Anadolu Agency: News in English, 00-12-18

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ANADOLU AGENCY

NEWS

18 DECEMBER 2000

Monday

CONTENTS

[01] TURKEY-PRESS SCAN

[01] TURKEY-PRESS SCAN

HURRIYET (LIBERAL)

AMNESTY CAN BE ADOPTED THIS WEEK
The amnesty law which was vetoed by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer last Friday and which was decided to be referred back to the President by the coalition parties will be brought to the parliament again this week. The law is expected to be taken up in the Parliamentary Constitution today and in Parliamentary Justice Commission tomorrow. The coalition parties will ask the Consultation Board to convene and request the law to be taken up by the parliament without waiting for 48 hours. In this case, the parliament can adopt the law on Wednesday or Thursday.

MILLIYET (LIBERAL)

SECURITY FORCES RAID IHD'S OFFICE IN ISTANBUL
Tension escalated in demonstration which was organized by the People's Democracy Party (HADEP), the Freedom and Solidarity Party (ODP) and the Human Rights Association (IHD) to protest F type prisons. Nearly 3 thousand demonstrators who wanted to march from Tunel Square to Taksim Square were not allowed. A group attacked on police buses with clubs and stones. A policeman was injured in his head. Meanwhile, security forces raided IHD's Office in Istanbul. 20 members of the Association including Kiraz Bicici, the Deputy Chairperson of IHD, and Eren Keskin, the Chairman of IHD's Office in Istanbul, were detained.

SABAH (LIBERAL)

FORMER GERMAN CHANCELLOR KOHL IN TURKEY
Former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl came to Turkey to ask a Turkish family for their daughter's hand in marriage with his son. Elif Sozen has been living with Peter Kohl in London. The wedding is expected to took place in April.

CUMHURIYET (LEFT)

LAST SHOW OF PLANE:TWO DIE
A T-34 model plane performing a show crashed in Kocaeli's Korfez township on Sunday night. One amateur pilot and a photographer who were on board died in the accident. The show was a part of the car race organized in Korfez. Two women who were near the accident scene were also injured.

RADIKAL (LEFT)

NOBODY OPENS DOOR OF PRISONERS
A group of writers and singers who came to Bayrampasa Prison of Istanbul to talk with the inmates who have been on death fast were not allowed to enter the prison. Rutkay Aziz, Edip Akbayram, Suavi, Ferthat Tunc and Halil Ergun were in the group. Ataol Behramoglu who spoke on behalf of the group said they came to visit the inmates who have been on death fast. Drawing attention to the high risk of death at this stage of the death fast, Behramoglu said they were ''very worried.''

YENI BINYIL (LIBERAL)

SNOW EXPECTED IN ISTANBUL
The temperatures will drop by 10 degrees throughout the country and it is expected to snow in Istanbul and in the Black Sea region.

LEADERS GIVE INSTRUCTIONS TO DEPUTIES
The coalition leaders who convened on Saturday to evaluate the decision of President Ahmet Necdet Sezer's sending back the law on conditional release to the parliament, requested their deputies not to amend any part of the law in question.

TURKIYE (RIGHT)

REVOLT IN BEYCUMA PRISON
Four inmates in Beycuma Prison in northern Zonguldak province started an unrest when prison guards wanted them to transfer to another prison. Two guardians were injured when they jumped out of the window. The revolt ended late through the midnight. Those four prisoners were claimed to be the men of notorious mafia boss Alaattin Cakici.

UGLY DEMONSTRATION IN TAKSIM
Almost two thousand people held an illegal demonstration in Istanbul's Taksim Square yesterday night to protest ''F'' type prisons. They threw stones to the police bus and some shops, breaking the windows. Police opened fire in the air to disperse the demonstrators. Police detained many of those demostrators.

ULTIMATUM TO GREEK CYPRIOTS
The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) warned the Greek Cypriot army to stop taking up positions on Gurka Hill near Pile, and gave time till afternoon.

