Anadolu Agency: News in English, 00-11-18

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ANADOLU AGENCY

NEWS

18 NOVEMBER 2000 Saturday

CONTENTS

[01] TURKEY-PRESS SCAN

[01] TURKEY-PRESS SCAN

HURRIYET (LIBERAL)

A TURK WHOSE FACE TURNED TOWARDS THE WEST
Britain's The Economist magazine defined President Ahmet Necdet Sezer as a Turk whose face turned towards the West. The magazine said that Sezer is a person who can bring all the Turkish people including the secularists and fundamentalists together. Stating that Sezer is determined, modest and honest, the magazine said the present behaviours of Sezer indicate that he can play a vital role in the discussions regarding the future of the country.

MILLIYET (LIBERAL)

CURFEW IMPOSED IN YATAGAN
The production capacity in the Yatagan thermic power station in Aegean Mugla province was decreased due to air pollution. Muhsin Koc, the Acting Yatagan Head Official, said that the air pollution started to decrease on Friday afternoon. Koc noted that they took all the measures against pollution and that the station is working with low capacity.

SABAH (LIBERAL)

ENERGY MARRIAGE OF KOC
Koc Holding and Norway's state-run oil company Statoil signed a partnership agreement to set up a joint venture to market natural gas.

Koc Holding Board Chairman Rahmi Koc expressed hope that the joint venture will help meet some of Turkey's natural gas demand.

CUMHURIYET (LEFT)

Yucelen said Turkey's candidacy to the EU was approved with Helsinki Summit, and recalled that Accession Partnership Accord, which is a very important stage of the preparation process to the full membership was disclosed on November 8.

Yucelen said Turkey was resolved to exert the necessary efforts to reach the European Union (EU) full membership target in the possible soonest time within the framework of indivisibility of the country and basic qualities of the Republic. Yucelen said, ''however, it is impossible for Turkey to accept a link between the Cyprus issue and the EU candidacy.''

EXPLOSION IN MILITARY CLUB
Two people were seriously injured in an explosion in the dining hall of the Military Club in southern province of Adana early on Friday. The injured people were brought to Ankara with a military helicopter. Sources said that Safak Gokmen and Mustafa Curuk who had been seriously injured were transferred to the Military Medical Faculty hospital in Ankara with helicopter.

RADIKAL (LEFT)

TURKEY TO PROTECT PEOPLE WHO WILL ATTEND HEARING OF OCALAN
Two professors, two lawyers and 33 people whose relatives died due to terrorism, will attend the hearing that will be held for Abdullah Ocalan, the head of the terrorist organization, in Strasbourg, France on November 21, as intervenors. Hundred fully-equipped policemen who will go from Turkey to Strasbourg, will protect the relatives of the martyrs and other intervenors.

YENİ BİNYIL (LIBERAL)

SALE OF ATTACK HELICOPTERS TO TURKEY CONDITIONED ON CYPRUS
U.S. Senator Joseph Biden, who puts obstacles for the sale of Skorsky helicopters to Turkey, and a group of members of the U.S. Congress conditioned the sale of assault helicopters on Cyprus. The members of the U.S. Congress said that Ankara must take steps in issues like human rights, Cyprus and Armenia for the sale of Skorsky helicopters.

TURKIYE (RIGHT)

ERSUMER IN SAUDI ARABIA
Energy and Natural Resources Minister Cumhur Ersumer left on Friday for Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to attend the Seventh International Energy Forum on ''Energy Partnership for a New Century'' in Riyadh between November 17-19.

Speaking to reporters prior to his departure, Ersumer said that the enegry ministers of energy producer and consumer countries would convene in the Forum to create an atmosphere of confidence, exchange information and develop a better understanding for energy issues.

ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)

Speaking at a panel discussion held on the occasion of the 121st anniversary of foundation of the Finance Inspection Board, Bayar said that Turkey had been continuing its privatization activities for fifteen years but its was still trying to record progress with debates on proprietorship.

