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Anadolu Agency: News in English, 00-12-23Anadolu Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Anadolu Agency Home Page at <http://www.anadoluajansi.com.tr/>Anadolu AgencyANADOLU AGENCY NEWS 23 DECEMBER 2000 Saturday CONTENTS
[01] TURKEY-PRESS SCANThese are some of the major headlines and their brief stories in Turkey's press on December 23, 2000. The Anadolu Agency does not verify these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.HURRIYET (LIBERAL)LIKE MEDIEVALImage of female militant who was burnt to death at the Canakkale Prison, revealed brutal face of terrorist organization. Fidan Kalsen, a member of the terrorist organization of Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C), was chained to railing of a ward and burnt to death by her friends. As she was screaming in pain and terror, her friends chanted slogans. This scene reminded the Inquisition Courts in the Medieval. BALANCE SHEET OF OPERATIONS MILLIYET (LIBERAL)RELEASES FROM PRISONS STARTReleases from prisons started yesterday after law on conditional release and suspension of punishments was put into practice. Husnuye Cerci, 63, was the first inmate released from prison. Cerci who was sentenced to 20 years and 10 months in prison on charges of attempting to commit murder, was released after serving four years of her imprisonment sentence. KOHLER: ''WE WELCOME INTERNATIONAL BANK'S SUPPORT TO TURKEY'' NSC SUPPORTS F TYPE PRISONS SABAH (LIBERAL)TREASURY: ''WORLD BANK APPROVED COUNTRY ASSISTANCE STRATEGY FOR TURKEY''The Treasury Undersecretariat said that the World Bank discussed and approved the country assistance strategy (CAS) for Turkey which covers three years. The Treasury Undersecretariat said that the loan will be around 5 billion U.S. dollars, including 2.4 billion U.S. dollar structural adjustment loan. It noted that the agreements on the 777.78 million U.S. dollar Financial Sector Adjustment Loan (FSAL) and 250 million U.S. dollar Privatization Social Support Project (PSSP) were also ratified by the World Bank Executive Board. CUMHURIYET (LEFT)LETTER OF SUBMISSIONThe third letter of intent to the IMF which ignores the will of the parliament was announced. IMF will more strictly control Turkey which it keeps under continuous observation while opening its loan sources after the crisis. IMF which firstly appointed representative in the World Bank and later opened an office despite the reactions in Turkey, will carry out supervision every month in the first quarter of 2001 under the name of ''programme review''. The supplementary letter of intent revealed that Turkey's 70-year public assets will be auctioned off. Turkish Airlines (THY), Turkish Telekom, Tobacco and Alcoholic Drinks Authority (TEKEL), Sugar factories, Eti Holding factories, power plants and power distribution networks will be put up for sale. The revenues from these sales will be used in borrowing repayments. RADIKAL (LEFT)AT LASTOperations which started at 04:30 a.m. on Tuesday in 20 prisons accross Turkey, ended at 04:30 p.m. on Friday after security forces succeeded in entering the Umraniye Prison in Istanbul. A total of 26 people including two soldiers lost their lives in the operations. Interior Minister Sadettin Tantan is expected to stage a press conference to brief journalists on the operations in detail. NSC OPPOSES TO BROADCAST IN KURDISH LANGUAGE YENI BINYIL (LIBERAL)END OF GOVERNMENTThe supplementary letter of intent submitted to the IMF in return for a 10.4 billion U.S. dollar loan was announced. The letter briefly says that the government can no longer govern anybody. The letter of intent which includes the government's promises to the IMF comprises 62 articles. Firstly, economic targets are listed, later the policies to be implemented and measures to be taken are listed. ECEVIT: NOBODY SHOULD BE EMPLOYED IN TELEKOM THEY REVIVED EXCEPT 24 OF THEM RELEASE OF PRISONERS STARTS TURKIYE (RIGHT)CIA'S REPORT INSPIRES HOPEAmerican Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) report on ''Global Trends in 2015'' said that a water crisis which would erupt in the Middle East would change the regional balances. It said that Turkey would become a regional power after new political formation. HOSTAGES RESCUED ''OUR INTENT WAS NOT CHANGED'' OUR LOAN APPROVED ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)PRISONS BECOMING VACANTRelease of prisoners started shortly after the amnesty entered into effect. All prisoners who will benefit from the law will be set free until the religious holiday which will start on December 27. 