Anadolu Agency: News in English, 00-08-06

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ANADOLU AGENCY

NEWS

06 August 2000

Monday

-TURKEY-PRESS SCAN

These are some of the major headlines and their brief stories in Turkey's press on August 6, 2000. The Anadolu Ajansi does not verify these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

HURRIYET (LIBERAL)

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat visited Ankara on Saturday to ask for support for the Palestinian state he is intending to declare on September 13. Arafat during his meetings with Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit and President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, said ''Turkey is a respectable country all over the world'' and asked for Turkey's support. In the meantime, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak sent a letter to Ecevit where he said ''decleration of an independent Palestinian state would cause chaos.'' The Israeli government is also sending two government ministers to Turkey next week as a retaliation of Arafat's efforts to seek support.

NEMRUT WAITING FOR ITS SAVIOUR

Huge god sculptures and other historical objects which belong to Kommagene Kingdom in Nemrut Mountain are waiting to be rescued. The International Nemrut Foundation, the Foundation to Protect Cultural and Natural Assets, and the Turkish Democracy Foundation signed the Nemrut Project Protocol in 1999 which has been waiting for the Culture Ministry's permission for over a year. The objects at Nemrut which is decribed as the ''eighth wonder of the world'' and which is included in UNESCO's World Cultural Heritage List are visited by ten thousands of Turkish and foreign tourists every year.

MILLIYET (LIBERAL)

A total of 2,500 hectares of forest land was destroyed in a fire in Beskonak and Zerk villages and Koprulu canyon. Some historical objects were damaged in the fire at Perge ancient city. Forest Minister Cagan who visited the area said the possibility of a sabotage was very high.

IT IS TIME FOR PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS TO ECONOMIZE ON

ELECTRICITY

Energy and Natural Sources Ministry Undersecretary Yurdakul Yigitguden has sent a copy of the circular which announces the electricity economizing measures to the Official Gazette. The circular is asking public economic enterprises (KITs), municipalities and public institutions to minimize the electricity they use to illuminate the buildings during daytime. Illumination of billboards, windows, and streets will also be limited and it might even be stopped completely when necessary.

SABAH (LIBERAL)

312 meter long huge cargo ship, Enterprise passed from the Istanbul Strait on Saturday morning. Enterprise which was carrying 200,000 tons of iron paid Turkey 123 billion TL only for the passage. During the passage, the ship had to take a guide captain and the traffic in the strait was completely closed to traffic to avoid any risks. Enterprise was the biggest ship that has passed from the Istanbul Strait so far.

YEAR END INFLATION TARGET DEVIATES 10 POINTS

Experts are estimating the inflation rate for 2000 around 35 percent, however measures should be taken in order to keep the deviation at this level. In fact, a 36 percent inflation rate could be considered a success for various reasons. If the growth rate is going to be over 7 percent, 10 point deviation from the target can be tolerated. Another factor is the high oil prices all over the world which increased the inflation another 2 points.

CUMHURIYET (LEFT)

Justice Minister Hikmet Sami Turk said a consensus will be reached between the leaders before the parliament starts works of the new period, and noted that amnesty law will be issued before 2001. Turk said, ''I don't want to determine a date about the amnesty. People in prisons had many disappointments. I don't want to cause more disappointments by creating new expectations. Yet, it should be issued in the soonest time.''

NEW FORMULA TO HIGH EDUCATION

Metin Bostancioglu, National Education Minister, said new arrangements would be brought in education system and noted that high schools would be classified in three main groups. Bostancioglu said, ''these are general education system, vocational schools, and Imam Hatip high schools.''

RADIKAL (LEFT)

After 2,000 hectares of forested land was burnt in southern Adana province, 2,700 hectares of forested land was burnt in Manavgat on Saturday. This year's loss is 20,000 hectares.

Fire which started in Karadag and Bozkaya villages of Manavgat on Thursday spread to a wider areas. Fire brigades failed to extinguish the fire. Reinforcement was sent from six other provinces to put out the fire. They managed to take partial control over the fire on Saturday evening. Nami Cagan, Forest Minister, said the fire broke out in several points, and that they were suspicious of sabotage.

312 PASSES FROM THE STRAIT

The Bahamian 312 meter long cargo ship, SG Enterprise passed from the Istanbul Strait early on Saturday under the security measures of Turkey Maritime Administration (TDI) and Coast Guard General Directorate.

During the passage of the ship, the Istanbul Strait was closed to traffic to prevent any accidents.

SG Enterprise is the first ship at this size passing from the Turkish straits. Coast Guard Deputy Director Haluk Yigit said that they were responsible for the safe passage of all ships from the Istanbul Strait and noted that they have taken all the necessary measures to avoid risks.''

