Anadolu Agency: News in English, 00-09-11

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ANADOLU AGENCY

NEWS

11 SEPTEMBER 2000 Monday

-TURKEY-PRESS SCAN

These are some of the major headlines and their brief stories in Turkey's press on September 11, 2000. The Anadolu Ajansi does not verify these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

HURRIYET (LIBERAL)

The education year of 2000-2001 starts today. A total of 1,3 million children will start their first year in the primary school. There are many problems both at schools and also about the education system. However, 15 million students and 550,000 teachers are hopeful and excited about the new education year.

GROWTH CAN BE SLOWED DOWN FOR INFLATION

International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Turkey Desk Chief Carlo Cottarelli said that he believed the economic program would be successful despite all the risks. Speaking at the ''Second Economy Summit'' held in southern Antalya province, Cottarelli said that there were three important points about the Turkish economy. Cottarelli said the first point was that the goverment had been successful in the things it had carried out so far, the second point was that the program had not been finalized yet and it should be considered as a marathon race and it had risks, and the last point was that they believed the program would be successful despite all the risks. Cottarelli added that economic growth can be slowed down a little bit to decrease the inflation rate.

MILLIYET (LIBERAL)

The loss in value of EURO against the U.S. dollar affected the exports and tourism in Turkey negatively. EURO plays the main role in the high inflation rate. State Ministers Tunca Toskay and Recep Onal said that as the parity between EURO and dollar increased much, the economic conditions are getting very critical. Onal stressed that the inflation target can be reached slowly.

DEBATE ON WAGE INCREASE

Carlo Cottarelli, the IMF Turkey Desk Chief said that the increase in the wages of civil servants and workers should be determined according to the inflation target of the coming year during the collective bargainings. Trade unions reacted to the words of Cottarelli. Bayram Meral, the Chairman of the Confederation of Turkish Labour Unions (Turk-Is) said that ''I am not interested in the words of Cottarelli, we will continue to seek for the rights of workers.''

SABAH (LIBERAL)

Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the former Istanbul mayor who paid the price of one of his speeches in eastern Siirt province with serving 10 months in prison and with the political ban imposed on him, will stand trial for another speech in Tuzla. Prosecutorship of Kartal, Istanbul asked imprisonment of Erdogan up to five years for inciting people to murder.

GREAT DREAM OF FIRST LADY

Semra Sezer, the wife of President Ahmet Necdet Sezer will fight against ignorance like Hillary Clinton, the first lady in the U.S. Participating in a meeting on education in New York, Semra Sezer said one of her targets is to provide full literacy rate in Turkey and second is to open public universities for the adults.

CUMHURIYET (LEFT)

Chief of General Staff Huseyin Kıvrıkoglu, who went to Greece to participate in the NATO military committee meetings, will start his contacts today. The confidence building measures are expected to come to the agenda of the meeting between Gen. Kıvrıkoglu and his Greek counterpart. The Balkans and the role of the NATO in Europe will be taken up in the meetings.

PUNISHMENT TO 22 FUNDAMENTALIST RADIO STATIONS

According to the data of the Radio and Television Supreme Board (RTUK), 75 fundamentalist and 67 separatist broadcasting institutions were punished for disseminating separatist and fundamentalist propaganda. The broadcasts of 23 separatist radio stations were closed for 7,764 days and those of 22 fundamentalist radio stations were closed for 1590 days.

RADIKAL (LEFT)

The government, economy bureaucrats and the IMF said that the signs of a decreasing inflation are seen in the economy, adding that progress will be recorded in the same path. The anti-inflationist economic programme was discussed in Kemer township of southern Antalya province at the Second Economy Summit. The economic growth in the first six months of 2000 was 4,3 percent, said the economy experts and noted that it will be more than 5,5 percent at the end of this year.

TEACH DEMOCRACY

President Ahmet Necdet Sezer issued a message upon the beginning of the new education year and said that ''teachers should teach democracy to students.'' The textbooks should be cleaned off the dogmas, said Sezer and noted that ''before everything else, we should teach democracy to children.''

YENİ BİNYIL (LIBERAL)

Johnston, the OECD Secretary General said that ''I watch the resolved struggle of the government against the inflation with pleasure.'' Addressing the paper, Johnston said that they are ready to extend all kinds of support to Turkey for setting up market mechanisms in line with the flow of foreign capital in Turkey.

COTTARELLI: POLITICAL PREFERENCE BELONGS TO GOVERNMENT

IMF Turkey Desk Chief Carlo Cottarelli said that the increase in the fund of consumer credits is a brave step, adding that IMF only makes suggestions to Turkey. ''The political preference belongs to the government,'' he stressed.

