Anadolu Agency: News in English, 00-08-23

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Anadolu Agency

ANADOLU AGENCY

NEWS

23 AUGUST 2000

Wednesday

CONTENTS

[01] TURKEY-PRESS SCAN

[02] PERFORMANCE OF FOREIGN INVESTMENT FUNDS

[03] EXPORTS OF HAZELNUTS REACHES 199 THOUSAND TONS

[04] WORLD BANK'S TURKEY DIRECTOR CHIBBER IN MARDIN

[05] IRANIAN PRESIDENT PROMISES TO WORK FOR SOLUTION OF SECURITY

[06] PRESIDENT DENKTAS OF TRNC:

[07] NUMBER OF FRENCH TOURISTS VISITING TURKEY INCREASES

[08] STATE MINISTER ONAL RECEIVES IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER AMINZADE

[09] ANAP DEPUTY CHAIRMAN CELEBI:''I CONGRATULATE

[10] DENKTAS:''THOSE WHO WANT PEACE IMMEDIATELY SHOULD STATE

[11] COUNTDOWN STARTS FOR CITRIC ACID FACTORY IN ADIYAMAN

[12] DELEGATION FROM BAKU MUNICIPALITY VISITS ANKARA MAYOR GOKCEK

[01] TURKEY-PRESS SCAN

HURRIYET (LIBERAL)

ELCIBEY DIES
Ebulfeyz Elcibey, the former Azerbaijani President, died in Ankara, where he was under medical treatment for two months. Body of Elcibey, who was known for his admiration in Ataturk, the Founder of Modern Republic of Turkey, was taken to Azerbaijan by a state ceremony. Elcibey was 62 years old.

GALATASARAY HARDLY QUALIFIES
Galatasaray drew with St. Gallen team of Switzerland 2-2 and achieved to compete in the European Champions League for the sixth time. Galatasaray did not play well in the match but could reach the happy end.

MILLIYET (LIBERAL)

KUWAIT WAITS FOR PICASSO PAINTINGS
Kuwait will take its decision, regarding the three Picasso paintings that were seized in Aegean Izmir province, and southeastern Sanliurfa province, in the direction of information that will be given by the Foreign Ministry. According to the information obtained from Kuwaiti Embassy, it was reported that officials of the Embassy had requested information from the Foreign Ministry after the first painting was found. An official from the Embassy said they have not yet received any information.

''La Fermiere,'' and ''Dora-Maar,'' paintings of Picasso were found in Izmir, and ''The Portrait of a Young Woman,'' was found in operations staged in Sanliurfa province.

SABAH (LIBERAL)

ERCEL: ''S&P WILL COME IN SEPTEMBER''

Central Bank Governor Gazi Ercel said that the Standard & Poors (S&P) will come to Turkey in September to evaluate the present situation. Ercel said that as Turkey decreases the risk factor, its rating will increase. Ercel added that Turkey does not deserve a single B.

CUMHURIYET (LEFT)

Gulen will be the only defendant in the case expected to be opened till next week.

ERCEL: ''WE ARE NOT IMPATIENT TO OMIT ZERO FROM TURKISH LIRA''
Central Bank Governor Gazi Ercel said they are not impatient to omit zero from Turkish Lira (TL) but they are determined to do so. Ercel evaluated first seven months following the signing of stand-by agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in a meeting held in New York. Responding to questions, Ercel said that omitting zero from TL depends on some conditions. Ercel said, ''firstly, the inflation should decrease. We will watch the inflation next year. Also, necessary laws should be passed by the parliament. But, omitting zero from TL is my and Central Bank's dream.''

RADIKAL (LEFT)

WOULD YOU TEACH ME HOW TO DANCE?
''Zorba'', the famous film of Nikos Kazancakis in which Anthony Quinn and Mikis Theodorakis played, will be performed as a ballet in Cemil Topuzlu Open Air Theatre in Istanbul between September 5 and 9. Hungarian State Ballet will perform the ballet. Mezzosoprano Bernadett Wiedemann, 45 members of Hungarian State Ballet and six members of Bouzouki Orchestra will sing and play the songs of the ballet.