22.6 PERCENT INCREASE IN PRICE OF TELEPHONE AID AL FITR MESSAGE FROM VATICAN LETTER PAVES WAY FOR IMF LOAN UMRANIYE SURRENDERS TOO -IN FIRST ELEVEN MONTHS, 8.1 MILLION U.S. DOLLARS In the same period last year, the region exported 11 million 160 thousand U.S. dollars of vegetal oil. Officials at the Southeastern Anatolia Exporters' Association, told the A.A correspondent on Saturday that the majority of goods were exported to Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Romania. -A BRIEFING GIVEN AT INTERIOR MINISTRY ON INTERVENTIONS IN PRISONS (1) At the briefing, developments in prisons prior to the interventions were explained in detail. Interior Minister Sadettin Tantan; Saim Cotur, the Undersecretary of the Interior Ministry; and Turan Genc, the Director General of Security; were in attendance at the briefing. At the briefing, hunger strikes and death fasts in prisons were described as an ''uprising action'' to prevent transfer of inmates to F type prisons. Officials said, ''there were 15,227 prisoners in 20 prisons prior to the intervention. 1,928 of them are members of the terrorist organization PKK, 1,920 of them are members of the extreme leftist organizations, 170 of them are members of fundamentalist organizations. Members of extreme leftist organizations started the action in general. In 48 prisons, inmates went on hunger strikes while inmates changed their action into death fasts in 17 prisons. As of December 19, there were 1,159 inmates on hunger strike in 48 prisons. 596 of them are members of PKK and 563 of them are members of extreme leftist organizations. 282 inmates were continuing their death fasts in 17 prisons. Most of them were under pressure and threat of their organizations.'' They noted, ''initiatives of the Justice Ministry, the Parliamentary Human Rights Commission, and non-governmental organizations to end death fasts did not yield a result. Negotiations with inmates were halted due to their unacceptable demands. An assessment meeting was held on December 12 with the participation of officials from the relevant ministries and institutions with the aim of putting an end to death fasts and re- establising State's authority in prisons. On December 14, a plan about intervention in prisons was sent to relevant ministries and institutions. The Prison Crisis Management Center was set up on December 15 within structure of the Justice Ministry with the participation of representatives of justice, health and foreign ministries and of the Commandership of Gendarmerie Forces, the Directorate General of Security and the Undersecretariat of National Intelligence Agency (MIT).'' ''A total of 8,335 security personnel including eight gendarmerie battalions and 37 gendarmerie divisions were allocated to the intervention plan. The Interior Ministry gave instructions to governor's offices to provide reinforcement,'' officials added. (To be continued) -A BRIEFING GIVEN AT INTERIOR MINISTRY Officials said that control and supervision at 20 prisons including the Bayrampasa Prison in which security forces couldn't enter for ten years and which became the training center of extreme leftists terrorist organizations and so-called prisons coordination center, had been provided. Interventions at 20 prisons where prisoners were fasting to death and continuing hunger strikes, had started at 05:00 a.m. on December 19. ''Although every kind of effort was expended in order not to use any weapon and harm any prisoner during the interventions, prisoners staying at especially Umraniye, Bayrampasa and Canakkale prisons used kalashnikov rifles, shotguns, hand guns, hand grenades and hand-made pipe-bombs against security forces,'' they said. ''The rebellious terrorists did not hesitate to use these weapons on their friends who wanted to surrender. All facts about this issue will be revealed with autopsies and explained to independent jurisdiction, public opinion, press and Turkish people. Because, security forces have always showed maximum respect to resisting inmates as a result of the training they received and their devices equipped with latest technology, and they continued to work on their measures with the scale models of each prisons in order not to harm any prisoner,'' they said. ''Within this scope, large-scale operations in 20 prisons started at the same time under a great coordination and concluded in 3.5 days with minimum loss and damage, and this proved the education and training level of security forces, the technical level they reached, their humanism, and their loyalty and respect to the laws and human rights,'' they said. ''We consider our security forces as a service and mission sector under command of the nation. The name of the operation called 'Return To Life' stems from this concept,'' they said. ''During such a situation, some circles made unjust accusations against the security forces through press and media organs. However, the public opinion which acted with common sense did not take those accusations into consideration, and this became the source of security