TURKIYE (RIGHT)

Rauf Denktas, the President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) said that ''if the United Nations gives a decision that does not recognize our existence, we won't accept that decision.'' Coming to New York to participate in the fourth round of the proximity talks on Cyprus, Rauf Denktas said that the Greek Cypriots don't still see the realities on the island. ''Nobody can urge us to say 'yes' to the things that we don't approve,'' he added.

ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)

Evaluating the Susurluk-like gangs which were found out recently, Fikri Saglar, a member of the Parliamentary Susurluk Commission said that ''Susurluk is within the system.'' Saglar claimed that Mesut Yılmaz, Tansu Ciller, Dogan Gures, Sedat Bucak and Mehmet Agar should tell the things they know to solve the Susurluk scandal.

-PARLIAMENT SPEAKER AKBULUT COMES TO ZAGREB

ZAGREB - Parliament Speaker Yıldırım Akbulut came to Zagreb, Croatia, to participate in the Stability Pact Parliament Speakers' Summit on Sunday.

Akbulut who will attend the opening ceremony of the Fall Fair on Monday, will also participate in the cocktail party hosted by the Croatian Parliament Speaker Zlatko Tomcic for the delegations.

Akbulut is accompanied by the Parliamentary Secretary General Vahit Erdem and other officials.

-TURKISH SOLDIERS HELP KOSOVAR PEOPLE

PRISTINA - Turkish soldiers who are charged within the unit of Kosovo Peace Force (KFOR) distributed humanitarian aid to nearly 300 students and 300 families together with the Anatolian Development Foundation and the Red Crescent on Sunday.

Turkish soldiers also gave books, pens, notebooks, food and clothes to students of Mustafa Venhari primary school in Vicitirin, an old Ottoman city which is 30 kilometers to Pristina.

-FOREIGN MINISTER CEM HOLDS PRESS BRIEFING:

''GREEK CYPRIOTS CHANGE THE GEAR INTO REVERSE IN TALKS''

NEW YORK - Foreign Minister Ismail Cem said on Sunday that ''the Greek Cypriots discuss changing the gear into reverse during the Cyprus talks rather than changing up the gear into forward.''

Cem noted that the statements of Greek Cypriot Parliament Speaker Spiros Kipriyanu clearly show that.

Cem, who said that Turkey is the protector of the internal and foreign issues of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), reiterated that Turkey always extended great support to TRNC.

''The Turkish side started to explain the cause to foreign circles recently, '' said Cem.

TRNC President Rauf Denktas and Foreign Minister Ismail Cem will come together in the Turkish House in New York at 17.30 local time and hold an evaluation meeting before the fourth round of proximity talks which will start on Tuesday. Ismail Cem will meet with Alvaro de Soto, the U.N. Secretary General's Special Representative to Cyprus the same afternoon.

Foreign Minister Cem said that the underlying principle of the solution which will be accepted by both sides is ''full equality between the TRNC and the Greek Cypriot side,'' adding if there is no equality, the negotiation will develop in a way which will be disadvantageous for the side which is not considered as a government. The target of the proximity talks is to prepare a common basis regarding this issue, Cem said.

Cem pointed out that waiting for a solution in Cyprus from today for tomorrow is not realistic, adding that TRNC does not have the intent of leaving the negotiation table in New York.

Cem also responded to the claim of the Greek Cypriot leader Clerides who said that ''the U.N. Security Council will take action,'' by saying that ''this won't change our policy.''

Cem said that he will hold bilateral contacts with more than his 25 counterparts during the U.N. General Assembly meetings and explain the Cyprus issue to them whenever he finds the opportunity.

Foreign Minister Cem also stressed that the attempts to bring a draft law on the so-called genocide on Armenians to the U.S. Congress are worrying.

The government and the press do their best to prevent such negative attempts, said Cem and added that ''in spite of that, the period that will come from now on can be more difficult.''

Cem stressed that Armenians started to incite the issue when compared to the past, adding that the Armenians want to benefit from the elections in the U.S. and they will put pressure on the French senate again. Their similar efforts will continue in Spain and Italy, he added.

Cem said that the U.S. President Bill Clinton and the French President Jacques Chirac repeated many times that they were against the draft laws on the so-called genocide on Armenians.

Cem pointed out that as Turkey acted in a dignified way about this issue, the attempts have increased, giving the message that the government thinks of starting a campain at the level of governments to explain the Armenian slanders to the world public opinion.

