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Anadolu Agency: News in English, 01-03-05Anadolu Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Anadolu Agency Home Page at <http://www.anadoluajansi.com.tr/>Anadolu AgencyANADOLU AGENCY NEWS 05 MARCH 2001 Monday CONTENTS
[01] TURKEY-PRESS SCANThese are some of the major headlines and their brief stories in Turkey's press on March 5, 2001. The Anadolu Agency does not verify these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.HURRIYET (LIBERAL)ORIENT EXPRESS DERAILEDTwo cars of the Orient Express were derailed near Askale, Erzurum on Sunday at around noon. The train conducted by Murat Demir and Muhittin Ayvaz, was en route from the northeastern town of Kars to Istanbul’s Haydarpasa station. The last two cars, one being the diner, broke off from the front, were derailed, and overturned. Two passengers and the conductor Irfan Ibiz were injured and hospitalized. Officials said the accident might have resulted from high speed on a bad track. BOBM ATTACK IN IZMIR argument with the night watch Murat Bariskin, hurled two hand grenades into the garage and fled the scene. One of the grenades exploded, tearing the windows of the office down. Security officials arriving in the scene shortly after the incident, discovered one unexploded grenade. There were luckily no casualties in the incident, but the explosion wrought heavy damage on the garage and the office. Security officials launched operations to find the two assailants, who were said to be around 25-30, and who fled the scene on a red motorcycle. MILLIYETHEZBOLLAH LEADER WANTED WITH RED BULLETINThe Interpol issued a red bulletin for Isa Altsoy, who became the leader of the outlawed Hizbullah organization after the death of former leader Hüseyin Velioglu in the Jan. 17 operation. He is the third terrorist leader against whom the Interpol issued a red bulletin, after PKK leader Öcalan, and DHKPC leader Dursun Karatas. Altsoy, discovered to be in Germany, is wanted for being a member of 40 outlawed organizations. COLONEL IMRPISONED FOR WEAPONS CORRUPTION The colonel, who was commanding an ammunition depot of the Ground Forces Logistics Directorate, and the civilian director of the unit were arrested and put in prison. The colonel could face a prison sentence of up to 3 years. SABAH (LIBERAL)ENJOYING SEA AND SUN IN ANTALYATourists visiting the Mediterranean town of Antalya and environs are enjoying the sea and the sun, with temperatures about 8-10 degrees above seasonal norms. The hotels of Antalya welcomed mostly German and Russian tourists, who found themselves lying on the beach sunbathing. Meteorology officials, however, said that the sunny and warm weather wave will leave the stage for rainy weather as of the third day of the Feast of the Sacrifice, and temperatures will plunge by 10-12 degrees. OPERATIONS AGAINST HUMAN SMUGGLERS Alptekin, Halil Aktoprak, Yasin Simsek, Osman Usta, Murat Özkaya, Hüseyin Çelik, Ergün Elelçi, and Hüseyin Beyat. The ship was registered under captain Ömer Köse’s brother Recep Köse. CUMHURIYET (LEFT)EDUCATION MINISTRY SEEKS CREDITSThe National Education Ministry is carrying our negotiations with World Bank officials, in an effort to make use of World Bank credits to be utilized in secondary education reforms. Officials carrying out the negotiations said that the credit would be used to restructure the secondary education system. STUDENTS GO ON A CULTURE TRIP country between March 4-10 on the occasion of the Feast of the Sacrifice. The statement said that the trip would encourage students to study harder to achieve greater scholastic success. RADIKAL (LEFT)SECOND INCREASE IN GAS PRICESThe unit price of gas has increased between 02. and 1.3 percent for the second time. The prices became effective yesterday. One liter of unleaded gas in Ankara became 680,000 TL. In Istanbul's Anatolian side, it is 680, 300 TL and 681,500 TL in the European side. In Izmir it increased to 678, 700 TL. SAYGILIOĞLU: ''HUNGER TRIGGERS BRIBERY'' Customs Gates Undersecretary Nevzat Saygilioğlu has said that Turkey's customs gates were also plagued by bribery. He said a very wide range of public services including traffic, education, title deed registration, and health were affected by corruption and bribery. Low wages are the main cause of bribery, Saygilioglu indicated adding that they were trying to improve the wages of customs personnel to prevent bribery at these institutions. TURKIYE (RIGHT)DERVIS SAYS NEXT THREE WEEKS ARE VERY IMPORTANTState Minister in charge of Economy Kemal Dervis said that the next three weeks are very critical for the Turkish economy. Dervis stated that the outline of the economic program will become certain very soon. He also said that the inflation figures of February was pleasing but stressed that the figures don't reflect the latest changes. TURKISH MADE CARS IN GENEVA EXHIBITION ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)ECONOMIC CRISIS INCREASES APARTMENT RENTSIzmir Real Estate