YENİ BİNYIL (LIBERAL)

Yasser Arafat, Palestinian President, wanted Turkey to give advise to Israel regarding the holy sites in Jerusalem. Turkish officials gave advise to Arafat and said, ''if decleration of state on September 13 would escalate the tension, think once again. We have no problem like recognizing you, because we have already recognized you in 1988. You have an Embassy in Ankara.''

BITLIS RIVER FLOODED

Bitlis river which passes through the city center, flooded because of the heavy rain which lasted nearly an hour. Several business places inundated when the river flooded. A crisis desk has been set up to make damage assessment. It was reported that there was a big financial loss, and that potable water network was damaged.

TURKIYE (RIGHT)

Yasser Arafat, Palestinian President, met with President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, and Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit. Arafat was given assurances that Turkey would do its best for the peace process in the Middle East to reach a solution. President Sezer said providing tranquility and security in the region was the right of all the people of the region. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said Turkey would continue its support for the peace process to reach a just solution and noted that declaration of Palestinian State on September 13 was not an issue for Turkey.

ECEVIT MEETS WITH DENKTAS

Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, who met with Rauf Denktas, the President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), following the third round of proximity talks held in Geneva. Ecevit said all the world began to understand that the TRNC was an independent and separate state.

ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)

Police, gendarme, and voluntary traffic inspectors would not record the desired success against the traffic monster. Although 47 trillion traffic fine was collected from 3,5 million drivers in the first five months of this year, the traffic monsters continued to kill people.

VIOLANCE IN THE VILLLAGE

Terrorists killed Hamdi Sahin under gunfire in Coregibuyuk village in the Black Sea Tokat province.

The incident happened when a group of terrorists from illegal TKPML-TIKKO organization raided the house of Hamdi Sahin and brought him to the village square.

The terrorists tied his hands and killed him under gunfire.

Wide-scale operations started to capture the terrorists who fled after the incident.

CONTENTS

[01] MARINA TO BE SET UP IN TRNC'S KARPAZ REGION

[02] TRNC PRESIDENT DENKTAS:''WE DID OUR BEST TO OBTAIN A RESULT FROM THE TALKS WHICH WOULD BE BASED ON TWO INDEPENDENT STATES''

[03] PRIME MINISTER ECEVIT: ''THE WORLD BEGAN TO PERCEIVE THE FACT THAT TRNC WAS AN INDEPEDENT AND SEPARATE STATE''

[04] FIRE IN MANAVGAT TAKEN UNDER CONTROL

[05] DENKTAS:''WE HAVE STRONGLY DEFENDED OUR CAUSE IN GENEVA''

[06] NUMBER OF TOURISTS VISITING TURKEY INCREASE BY 60 PERCENT IN JULY

[07] TEMPERATURES TO SOAR AGAIN

[08] TOURISM AGENCIES OFFER EXOTIC ALTERNATIVES TO HOLIDAY MAKERS

[09] FRENCH JOUR DU SEGNEUR-2 CHANNEL BROADCAST LIVE SUNDAY MASS IN HOUSE OF VIRGIN MARY IN SELCUK

[10] FOREST MINISTRY WARNS PEOPLE AGAINST FOREST FIRES

[11] BURGER KING GROWING FASTEST IN TURKEY

[12] FAMOUS GREEK SINGER ALEXIOU COMES TO TURKEY TO SING WITH SEZEN AKSU

[01] MARINA TO BE SET UP IN TRNC'S KARPAZ REGION

Akinci said plan and project works related with marina were completed, and noted that construction of marina could start by the end of this year.

Akinci, who was also responsible for tourism, briefed about the investments that have been made to the region.

Pointing out that the region has alternative facilities in various areas of tourism, Akinci said they would continue efforts to attract more tourists to the region.

Akinci said wild doneys, which became identical with the Karpaz region of the TRNC, were taken under protection. He said nearly 350 donkeys were living in an area which was protected.

[02] TRNC PRESIDENT DENKTAS:''WE DID OUR BEST TO OBTAIN A RESULT FROM THE TALKS WHICH WOULD BE BASED ON TWO INDEPENDENT STATES''

Speaking about the Geneva meetings, Denktas said the meetings will restart on September 12 in New York. ''We did our best in order to obtain a result from the talks in Geneva. Any agreement that will be reached, will be based on the principle of two independent states,'' he said and also noted that foreign diplomats who contacted them also approved this solution as the most reasonable and logical answer.