Defining 2000 as a successful year despite all negative incidents, Bayar said that three billion U.S. dollars had been reached as a result of the works of the OIB.

''IT WILL TAKE TIME''
Guenter Verheugen, the Commissioner of the European Union (EU), responsible for enlargement, said on Friday that it was difficult to say when Turkey would be a full member of the EU.

Verheugen, who attended German Foreign Trade congress held in Berlin, noted that Turkey needed time to fulfil the conditions which the EU wanted. He said, ''Turkey's entrance to the EU may take time.''

-ENVIRONMENT MINISTER AYTEKIN DUE TO THE HAGUE
ANKARA - Fevzi Aytekin, the Environment Minister, will leave for Amsterdam on November 20 to attend the 6th U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC), that will take place in The Hague, the Netherlands.

A written statement released by the Environment Ministry said Aytekin will make a speech on November 21 in the Netherlands Congress Centre, and will convey the views of the Turkish government regarding the issue.

Aytekin attends the congress as observer because Turkey is not a side country to the convention.

Aytekin will be accompanied by a delegation composed of officials from Environment, Foreign, Energy and Natural Resources, two teachers and two students.

The world acknowledged this in 1992 at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, when the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) was opened for signature.

A total of 184 countries are side to the convention at the moment.

-HEAVY FOG IN CANAKKALE STRAIT
CANAKKALE - Heavy fog in the Canakkale Strait continues to paralyze vessel traffic on Saturday.

Sources said that the ferry-boat tours between Canakkale and Eceabat and between Gelibolu and Lapseki can be hold with intervals due to heavy fog.

They said the tours could be made in schedule when the foggy weather ended.

-CANSIZLAR APPOINTED AS CHAIRMAN OF SPK
ANKARA - Dogan Cansizlar, the National Real Estate Director General of the Finance Ministry, was appointed as the new Chairman of the Capital Market Board (SPK).

The new members of the SPK are Fatma Kutlay, Erdal Batmaz, Huseyin Erdem, Nizamettin Temel, Halil Sariaslan and Sezai Akin.

Cansizlar, who graduated from Ankara University's Economics and Finance Department in 1977, had his master's degree on Economy Policy and Planning from the U.S. Boston Northeastern University's.

Dogan Cansizlar had his doctorate on Finance from the Istanbul University's Economics Department.

Cansizlar worked as finance inspector, chief finance inspector, deputy general director of the Social Security Agency (SSK), deputy general director of the Finance Ministry's Budget and Financial Control General Directorate, and as the Finance Ministry National Real Estates General Director.

Dogan Cansizlar will be in office for six years.

-SUSTAINABLE GROWTH IN GAP
GAZIANTEP - The Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP) Regional Development Administration has launched initiatives to lay infrastructure of sustainable growth and development in the region.

The report prepared by the GAP Regional Development Administration said that the physical, economic and human infrastructure should be improved to ensure the conditions in which the regional economy will live in competition without needing support and assistance and without damaging the natural balance.

Within this framework, the GAP Administration foresees attributing importance to rural and urban infrastructure including the potable and city water, energy, transportation, communication, sanitation, reprocessing plants, integrated animal breeding, irrigation, combat against erosion, agricultural conditions, drainage and tourism.

The GAP administration targets at improving the human resources in the region.

The report noted that the efficiency of human force, soil, water, capital and organizations in the region will be improved in such a way that they can compete in international arena.

The GAP administration plans to process the agricultural products in the region and to develop the manufacturing and service sectors.

The GAP administration also foresees the improvement of the competitive power of the small and medium scale enterprises.

-TOTAL OF 27 TONS OF FLOUR CONFISCATED IN HASKOY
HASKOY- A total of 27 tons of flour was confiscated on Saturday in Haskoy township of eastern Mus province on suspicion that it can be poisonous.

Ramazan Yigit, the Head Official of Haskoy, told A.A correspondent that they controlled two bakeries in the township.

