspondent on Thursday that in the first three months of the year, they exported 32 million 623 thousand U.S. dollars in thread; 36 million 823 thousand U.S. dollars in cotton fabric; and 3 million 771 thousand U.S. dollars in various textile products.

The majority of the goods were exported to Syria, Saudi Arabia, the U.S., Belgium, Italy, Jordan, Spain, Kazakhstan, Sweden, Romania, Kyrgyzstan, Portugal, Uzbekistan, Israel, Greece, Algeria, France, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Lebanon, Russia and Austria.

[04] RESTITUTION OF MANUSCRIPT KORAN FROM U.S. - GOLD KORAN TO BE DISPLAYED

Alpay Basinli, the Director General of Monuments and Museums, told the A.A correspondent on Thursday, ''the document which comprised half of the Gold Koran, was stolen from Nuruosmaniye Library just outside an entryway into Istanbul's famed Covered Bazaar, in 1942. It entered the Hopkins collection in 1942 as part of a bequest of rare books. The Koran was handed over to Istemihan Talay, the Culture Minister, by William Brody, the Rector of the University of Johns Hopkins. The first 18 chapters of the Gold Koran will now be housed with the rest of the work in the Nuruosmaniye Library. It will be displayed in the Anatolian Civilizations Museum within framework of the Museums Week.''

He added, ''the Gold Koran which is written in the early Arabic script Kufa, is composed of 416 pages. It was restored in the 18th century. Meanwhile, 62 pages of the second part of Koran in the Nuruosmaniye Library were missing.''

[05] FINANCIAL INSPECTIONS AT POLITICAL PARTIES

The Supreme Court resolved for the return of undocumented or irrelevant expenses by the Great Unity Party (BBP), which total to nearly 6 billion Turkish liras, to the Treasury.

The Constitutional Court also resolved to inform the BBP about its demand for the necessary documents, but it found the overall accurate calculations of the said party or the year 1997 appropriate and in compliance with the law.

The Constitutional Court found the 1998 accounts given by the Democratic Left Party (DSP) to be in proper order, accurate and in compliance with the law.

The Court approved of the 1998 documents also of the Labor Party and the Great Justice Party.

[06] COUNTDOWN AT BURSA WASTE RECYCLING STOCK EXCHANGE

Meral Korkmaz, an official of the Waste Recycling Stock Exchange that is to function under the Bursa Environment Center (BCM) told the A.A correspondent that they were waiting for the computer system that is to operate the stock exchange to be installed.

Korkmaz said that the stock exchange would not serve as an inspection mechanism of waste control, but as a mediator between the supply and the demand, and that it would also provide service to the provinces of Balikesir, Bilecik, Yalova, and Eskisehir.

Korkmaz said that the aim of this project was to regain at least a certain amount of wastes back to the industry, and stipulated the benefits of it as follows:

''-prevention of waste accumulation

-maintenance of longer-life depots

-economising from waste costs

-decreasing the cost of raw material

-prevention of future economic problems stemming from insufficient resources.''

Korkmaz said that the companies to trade wastes through the stock market would be announced on a regular basis, provided that they informed the stock exchange about the amount, quality, content, means of transportation, and composition.

[07] FOREIGN TRADE STATISTICS - 1.9 BILLION U.S. DOLLARS GOODS EXPORTED AND 3.2 BILLION U.S. DOLLARS GOODS IMPORTED IN JANUARY, 2000

The exports increased by 5.8 percent compared to same period last year while the increase in imports reached 44.8 percent.

The State Institute of Statistics (DIE) said that in parallel to the increase in imports, the foreign trade deficit rose 258.4 percent to 1 billion 229.8 million U.S. dollars, and the rate of exports meeting imports decreased from 84.6 percent to 61.8 percent.

In the same peroid last year, the total exports were 1 billion 883.3 million U.S. dollars, the total imports were 2 billion 226.6 million U.S. dollars and the foreign trade deficit was 343.2 million U.S. dollars.

The realizations in foreign trade figures as of January 1999 and 2000 according to the DIE data are as follows: (million U.S. dollars)

. JANUARY Increase

. 1999 2000 (percent)

. --------- --------- -------
Exports 1,883.315 1,993.405 5.8

Imports 2,226.510 3,223.258 44.8

Deficit -343.195 -1.229.853 258.4

Rate of

Meeting (%) 84.6 61.8

[08] DANCE OF COLORS ON WATER - MARBLING, WHICH TURKEY INTRODUCED TO THE WORLD, IS NOT SUFFICIENTLY VALUED IN TURKEY

Timucin Tanarslan, who divoted himself to keeping this art alive, opened an exhibition in southern Adana province.

Speaking to A.A correspondent, Tanarslan said marbling, which is one of the Turkish ornamenting arts, spread to Europe as of 17th century. He said marbling, which is known by the world today, is described as the ''art of Turks marbling the paper.''

Tanarslan said marbling was not valued sufficiently in Turkey, and noted that, ''textile and ceramics industry should make use of this art.''

Tanarslan said miracles are created with marbling on the cloth, adding that reflection of dance of colors on water will contribute to this sector.

''Unfortunately, our universities don't attribute importance to Turkish ornamenting arts. Scientific searches should be made, and Turkish ornamenting arts should be improved,'' Tanarslan noted.