forces' and our happiness,'' they said. Officials said that a telephone call had been made by the extreme leftist terrorist organizations member prisoners staying at the Bayrampasa Prison to extreme leftist organizations member prisoners staying at the Bartin Prison at about 05:30 a.m. on December 19, ordering them to set one prisoner on fire and give him or her to security forces.'' ''Besides, it was revealed that a telephone call had been made from Umraniye Prison at 08:30 a.m. the same day to the terrorist organization's office in Belgium to give information about the intervention,'' they said. ''Control and supervision of eleven prisons were provided until 09:00 a.m. in the first day of the interventions, and as of the first day of the interventions, control and supervision of 18 prisons including the Bayrampasa Prison which the security forces couldn't enter for ten years and became the training center and so-called prisons coordination center of extreme leftist terrorist organizations were provided,'' officials said. ''On the third day of interventions, control and supervision of 19 prisons including Canakkale were provided, and intervention in Umraniye Prison was concluded at 04:00 p.m. on the fourth day,'' officials said. ''At the end of the fourth day, 802 death-fasting inmates and 282 inmates on hunger strike were saved,'' officials added. (To be continued) -A BRIEFING GIVEN AT INTERIOR MINISTRY ON INTERVENTIONS IN PRISONS (3) At the briefing, developments in prisons prior to the interventions were explained in detail. Officials said, ''two soldiers were killed and four others were injured when members of terrorist organizations responded to security forces with weapons, knives and skewers during the intervention in prisons. 16 inmates who burnt themselves in accordance with instructions given by terrorist organizations, died while 30 others were injured. 10 inmates who responded to security forces with weapons, died while 103 others were injured. A total of 241 people including four security officials, were rushed to hospitals for medical treatment.'' They noted, ''a total of 942 inmates who are members of extreme leftist terrorist organizations, were trasferred to F type prisons in northwestern Edirne province, Sincan township of Ankara, and northwestern Kocaeli province from Canakkale, Bayrampasa, Umraniye, Bursa, Bartin, Cankiri, Aydin, Malatya and Ceyhan prisons.'' Officials said, ''during the first searches following the intervention, security forces confiscated a kalashnikow rifle, 10 hand-guns, a shot-gun, 12 handmade bombs, 70 cartridges, 315 knives, 17 mobile phones and a number of banned documents. The intervention was a serious blow on terrorist organizations of Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) and the Turkish Workers and Peasant Liberation Army (TIKKO).'' ''The recent developments revealed that it was vitally important to transfer of inmates who are members of terrorist organizations to F type prisons in order to find a radical solution to prison problem in Turkey,'' they added. (To be continued) -SECURITY FORCES CAPTURE 41 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS The immigrants including Iraqis, Palestinians, Iranians and Afghans were taken into custody for violating the Turkish borders and the passport law. Officials told the A.A correspondent that the illegal immigrants would be deported once the legal proceedings were completed. -A BRIEFING GIVEN AT INTERIOR MINISTRY At the briefing, officials gave information about terrorist organizations in detail. Officials said, ''the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP- C) is a splinter group from the Revolutionary Left (Dev-Sol) founded in 1978. The Revolutionary Left which assasinated Nihat Erim, one of the former prime ministers, Mahmut Dikler and Sakir Koc, former deputy police- chiefs in Istanbul, retired General Hususi Sayin, retired Admiral Kemal Kayacan and Hiram Abas from the National Intelligence Agency (MIT), divided into two in 1993. The second group was named as the DHKP-C at the end of a congress organized by Dursun Karatas in 1994. The DHKP-C attributed great importance to armed propaganda among other destructive terrorist organizations. A total of 82 policemen, 25 soldiers and 79 civilians were killed in attacks staged by the DHKP-C between 1990 and 2000. 