OPERATION AGAINST SECTS
A total of 37 people who were carrying out fundamentalist activities were taken into custody in an operation in Catalca district of Istanbul. Gendarme teams, acting on a tip-off, raided on a farm in Catalca. Gendarme forces detained 37 people and seized many religious publications.

YENİ BİNYIL (LIBERAL)

''Now the KHK has to be adopted by the parliament as a law,'' Cirakman noted. When asked whether the KHK in question is against the Constitution and the Authority Law, Cirakman noted that the KHK is not against the Authority Law.

GOVERNMENT TO BRING THE DECREE TO THE PARLIAMENT
Leaders of the parties which are coalition partners convened on Tuesday and decided to discuss the decree having the force of law (KHK) to the Parliament, and made this statement:

''Chairmen of the three parties did not find Mr. President's explanation convincing and they agreed that his excuses were against the Constitution, '' the statement said. President Sezer by not signing the decree has encouraged enemies of the regime even if he did not intend to do so. The decree openly aimed to prevent separatist and anti-secular activities from leaking into the state and eliminate those which already exist in the state. The Ministers Council will work to make Parliament discuss the law as a priority.''

TURKIYE (RIGHT)

TRANSFER TO PARLIAMENT
Leaders of governing coalition Bulent Ecevit, Devlet Bahceli and Mesut Yilmaz held a meeting at the Prime Ministry building yesterday to discuss the issue of decree with the force of law (KHK) on civil servants. They did not find Ahmet Necdet Sezer's letter of justification for the rejection of the KHK convincing. The leaders who made harsh statements after their meeting said that the President had encouraged the enemies of the regime by rejecting the KHK which aimed at preventing infiltration of separatist terrorism and anti-secular activities into the state. The leaders set their strategy and decided to legalize the KHK in October.

EARTHQUAKE SHOCKS ANKARA
Forty buildings suffered damage in the 4.3-magnitude earthquake which rocked Beypazari township of Ankara at 02:40 p.m. yesterday. The earthquake was also felt in Ankara. There were no reported casualties.

ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)

IMPRISONMENT VERDICT ON ERBAKAN SENT TO PROSECUTOR'S OFFICE
The decision on execution of one-year imprisonment verdict handed down on Necmettin Erbakan, the former leader of the closed Welfare Party (RP), was sent to the Ankara Republican Prosecutor's Office. The Diyarbakir State Security Court (DGM) tried Erbakan on charges of ''inciting hatred among people'' with his speech in Bingol, and sentenced him to one-year in prison on March 10, 2000. The Supreme Court approved the verdict.

[02] PERFORMANCE OF FOREIGN INVESTMENT FUNDS

According to the Capital Market Board (SPK) data, yields of the 20 foreign investment funds in June 2000 and first half of 2000 on the U.S. dollars basis are as follows:

June First 6 Months

Name of Fund (percent)

---------------------------------------- -------- ----------
1-American Growth Portfolio (A) 3.03 3.82

2-American Growth Portfolio (B) 2.95 3.30

3-Alliance International Health Care Fund (A) 9.39 17.07

4-Alliance International Health Care Fund (B) 10.21 16.60

5-American Income Portfolio (A) 2.50 3.80

6-American Income Portfolio (B) 2.50 3.50

7-Short Maturity Dollar Portfolio (A) 0.40 2.00

8-Short Maturity Dollar Portfolio (B) 0.30 1.70

9-Money Manager 1 0.39 2.56

10-Money Manager 2 0.31 2.63

11-Citicelect Asia Tilt 300 Balanced 3.60 -1.78

12-Citicelect Asia Tilt 400 Growth 4.73 -3.75

13-Citiselect Asia Tilt 500 Growth 5.71 -5.39

14-USD Long Term Bonds 1.67

15-Global Bonds Euro 0.28

16-Global Bonds USD 1.51

17-Global Balanced 3.47

18-World Equities 4.43

19-European Equities Euro -0.06

20-US Large Company Equities 1.30

Note: The last seven funds were not included in the statistics for the first six months of 2000 as their sale in Turkey started as of February 28.