-SECOND ECONOMY SUMMIT

-TRANSPORTATION MINISTER OKSUZ:

''PRIVATIZATION SHOULD BE CARRIED OUT WELL''

KEMER - Transportation Minister Enis Oksuz said on Sunday that the Turkish Telecom should be sold as a result of fair privatization.

Speaking in the Second Economy Summit held in Kemer township of southern Antalya province, Oksuz said that financial support should be provided in the sectors of energy and transportation. Steps are taken to bring international capital to Turkey, said Oksuz and noted that the law on arbitration was also adopted to this end.

''The value of the Turkish Telecom should be reflected well. A good privatization has to take place. If we don't sell the Telecom with its real value, this will make our people uneasy,'' said Oksuz and noted that they aim at putting the railway transportation into practice.

''The railways will be improved, and the Turkish State Railways (TCDD) will be reconstructed,'' said Oksuz and noted that ''Ankara-Istanbul railway journey will decrease from 6-7 hours to 4 hours by the rehabilitation project. The project of a fast train continues. Adapazarı railway car factory will be re-constructed. Southeastern Anatolian Development Project (GAP) Railway project will be implemented.''

Oksuz said that the Strait Tube Tunnel Project which will link Europe to Asia will ease the traffic in Istanbul and it will prevent the air pollution.

''A total of 100,000 people will pass from Europe to Asia and 100,000 people will pass from Asia to Europe in a day by the implementation of this project. The credit problem of the project has been solved. The tunnel will start to operate within four years and it will be the deepest tube tunnel of the world,'' he added.

-NATO MILITARY COMMITTEE MEETING IN GREECE -GEN. KIVRIKOGLU REPRESENTS TURKEY

ATHENS - The NATO Military Committee meeting started in Athens, Greece by the participation of chief of general staffs of 19 countries in Athens on Monday.

Turkey is represented by Gen. Kıvrıkoglu, the Chief of General Staff at the meeting headed by the Italian Admiral Guido Ventroni.

The situation in the Balkans will be evaluated at the Military Committee meeting and views will be exchanged about the NATO's plans.

The Military Committee will be informed about the recent situation and future plans of the Turkish and Greek armead forces by the proposals of the Gen. Kıvrıkoglu and Greek Chief of General Staff Manusos Parayudakis.

Following the end of the Committee meeting this evening, the NATO commanders will watch the manoeuvre that will be exercised in Aegean Sea on Tuesday. The part of the meeting in Greece will end by the visit of the attendees to Salonica on September 13.

The commanders will proceed to Istanbul and continue their studies till September 16.

The meeting of the Military Committee, which is the highest decision body of the Alliance, had earlier been planned to be held in Turkey and Greece in 1999, but it was cancelled due to the quake disasters in both countries.

-PROXIMITY TALKS ON CYPRUS TO START ON TUESDAY

NEW YORK - The fourth round of the proximity talks on Cyprus will start in New York on Tuesday.

TRNC President Rauf Denktas and Greek Cypriot leader Glafcos Clerides will separately meet with the U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan and Cyprus Special Representative Alvaro De Soto in the opening sessions of the talks.

The meetings will later continue under the supervision of Alvaro de Soto. Face to face meetings between Denktas and Clerides are not planned for this round as well.

The U.N. sources said that the talks are planned to continue till October 5 and they will try to hold meetings directed at the essence of the Cyprus question.

Diplomatic sources told A.A that the talks won't continue that long and the talks will probably end at the end of September.

Sources noted that the U.S. won't let the proximity talks to come off at this stage as this will mean ''failure'' for the U.S. administration which supports seeking a solution for the Cyprus question.

''If the desired progress can't be recorded at the fourth round, a long break can be given to the talks in October till the end of the elections in the U.S.,'' they said.

Some diplomatic sources said that the break can continue till May, 2001 by when the new administration in the U.S. takes the control.

Denktas is expected to hold an evaluation meeting with Foreign Minister Ismail Cem, who is currently in New York and Cem is expected to come together with De Soto on Monday.

-IMF TURKEY DESK CHIEF COTTARELLI:

''WE DISCUSS ALL THE GENERAL ISSUES''

ANKARA - Carlo Cottarelli, the IMF Turkey Desk Chief said on Monday that ''we discuss all the general issues. A meeting on the specific measures was not held.''

When a journalist asked him whether or not he had a proposal of limiting the military expenditures, Cottarelli said that there are many proposals covered by the press, adding that ''at this stage it is not possible to say that we suggested this/that proposal.''