SHOW CLAIMS TWO LIVES
A T-34 type show plane crashed near a railway in Korfez township of Kocaeli, killing the pilot and a photographer aboard and injuring two women near the crash site.

ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)

22 STUDENTS DISMISSED
Twenty-two female students were dismissed from the Yuzuncu Yil University in eastern province of Van on charges wearing head-scarf. Besides, 38 other students are under investigation.

A VILLAGE BURNS DOWN
The chimney of a house caught fire in Kayaici village in Arakli township of northern province of Trabzon. Flames spreaded to other houses under strong winds, burning down almost fifty houses in the village.

-EXPORTS FROM GAP REGION TO TURKISH REPUBLICS RISE 1.6 PERCENT
GAZIANTEP - Exports of agricultural products from the Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP) region in first eleven months of 2000 rose 1.6 percent to 36 million 886 thousand U.S. dollars.

The region had exported 36 million 288 thousand U.S. dollars of agricultural goods in the same period of 1999.

According to the statistics of the Southeastern Anatolian Exporters' Association, the region exported 8 million 409 thousand U.S. dollars of grain-cereals, 63 thousand U.S. dollars of dried fruits and 28 million 414 thousand U.S. dollars of textiles in the January-November period of 2000.

The GAP region exported mostly carpets, plastic sacks, flour, margarine, candies, biscuits, cakes and chocalate to the Turkish Republics, and Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan became the top three export markets of the GAP region.

The region exported 13 million 457 thousand U.S. dollars goods to Uzbekistan, 8 million 333 thousand U.S. dollars products to Azerbaijan and 7 million 908 thousand U.S. dollars goods to Kazakhstan.

-TRESURY TO HOLD AUCTION ON TUESDAY TO SELL ONE-YEAR DEBENTURE BONDS
ANKARA - Treasury will hold on Tuesday the last auction in 2000.

Tomorrow's auction of Treasury to sell 12-month (357-day) debenture bonds will be the only auction in December.

The value date of these bonds is December 20, 2000 and maturity is December 12, 2001.
Treasury foresees to raise maximum net 100 trillion Turkish lira (TL) with the auction.

Meanwhile, Treasury will repay 101 trillion 758.9 billion TL in domestic borrowing on December 20.

The total domestic repayment by the Treasury in December will be 201 trillion 937.3 billion TL.

-TAFFAREL OF GALATASARAY IS AMONG EIGHT BEST GOAL KEEPERS IN 2000
ISTANBUL- Brazil's international Claudio Andre Taffarel, the number-one goal-keeper of UEFA and Super Cup Champions Galatasaray, is among the best eight candidate goal-keepers of the year according to a survey by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS).

Taffarel became one of the eight candidates for the ''World Goal-Keeper of the Year'' survey presented by the IFFHS in 80 countries.

Vote for the survey will continue until the end of 2000, and the top three keepers will be announced early in January of 2001.

Those keepers will be awarded with a ceremony in Rotenburg city of Germany on January 8, 2001.

The eight candidate goal-keepers are as follows:

''Claudio Andre Taffarel (Brazil), Fabien Barthez (France), Iker Casillas (Spain), Jose Luis Chilavert (Paraguay), Oscar Cordoba (Colombia), Oliver Kahn (Germany), Francesco Toldo (Italy), Edwin van der Sar (Netherlands).

-MINIMUM WAGE TO BE 139.95O THOUSAND AS OF JANUARY 1, 2001
ANKARA - The gross minimum wage will be 139 million 950 thousand Turkish lira (TL) as of January 1, 2001.

The Minimum Wage Determination Commission finalized its works on amount of minimum wage on Monday.

It also decided to increase the gross minimum wage by five percent to 146 million 947.5 thousand TL as of July 1, 2001.

-TURKISH-GREEK COOPERATION COUNCIL MEETING HELD IN ANTALYA
ANTALYA - The fifth meeting of Turkish-Greek Cooperation Council was held in southern Antalya province on Monday.