''Therefore we are insisting on a confederal solution which will minimize the friction between two sides, and if agreed on certain fields, the two states can be represented as a single Cyprus in international platforms,'' Denktas said. ''We are still working on that. I can say that we are at a better status now than we were when we first went to Geneva. We displayed our determinism to the international press and to many diplomats who contacted us. We cannot look upon the future by denying the past. Denying the past means to make an agreement which invites the same incidents. Through the efforts and good intentions of everyone, the negotiations will continue.''

[03] PRIME MINISTER ECEVIT: ''THE WORLD BEGAN TO PERCEIVE THE FACT THAT TRNC WAS AN INDEPEDENT AND SEPARATE STATE''

Speaking before a meeting with Denktas, Ecevit said he would ask for information from him regarding the talks in Geneva and the further developments.

Ecevit said, ''Denktas protected national case of Turkish Cypriots despite the difficulties created by many countries and institutions of the world. Today, the whole world began to perceive that the TRNC was a separate and independent state although they did not accept officially. ''Mr. Denktas contributed a lot to this, I congratulate him. The information he would convey to us will shed light to us regarding the attitude that should be adopted and for cooperation.''

Meanwhile, Denktas said they went through a difficult period, adding that they did not lose anything from their case.

Pointing out that they conveyed case of Turkish Cypriot people very well in talks in Geneva, Denktas said, ''the thesis that solution of Cyprus question should be based on the basis of two states is gradually accepted. We can have an agreement guaranteeing the future of our peoples through talks. We are in an effort to reach this.''

[04] FIRE IN MANAVGAT TAKEN UNDER CONTROL

Mehmet Capraz, Manavgat Governor, told A.A correspondent that the fire could be taken under control due to the efforts of helicopters, hundreds of workers, fire brigades and genderma teams who were sent from the nearby provinces.

Capraz said more than 2,5000 hectares of forest area were burnt because of the fire which lasted for two days.

Cooling efforts continue in the region.

[05] DENKTAS:''WE HAVE STRONGLY DEFENDED OUR CAUSE IN GENEVA''

''We have explained the threats that might come from the Greek Cypriot side. The result we obtained is the continuation of the talks and that is a good sign,'' Denktas said.

When asked by a reporter to comment on the news that appeared in the Greek Cypriot press regarding the Geneva talks, Denktas said ''According to them, anybody who says 'hello' to us is their enemy. They feel hurt when we are recognized and accepted. I recommend you not to read the Greek Cypriot press.''

Responding to a question on the technocrat government and change of regime, Denktas said as a president who has limited authority, he sometimes has to pronounce these when he is not happy with the government's activities. Noting that he expressed his views because he thought the current system would not solve the TRNC's problems, Denktas said he does not have the authority to force anyone accept his views. ''I am telling people that the situation is not good and we cannot reach anywhere with this system,'' he went on to say. ''We have lost time. This is a two-headed system and this is what caused us these troubles. They are making anti-propoganda. It would not be correct if authorities refrain from making recommendations to people. We have seen what the current system did to us. We can do some changes in the system. There are several solutions between the current system and the presidential system. We should discuss these soon in order to prevent the situation from going worse.''

Denktas said he regrets seeing news in local and foreign press which hold him responsible for the government's activities and the poor economic situation the TRNC is in.

''There is a disease in the TRNC and it has to be treated. The treatment is to change the existing system. Discussing things is the best thing to do,'' he said.

Those who reject discussing the presidential system are not doing any good to the TRNC, he said. ''We have been trying parliamentarian system since 1975 for 25 years, now we hit the bottom. Within the parliamentarian system, there are some sub-systems which can organize the separation of powers better. Technocrats can be included even in the current system. They can be appointed as ministers. The ruling party or the majority in the parliament should support the technocrat government.''

When reminded of the latest scandals in the TRNC, Denktas said ''there are many agents of several countries in the TRNC working to weaken the country. Their efforts found a favourable ground when the economic crisis broke out.''

Denktas also reproached to the Turkish press for the discussions of whether they are a state or not. ''If our and Turkey's warnings had been listened to, these wouldn't have happened. But we cannot give up everything. It is our respoinsibility to keep our state on its feet and boost people's morale. I am expecting the Turkish press to look at the TRNC from this perspective. This is not a fight between Eroglu and Denktas. I am not fighting with anyone. My struggle is to offer people a rule which they deserve and good treatment.''

[06] NUMBER OF TOURISTS VISITING TURKEY INCREASE BY 60 PERCENT IN JULY

Noting that they obtained very good results in the first seven years of the year, Mumcu said the number of tourists who visited Turkey in July increased by 60 percent.

The current data indicates that Turkey will exceed the targeted ten million tourists for the whole year, Mumcu said and added that there is no reason why this number cannot reach 12 million by the end of the year.