[03] EXPORTS OF HAZELNUTS REACHES 199 THOUSAND TONS

The Black Sea Hazelnut Exporters' Union said on Wednesday that Turkey had obtained 690 million 142 thousand 359 U.S. dollars from exports of hazelnuts since September 1, 1999, the beginning of the 1999-2000 export year.

Turkey exported hazelnuts to nearly 80 countries including the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). The amount of hazelnuts exported to the European Union (EU) countries this export season reached 163 thousand 235 tons.

Officials said that in the same period last year, Turkey had exported 173 thousand 549 tons of hazelnuts, and obtained 718 million 749 thousand U.S. dollars foreign exchange income.

Officials added that they thought exports of hazelnuts would reach 200 thousand tons and the foreign exchange income would increase to 700 million U.S. dollars.

The 1999-2000 export season will end one week later.

[04] WORLD BANK'S TURKEY DIRECTOR CHIBBER IN MARDIN

Talay and Chibber, who watched the slides of historical and touristic sites in Mardin, later proceeded to Kasimiye Madrasah.

Talay and the accompanying delegation drank water from 600-year-old fountain.

Visiting Kirklar Church, Talay received information from Priest Gabriel Akyuz.

Akyuz told Talay that they expect assistance to restore the cemetery belonging to Morst Muni Church.

Joining the inauguration of Mardin Culture Museum, Talay said that he is very pleased to be in Mardin, where the religions, beliefs and cultures intermingle.

Talay continued, ''this visit is important because the people of this region were very friendly and close to us during our two-day visit. I want to emphasize that we will make significant contributions to the social and cultural activities in the region by knowing that the region has many touristic sites.''

Talay added, ''The Republic of Turkey and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) have shown Mardin as a candidate for the UNESCO World Cultural Heritage. If Mardin's constructive structure is preserved and if Mardin is transferred to forthcoming generations, the beauty of the region will continue to exist till eternity.''

-69TH INTERNATIONAL IZMIR FAIR TO BE OPENED ON AUGUST 26
IZMIR - More than 40 countries and 860 firms will take part in the 69th International Izmir Fair which will be opened on August 26.

Staging a press conference, Fevzi Hepsenkal, the Director General of Izmir Fair Services and Art Affairs Corp (IZFAS), said on Wedneday that they expected nearly 3 million people to visit the fair.

Hepsenkal said that a total of 860 firms including 320 foreign firms would take part in the fair.

He stressed that Moldova would be the honorary guest of this year's fair.

Hepsenkal told reporters that opening ceremony of the 69th International Izmir Fair would be held at Ataturk Open Air Theatre.

He noted that President Petru Lucinschi of Moldova would be in attendance at the ceremony.

Fevzi Hepsenkal said that a series of conferences on ''Entrepreneurship in the New Millennium and the Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMSEs)'' would be held within scope of the 69th International Izmir Fair.

He added that a new stand was formed under the title of ''World Cuisines'' in order to promote food of different countries.

[05] IRANIAN PRESIDENT PROMISES TO WORK FOR SOLUTION OF SECURITY

The Foreign Ministry said that Sezer gave important messages to Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Mohsen Aminzade who is currently visiting Turkey. During the meetings, Aminzade presented Sezer a written message from Iranian President Mohammed Khatami and once again invited Sezer to his country.

Khatami's message said, ''Iran targeted to maintain a safe environment and understanding through dialogue in the world, especially with its neighbours.'' His message which also included historical, cultural and social ties between the two countries, stressed that ''Iran would make all the effort necessary for the solution of security problems between the two countries.''

Sezer, during their contacts, noted that maintenance of security atmosphere was a key element in Turkey-Iran relations. He also noted that the support that will be given by Iran to Turkey to fight against the terrorist organizations like the PKK and Hezbollah will be a determining factor in reaching a desirable point in the bilateral relations.

Thanking for Khatami's invitation, Sezer said he ''wishes to visit Tehran when the expected developments take place between Turkey and Iran.''

[06] PRESIDENT DENKTAS OF TRNC:

Noting that there was not a Republic of Cyprus, President Denktas told reporters, ''the Republic of Cyprus is the Greek Cypriot republic. The Greek Cypriots applied for the full membership to the EU. Their target is to eradicate the Turkish Cypriots and their rights. They also aim at making whole Cyprus a Greek Cypriot Republic. We have been resisting against them. The world has begun to understand reasons of our resistance.''

