Anadolu Agency: News in English, 01-01-27

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ANADOLU AGENCY

NEWS

27 JANUARY

2001 Saturday

CONTENTS

[01] TURKEY-PRESS SCAN

[01] TURKEY-PRESS SCAN

HURRIYET (LIBERAL)

NO DEMAND FOR FOUR BANKS
Four banks will be closed. No proposal was issued Egebank, Sumerbank, Yasarbank and Yurtbank which had earlier been transferred to the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund. The Banking Inspection and Regulation Board said that these four banks and Bank Kapital would be united in one bank under the name of ''Sumerbank.'' The unification of the banks is expected to be completed till February 20.

MILLIYET (LIBERAL)

TURKISH STUDENT CHECKMATES FRENCH DEPUTY
Suna Vidinli, a Turkish student who is studying history in Harward University of the U.S. and who participated in a tv programme in Turkey, checkmated Rochebloine, a French deputy who prepeared the resolution on socalled genocide on Armenians in France. Vidinli told the French deputy that ''we came here not to explain anything to you, but to give an history lesson to you. You should first of all face with your history in Algeria.''

SABAH (LIBERAL)

20 OFFICIALS TAKEN INTO CUSTODY
The operation staged against the buffalo meat smuggle continued in southern Mersin province and in Ankara. A total of 20 persons including top officials were taken into custody in the operation.

CUMHURIYET (LEFT)

TURKEY WARNS LONDON
Turkey reacted the Armenian efforts to include the so-called Armenian genocide discussions on the Genocide Day which will be held today in Britain to commemorate the murdered Jews. Turkish Ambassador in London Korkmaz Haktanir said that radical nationalist Armenian groups were trying to divert the purpose of the Genocide Day which is also supported by Turkey. The Armenian lobby in Britain is working to include all genocides that thave taken place in the history in this event.

VERHEUGEN SAYS EUROPE CAN'T DO WITHOUT TURKEY
Guenter Verheugen, who addressed the economic meeting held in Davos, Switzerland said that the European Union (EU) needed Turkey. Mesut Yılmaz, the Deputy Prime Minister said in his part that Turkey is more important than all the other candidade countries for the EU.

RADIKAL (LEFT)

YILMAZ DISCUSSES EU-TURKEY RELATIONS WITH VERHEUGEN
Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz who is visiting Davos to attend the World Economic Forum discussed Turkey-EU relations with EU Commissioner for enlargement Guenther Verheugen. Yilmaz told Verheugen that Turkey would submit its National Program by the end of February. Yilmaz also indicated that due to the program's large scope, there could be certain disagreements between Turkey and the EU.

TURKIYE (RIGHT)

FIVE BAILED OUT BANKS TO JOIN UNDER ONE ROOF
Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency announced the investors who are interested in buying the bailed out banks which were transferred to the Deposit Saving Insurance Fund. The agency stated that investors expressed no interest in Egebank, Sumerbank, Yasarbank and Yurtbank which will be united under Sumerbank. This activity is expected to be completed by Feb. 20, 2001.

ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)

-POLICE DETAIN SEVEN TOP OFFICIALS IN OPERATION AGAINST
BUFFALO MEAT SMUGGLING
ANKARA - Seven top officials who were detained by the police in the operation against buffalo meat smuggling, were brought to Ankara and had check-up in Forensic Medicine on Saturday.

Among these top officials, there are the bureaucrats of the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Affairs, Foreign Trade Undersecretariat, Free Zones Directorate General and Customs Undersecretariat who were working in southern Mersin province. Officials said that the number of those who were taken into custody exceeded 20. Seven of them were brought to Ankara from Mersin late on Friday night.

After the check-up in the Forensic Medicine in the morning, the bureaucrats were brought to Ankara Police Department to be interrogated.