329 security officials and civilians were injured in these attacks. The DHKP-C staged its first attack by killing Mehmet Topac, the former Justice Minister. Later, the terrorist organization assasinated businessman Ozdemir Sabanci in 1996.'' They noted, ''Dursun Karatas has been directing the terrorist DHKP-C organization from abroad. The organization has been using its terrorist activities in Europe as a source of income. Leading names of the terrorist organization have been living in luxury. One of the most important source of income is money collected illegally by supporters of the organization from Turkish citizens living abroad. The terrorist organization also obtains income from illicit drug trafficking. The organization has many publications such as Yasadigimiz Vatan (Our Homeland), Kultur ve Sanatta Tavir (Attitude in Culture and Art), Ulkemizde Genclik (Youth in Our Country), Devrimci Sol Dergisi (Revolutionary Left Magazine), Devrimci Isci Hareketi Dergisi (Revolutionary Workers' Movement Magazine), Memur Gercegi (The Fact of Civil Servants), and Haklar ve Ozgurlukler Bulteni (Rights and Freedoms Bulletin).'' ''The DHKP-C has been directing its activities from Istanbul. It has been using prisons as headquarters. Bursa, Bartin, Cankiri, Ceyhan, Malatya, Bayrampasa and Umraniye prisons were among these headquarters,'' they stressed. Officials noted, ''most of armed and bombed attacks planned by the DHKP-C in urbans were deciphered during the preparation stage. Eventually, the organization came to the level of deadlock. But dangerous dimension of the DHKP-C is still continuing partially. The DHKP-C resorted to violence among its own members during the past five years. It tortured many of its members and executed more than its 30 members.'' Officials noted that the DHKP-C's activities in rural areas were restricted with central Sivas and Tokat provinces. ''Dursun Karatas and members of central committee fled from prison in 1989. They moved the administrative center of the terrorist organization to Germany. The DHKP-C has been carrying out activities in Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Greece, Britain and Syria. All activities of the organization have been coordinated from abroad. Many members of the organization received training in camps abroad. Unfortunately, some circles in Europe do not pay the necessary attention to activities of the terrorist organization despite all these facts. The DHKP-C has been trying to camouflage its activities in Europe through some formations such as the Solidarity Committee with Revolutionary Prisons (throughout Europe), the Anatolian Culture Association (Germany), the Anatolian Peoples' Culture Center (Britain); the Solidarity Associations with People (Germany), the Information Center for Free Nations (throughout Europe), the Bremen People's Culture Association (Germany), and the DHKC Information Bureaus (throughout Europe). (To be continued) -A BRIEFING GIVEN AT INTERIOR MINISTRY Officials said that TKP (ML) which came on the agenda with the recent armed attack on rapid deployment force bus, was a destructive terrorist organization which had been formed in 1972 in eastern province of Tunceli on rural basis. ''TKP(ML) organization carries out its activities mostly with its armed wing TIKKO and youth wing 'Turkish Marxist Leninist Youth Association (TMLGB)'. TIKKO has carried out actions by staging armed attacks and ambushes against security forces and waylaying in rural areas. TMLGB focuses on bomb-attacks and fire-bomb attacks in city centers,'' they said. ''Within scope of its activities in rurals, the organization's members comprising militants and sympathizers are carrying out activities and actions mostly in Tunceli. It was revealed that the organization occasionally cooperated with the PKK terrorists in the region. The organization which has recently targeted to logistically strengthen especially Tunceli region, shows itself with armed attacks against security forces in the region,'' officials said. ''Meanwhile, some organization members who take shelter and hide themselves in rural areas in Black Sea region, occasionally stage armed attacks on not risky targets, set fire to public motor vehicles and stage actions to intimidate local residents. However, the organization's movement capability was rectricted as a result of effective operational works,'' they said. Noting that the organization's urban-based activities and its rural-based courier activities had been impeded as a result of security forces' operations in cities, officials said, ''the organization has a structure resorting to violence even against its members. With this respect, the organization which tried to prevent escapes of its members with executions killed 21 of its members including executions in prisons in recent years.'' Officials said that the organization had started to seek cooperation and solidarity with the other terrorist organizations like DHKP-C after blows of security forces on its activities and members. Recalling that three police officers had been killed in the TKP (ML)'s bomb- attack against the Cankiri Governor in 1999, officials said that the organization had staged an armed attack on rapid deployment force bus in Istanbul under the pretext of F type prisons. ''The organization's actions