Akżn Alptuna, the Turkish Ambassador headed the Turkish delegation and Greek Foreign Ministry's Secretary General in charge of European Affairs Elias Plaskovitis headed the Greek delegation in the meeting of the Council held in EU issues.

Alptuna told the journalists that these meetings are held in every three months either in Turkey and Greece.

''The problems Greece faced in its transition process to the European Union (EU) and the mistakes done are being conveyed to the Turkish side. Officials from the Justice, Customs, Finance, Agriculture, Environment ministries and officials from the banking sector and universities participate in the meetings of the Council upon the wish of Greece. In the meetings, officials make cooperation regarding adjustment to the EU legislation and the things that must be done by Turkey to join the EU are being taken up,'' he said.

The meeting was close to the press.

-TWO PREFABRICATED HUTS BURNT IN DERINCE
DERINCE - Two prefabricated huts burnt on Monday in Derince township of Marmara Kocaeli province.

The sources said the fire started as the stove in one of the prefabricated huts overturned. The fire later spread to another prefabricated hut.

No casualties occured due to the fire, but the sources said financial damage occured in two prefabricated huts due to the fire.

The fire was put out by the fire brigade teams of Derince township and by the gendarme forces.

The families who were living in these prefabricated huts moved to empty prefabricated huts in the region.

-HISTORICAL COINS STOLEN FROM MANISA MUSEUM
MANISA- Historical coins were stolen from the Manisa Archeology and Ethnography Museum.

Muzaffer Ecemis, the Manisa Governor, told A.A correspondent on Monday that they requested the Culture Ministry to send an inspector to Manisa.

They do not know how many coins have been stolen, Ecemis noted.

Ecemis continued, ''the coins were locked in a cabinet. Whoever stole the coins and when these coins were stolen are not known. When the curator of the museum opened the cabinet to check the coins, he saw that some of the coins were not there.''

''We requested the Ministry to send an inspector. The inspectors will arrive in Mugla tomorrow. The police found out that there were not any whole or damages on the walls. Efforts are underway to take fingerprints from the museum,'' Ecemis added.

There were almost 20,000 gold, silver and valuable coins belonging to different areas and civilizations in the Manisa Archeology and Etnography Museum.

-PARLIAMENT DISCUSSES BUDGETS OF ENERGY AND FOREIGN MINISTRIES
ANKARA- Bedri Yasar, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Deputy to Gumushane province, said on Monday that Turkey spent more than 1.4 billion U.S. dollars to import electricity, adding that energy resources should be used wisely and that Turkey should look for alternative energy resources.

Yasar, who spoke in the Parliamentary General Assembly as budget of the Energy and Natural Resources Ministry was under discussion, said Turkey was face to face with energy shortage today as the investements were not made in time.

Ali Gebes, the MHP Konya Deputy, said 204 dams, and 339 ponds were under operation in Turkey, adding that those provided potable water of the 12 cities. Gebes asked the Konya Plateau Irrigation Project to be implemented soon.

Kursat Eser, the MHP Aksaray Deputy, said Turkey should review its foreign policy and should take required measures to lift the pressures on it. Eser called on the Foreign Ministry to make self criticism, noting that the Ministry should take lessons from the past experiences, and determine its future perspective basing on these experiences.

Pointing out that the European Union (EU) assumed an insincere attitute, Eser said, ''In Nice summit, an impression that Turkey's membership to the EU has been postponed for 10 years, appeared.'' Eser said Turkey was not included in the defense and security structure either, adding that ''Turkey wants to be the member of the EU in a way that will suit to it. Nobody can expect Turkey to make concessions on Cyprus for the EU full membership.''

Birol Buyukozturk, the MHP Deputy to Osmaniye, proposed regional deputyships to be established to benefit from Turkish people living abroad to promote Turkey's causes. Buyukozturk said Turkey could not be forced to submission for full membership.