Association Chairman Ridvan Akgun said that they expected the apartment rents to increase 50 percent after the recent crisis. Akgun said that tenants who agreed to pay their rent in foreign currency will face serious troubles. -TRNC PRIME MINISTER EROGLU: ''WE'RE ENJOYING THE FEAST OF Eroglu issued a message to the public on Monday, the first day of the Feast of Sacrifice. In his message, Eroglu said there were great efforts both in the TRNC and Turkey to overcome the economic crisis adding that all sectors of the society should work together with determination to achieve this. ''I have full faith that we will overcome these days and embrace a bright future. This is important for the recognition fo the TRNC and strengthen the foundations of our young state. It is also our responsibility towards the young generation,'' he concluded. -DERVIS: ''IT IS IMPORTANT TO OVERCOME ECONOMIC TROUBLES ''There are two or three difficult weeks ahead of us. What is important is to overcome the economic troubles before summer and end this year in a good way. I will definitely go on a vacation in the south next holiday,'' Dervis said. He also indicated that this week, he and his colleagues will prepare the outline of the program. Dervis introduced State Minister Fikret Unlu's daughter Oya Unlu who is his advisor to the reporters. ''She knows Turkey very well. She is an expert on privatization, economy and foreign relations. I'm very glad she accepted to be my advisor,'' he said. Dervis said that he would visit the United States on March to submit his written resignation to the World Bank. He will also have contacts with U.S. authorities about the Turkish economy. Dervis later went to the Treasury Undersecretariat to conduct activities with economy bureaucrats. -TOURISTS FILL CAPPADOCIA AND ERCIYES HOTELS A calm and clear weather is offering excellent conditions to ski lovers at Erciyes Ski Center. The economic crisis caused the Turkish tourists to cancel their holiday plans so there isn't a very sharp increase in the number of tourists visiting Cappadocia. However, the hotel bookings still rose by 25 to 30 percent in the Cappadocia region. Cappadocia Tourism Managers Association (KAPTID) Chairman Ahmet Tok said they were organizing tours to Cappadocia's mesmerizing fairy chimneys, churches carved in rocks, and monasteries. At nights, the association is trying to entertain the visiting tourists by folkloric dances. It was stated that there were more foreign tourists in the area than the Turkish tourists. -OKUYAN:''WE'RE WAITING FOR CONSTITUTIONAL COURT'S OPINION ON During the six months that the Constitutional Court will allow, Okuyan said his ministry will prepare a new gradual retirement plan. Okuyan emphasized that the Constitutional Court's cancellation decision was not about the 58-60 retirement age, but it was related to the gradual retirement plan. Okuyan said he would start working on the new plan as soon as he receives the Constitutional Court's opinion. ''I respect the Constitutional Court's decision,'' he continued. ''Our government will work on a new retirement plan in order to prevent certain people face hardships during this process. We'll make the necessary changes on the old plan in the light of the Constitutional Court's advise.'' -TRAIN TOURS TO START BETWEEN TEHRAN AND ISTANBUL During a meeting in Istanbul on Nov. 18-20, TCDD and Syrian railroads authorities decided to start train tours on Tehran-Istanbul-Tehran and Tehran-Demascus-Tehran lines. According to this, the first train will leave Istanbul's Haydarpasa train station on March 12, 2001 resuming the train tours between Turkey and Iran which was interrupted in 1993. The second train which will be operating on Tehran-Demascus-Tehran line will start its tours on March 10, 2001. On Tehran-Istanbul-Tehran line, there will be a ferry-boat connection to cross the Van Lake. Both trains will have a passenger capacity of 350. The train which departs Istanbul on Mondays will pass from Ankara, Van and Tabriz and reach Tehran on Thursday. The other train will leave Tehran on Tuesday and arrive in Istanbul's Haydarpasa train station on Friday. -DERVIS MEETS WITH ECEVIT AND YILMAZ After the two separate meetings which were held at the Prime Ministry, Dervis left for the Treasurty Undersecretariat in the afternoon to join the meetings of economy bureaucrats. (SC-AÖ) IZMIT (A.A) - Kandira Water Line Network which was damaged in the Marmara earthquake leaving 33 villages without water was reconstructed, it was reported on Monday. The 15-kilometer water line was reconstructed by by the 1 million 200,000 U.S. dollars provided by the Swiss Red Cross. Kandira head of province Saban Balci said that the old water network was providing water to 22,000 people and this number would increase to 34,000 with the new water line. SINOP (A.A) - Ayhan Demir who had been selling model Black Sea ships he makes to tourists for many years in Sinop recently started exporting them to Germany, the Netherlands, France and