aim to create a chaos and destroy stability in the country, claiming that terrorism has increased,'' they said. Officials said that the organization was using the foreign countries as the financial sources of support to its activities and technical and logistic coordination bases of its strategies. Stressing that the organization continued its activities through some supporter organizations and associations, officials said that Tohum Kultur Merkezi (Family Culture Center), Demokratik Haklar Platformu (Democratic Rights Platform), Yeni Demokratik Sendikal Birlik (New Democratic Union), Anadolu Halklari Kultur Merkezi (Anatolian Peoples' Culture Center) were among those organizations and associations. Officials said that many of militants of the organization had been captured and put into prisons after operations against terrorist organizations. Officials said that the organization had started to benefit from its members staying at prisons when it had encountered difficulties in training of its new members and carrying out its activities. ''Prisoners who reacted to measures aiming at prevention of direction of terrorist organization from prisons, have caused trouble in every opportunity and they generally occupied prisons, erected barricades, took prison guards hostage, started revolts, went on hunger strikes, fasted to death, refused to be counted by prison guards and set themselves on fire. Terrorist organizations which are prepared tehmselves against possible interventions, have become organized by assigning each prisoner, and prisoners have been given documents and letters from organization members explaining their duties,'' they said. Officials said that security forces' operations aimed to eradicate terrorist organizations became ineffective as the organization changed prisons into center for guiding armed attacks and activities. Stressing that F type prisons constituted an important stage in eradication of terrorism, officals said, ''as a result of F type prisons implementation, ties between prisoners and terrorist organizations will be cut and F type prisons will become reformatories for prisoners. A part of prison-rooted armed and unarmed activities will be prevented. As a result of the state authority and dominance, the expectations of public will be met.'' (To be continued) -A BRIEFING GIVEN AT INTERIOR MINISTRY Following the briefing, Interior Minister Sadettin Tantan responded to questions of journalists. When asked, ''at the briefing, officials said that security forces could not enter some prisons for 10 years. Was it a confession?'' Tantan told reporters, ''the intervention put an end to this shame. Our people had an opportunity to know real responsible sides of this shame. A country over which law and order do not dominate, cannot exist. Our people will judge responsibles of such a brutality with their own conscience. Terrorist organizations claimed lives of many young people while their heads are living in Europe in luxury.'' Tantan told reporters, ''I hope that young people who are aware of terrorist organizations' brutality, would leave these organizations as soon as possible. If prisons had been under dominance of the State, a young member of a terrorist organization who committed a crime for the first time, would have been returned to social life. Then we should ask this question, why have they waited for a long time and why did they condone training of people in prisons by terrorist organizations?'' (To be continued) -BANKS' DEPOSIT ACCOUNT INTEREST RATES The interest rates implemented by some banks to Turkish lira (TL) deposits accounts are as follows: (percent) Name of Bank 1-Month 3-Month 6-Month 12-Month --------------- ------ -------- ------ ------- Bank Ekspres 45 37 36 35 Bayindirbank 38 36 33 33 Citibank 70 60 34 34 Demirbank 38 33 30 25 Disbank 55 40 35 35 EGSBANK 41 41 35 35 Etibank 40 40 40 40 Finansbank 50 39 35 34 Garanti Bankası(X) 63 58 45 40 Halkbank 44 42 37 35 Is Bankasi 36 37 37 35 Kocbank 59 39 38 38 Korfezbank 40 37 34 34 Osmanli Bankasi 38 37 33 32 Oyakbank 38 40 39 38 Pamukbank 41 41 38 38 Sekerbank 39 38 36 36 TEB 38 33 33 33 Toprakbank 44 42 38 36 Turkbank 38 36 32 32 Vakifbank 38 37 36 30 Yapi Kredi Bankasi 37 37 36 36 Ziraat Bankasi 44 46 43 38 (x): Interest rate for deposits between 500 million and 2 billion TL. -BANKS' LOAN INTEREST RATES Sources said on Saturday that the consumer loan interest rates which decreased to 3.55 percent climbed to 12 percent due to fluctuations in financial markets and liquidity shortage. Despite this increase, some banks announced that they did not give loans as the interest rates had not become definite. The monthly interest rates of several banks for consumer, motor vehicle purchase and housing loans are as follows: . (percent)
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