Ahmet Guzel, the Democratic Left Party (DSP) Istanbul Deputy, said Turkey entered to the 21st century with energy shortage, adding that Turkey's energy system is about to collapse if measures are not taken. Guzel said web pages and the factories which were equipped with the recent technology would have no use if there was not electricity.

Abdulsamet Turgut, the DSP Diyarbakir Deputy, said Turkey imported 60 percent of its energy need, adding that energy investments should be continued in a planned and stable way.

Tayyibe Gulek, the DSP Deputy to Adana, said the policy, carried out by Armenia together with diaspora Armenians regarding so-called genocide on Armenians, was supported by the parliaments of some friendly countries. Gulek said this policy was based on unjust and baseless allegations, and failed to reflect historical facts.

Pointing out that the Armenian government should put an end to the enmity policy soon, Gulek said, ''we can never allow distortion of the history.''

Gulek said Accession Partnership Accord was adopted after being cleared off the expressions which made Turkey uneasy. She said this would open a new period in Turkish-EU relations. Gulek said the EU should fulfil its financial commitments during adjustment process.

Stressing that unrealistic solutions could not be accepted on Cyprus question, Gulek said, ''we will defend our Cyprus cause carefully.''

-ISTANBUL FAIR COMPANY HAS A TURNOVER OF 14 MILLION U.S. DOLLARS IN
2000

ISTANBUL- Istanbul Fair Company, a Turkish British joint venture, had a turnover of 14 million U.S. dollars in 2000.

Releasing a written statement, Keith Pitman, the General Manager of Istanbul Fair Company (ITF), said that their turnover had increased 11 percent on U.S. dollars basis when compared to 1999.

Pitman noted they organized 25 fairs in 1999, and 26 fairs in 2000.

Pitman added they were aiming at increasing their turnover to 18.5 million U.S. dollars in 2001.

Istanbul Fair Company was established with 50-50 percent shares of ITE and CNR Fair Company.

-FINAL STATEMENT OF EIGHTH NGOs SYMPOSIUM SAYS PARTICIPATION

OF NGOs IN PREPARATION OF NATIONAL PROGRAM IS NECESSARY

ISTANBUL- The final statement of the eighth Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) Symposium emphasized on Monday that the participation of the NGOs in the preparation of the national program is necessary.

The role of NGOs in European Union (EU)-Turkey integration was discussed in the symposium to which 90 NGOs had attended.

The final statement said that one of the basic factors of European integration which is the final target of the EU, is democratic participation.

The statement noted that Turkey should scrutinize this factor, adding that it should increase the efforts for the inclusion of the NGOs and the civilian initiatives in the EU harmonization process.

The obstacles in front of the cooperation with the NGOs in the member and candidate EU countries should be lifted, the statement said.

The statement added, ''the efforts to implement the better government concept in our country should be materialized by the participation of the NGOs in the implementation, follow-up and evaluation of the process. In this context, decision-makers should take into consideration that the participation of the NGOs in the preparation of the national program is necessary.''

-PARLIAMENTARY CONSTITUTION COMMISSION SAYS
AUTHORITY DRAFT LAW COMPLIES WITH CONSTITUTION
ANKARA - The Parliamentary Constitution Commission said on Monday that the authority draft law complies with the Constitution.

The draft law foresees giving authority to the government to make some arrangements in the administrative, financial and social rights of the civil servants and some other public officials.

Some deputies of the opposition parties said that the draft law should be postponed and claimed that the draft law was against the Constitution.

Noting that the scope of the draft law was not clear, the deputies of the opposition parties requested that the personnel rights and economic situation of the civil servants be bettered by the law.

Some deputies of the coalition parties said that the draft law complies with the Constitution.

Following the discussions, the proposal of the deputies of the opposition parties for the postponement of the discussions was rejected.

The draft law was found to be in compliance with the Constitution with 14 votes in favour and nine against votes.