-SECOND ECONOMY SUMMIT

-WORLD BANK TURKEY DIRECTOR CHHIBBER:

''REFORMS IN BANKING, PRIVATIZATION AND AGRICULTURE

ARE IMPORTANT FOR US''

KEMER - Ajay Chhibber, the World Bank Turkey Director said on Sunday that the reforms in the banking, privatization and agriculture fields carry importance for the World Bank.

Speaking in the Second Economy Summit held in southern Kemer township of Antalya province, Chhibber said that the economy was revived by the economic programme that is implemented and the inflation started to decrease in Turkey.

Turkey passed the one fourth of the match by scoring the first goal in the first nine months of the economic programme, said Chhibber and noted that ''the result has not been taken yet.''

Chhibber pointed out that an early success was recorded in the beginning of the economic programme unlike other countries, adding that the continuation of this success depends on the realization of the structural reforms.

Chhibber pointed out that they expect the growth rate of Turkey to be 6 percent and its account deficit to be 4 percent, adding that the whole banking sector has to be strengthened. ''Privatization of the banks also carries importance particularly in the fields of enegry and telecommunication. Treasury guarantees have been brought burden to the energy projects,'' he added.

Chhibber noted that Turkey should also give importance to its basic education programme as education is important for sustainable and equal development.

''The aid programme carried out for Turkey is bigger than the ones carried out for China and India,'' he added.

-STATE MINISTER UNLU HOPEFUL OF SYDNEY OLYMPICS

ANKARA - State Minister in charge of sports Fikret Unlu said on Monday that he was very hopeful of the Olympics.

Unlu, prior to his departure from Ankara to Sydney, told A.A correspondent that the biggest motivation for the athletes is that the awards have been announced before the games. ''The winning athletes will work as a sports consultant after they are 30 years old and they will be paid the wages of a first degree government worker and therefore they would guarantee their future,'' Unlu said.

The awards won by Turkish athletes raised expectations from them in Sydney Olympics, he said. ''We want to win more medals than we did in 1960 at Rome Olympics,'' Unlu said, referring to the seven gold medals Turkish athletes won in 1960.

The Turkish athletes who are participating in the Olympics get morale support from the Turkish workers living in Australia, Unlu said and pointed out that Australia, after Germany, has the second highest number of Turks living within its borders.

''We will have a magnificent return to home,'' Unlu said and stated that he believed Turkey has a chance to win medals in every branch of sports in Sydney.

-AIR FORCES COMMANDER GENERAL CELASIN RECEIVES HIS ISRAELI COUNTERPART

ANKARA - Israeli Air Forces Commander General Dan Haloutz visited on Monday Air Forces Commander General Ergin Celasin.

General Haloutz arrived in Turkey as the official guest of General Celasin the same day.

Speaking at the meeting, General Celasin said that the Turkish and Israeli Air Forces had been carrying out mutual training flights since 1995, and the Israeli Air Forces pilots received physiological training at the Air Forces Hospital in central Eskisehir province.

General Celasin stressed that the Israeli Air Forces was one of the defenders of democracy and human rights in the region.

Israeli Commander General Haloutz said that the military cooperation between Turkey and Israel constitutued an example for the other countries in the region, and the common values strengthened cooperation between the two countries.

-THIRD TURKEY ENERGY CONFERENCE TO START ON TUESDAY

ANKARA - The 3rd Turkey Energy Conference organized by The Economist will start in Ankara on Tuesday.

The Economist's programme advisor IBS Research and Consultancy firm announced that the participants of the meeting will discuss the latest developments and strategical issues in Turkey's energy programme at Ankara Hilton Hotel on September 12-13.

In the statement, it was also stated that Turkey, besides its strategical value, also offers new and profitable investment opportunities to energy firms.

Turkey is preparing itself for the future with its new and dynamic legal and technical infastructure, as well as its growing targets, the statement said.

The participants will discuss the international arbitration, effects of new regulations in electricity and oil market laws on the energy market, ways to close the the 4.5 billion U.S. dollar financial deficit.

Energy and Natural Resources Ministry Undersecretary Yurdakul Yigitguden will deliver a speech at the opening of the conferance. The conference will end with Energy and Natural Resources Minister Cumhur Ersumer's speech on Turkey's energy policies.

Several Turkish and foreign energy experts and executives will attend the two day conference.

-TURKISH AMBASSADOR IN GERMANY ULUCEVIK PAYS FAREWELL

VISIT TO GERMAN INTERIOR MINISTER SCHILY

BERLIN - Turkey's Ambassador in Berlin whose tenure has recently ended in Germany paid a farewell visit to German Interior Minister Otto Schily on Monday. Ulucevik will leave Germany next weekend.