[09] MINISTRY OF LABOR AND SOCIAL SECURITY PREPARES BILL TO INSTITUTIONALISE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL

The bill foresees the regular convention of the council every three months, upon the call of the Prime Minister. The council will consist of the ministers of Finance, Labor and Social Security, Trade and Industry, and Agriculture and Rural Affairs, as well as State Minister in Charge of Economy, Treasury Undersecretary, State Planning Institution Undersecretary, and one representative from each of the major labor unions.

The duties and responsibilities of the council will include ''strengthening ties between the government and the different sections of the society, contributing to industrial development, and participating in the preparation of development plans and annual programs.''

The bill foresees the occupation of the post of Chirman of the Council by the Prime Minister, and the post of his three deputies by labor union representatives for one year terms.

[10] OGER-TOUR TARGETS TO BRING 850,000 GERMAN TOURISTS TO TURKEY THIS YEAR

Especially after the Helsinki Summit, no negative articles appeared in the European press about Turkey and this had a very good effect on Turkish tourism.

''Last year, German tourists who did not come to Turkey went to Spain, Greece and Tunisia and this caused an increase in prices in these countries. German tourists were not satisfied from these countries,'' Baraner said.

''Hotels, people's hospitality, food culture, holiday resorts in nature are important factors. Plus, Turkish territorial waters are still the cleanest among others,'' Baraner went on to say.

''European protection over Turkey helped us. Not executing Ocalan was regarded as the first indication of a democratic country which respects human rights. German press no longer covers these issues anymore. On the other hand, the killing of two British citizens was not good for our tourism. One wrong act can cause Turkey lose millions of dollars,'' he added.

Baraner also noted Tourism Minister Erkan Mumcu visited tour operators in Germany and their sales personnel which will bear very positive results.

He said their new slogan was ''Turkey Again'' and added that their reservations were following a very good path.

[11] KOMAROV, GAZPROM OFFICIAL, SAYS EVERYTHING IS READY TO START CONSTRUCTION OF SEA BED PART OF THE PIPELINE

Komarov said construction process will be speeded up after Parliament approves of the additional protocol.

Responding to the questions of A.A correspondent regarding the latest situation of the project related with Russian part, Komarov said they solved the problems about the finance of the project.

He said they expected Blue Stream to improve rapidly after Turkish Parliament approves additional protocol dated November 27, 1997, including tax exemption. Komarov said conditions were formed to send Russian natural gas in the year 2001 via Blue Stream. He said flow of the gas will positively effect bilateral relations.

Efforts to construct land part of the pipeline, which will extend from Samsun to Central Anatolian region, started in Turkey.

[12] FOREIGN MINISTRY WELCOMES AGREEMENT BETWEEN SOUTH AND NORTH KOREA

A statement issued by Foreign Ministry pointed out that the summit agreement was an important step in the initiatives to provide compromise in Korea Peninsula, cooperation, and unification.

The statement wished positive results to be obtained from the summit.

''South-North Agreement,'' envisaging meeting of Kim Dae-Jung, President of Korea Republic, and Kim Jong-Il, Chairman of Korea Democratic Peoples Republic National Defense Committee, in June 12-14, 2000, was signed last Friday.''

[13] THY PLANE CARRYING TANSU CILLER MAKES EMERGENCY LANDING AT ISTANBUL'S ATATURK AIRPORT

Ceyhan took off from Ataturk Airport at 12.45 a.m. to fly to Ankara. The plane had a technical problem in its hydraulic system while it was getting ready to land at Ankara's Esenboga Airport. The pilot had to return to Istanbul and make an emergency landing at Ataturk Airport.

[14] CIVIL SERVANTS HOLD ''GOVERNMENT, PAY YOUR DEBT!'' MEETING IN ANKARA

The civil servants gathered in Guvenpark and chanted slogans to protest the government's not paying them the difference caused by the inflation.

Resul Akay, Chairman of Turkiye Kamu-Sen who spoke at the meeting said ''they were there to get what the government owed them.''

Akay claimed that the government did not keep its promise it gave to civil servants and harshly criticized Labour and Social Security Minister Yasar Okuyan.

During their protests, the civil servants carried empty pans in their hands to express opposition to the low wages the government is paying them.

The protestors later dispersed without any incidents.

[15] 12TH INTERNATIONAL ISTANBUL THEATRE FESTIVAL

Istanbul Culture and Art Foundation Director Sakir Eczacibasi said Germany, Britain, Italy and Greece are participating with 5 plays in this years festival while Turkey will present 8 plays.

Some famous actresses and actors such as Isabella Rosselini, Pina Baush, Hanna Schygulla and Robert Wilson will perform in some of the plays, he said.

Royal Shakespeare Company will also perform Shakespeare's famous comedy ''The Taming of the Shrew'' for the first time in Turkey.

Greece is participating in the festival with Edafos Dans Theater and perform a ''Medea'' by Euripides.

[16] 19TH INTERNATIONAL ISTANBUL FILM FESTIVAL TO START ON SATURDAY

About 180 films from five continents are participating in this year's festival. The festival which started years ago through the efforts of a few film lovers is offering a wide range of films this year including those which are directed by famous directors.

An important part of this year's festival will be ''Cinema: Mirror of Our Age'' which focuses on human rights, -a political, social and universal issue.

Promotion of marginal film directors which started with Ed Wood last year will continue with the famous German transvestite director Rosa Von Praunheim. Three of Praunheim's films will be shown at the festival which displays a sharp and provocative humour on sexual identities and homosexuality.

[17] A.A

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