-BRITISH HOME DEPARTMENT INVITES NO REPRESENTATIVES FROM
TURKISH COMMUNITY IN BRITAIN TO HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL DAY
LONDON - Turkey expressed discomfort regarding the Armenian campaign to abuse Holocaust Memorial Day which will be held in London on Saturday.

The British Home Department which announced that several groups will be represented at the event, did not invite any representatives from the Turkish community in Britain.

As a reaction, Turkish Ambassador in London Korkmaz Haktanir indicated that he would not attend the Holocaust Memorial Day. A statement from the Turkish Embassy in London said that Haktanir sent a letter to the British Home Department asking what kind of changes were made regarding the memorial day. Haktanir also stressed in his letter that Turkey was disturbed by the Armenian efforts to abuse the memorial day.

The British Home Department, in its reply, repeated its position one more time and added that several groups including Armenians were invited to the Holocaust Memorial Day.

Haktanir asked the Home Department to invite representatives of the Turkish associations in Britain and relatives of one of the many Turkish diplomats who were killed by Armenian terrorists. However, the British Home Department turned down Haktanir's request.

Meanwhile, Haktanir visited chief rabi Professor Jonathan Sacks before the Holocaust Memorial Day. During the visit, Sacks said that the Turkish nation has always supported the Jewish people in the history.

-SUIT FILED AGAINST 16 RAPID POLICE FORCE MEMBERS
FOR HOLDING DEMONSTRATION IN IZMIR
IZMIR - A file was suited on Saturday against 16 rapid police force members who held a demonstration in western Izmir province following the killing of two policemen in Istanbul.

The indictment prepared by Unal Soybalı, the Prosecutor of Izmir requested imprisonment of 16 police officers for one year to three years for acting contrary to the law no. 2911 which is about holding illegal demonstrations or marches.

The indictment said that a group of 300-400 police officers held an illegal march by carrying their guns with them and they continued to walk in spite of the warnings of their directors.

The indictment said that the policemen also shouted slogans saying that ''Martrys Don't Die, Homeland Won't be Divided, Istanbul Police is not Alone, This Country is Ours and Remain Ours.''

The indicment also covered the arguments of the suspects who said that they didn't plan such a demonstration and they wanted to pay respect for the two police officials who were killed by terrorists in Istanbul.

-MINOR TREMOR SHAKES TARSUS
ADANA - A minor earthquake shook Tarsus township of southern Icel province on Saturday.

Bogazici University Kandilli Observatory and Seismology Centre said that an earthquake measuring 3.9 on the Richter scale was recorded between Gulek hamlet and Damlama village at 10.10 local time which was 28 kilometers away from Tarsus. No casualties were reported.

The minor quake was not felt in Tarsus township.

-MORE THAN 1.5 MILLION CHILDREN WORK IN TURKEY
ANKARA, Jan 27 (A.A) - There are 16,088,000 children in Turkey who are between the ages of 6 and 17. 1,635,000 of these kids are working to contribute to their families' budget.

According to the temporary results of a survey on child labour in Turkey conducted by the State Statistics Institute, 33.8 percent of children live in cities while the remaining 66.2 percent live in rural areas.

10.2 percent of children are involved in an economic activitity. Children between the ages of 6 and 17 constitute 7.5 percent of Turkey's total employment. 61.8 percent of working children are boys and 38.1 percent are girls. Children work mostly in agriculture. They are also employed in industry, trade and other service sectors.

58.7 percent of these kids work in family businesses so they are not paid. About 39.4 percent receive a regular wage. 1.9 percent of them are self- employed.

78.8 percent of working children are also going to school. Most of the children who are interviewed said they wanted to go to school only and not work. Only 3.4 percent of the children said they wanted to work at a good job.

-PARLIAMENT APPROVES ILO CONVENTION NO. 182
ON PROHIBITION AND IMMEDIATE ACTION FOR
ELIMINATION OF WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOUR
ANKARA - By the approval of the International Labour Organization's (ILO) Convention No. 182 concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour, the child workers who are below the age of 18 won't work in worst forms of child labour in Turkey.

