Anadolu Agency: News in English, 00-04-20

Anadolu Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

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

[01] AA News

20 April 2000 Thursday

[02] TURKEY-PRESS SCAN

HURRIYET (LIBERAL)

Terim said, ''Meltem Kiziltan, a woman, sent a fax message saying, 'you will go, win, and come back. Turkey, having 65 million population, is after that ball. Everybody supports Galatasaray today.''

CILLER: WE ARE OPEN FOR A CANDIDATE FROM OUTSIDE
True Path Party (DYP) got excited when Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said he thinks of two names for presidency. Tansu Ciller, leader of DYP, aiming to prevent a fait accompli, asked Ecevit, ''did you change method? Who are the names?'' However, Ecevit did not say the names he was thinking about.

EROGLU WITHDRAWS CANDIDACY FROM PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS IN TRNC
Dervis Eroglu, Prime Minister of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and leader of the National Unity Party (UBP), announced on Wednesday, his withdrawal from presidential elections with a shocking decision. Thus, Rauf Denktas, President of TRNC, will continue his term in office till the year 2005 without the need for presidential elections, which was foreseen to take place on April 22 under Election and Public Voting Law.

MILLIYET (LIBERAL)

TURKEY IS THE MOST POWERFUL CANDIDATE OF THE EU
Pedro Solbes Mira, European Union (EU) Economic and Financial Affairs Commissioner, said Turkey was one of the most powerful countries due to economic means among the candidates who want to become EU member.

Mira, who arrived in Washington D.C. to attend International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank Spring Term Meetings, pointed out that they regarded Turkish economy as positive, and noted that views of IMF and World Bank were important for the EU.

GREEK PARTNER TO ISIKLAR PACKAGE INDUSTRY
The Commercial Bank of Greece, one of the second giant bank of Greece, became a partner of Isiklar Package Industry Inc., one of the enterprises of Isiklar Holding.

The Commercial Bank of Greece purchased 12.5 percent of the shares of Isiklar Package while British finance organization Gryphon Emerging Markets bought 0.6 percent of the shares.

Two organizations paid 10.5 million U.S. dollar in return of the shares of Isiklar Package Industry Inc.

SABAH (LIBERAL)

COTTARELLI IS HOPEFUL
Carlo Cottarelli, Chief of International Monetary Fund (IMF) Turkey desk, said Turkey made a good start to the program aiming to reduce inflation. He said inflation will fall in the second half of the year, and stressed that privatization performance was positive. Cottarelli said the only potential risk in the program was the probable intervention of the politicians.

CUMHURIYET (LEFT)

ANKARA: ''RESULTS ARE PROMISING''
Foreign Ministry said the results of the general election held in Greece on April 9 are promising in respect of the relations between the two countries.

Speaking in a weekly press briefing, Foreign Ministry Deputy Spokesman said that PASOK came the first in the election and this party constituted the government which started the new process between Turkey and Greece.

''It's possible to say that the election results are promising in that respect. The Turkish side has the will and resolution to improve the existing cooperation atmosphere,'' said Atacanli.

CHILDREN OF 40 COUNTRIES CONVENED IN KUSADASI FOR APRIL 23
President Suleyman Demirel and Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit received children from 34 countries, who visited Turkey for April 23 Children's Festival. Meanwhile, Ministry of Education issued a circular to celebrate national holidays and local salvation days like festival.

DEMIREL TO LEAD NSC FOR THE LAST TIME
National Security Council (NSC) will convene on April 28 under the leadership of President Suleyman Demirel.

This will be the last meeting which President Demirel will lead as Demirel's term in office expires on May 16.

President Demirel is expected to bid farewell in this meeting of NSC on April 28.

RADIKAL (LEFT)

MHP IN PURSUIT OF TWO NAMES
Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) is moved by its leader, Devlet Bahceli's announcement that he considers two names as presidential candidates; one from inside the Parliament, and one from the outside. MHP officials say that State Minister Tunca Toskay and Minister of Industry Kenan Tanrikulu are now more likely to be Bahceli's candidates, than State Minister Sadi Somuncuoglu and National Defense Minister Sabahattin Cakmakoglu. Bahceli himself, however, has not revealed the identities of his candidates.

PEACE OPERATION IN GREECE
A 600-men Turkish delegation, consisting of businessmen, bureaucrats, parliament members, and mayors are in the Greek capital Athens to participate on Thursday, in the Turkish-Greek Friendship and Cooperation Fair. The fair is to be inaugurated on Thursday by Minister of Trade and ưndustry Ahmet Kenan Tanrikulu. The fair will serve Turkish business circles with an opportunity to establish closer contacts with their Greek counterparts.

