Anadolu Agency: News in English, 00-06-25

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

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

NEWS

25 JUNE 2000 Sunday

CONTENTS

[01] TURKEY-PRESS SCAN

[02] TWO TURKISH FISHERMEN TO RETURN TO TURKEY FROM UKRAINE

[03] MINIMUM WAGE TO INCREASE

[04] FOREIGN MINISTER CEM SAYS NO PROBLEMS EXIST BETWEEN

[05] U.N. DEPUTY SECRETARY GENERAL ARLACCHI

[06] MIRZAOGLU SAYS TREASURY WILL GAIN 19 MILLION U.S. DOLLARS IN THREE YEARS FROM DROPPING INTEREST RATES

[07] OPERATION AGAINST TERRORIST ORGANIZATION PKK -11 TERRORISTS KILLED

[08] RESERVATION RATES AT ISTANBUL'S HOTELS RISE TO 100 PERCENT

[09] CONSTRUCTION OF WATER PIPELINE BETWEEN TURKEY AND TRNC TO START IN 2001

[10] WORLD BANK PLANS TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE FUND THAT WILL BE SET UP TO SUPPORT USAGE OF RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES

[11] AMBASSADORS OF TURKISH REPUBLICS GATHER IN ESKISEHIR

[12] ZEUGMA ANCIENT CITY TURNS GAZIANTEP FOCUS OF ATTENTION FOR WORLD

[13] GAP'S EXPORTS TO EAST EUROPE AND CIS INCREASE

[14] TURKISH-GREEK FRIENDSHIP SEEN IN MOTORCYCLE RALLY

[15] TURKISH WORKERS LIVING ABROAD START COMING TO TURKEY TO SPEND THEIR SUMMER VACATION

[16] PICASSO'S STOLEN ''DORA-MAAR'' OIL PAINTING FOUND IN IZMIR

[01] TURKEY-PRESS SCAN

HURRIYET (LIBERAL)

MILLIYET (LIBERAL)

GUVEN ERKAYA DIES
Retired Admiral Guven Erkaya, one of the chief consultants of Prime Ministry and former Naval Forces Commander died at Kasımpasa Naval Hospital on Saturday. Erkaya, who was having medical treatment due to ''colon cancer and its metastasis (the transfer of disease from one organ or part to another not directly connected with it), went into a coma and died. The funeral of Erkaya, who was 62 years old, will be held in Istanbul.

SABAH (LIBERAL)

COVERED BAZAAR REVIVES
The number of tourists which visit and buy things from the Covered Bazaar in Istanbul increased by 30 percent this year when compared to last year.

CUMHURIYET (LEFT)

TANK DECISION TO BE GIVEN ON JULY 3
Germany will announce its decision regarding the sale of Leopard 2 Tanks to Turkey on July 3. German coalition party SPD is uneasy about the attitude of Joschka Fischer, the German Foreign Minister who is from the Greens Party as he opposes giving the tanks to Turkey.

RADIKAL (LEFT)

TERROR IN PRISONS
In the clashes that erupted between Alaattin Cakıcı and Nuri Ergin gangs in the prisons, five people including three innocent citizens died. Nothing has been done till today to prevent the clashes between the two mafia bosses.

YENİ BİNYIL (LIBERAL)

Prof. Bakir Caglar who also spoke at the symposium said there must be a social demand for the EU and noted that he was not certain if that social demand existed in Turkey.

GURKAN:''LEGAL STATUS FOR KURDS IS IMPOSSIBLE''
Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly's Head of the Turkish Group Uluc Gurkan from the Democratic Left Party (DSP) said it was impossible to grant legal status to Kurds or any other ethnic group. Noting that Turkey has serious work to do in the field of democracy, human rights and protection of minorities, Gurkan said EU regards the issue of minorities in Turkey as nothing but Kurds. ''Turkey's fight against fundamentalism is seen as closure of political parties,'' Gurkan noted. ''They are telling us to negotiate with the PKK becaue they laid down arms. It is impossible for Turkey to grant legal status to Kurds or any other ethnic minority and this is very well know by the governments in the EU. Individual rights rather than collective rights are being discussed in Europe. In Turkey, collective rights draw more attention. We have to remove the double standards of the EU through dialogue.''