Following the press release, President Denktas met with Edward Clay, the High Commissioner of Britain to Lefkosa.

No statement has been issued yet about agenda of the meeting.

[07] NUMBER OF FRENCH TOURISTS VISITING TURKEY INCREASES

Paris Tourism Consultancy office said that the number of French tourists who came to Turkey in July increased by 112 percent and reached 74,155. The increase in July is also 37 percent higher compared to July of 1998.

French tourists mostly prefer Istanbul and Cappadocia to spend their vacations.

The total number of tourists who visited Turkey in July rose by 60 percent compared to last year and reached 1 million 490,976. Since the beginning of 2000, about 5,5 million tourists came to Turkey.

[08] STATE MINISTER ONAL RECEIVES IRANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER AMINZADE

Following the meeting which was held in Treasury Undersecretariat building, Aminzade told reporters that his contacts were constructive.

Aminzade noted that economic relations between Turkey and Iran are advancing and added that the Iranian natural gas would reach Turkey in less than a year. Noting that the project is a 25-year long agreement, Aminzade said the agreement would bring Turkish and Iranian people closer and also increase their welfare levels.

Pointing out that a group of Turkish businessmen visited Iran in recent months, Aminzade said their visit was fruitful and a similar delegation of Iranian businessmen would also visit Turkey soon.

Aminzade told reporters that during the meetings they agreed that Turkey and Iran would make joint investments in third countries and increase their trade volume.

When asked if they reached any concrete results in the security matter, Aminzade said ''he believed his contacts were beneficial.''

Noting that there is a Security Cooperation Mechanism between the two countries, Aminzade said authorities from both countries will come together to discuss these issues which are part of this mechanism.

''There are many things to do and many issues that need to be focused on between Turkey and Iran. If there is a problem, it could be solved through dialogue. There is no problem that cannot be overcome,'' he added.

[09] ANAP DEPUTY CHAIRMAN CELEBI:''I CONGRATULATE

Noting that political ethics should should exist in all fields, Celebi suggested passing a political ethics law. He also said that political immunity of deputies should be lifted.

He pointed out that they are working hard to complete their projects in Izmir, Celebi asked for the cooperation of deputies from other political parties on this matter.

[10] DENKTAS:''THOSE WHO WANT PEACE IMMEDIATELY SHOULD STATE

Responding to accusations that he is not informing anyone about the Cyprus talks, Denktas said such allegations aim to mislead people.

''Proximity talks are run under confidentiality as requested by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. We are informing our people and political party leaders about the negotiations. The government is receiving information from the Foreign Ministry.''

On August 28, Monday, Denktas will brief deputies about proximity talks and developments on Cyprus at the TRNC Parliament.

[11] COUNTDOWN STARTS FOR CITRIC ACID FACTORY IN ADIYAMAN

Mehmet Sirri Ozen from Adiyaman GAP Center to Support Enterpreneurs said that they are about to complete the legal procedures to found the citric acid factory which will cost 60 million U.S. dollars. The citric acid is a water soluble substance found in limes and lemons and it is chiefly used in the flavoring of beverages and confections.

The factory will be built jointly by HYGEA and an Israeli giant firm GADOT, Ozen said and added that HYGEA firm's owners Mehmet Gunyeli and Cem Bozkurt are planning to start two more big investments of foreign capital after this one.

''This factory will be the biggest step to reach the social and economic targets set by the GAP Master Plan,'' he said and added that the factory will make GAP region a center of attraction for other foreign investments.

The factory will first employ 250 people and 10,000 tons of its production will be exported annually.

[12] DELEGATION FROM BAKU MUNICIPALITY VISITS ANKARA MAYOR GOKCEK

Briefing Gokcek about municipality activities in Azerbaijan, Israfilov said they had contacts with various units of the Ankara Municipality which were very beneficial.

Gokcek said in his part that he was planning to visit Baku before the end of the year and exchange experiences between the municipalities.

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