YENI BINYIL (LIBERAL)

INSTRUCTIONS FOR JOYOUS CELEBRATIONS
The National Education Ministry has issued a decree addressed to the governorships, calling on for more joyous celebrations than ever on the occasion of April 23 Children's Festival. The decree also suggested a number of activities and events to be organised within the framework of national and local festivals, including picnics, concerts, exhibitions, contests, and fairs.

ANTI-INFLATIONIST MINUTES OF ACCORD TO BE SIGNED ON FRIDAY
The minutes of accord of the ''Turkey defeating inflation'' campaign will be signed on April 21 by President Suleyman Demirel at Cankaya Palace. The campaign was launched jointly by the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) and Turkish Exporters' Assembly (TIM).

TURKIYE (RIGHT)

DANISH STAFF CHIEF VISITS CAPPADOCIA
Danish General Staff Chief General Christian Hvidt and his spouse Jane Hvidt, who are in Turkey as the official guest of General Staff Chief General Huseyin Kivrikoglu toured around Cappadocia on Wednesday. General Hvidt and the delegation accompanying him, who arrived in Nevsehir on board a CN-235 CASA type plane attached to the Turkish Air Force, were met by Mehmet Yilmaz, Governor of Nevsehir, and various other officials. The Danish delegation visited sites of historic importance, and ancient castles, churches and mosques. Completing their tour around Cappadocia, the Danish delegation left Nevsehir in the afternoon hours.

ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)

DRUGS WORTH TRILLIONS
Istanbul Police Department's Narcotics teams seized 21,5 kilograms of heroin, and 300,000 ''Captagon'' pills in two separate operations. Acting on a tip-off, narcotics teams launched a surprise operation on a depot in Kucukkoy, and seized 300,000 Dutch-origin ''Captagon'' pills planned to be traded to Arab countries. Police detained five persons. In another surprise operation they launched on a dwelling in Esenler, narcotics teams seized 21, 5 kilograms of heroin, and detained three persons.

TEAS DECIDES ON THE WINNER
Electricity Production and Communication Inc. (TEAS) determined the winner of the tender for the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Station, but the winner has not been made public upon a request by the Prime Minister's office. For the time being, the announcement of the decision of TEAS has been adjourned to April 21, but a high level energy official said it could be further postponed. The Akkuyu Nuclear Power Station project will be implemented in line with the ''build-operate-transfer'' model.

[03] BAN ON ADVERTISEMENTS OF TOBACCO AND PRODUCTS TO CONTINUE

Ankara's Administrative Tribunal no. 7 had applied to the Constitutional Court with a request for the cancellation of the sentence ''...advertisement or promotion of tobacco and products in any case...'' in article no. 3 of the law no. 4207 pertaining to the Prevention of Tobacco and Products' Harms, on grounds that it was against the Constitution.

The Constitutional Court examined the request and the judicial background, and ruled that the said sentence in the aforementioned article did not fall into contradiction with the Constitution.

The Constitutional Court ruled against the request with an unanimous vote.

The court decision was issued in Thursday edition of the Official Gazette.

[04] MINISTER OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY TANRIKULU: ''TURKEY CANNOT BE A BATTLEFIELD FOR CLASHING FOREIGN ECONOMIC PROGRAMS''

Tanrikulu, who is in the Greek capital Athens attending the Turkish-Greek Friendship and Cooperation Fair, spoke to reporters on various issues.

He said that the Parliament was presently in an effort to reach accord over the local regulations for Agricultural Product Sales Cooperatives - as demanded by the IMF and the World Bank - and said they had already set a timetable for this purpose.

Touching on Turkey-Greece relations, Tanrikulu said that Turkish and Greek business circles were exerting intense efforts to further develop and strengthen relations, and expressed hope that the trade volume between the two countries, 700 million dollars at present, would reach much better levels.

[05] TURKEY BECOMES EXAMPLE IN NATURAL FLOWER BULBS

The officials of the Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK), which is responsible for Turkey affairs of the United Nations (U.N.) Charter on Prevention of Internatonal Trade of Extincting Species (CITES), told A.A correspondent on Thursday that the Eurosia representatives of the CITES investigated the flower bulb collection and trade in Turkey.

The CITES Plant Committee prepared a report in the end of their investigation, the officials said.

The officials noted that the committee said that Turkey can be an example for the other countries in the collection and export of the natural flower bulbs.

The TUBITAK launched a project to train those working on natural plant bulbs, the officials stated.

The officials added that Turkey was declared as an example country after this project was fulfilled.

[06] YSK OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCES DENKTAS AS PRESIDENT

After Dervis Eroglu, the leader of the National Unity Party (UBP) and Prime Minister, withdrew from the presidential elections, the YSK convened to evaluate the new situation.