TURKIYE (RIGHT)

CIVIL SERVANTS PROTEST WAGE INCREASES
Civil servants protested the wage increase of the government by holding demonstations in Ankara and Istanbul. About 6,000 people joined the march which started in Istanbul's Sisli Abide-i Hurriyet square. Many representatives of non-governmental organizations, labour unions and confederations joined the march. In the meantime a group of PKK supporters tried to provoke the protestors by chanting slogans praising chief terrorist Abdullah Ocalan. However, the civil servants remained indifferent to their provocation.

ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)

GUVEN ERKAYA DIES
Retired admiral Guven Erkaya who was diagnosed with colon cancer five years ago dies at the Naval Hospital on Saturday. Erkaya was appointed as the head advisor to the Prime Ministry regarding the straits. Despite his strict attitude against fundamentalism, he was a supporter of peace with Greece. He also submitted a report saying that the Aegean Army which he set up three years ago should be dispersed.

[02] TWO TURKISH FISHERMEN TO RETURN TO TURKEY FROM UKRAINE

Foreign Ministry said that the necessary visa proceedings have been provided for the two Turkish fishermen to leave Ukraine.

The two are expected to return to Istanbul by Turkish Airlines (THY) on June 26, Monday.

A suit was filed against the two Turkish fishermen at Sivastopol Court which sentenced them to pay fines. The lawyers of the fishermen appealed the court decision, those hearings have not been heard yet. The boat ''Cemil Reis'' was seized by Ukranian officials. The other ship namely ''Yavrum Ahmet'' had sunk when Ukranian coast guards opened fire on it.

[03] MINIMUM WAGE TO INCREASE

The gross mimimum wage will increase from 109 million 800,000 TL to 118 million 800,000 TL. The increase will be 8.2 percent in gross wage, and 7.91 percent in net wage.

In the meantime, Turkish Confederation of Labour Unions (Turk-Is), said the 6 million TL increase is only enough to buy three kilos of white cheese or three kilos of olives. Turk-Is also stated that a family with four members needs a minimum of 450 million TL to meet their most basic needs and noted that the minimum wage only meets one fifth of this need.

According to a law that was passed on July 11, 1992, the government has the authority not to deduct taxes from people who work for minimum wage, Turk- Is reminded authorities and asked the government to stop deducting tax from minimum wage receivers.

[04] FOREIGN MINISTER CEM SAYS NO PROBLEMS EXIST BETWEEN

Responding to some articles that appeared recently in newspapers about disagreement between the MGK and the government, Cem said, the MGK is not blocking the government over Copenhagen criteria.

''The MGK and the government should be perceived as two separate units,'' Cem said. ''Each unit has a different task. But the MGK is not an obstacle in front of the government. All institutions were asked to present their own views for a research carried out by the Prime Ministy six months ago and there were of course some difference of opinion. Now they are writing about it as if these differing views are something new. Recently, there have been efforts to create friction between the different units of the state.''

Speaking about lifting the entrance fee, Cem said a part of this fee has been already lifted and there are ongoing activities to lift it totally. They also have some initiatives to lift the visa requirement from Turks when they travel in Europe, Cem said and noted that they have so far received a positive approach to this request only from Greece.

''We have good relations with Greece but I am still cautious,'' Cem noted. ''We have no problems however my Greek counterpart has difficulty in expressing himself. If this positive atmosphere lasts for another year, it will always continue like that. Having good relations with Greece will create good effects in tourism, export and agriculture.''

[05] U.N. DEPUTY SECRETARY GENERAL ARLACCHI

The briefing was close to the press and lasted nearly one hour.