Under the ILO Convention No. 182, the term the worst forms of child labour comprises ''all forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery, such as the sale and trafficking of children, debt bondage and serfdom and forced or compulsory labour, including forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict; the use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution, for the production of pornography or for pornographic performances; the use, procuring or offering of a child for illicit activities, in particular for the production and trafficking of drugs as defined in the relevant international treaties; work which, by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out, is likely to harm the health, safety or morals of children.''

Officials of the Labour and Social Security Ministry said that the Convention No. 182 is one of the basic eight conventions of ILO, adding that by the approval of this Convention, Turkey won't be questioned at ILO regarding child labour from now on.

-WESTERN THRACE TURKS SOLIDARITY ASSOCIATION IZMIR CHAIRMAN:
''TURKISH COMMUNITY IN WESTERN THRACE WANT TO ELECT THEIR OWN
CLERGYMAN''
IZMIR - Western Thrace Turks Solidarity Association Izmir branch Chairman Muhittin Soyuturk has said that Turks living in Western Thrace wanted to elect their own mufti --local clergyman of Muslims-- in the upcoming elections in March. He added that if they are not allowed to do so, they would file a complaint about Greece to the European Court of Human Rights.

Soyuturk told the A.A the Athens Agreement which was signed in 1913, granted Western Thrace Turks the right to elect their own mufti but the Greek government annuled the law in 1990.

The muftis are currently appointed by the Greek government, he indicated and added that the Turkish community wanted to elect their own clergyman. He also stated that the Greek government was intending to prolong the office term of the current muftis in Skopje, Komotini and Dimetoka until 2010.

''As parallel to the improving relations between Turkish and Greek people after the August 17 earthquake, we are asking the Greek government to act in line with the relevant articles of Lausanne and Athens treaties. The Greek government should allow the Turks choose their own mufti. Otherwise we'll apply to the ECHR,'' he said.

Soyuturk also asked the Greek government to stop taking the foundation assets owned by the Turks under the state control. ''There are trying to render the foundation ineffective,'' he added.

There are also problems regarding Turkish lessons in Western Thrace, Soyuturk said. He explained that Greece does not give work permit to teachers coming from Turkey, therefore Turkish students can't get good education in Turkish.

-22 BUREAUCRATS DETAINED SO FAR FOR INVOLVEMENT IN MEAT
SMUGGLING
ANKARA - While the detentions of bureaucrats are continuing as a part of the smuggled meat operation known as Operation Buffalo, Ali Yasak, a mafia boss, was also taken into custody in Istanbul on Friday night.

The bureacrats who were taken into custody by the instruction of Ankara State Security Court (DGM) Prosecutor Hakan Kizilaslan, are believed to have neglected their duties and helped the organized crime group which smuggled meat into Turkey.

A total of 21 bureacrats were detained since the beginning of the investigation. One general director, three deputy general directors and other high level officials who are among the detainees will be interrogated on Saturday at Ankara Security Directorate Smuggling and Organized Crime Department.

Kizilaslan and organized crime teams of the Security Directorate will be present during the interrogation.

Sources said that the detentions might continue in the days to come since some of the involved bureaucrats retired or they were appointed to a different city. They also reported that those who were taken into custody were working for Agriculture and Rural Affairs Ministry, Foreign Trade Undersecretariat Free Zones General Directorate and Customs Undersecretariat.

Meanwhile, Ali Yasak, a mafia boss who is known as Drej Ali was taken into custody in Istanbul on Friday night. A security team was sent from Ankara to Istanbul to bring Ali Yasak to the capital.

He was detained for his involvement in the attack against Isak Romano who is currently in jail. Romano was the head of the meat smuggling group.