Following the meeting, the YSK said that since the number of candidates decreased to one, Rauf Denktas won the elections and became the TRNC President again in accordance with the TRNC laws.

The YSK noted that the second-round of the vote for presidential elections was cancelled.

Resart Sarp, the Secretary General of YSK, said that the results of the presidential elections will be issued in the Official Gazette on Sunday and that Denktas will take oath on Monday.

Rauf Denktas, who is the present TRNC President, is running his office for 27 years without any intervals.

Denktas was born in Baf on January 27, 1924.

After he gratuated from Lefkosa British School in 1942, Denktas worked as translator and civil servant in Gazimagusa. Then, he worked as a teacher in the British school for a year.

Denktas went to Britain in 1944 and studied law. He graduated from Lincoln's Inn in 1947.

He returned to Cyprus the same year and started working as a lawyer.

Denktas, who worked as a member in the Constitution Committee which was established by Lord Winster, Cyprus Governor, in 1948, was appointed as a prosecutor in 1949. He was a prosecutor until 1958.

Resigning from his post as incidents started to occur on Cyprus, Denktas started to take an active role in dealing with the problems of the society.

Later, Denktas took part in the resistance movement of the Turkish Cypriot leaders.

Denktas' first official duty in this resistance movement, was the chairmanship of the ''Turkish Cypriot Institutions' Federations.''

Later, Denktas formed ''Turkish Resistance Organization'' in 1958 and worked to prepare the constitution of the ''Republic of Cyprus'' under the Zurich and London agreements. He was chosen as the leader of Turkish Society Assembly in 1960.

The Makarios administration announced Denktas as 'persona non grata' in 1964 and Denktas was banned to enter into Cyprus.

However, Denktas went to Erenkoy in 1964 and participated in the war. But, he was captured as he tried to enter in the island in 1967. He was extradited to Turkey in the end of intensive initiatives.

Denktas, who represented the Turkish community in the ''international meetings'' which started in 1968 and continued till 1973, was chosen as the leader of Turkish Society Assembly in 1970 elections and was chosen as Deputy President of ''Republic of Cyprus'' and the Head of the Turkish Cypriot Administration in 1973.

As the Federal State of Turkish Cypriots was declared in 1975 following the 1974 Peace Operation, Denktas became the Head of State and Parliament.

After he was chosen as the head of the federal state in the first elections in 1976, Denktas resigned from the National Unity Party (UBP) leadership.

Denktas was chosen as the head of the state of the federal state in 1981.

He established TRNC and TRNC Parliament on November 15, 1983 and became the first President of TRNC in 1985.

He was elected as the President in 1990 and 1995.

Denktas who speaks British and Greek, is married. He has three sons and a daughter. Two of his sons died.

Denktas has published 43 books until today. He likes writing and taking photographs.

Denktas opened photograph exhibitions in the U.S., Britain, Australia, Italy, Turkish Republics, and Turkey.

Denktas has given several conferences, and was presented with several prices and honorary doctorates.

[07] FOREIGN EXCHANGE RESERVES OF CENTRAL BANK INCREASE BY 76 MILLION U.S. DOLLARS

The Central Bank data shows that the foreign exchange reserves, which was 22 billion 80 million U.S. dollars on April 7, increased 76 million U.S. dollars to 23 billion 156 million U.S. dollars as of April 14.

Meanwhile, according to the March 31-based statistics, Turkey's total international gross reserves were 38 billion 76 million U.S dollars.

The international gross reserves of Turkey were 38 billion 579 million U.S. dollars on March 24.

As of March 31, Turkey's international reserves were composed of 1 billion 11 million U.S. dollars in gold reserves; 22 billion 926 million U.S. dollars in the Central Bank's foreign exchange reserves; and 14 billion 140 million U.S. dollars in the commercial banks' foreign exchange reserves.

[08] GREEK FOREIGN MINISTER PAPANDREOU SENDS MESSAGE TO TURKISH-GREEK FRIENDSHIP FAIR

Papandreou, who could not join the opening ceremony due to the oath ceremony in the Greek parliament, said in his message that the tensions which escalated between Turkey and Greece in the past, should be left aside.

The facts which unite two countries, are more than those which separate them, Papandreou noted.

Papandreou stated that Greece has given priority to peace, friendship and cooperation in its relations with Turkey in the beginning of a new millenium.

He hopes that the forthcoming governments and politicians will create new opportunities for the relations, Papandreou stressed.

Papandreou emphasized that they have to respond to the requirements and needs of the global economy and that they have to use the economic conditions in the benefit of both nations.

They have to find new cooperation fields and leave aside the tensions, Papandreou said.