Thus, the draft law was submitted to the Parliamentary Planning and Budget Commission.

The Parliamentary Planning and Budget Commission will discuss the draft law on Monday evening.

-BRITISH COMPANY LAURA ASHLEY TO OPEN SHOP IN IZMIR
IZMIR- Leading British ready made cloth, home textile and furniture company Laura Ashley will open its fourth shop in Turkey in Aegean Izmir province on Tuesday.

The Laura Ashley company will open its new shop in Izmir Carrefoursa.

Women's and girl's clothes, home textile, accessories, and furniture will be sold in the shop.

The Laura Ashley had earlier opened two shops in Istanbul and one in southern Adana province.

-PRESIDENT SEZER APPOINTS KANADOGLU AS THE
CHIEF PROSECUTOR OF THE SUPREME COURT OF APPEALS
ANKARA - President Ahmet Necdet Sezer appointed on Monday Sabih Kanadoglu as the Supreme Court of Appeals Republican Chief Prosecutor.

Presidential Press Center told a statement that, ''President Ahmet Necdet Sezer appointed Sabih Kanadoglu, the Chairman of the 11th Criminal Department, among the other candidates nominated by the Supreme Court of Appeals General Council. The decision will be valid starting as of January 21, 2001.''
Supreme Court of Appeals General Council convened today to elect the new Chief Prosecutor as four year term in office of Vural Savas, the Chief Prosecutor, will expire. The Council determined five candidates.

A vote took place in which Savas ranked the first 153 votes.

Sabih Kanadoglu got 104 votes, Atilla Bengu 83, Koparan Basal 76, and Yilmaz Alasu got 63 votes.

-KANADOGLU'S CURRICULUM VITAE
ANKARA - Sabih Kanadoglu, who was appointed as the Chief Prosecutor of the Supreme Court of Appeals by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, was born in Menemen on May 20, 1938.

Kanadoglu graduated from Istanbul University Faculty of Law in 1959.

Kanadoglu was elected as the member of the Supreme Court of Appeals in July 19, 1984. Supreme Court of Appeals General Council elected as the Chairman of the 11th Criminal Department in December 26, 1994.

Kanadoglu is married with three children.

Kanadoglu will start his new post on January 21, 2001.

-COEPA TO DISCUSS A REPORT ON TURKEY
PARIS - The Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (COEPA) Follow-up Committee will discuss a report on Turkey on Tuesday.

Uluc Gurkan, a deputy of the Democratic Left Party (DSP), will attend the meeting that will be held in Paris on behalf of Turkey.

If the report is approved by the committee, it is expected to be brought to the agenda of the first part of the 2001 COEPA Ordinary Session which will be held in Strasbourg between January 22 and 26, 2001.

The report is about the democracy and human rights in Turkey.

-KADIKOY HEAVY CRIMINAL COURT SENTENCES
AGCA UP TO 36 YEARS IN PRISON
-SENTENCE OF AGCA REDUCED TO 7 YEARS TWO MONTHS
CONSIDERING THE SENTENCE HE SERVED AND HIS GOOD CONDUCT
ISTANBUL/KADIKOY - Kadikoy Heavy Criminal Court no: 1 on Monday sentenced terrorist Mehmet Ali Agca up to 36 years in prison on charges of two separate robberies. Agca's sentence was reduced to seven years two months considering the sentence he served, and his good conduct.

Agca had been extradited from Italy to Turkey.

Agca attended the hearing together with his lawyers Sevki Lulecioglu and Sevket Can Ozbay.

The Court Delegation decided to sentence Agca to 18 years in prison on charges of robbing a taxi and a soda factory.

The delegation reduced this sentence to seven years two months, considering the sentence he served and his good conduct.

The delegation also decided for the abatement of the cases, which had been opened against Agca earlier, saying that the statute of limitations in that cases had expired.

The cases were about robbery of a jewellery store in Kiziltoprak and his opposition to Weapons Law no:6136.

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