-DISCOVERY CHANNEL SHOOTS DOCUMENTARY IN GIRESUN ISLAND
GIRESUN - Discovery Channel has made a shooting of Giresun Island, an important tourism attraction of Eastern Blacksea Region, for a documentary.

British author Lyn Webster Wilde and Discovery Channel editor Jeremy Freeston shot the natural beauties of the island which was known as Aretia, Aretias and Chaleeritis in the past.

Wilde who spoke to the A.A said that the island which is also a mythological place had fascinating beauty.

''The island has natural assets and history together. We believe that Amazons also lived here,'' Wilde said. She pointed out that she had written a book about the island and would continue her research about this place with extraordinary beauty.

Freeston said the island carried a mystic air for foreigners and added that the documentary would increase the number of tourists who want to visit Giresun island.

-ATATURK UNIVERSITY TO START PUBLISHING BULLETIN AND MAGAZINE
PRESENTING EVIDENCE OF MASSACRES COMMITTED BY ARMENIANS IN
EASTERN TURKEY
ERZURUM - The massacres committed by Armenians in eastern Turkey will be told in a weekly bulletin and a monthly magazine published by by Ataturk University, it was reported on Saturday.

Ataturk University Turkish-Armenian Relations Research Center Director Dr. Erol Kurkcuoglu told the A.A that they would start publishing a weekly bulletin and a monthly magazine that would present evidence of the massacres committed by Armenians betweeen 1915 and 1919.

The 8-page weekly bulletin will start publication this week while the magazine will be out in February.

The bulletin and the magazine will include pictures and documents proving that the massacres took place in various places in eastern Turkey.

Kurkcuoglu also announced that their web-site on massacres will be on the internet in the days to come.

-GERMAN TRAVEL AGENCIES ASSOCIATION CHAIRMAN REEB:
''INTEREST FOR TURKEY IS HIGHER THAN WE HAD EXPECTED''
BERLIN - German Travel Agencies Association Chairman Leonhard Reeb has said that the interest for Turkey among Germans was higher than they had expected.

Reeb told the Dutch News Agency (DPA) that there was a growing demand for Turkey. If nothing goes wrong, Reeb said more than 2,5 million German tourists were expected to visit Turkey in 2001.

German travel agencies noticed this in time and have already taken measures to meet the increasing demand, he indicated.

He also advised tourists not to wait for the last minute to go to Turkey and make up their minds quickly. ''It would be good if the customers who are planning to go to Turkey decide quickly and make reservations.''

''Many people in Germany realized that Turkey has many options and the prices are reasonable. Besides, Turkey is working very hard to make environmental improvements,'' he commented.

-MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND SOCIAL SECURITY TO GIVE NAMES
OF THREE MINISTRY OFFICIALS WHO WERE KILLED BY ARMENIAN
TERRORISTS TO HALLS IN MINISTRY
ANKARA- The Ministry of Labour and Social Security will give the names of three ministry officials who were working in Turkish Embassies abroad and who were killed by Armenian terrorists, to halls in the Ministry in a ceremony on January 31.

The Ministry decided to give the names of Resat Moralı, the Deputy Labour Undersecretary in Turkish Embassy in Paris, Attache Tecelli Arı and Erdogan Ozen, another attache working in Turkish Embassy in Vienna to the halls and library of the Ministry. Moralı and Arı were killed by Armenians in 1981 and Ozen was killed in 1984.

A ceremony will be held in the Ministry on Jan. 31 and relatives of the Ministry officials who were killed by Armenian terrorists will also speak.

-ITALIAN INTERIOR MINISTRY BIANCO DECLARED CAPPADOCIA
FRIENDSHIP AND TOURISM AMBASSADOR
NEVSEHIR - Italian Interior Minister Enzo Bianco who visited Cappadocia region last week was declared as ''Cappadocia friendship and tourism Ambassador'' by Ortahisar Municipality.