Yigit said that these bakeries bought flour from a factory in eastern Bitlis province which had earlier sold poisonous flour.

The flour was sent to Ankara for analysis, Yigit added.

When it was revealed that the factory in Bitlis sold poisonous wheat and flour, all the flour was confiscated.

-FINANCE MINISTRY PLANS TO PUT INTO FORCE LIFE STANDARD IMPLEMENTATION
ANKARA - The Finance Ministry plans to put into force the life standard implementations for those who pay their tax by annual declaration after a two years of interval.

The life standard is thought to be annexed to the additional tax draft which is on the agenda of the Parliamentary General Assembly, by a motion.

Sources told A.A correspondent on Saturday that the life standard was annuled as the financial zero year and the financıal resource investigation were put into force.

The life standard implementation which was annuled at the beginning of 1999, brought a sub-limit in the annual declaration periods of the self-employed and the businessmen who pay their taxes by annual declaration.

This sub-limit was applied to prevent these people from paying lower taxes than the real tax amount they should pay.

The mentioned tax-payers could not declare income lower than this limit and pay lower tax even if they did not earn much and made a loss.

Eighty percent of the people who paid their tax by annual declaration, paid their tax over the life standard.

The life standard implementation was annuled after Zekeriya Temizel brought forward the financial resource investigation.

But, as the tax amount paid through annual declaration method is not too high, the Finance Ministry officials have started to think whether or not to put into force the life standard implementation again.

The implementation of financial resource investigation was suspended until 2002.

Some deputies said that the financial resource investigation should be put into force rather than the life standard application and that the financial resource investigation should be implemented before 2002.

-POLICE CONFISCATE 5,282 HISTORICAL ARTIFACTS THIS YEAR
ANKARA - The Directorate General of Security confiscated 5,282 historical artifacts and 16,958 coins in 2000.

Officials of the Directorate General of Security said on Saturday that 705 people have been captured, including 23 foreigners so far.

The officials noted that efforts are underway to capture 67 other people who were involved in historical artifact smuggling.

The officials added that it was revealed that the historical artifacts are smuggled to the U.S. and European countries.

-TREASURY TO ARRANGE TWO-YEAR BOND TENDER
ANKARA - The Treasury Undersecretariat will arrange a two-year (18-month) bond tender on November 21.

The bonds will be issued on November 22 while the repayment of bonds will be realized on May 15, 2002.

The Treasury foresees a 150-250 trillion Turkish Liras (TL) of net sale at the tender on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Treasury will repay 130 trillion 604.2 billion TL domestic borrowing on November 22.

-FOREIGN MINISTRY: ''WE EXPRESS REGRET OVER THE DECISION
OF ITALIAN PARLIAMENT AND WE REJECT IT''
ANKARA - Foreign Ministry said on Saturday that it expressed regret over the decision taken by the Italian Parliament on Friday evening which supported the resolution on so-called genocide on Armenians. The ministry also said it rejected this decision.

The foreign ministry statement said the Italian parliamentarians could not understand the reaction of Turkey against the decision of the European Parliament.

Underlining that Turkey had never committed a crime of humanity like genocide in its history, the statement stressed that there had been no genocide or order for genocide against the Armenians. The statement said, ''expressions apart from this are intentional and baseless.''

The statement said, ''it is only Turkish Republic's right to determine the conditions to normalize bilateral relations with Armenia according to the international law. Turkey did not transfer this right to European Parliament or the Italian Parliament.''

The statement also said the Armenian administration, which occupies the territories of one of its neighbours, and which supports an initiative against another neighbour that contradicts with friendship, knows ''very well,'' on what conditions normalization of bilateral relations with Turkey depends.

Pointing out that some Italian parliamentarians turned being anti-Turkish into ''obsession,'' the statement said they used the Armenian issue as a tool.

The statement said such initiatives may have negative reflections on Turkish-Italian and Turkish-Armenian relations, and efforts to settle peace and stability in Caucasia.