Hasan Ozdemir, the director of security of Istanbul told journalists after the briefing that they exchanged information about drug smuggling, corruption and organized crime.

Arlacchi who came to Turkey the same day, will leave Turkey on June 27.

[06] MIRZAOGLU SAYS TREASURY WILL GAIN 19 MILLION U.S. DOLLARS IN THREE YEARS FROM DROPPING INTEREST RATES

Mirzaoglu stated that the interest rates rose up to 150 percent in the recent years due to wrong economy policies and said now they are down to 35 percent through the government's stability programme.

[07] OPERATION AGAINST TERRORIST ORGANIZATION PKK -11 TERRORISTS KILLED

Emergency Regional Governor said in a written statement on Sunday that 11 terrorists were killed in a clash that erupted between security forces and a group of PKK terrorists in Ikiyaka Lakes Region of Semdinli township.

Operations are underway in the region.

[08] RESERVATION RATES AT ISTANBUL'S HOTELS RISE TO 100 PERCENT

Conrad Hotel's Marketing and Public Relations Director Ayferi Ertek said in May and June their hotel was 100 percent full. ''1999 was like a nightmare. But after maintaining stability both abroad and in Turkey, the tourism is alive again through the promotion efforts of the Tourism Ministry,'' Ertek said and added that if hotel owners in Istanbul follow right price policies next year will be even be a greater success.

Ceylan Intercontinental Marketing and Communication Director Yasemin Kaya also said the improvement in tourism is much higher than what they expected.

Ciragan Hotel Public Relations Director Gulduren Tugcu also noted that the reservation rate at their hotel is close to 100 percent and they hope that it would continue like that in the following months.

In the meantime, U.S. Arthur Andersen company carried out a research in 21 European cities. Below is a table showing the increase in the reservation rates in hotels in leading European cities. ---- city increase in the reservation rate (percent) Lisbon 14.1 Bolonia 12.2 Istanbul 10.3 Geneva 9.3 Amsterdam 6.8 Athens 3.2 Paris 3.1 Milan 2.8 Madrid 0.3 Budapest -1.1 Dublin -1.9 Prague -1.9 Florence -4.1 Zurich -5.4 Vienne -6.3 Brussels -7.1 Malta -9.3 Moskow -10.1 Rome -11.0 Venice -12.0 Salzburg -17.9 ----

[09] CONSTRUCTION OF WATER PIPELINE BETWEEN TURKEY AND TRNC TO START IN 2001

This credit will finance both engineering services and construction investments of the project.

State Water Works (DSI) authorities who are in charge of the coordination of the project said they were waiting for the Treasury Undersecretariat's credit approval. They said engineering works will be completed in a short time with a cost of 10 million U.S. dollars.

The water pipeline project which is also known as the ''Peace Water'' project will carry Anamur Dragon stream's waters to the TRNC through a pipeline built on the sea ground. The pipeline will be 108 kilometer long and 78 kilometer part of it will be under the sea and the remaining 30 kilometer part of it will be on land. The pipeline will transport 75 million square meters of water annually. The project also includes construction of Alakopru dam in Turkey and Gecitkoy dam in the TRNC.

Alarko company will be in charge of feasibility works and DSI General Directorate will be responsible for the technical aspects of the project.

The 350 million U.S. dollar cost of the project will be met by completely foreign credits. The contract agreements for the pipeline and the two dams are expected to be signed in 2000.

[10] WORLD BANK PLANS TO CONTRIBUTE TO THE FUND THAT WILL BE SET UP TO SUPPORT USAGE OF RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES

World Bank suggested on Sunday that the fund should be in line with the law of electric market that will be adopted.

The World Bank also advised the Turkish officials that priority should be given to renewable energy sources.

Important promotion is planned to be given to those who will produce electric energy by using renewable energy sources by the law of electric market.