Nevsehir mayor Erkal Yandi told the A.A on Saturday that Bianco's two day stay in Cappadocia would help to increase tourism activities between Turkey and Italy. He pointed out that there was an increase in the number of Italian tourists visiting Cappadocia in the recent years.

Yandi also said that they decided to name an avenue Enco Bianco in Ortahisar.

-OPERATIONS AGAINST HEZBOLLAH TERRORISTS CONTINUE IN DIYARBAKIR
DIYARBAKIR - The operations started in southeastern Diyarbakır province to capture those terrorists who killed Diyarbakır police chief Gaffar Okkan and five other policemen, continue.

Police immediately take action when it receives any information by phone, but they couldn't reach any result yet.

The indictments prepared by Diyarbakır State Security Court (DGM) about the terrorist Hezbollah organization between the years of 1990-1994 give some information about the attacks staged by the terrorist organization.

The indictments say that the terrorist organization Hezbollah punishes and kills its members when it is suspicious of its members who reveal information about the organization.

''The terrorist organization does not introduce itself, it does not propogate openly and it does not distribute leaflets. The organization does not have any broadcasting organ and it does not use its murders as tools of propoganda. Even it does not confess its killings and sometimes it carries out its killings pretending as if they were conducted by police, village guards or PKK terrorists,'' indictments note.

-PEOPLE CONTINUE TO MOURN AFTER GAFFAR AND FIVE POLICEMEN
DIYARBAKIR/MALATYA - A group of people in Malatya toured the city and protested the cruel attack which killed Diyarbakir Security Director Gaffar Okkan and five policemen last week.

Bus, minibus and cab drivers gathered in front of bus terminal in Malatya and chanted slogans condemning the violent attack against Gaffar Okkan.

In Diyarbakir, minibus and cab drivers have been keeping their radios and tapes turned off for three days. A big black flag is still hanging between two buildings in the city center.

-STATE MINISTER MIRZAOGLU BRIEFS PRESS ABOUT SHIP TRAFFIC
MANAGEMENT AND INFORMATION SYSTEM PROJECT
ISTANBUL - State Minister in charge of maritime Ramazan Mirzaoglu has indicated that the Ship Traffic Management and Information System Project which aims to ensure the safe passage of ships from the Turkish straits will enable the officials to monitor all ships in the straits for 24 hours.

Mirzaoglu held a press conference where he briefed the reporters about the project on Saturday. He told reporters that the foundation of Traffic Control Center's building will be laid in Istinye on Sunday.

Thirteen observation towers, eight on Istanbul Strait and five on Canakkale Strait, will be built as a part of the project. Two control centers will also be constructed in Istinye and Canakkale, Mirzaoglu explained.

''With a ten percent cost increase, we will include the whole Marmara Sea in this project. This way it will be possible to monitor a very wide area beginning from Black Sea end of Istanbul Strait to the waters of Aegean,'' he told reporters.

There will be no people at the observation stations which will operate only with radars and electronic remote control sensors, he said. The information obtained from these stations will be assessed at control centers and later it will be transmitted to the ships passing from the straits.

Mirzaoglu pointed out that an average of 700,000 ships including 50,000 cargo ships pass from Istanbul Strait annually which is causing a serious traffic problem in the strait.

The project will not ligthen the traffic but it will certainly decrease the risk of an accident, he said.

The project which is expected to cost near 30 million U.S. dollars isn't only Turkey's concern but it is of interest to the whole world, Mirzaoglu said. ''The Turkish Republic never intended to limit ship traffic. Every ship means trade and economic recovery. However we have to ensure the safe passage of ships.''

-TURKISH RESCUE TEAMS TO GO TO INDIA TODAY
ANKARA - Turkey will send search and rescue teams to India where many people died in the earthquake on Friday morning.

Foreign Ministry officials said on Saturday that 36 members of the three search and rescue teams will go to India from Ankara by a plane of the Turkish Airlines (THY) the same evening.

The teams will also have medical stuff with them.

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