The statement said, ''attitude of the Italian Parliament in approving such a decision which includes baseless allegations contradicts with seriousness. At this stage, we expect the Italian Government to isolate itself from this unfortunate decision of the Italian Parliament.''

-DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER YILMAZ: -''THE EU MEMBERSHIP IS NOT A TARGET WHICH
WE WANT
TO REACH WHATEVER ITS COST WOULD BE''
KARADENIZ EREGLI - Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz said on Saturday that the European Union (EU) membership is not a target which Turkey wants to reach whatever its cost would be.

Yilmaz attended the ceremony to lay the foundation of 3,500 dwellings in Eregli township of northwestern Zonguldak province.

Speaking at the ceremony, Yilmaz said that none of the countries can remain outside the economic integration to keep up with the changing world conditions.

Yilmaz continued, ''the EU membership is not a target which we want to reach whatever its cost would be. We are exerting efforts to integrate with the EU because it will help our nation to become rich and more modern. Yet, the EU membership should be suitable for our conditions and should not damage our values.''

The EU membership necessitates very serious changes in every field in Turkey, Yilmaz noted.

Yilmaz stated that firstly, the way of thinking should be changed.

If the political compromise continues, there will not be any obstacles for the EU membership, Yilmaz said.

Responding to questions of reporters following the ceremony, Yilmaz noted that Turkey learned that Greece tried to include the border disputes with Turkey in the medium-scale priorities chapter as a political criteria during the European Union (EU) Council meeting that will be held on November 20.

If the border disputes is included in the medium-scale priorities chapter of the Accession Partnership Accord, the positive relations between Turkey and the EU will totally change, Yilmaz stated.

Yilmaz said that the inclusion of Cyprus question in the short-term priorities chapter of the Accession Partnership Accord cannot be accepted.

Yilmaz continued, ''as we are expecting the Cyprus question to be excluded from being a political criteria in the council meeting, we learned that Greece has launched an effort for the inclusion of the border disputes between Turkey and Greece in the medium-scale priorities chapter of the document as a political criteria. The acception of this initiative in the council meeting, is a development which will totally change the positive course of the Turkey-EU relations since the Helsinki Summit. We hope the council will not make such a mistake and will exclude the Cyprus issue from the short-term priorities chapter.''

When asked whether or not there is difference in points of views of the coalition partners regarding the amnesty, Yilmaz said, ''a draft was submitted to us. Now, we are examining it. We will probably discuss the draft in the leaders' summit next week. I cannot make an evaluation before our meeting.''

-PRIME MINISTER ECEVIT: ''AS WE EXPECT OUR WARNINGS
RELATED WITH CYPRUS TO BE ACCEPTED, EFFORTS ARE UNDERWAY
TO INCLUDE BORDER DISPUTES ISSUE TO ACCESSION PARTERSHIP
ACCORD AS POLITICAL CRITERIA''
ANKARA - Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit on Saturday harsly reacted to the initiatives to include border disputes issue into the Accession Partnership Accord as political criteria, and said, ''if the European Union can not consider our sensitivity adequately, it would be inevitable for us to review our relations.''

Ecevit had a meeting with State Minister Sukru Sina Gurel, the EU Secretary General Volkan Vural, Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Faruk Logoglu, and Foreign Affairs Consultants Ertugrul Ciragan and Erdal Tumer.

Speaking to reporters following the meeting where developments regarded with the Accession Partnership Accord were discussed, Ecevit recalled that the European Union (EU) announced Turkey as the candidate country in Helsinki Summit.

Ecevit said it was understood that the Accession Partnership Accord, which was prepared by the EU within this framework, could be discussed in the EU General Affairs Council on November 20 for approval. Ecevit said views of the Turkish Government related with the document was earlier conveyed to the public.

Ecevit said the paragraph related with Cyprus was not accepted and would never be accepted as a political criteria in the Accession Partnership Accord, noting that this paragraph should be excluded from the document.