[11] AMBASSADORS OF TURKISH REPUBLICS GATHER IN ESKISEHIR

Azerbaijani Ambassador Mehmet Aliyev Nevruzoglu, Kazakhstan Ambassador Mehmet Saribay, Krygyzstan Ambassador Medethan Serimkulov, Turkmenistan Ambassador Nur Muhammed Hanamov attended the meeting. Uzbekistan Ambassador Abdullahad Calilov who earlier announced that he was going to join the meeting, did not come.

The ambassadors visited Deputy Governor of Eskisehir Muammer Yasar Ozgul. Azerbaijani Ambassador Nevruzoglu noted that there are many students from the Turkish Republics studying in Eskisehir and thanked Ozgul for their close attention for these students.

Nevruzoglu said cooperation in every field between Turkey and the Turkish Republics which recently gained their independence was very important.

[12] ZEUGMA ANCIENT CITY TURNS GAZIANTEP FOCUS OF ATTENTION FOR WORLD

Dogan told A.A correspondent that sculpture of Mars, the god of war, and fascinating mosaic pieces which were unearthed during efforts to save them turned Zeugma the focus of attention of the whole world.

There is a significant increase in the tourism activities in Gaziantep, Dogan said and added that people who want to see South Anatolia Project (GAP) and Gaziantep boosted tourism in the city. The hotels in Gaziantep sometimes fail to host all the visitors due to the high number of people visiting Gaziantep, he said and noted that there are many people coming to their city also to attend the scientific meetings organized by the Gaziantep University.

After the world started discussing the flooding of Zeugma, the reservation rate of the hotels which was around 90 percent exceeded 100 percent. ''Gaziantep has become a place known by the whole world. Americans are saying that they can bring 100,000 tourists once the excavations are complete,'' he noted.

[13] GAP'S EXPORTS TO EAST EUROPE AND CIS INCREASE

Agricultural products worth of 18 million dollars with an increase of 61.2 percent were exported to East European countries and products worth of 3 million with an increae of 37.2 percent were exported to CIS countries.

It is Romania which comes the first among the East European countries to which GAP region exports goods and it is the Russian Federation which buys the biggest amount of goods from GAP region among CIS countries.

[14] TURKISH-GREEK FRIENDSHIP SEEN IN MOTORCYCLE RALLY

Emre Erdil, a biker told A.A correpondent that they held the rally for Turkish-Greek friendship, adding they entered Greece with 117 motorbikers.

Erdil noted they will go through Xanthi, Kavala, Commotini, Salonica and Rhodes in Greece, adding ''70 motorbikes will accompany us in Greece. After Greece, we will return to Izmir from Bodrum and Kusadası and end the rally in Izmir.''

The rally started in front of Dolmabahce Palace, Istanbul on June 23.

[15] TURKISH WORKERS LIVING ABROAD START COMING TO TURKEY TO SPEND THEIR SUMMER VACATION

Adem Kilic who was entering from Kapikule told A.A correspondent that they started off in Germany and had no major difficulties in the countries they drove through except for being stopped by the police and paying fines three times in Bulgaria close to the Turkish border.

Halef Onal who works in Norway with his wife and two children said they prefer Turkey to spend their vacation. The Onal family had to drive through Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania and finally Bulgaria to reach Turkey. Onal said they were stopped by the police five times in Romania and had to bribe them with 200 German Marks. ''If such things did not exist, more Turkish workers will drive to Turkey. Such incidents are frustrating. It is not the money, but being stopped by the police is upsetting,'' Onal said.

Customs authorities said they were expecting a rise in the number of Turkish workers entering Turkey from Kapikule. They have increased the security personnel working at Ipsala customs gate to complete customs processes more quickly.

In the last 24 hours, 100 workers passed from Kapikule, and 16,000 workers passed from Ipsala customs gate.

[16] PICASSO'S STOLEN ''DORA-MAAR'' OIL PAINTING FOUND IN IZMIR

Yucesan noted that two persons were captured and two others were wanted in connection with the incident.

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