After a 30-minute meeting, Schily told reporters that Ulucevik was the first Turkish ambassador in Berlin. He also said that Ambassador Ulucevik had significant contributions to Turkey's becoming an EU candidate at the Helsinki Summit.

Wishing Ulucevik success in his new post, Schily said he is sure the current positive developments in Turkey would continue during his new post.

Ulucevik and Shily also dwelled on the situation of the Turkish community in Germany and Ulucevik told him that providing a safe and prosperous life for the Turks in Germany was very important for the Turkish government. This would also help Turkish-German friendship, Ulucevik said and added that the Turkish community in this country should adjust to German society while preserving their own identity.

-3RD TECHNOLOGY CONGRESS STARTS AT METU

ANKARA - Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association (TUSIAD) Chairman Erkut Yucaoglu said Turkey was one of the countries which allocates the highest amount of financial resources for research and development activities in the world.

The Technology Congress organized by the Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) and the Technology Development Foundation of Turkey (TTGV) started at Culture and Congress Center of the Middle East Technical University (METU) on Tuesday.

Yucaoglu who spoke at the opening said that technological superiority is necessary to compete in today's world and added that all segments of the society should be informed about science, technology and other novelties. The state must mobilize its financial resources to make Turkey a country which produces technology rather than buying it, he said. Stating that the government should adopt science and technology production as a policy, Yucaoglu said the private sector should also work together with the state and the universities in this field.

On the contrary to the common belief, he said, Turkey is one of the countries in the world which spends the highest amount of cash for research and development activities.

''Let's take the defense industry. Turkey imports military equipment worth of 4 billion U.S. dollars annually,'' Yucaoglu went on to say. ''About 20- 25 percent of this money is spent for research and development activities. Employing one person in research and development sector costs 50,000 U.S. dollars a year. Turkey is paying other countries the employment cost of a 20,000 research and development personnel. Therefore, Turkey is creating resource for other countries to produce technology in the next decade. If we could switch this investment to our own people and if we could allocate funds for it, this investment will pay off and Turkey can produce technology.''

Yucaoglu noted that the biggest obstacle in front of research and development activities is the unsufficient funds. ''One reason is that the financial resources that are put aside for these activities do not pay off in a very short term.''

Technology Congress and Technology Awards Executive Board Member Prof. Nevzat Ozguven, who also spoke at the congress, said technology also includes many threats. Ozguven stated that Turkey can turn these threats to opportunities if it increases its scientific development and innovation skills.

-ITALIANS TO INVEST 600 BILLION TURKISH LIRAS FOR KAYNASLI

POTABLE WATER PIPELINE

DUZCE - The potable water pipeline of Kaynasli district of Duzce province will be constructed by Italian aid organization Cooperazione e Suiluppo (CSVI).

The protocol agreement of the pipeline was signed by H.Bilge Aktas, the governor of Kaynasli, Efdal Altundal the mayor of Kaynasli Municipality; and Alberto Oggero the representative of CSVI on Monday.

The construction of Kaynaslı potable water pipeline will start after the approval of European Community Humanitarian Office. (ECHO)

The pipeline will cost around 650 billion Turkish Liras. The CSVI will cover 600 billion Turkish Liras for the project. The remaining 50 billion TL part will be met by the Kaynasli municipality.

-LUFTHANSA TO START FLIGHTS TO ADANA

ISTANBUL - Uwe Muller, Lufthansa German Airways Chairman responsible from Sales and Services of Southeast Europe, Middle East and Pakistan region, said on Monday that they are planning to start flights to Adana province.

During his latest visit to Turkey, Muller had a meeting with Ofer Kirsch, the General Executive of Lufthansa German Airways in Turkey, and pointed out that Lufthansa has 49 flights from Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir to various cities in Germany every week. He added that they are planning to increase the number of flights next year with larger framed planes.

Muller pointed out that after the earthquake last year, the Turkish tourism is going under a revitalization process and said:

''Turkey is a constantly growing market, so it is one of the most significant centers of Lufthansa in the region. We are planning to bring tourists to Turkey from the U.S. next year.''

Müller stressed that they are having a very friendly competition with the Turkish Airlines in the market.

''We had successful joint investments with the Turkish Airlines such as Sun Express charter flights. We would like to continue these enterprises under the frame work of joint flights. The privatization of the Turkish Airlines will contribute to the cooperation.''

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