Ecevit said, ''according to the information we have obtained recently, efforts are underway to include a new paragraph to the Accession Partnership Accord regarding border disputes as a politicial criteria when we were expecting our warnings related with Cyprus to be taken into consideration.''

Ecevit said Turkey in no way or means can accept border disputes issue and Cyprus issue as political criteria. ''These negative developments cause rightful reactions in Turkish public. I hope the EU would consider the sensitivity in our government and public. Otherwise, it would be inevitable for us to review the relations with the EU.''

When asked what he meant by ''reviewing the relations,'' Ecevit said, ''I can not clarify it at this stage. But we have different ideas and preparations in this respect.''

When recalled the proposals to hold a referendum on the EU issue, Ecevit said, ''we have made our warnings. We will absolutely have various alternatives which we can implement if a positive result can not be obtained from this warning.''

Responding to a question if Turkey could give up the EU, Ecevit said, ''it would not be right to say something on this issue for the time being. We hope our warning and expectations would be taken into consideration.''

When asked about his views regarding the decision of the Italian Parliament supporting the resolution on so-called genocide on Armenians, Ecevit said, ''unfortunately, our allies are bothered with issues concerning Turkey. We should get used to them. Of course, we show the necessary reactions as the nation and as the government. However, Turkey is powerful enough to overcome these.''

-MEDITT ANTALYA 2000 TOURISM FAIR TO BE OPENED ON NOVEMBER 23
ANTALYA - The Mediterranean International Tourism and Travelling Fair (MEDITT Antalya 2000) will be opened on November 23.

More than 100 local and foreign tourism and travelling agencies are expected to attend the fair.

Tourism Minister Erkan Mumcu will attend the opening ceremony of the fair.

Following the opening ceremony, Graham Bedford of JMC, the giant tour operator company of Britain, and Georg Czaja of TUI tour operator company will give a conference titled ''Turkey's Place in the Mediterranean.''

Many panel discussions and conferences on ''Congress and Incentive Tourism'', ''Tourism in Marmara Region'', ''Eco-Tourism in Koycegiz-Goksu Region'', ''The Rafting Tourism Opportunities in Antalya and its Vicinity'', and ''Health Tourism.''

The fair will continue until November 25.

-SYMPOSIUM ON POET BEYATLI HELD IN SKOPJE
SKOPJE - A symposium was held on Saturday in Skopje, Macedonia, in the memory of Yahya Kemal Beyatli, a Turkish poet with Skopje origin.

The Thrace Association which was centered on Istanbul, organized the symposium.

Macedonian Radio Television Turkish departments, Birlik daily, Vardar daily, Macedonian Zaman daily, Skopje Turkish Theatre, Tefeyyiz Elementary School, and the Yahya Kemal Beyatli private college hosted the symposium.

Lutfi Turkkan, the Chairman of the Thrace Association, and the accompanying delegation were received by Macedonian President Boris Traykovski on Friday evening.

Traykovski emphasized during the meeting that such cultural cooperation will further improve friendly relations between the two countries.

-NATO PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY 46TH PLENARY SESSION STARTS IN BERLIN
BERLIN - The NATO Parliamentary Assembly 46th Plenary Session started in Berlin, Germany, on Saturday.

Five commissions, including science and technology, economy, defense, civilian affairs, and politics, started their works in the Federal State House of Representatives (Bundesrat).

The members of the delegation who attended the meeting were later received by German President Johannes Rau, and attended the luncheon.

Tahir Kose, the Deputy Chairman of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and the head of the Turkish delegation, were also in attendance in the meeting.

Rau said during the luncheon that the NATO should also attribute importance to civilian cooperation.

Suggesting that they should take seriously this duty, Rau said that they should take under guarantee the peace.

Rau noted that the security should be ensured in peaceful ways.

The NATO is a sine qua non alliance, Rau stated.

A total of 19 NATO country delegations and observer delegation from the Central and Eastern Europe countries attend the meeting.

The NATO Parliamentary Assembly 46th Plenary Session will continue on Sunday.

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