Mumcu stated that they targeted to obtain 20 billion U.S. dollars annually from tourism, and said his ministry will work on product developing and investments in the coming days. He also said the tourism sector is the only sector which exceeded the expectations of the Central Bank and the IMF.

According to the data obtained from the Tourism Ministry, about 5,5 million tourists visited Turkey in the first seven months of 2000. In July about one and a half million tourists visited Turkey increasing the tourist number by 60 percent.

German visitors again topped the list of tourists coming to Turkey. In the first seven months of the year, 1 million 121,000 German tourists visited Turkey. Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries followed the Germany. British tourists were the third on the list with a figure of 456, 786.

A total of 271,444 U.S. citizens, 228,035 Dutch, and 241,398 French tourists visited Turkey in the first seven months. More than 118,000 Greeks spent their vacations in Turkey so far and this number was only 77,000 in 1999.

[07] TEMPERATURES TO SOAR AGAIN

State Meteorology Directorate announced that the temperatures will increase between 1 and 3 degrees Celcius in central and eastern parts of Turkey.

After Wednesday, the temperatures will rise between 2 and 4 degrees in the western regions.

On Thursday, showers are expected in Marmara, western Black Sea and northern parts of Central Anatolia.

[08] TOURISM AGENCIES OFFER EXOTIC ALTERNATIVES TO HOLIDAY MAKERS

For those who prefer to go abroad, there are exotic options available such as going to a desert, orchid gardens, ancient cities and the Red Sea.

Fotografevi will organize a weekly hiking tour to Kackar Mountains on August 12-19. The hikers will walks through valleys, summits and wild flowers. Mules which will be accompanying the group will carry their loads. The fee including accomodation, food and guidence for this tour is 180 million TL.

Fotografevi is also organizing a tour on September 2 and 10 to the South East Anatolia. The participants will have the change to see Halfeti one last time before it is flooded by the waters of the Birecik Dam. Ibisis in Birecik, Halil-ul Rahman in Urfa, old houses and sunset in Harran offer seductive images for photography lovers.

Ogzala Tourism is organizing a special 5-day tour to the GAP for those who want to see the famous project. The tour will start on August 30.

[09] FRENCH JOUR DU SEGNEUR-2 CHANNEL BROADCAST LIVE SUNDAY MASS IN HOUSE OF VIRGIN MARY IN SELCUK

Visitors flocked to the House of Virgin Mary to watch the mass. Others waited in the line for hours to become pillgrims.

Jour Du Segneur-2 executives said Sunday masses which they broadcast from all over the world draw a lot of attention and they have a wide audience in many European cities.

[10] FOREST MINISTRY WARNS PEOPLE AGAINST FOREST FIRES

The Ministry asked people and authorities not to light a fire in forests, not to throw away burning cigarette buds and check the electricity transmitting cables passing from these areas.

The statement was made from the Fire Operation Center due to Sunday's high temperature, low humidity rate and strong north-east winds.

The Ministry noted that 19 fires occured in various places on Saturday and they were all taken under control. The fire in Karaisali destroyed 2,000 hectares of forest land.

Since January, a total of 20,080 hectares of forest land was burnt in 153 fires. Last year in the same period 1,496 hectares of forest was destroyed in 395 fires.

[11] BURGER KING GROWING FASTEST IN TURKEY

Burger King General Director Alp Gurdil told A.A correspondent that they are targeting to have 300 restaurants within the country by 2005. ''Turkish people quickly adopted hygenic, quality and taste standards offered by international restaurants,'' he said. ''Therefore it seems like people who have a tradition of eating out will start eating at fast-food restaurants more. Moreover, some fast-food products might suit the taste of the Turkish cuisine.''

Noting that every Burger King restaurant has currently about 1 million U.S. dollars turnover, Gurdil said their turnovers increase between 20 and 24 percent every year.

Gurdil also noted that Burger King restaurants in Turkey has the highest rate of increase in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. He said the two restaurants they opened in International Flights Terminal at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport are also good investments.

Burger King which was founded in 1954 has over 11,000 restaurants in 58 countries.

[12] FAMOUS GREEK SINGER ALEXIOU COMES TO TURKEY TO SING WITH SEZEN AKSU

At a press conference she held in Swissotel, Alexiou said the concert she gave in November last year was one of the most touching moments of her life. She also noted that Sezern Aksu was very much loved in Greece.

Alexiou will share the same stage with Sezen Aksu on Monday. She will also give concerts on August 8 and 9. Aksu and Alexiou will give a concert together next month at Izmir Open Air Theater.

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