Papandreou noted that both nations want to live in peace and that the Europeans should respond to the demands of people in this new era.

The business circles undertake important duties and responsibilities in the new cooperation process, Papandreou stated.

Papandreou added that steps taken by the business world in development, will accelerate this process.

[09] STATE MINISTER CAY IN ASHKABAT

Speaking in the meeting, Cay said that after Turkmenistan declared its independence, Turkish and Turkmen nations started to have a cooperation which can be an example for the other nations and that the Turkish businessmen pioneered and contributed to this cooperation.

Cay continued, ''Turkmenistan, which was exporting all its sources without processing them and which was facing unemployment a few years ago, has opened production installations which can process the raw materials. It has created employment opportunities and has started to export products to the most developed economies like the U.S. and Japan.''

''Turkmenistan, which was exporting the cotton it produced, a few years ago, has become a fashion center of Central Asia as ready-made cloth sector was formed and modern textile installations were established with the contributions of our businessmen,'' Cay added.

Cay noted that the trading volume between Turkey and Turkmenistan was 200 million U.S. dollars in 1999 and that the investments of the Turkish companies in Turkmenistan reached 1 billion 230 million U.S. dollars.

Nearly 970 million U.S. dollar portion of these investments were made in textile sector, Cay stated.

Cay stressed that he thinks Turkish investors can conduct significant initiatives in Turkmenistan by utilizing the business opportunities in electricity, oil and natural gas, agricultural food industry, textile industry, transportation and communication.

The Turkmen natural gas is not only an economy bridge for two countries but also a strategical cooperation, Cay emphasized.

Cay said, ''we hope the Turkmen natural gas will be transferred to the western markets via Turkey. Thus, the welfare level will be promoted.''

Saparmurat Turkmenbasi, the Turkmen President, will receive Cay on Friday.

Cay will stay in Turkmenistan until April 24, 2000.

[10] GREEK BUSINESSMEN WANT TO PARTICIPATE IN PRIVATIZATION IN TURKEY

The delegation headed by Sinan Aygun visited Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry prior to the inauguration of the Turkish-Greek Friendship and Cooperation Fair.

Addressing the meeting, Aygun proposed the Greek side to establish three- person joint working groups to increase the relations among the private sector companies.

Sinan Aygun proposed the Greek side to exchange delegations in fields of textiles, transportation, automotive, banking, food, tourism, construction equipments and contracting.

The ATO Chairman said that the special tours for the Turkish and Greek peoples would be the start for cooperation in tourism.

''As the businessmen, we want to fulfil what our politicians have failed to acvhieve for years. We put a stone on the foundation and we hope these will grow,'' he said.

Vassilis Nicletopoulas, the Chairman of the Turkish-Greek Department of the Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said in his part that the economic relations between Turkey and Greece were deeply affected by the politics, and that the recent recovery in political relations had created a positive atmosphere.

Nicletopoulas said that the two countries could cooperate in fields of construction, maritime, trade, tourism and industry.

Noting that there were opportunities for cooperation in banking, Nicletopoulas said, ''in the beginning of last week, Soke Cement carried out a promotion meeting here. They came here to seek a partner for privatization in Turkey. We can also cooperate in this field.'

Nicletopoulas added that the Turkish and Greek businessmen could also cooperate in third countries.

[11] BLACK SEA NAVAL FORCES COMMANDERS MEETING - COMMANDERS ISSUE JOINT STATEMENT

The Naval Forces Commandership Secretariat General said in a statement noted that ''the commanders decided to continue broadening their efforts to further improve the existing cooperation and increase the number of common activities.'' The statement also noted that the commanders exchanged views to improve cooperation also in the military field during the meeting headed by Turkish Naval Forces Commander Admiral Ilhami Erdil.

The statement listed the issues taken up in the meetings as follows:

-to control the navigation in Black Sea to prevent all kinds of activities contrary to international law such as terrorist activities, drug trafficking and illegal immigration,

-to make cooperation in search and rescue operations in the sea, prevention of sea pollution and environmental protection,

-to form an information exchange system among navies,

-to provide reciprocal training for the personnel of naval forces,

-to increase cultural and sportive activities to improve mutual understanding and friendship among navies,

-to make cooperation in the Black Sea regarding oceanographical and hydrographical recearches.

Meanwhile the commanders also issued a joint statement after the meeting.

The commanders said that they aim at:

-contributing to regional peace and stability among countries having coasts to the Black Sea.

-taking the necessary measures to increase the bilateral and multilateral contacts among naval forces of the countries.

-resulting the activities undertaken to form a multinational naval force in the Black Sea.

[12] A.A

Anadolu Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article