Britain. Demir's model ships are varying between 15 and 500 million TL. He said he works for one month for a big size ship model. Demir's ships are sold at supermarkets owned by Turks in the European countries. He said he is contributing to Turkey's promotion with his ship models with Turkish flags. ANKARA (A.A) - The painting exhibition of six women artists which is titled ''I'm not what I look like'' will open in Bonn on June 24. Tomur Atagok, Cenan Beykal, Inci Eviner, Gulsun Karamustafa, Nur Kocak and Suzy Hug-Levy reflect the multi-identity of the Turkish culture with their different styles. ANKARA (A.A) - The Culture Ministry and Tunisian Embassy in Ankara will organize a Tunisian Culture Week on March 13-21. Traditional women's outfits of Tunisia will be promoted at a fashion show at the National Library's conference hall on March 13. A conference on the social status of women in Tunisia will be held on the second day of the week. Films and documentaries are also included in the program. -SOURCES SAY TWO MISSING HADEP MEMBERS ARE KEPT AT PKK CAMP IN The PKK sent a letter to Serdar Tanis's father Suayip Tanis telling him that the two men were kept at a PKK camp. The letter asked Tanis' father to tell authorities that the two men were killed by Turkish officials. Security forces found out that a truck driver was distributing organizational documents in Northern Iraq. Habur Security Directorate's teams searched the truck and found a note signed by PKK Headquarters Committee addressed to Tanis' father. The note which was handwritten said Tanis and Deniz who have been missing since January 15 was in the PKK's hands. The note said the two men ''betrayed the organization and collaborated with the enemy.'' The 32-year old truck driver was taken into custody and his interrogation is continuing. ''Your son and his friend Bekir is with us. They are staying with us in Dolokoko. We're sending this note to you since your phone is tapped by the Turkish authorities. Serdar and Bekir will stay with us for a little more. Later, you'll be able to see them. What we want from you is to continue propaganda against the Turkish Republic. Tell people that these two men were killed by the Turkish republic and spread the news to masses,'' the PKK said in the note. -SOURCES SAY TWO MISSING HADEP MEMBERS ARE KEPT AT PKK CAMP IN The PKK sent a letter to Serdar Tanis's father Suayip Tanis telling him that the two men were kept at a PKK camp. The letter asked Tanis' father to tell authorities that the two men were killed by Turkish officials. Security forces found out that a truck driver was distributing organizational documents in Northern Iraq. Habur Security Directorate's teams searched the truck and found a note signed by PKK Headquarters Committee addressed to Tanis' father. The note which was handwritten said Tanis and Deniz who have been missing since January 15 was in the PKK's hands. The note said the two men ''betrayed the organization and collaborated with the enemy.'' The 32-year old truck driver was taken into custody and his interrogation is continuing. ''Your son and his friend Bekir is with us. They are staying with us in Dolokoko. We're sending this note to you since your phone is tapped by the Turkish authorities. Serdar and Bekir will stay with us for a little more. Later, you'll be able to see them. What we want from you is to continue propaganda against the Turkish Republic. Tell people that these two men were killed by the Turkish republic and spread the news to masses,'' the PKK said in the note. -TOURISM MINISTER MUMCU IN GERMANY Air transportation is very important in Turkish tourism due to Turkey's geographical location, Mumcu said and added that Turkish air fleet should be strengthened. ''Air transportation is a national policy matter,'' he contended. ''It is time to get used to big figures,'' he said and pointed out that Turkey would host about 50 million tourists in 2010. Mumcu also emphasized that his ministry would severely punish hotels which book one room for two people. -6,800 PEOPLE DIE IN JOB ACCIDENTS IN TURKEY IN LAST FIVE YEARS Between the years 1996-2000, 18,071 people suffered injuries which made them unable to work at any job. A total of 5,595 people developed diseases related to their jobs. The highest number of job accidents took place in 1997. A survey conducted by the Confederation of Labour Unions (Turk-Is) revealed that most job accidents took place at construction sites, mines, furniture, textile and leather factories. The accidents mostly occur in the early hours of Mondays. Carelessness is the biggest factor of job accidents. Workers are not given sufficient training and they don't wear or use the necessary equipments that would protect them against such accidents. Turkey tops the list of job accidents in Europe and it is among the first ten countries in the world. Turk-Is said the Labour and Social Security Ministry must be more active about workers' training and carry out regular inspections at business places and factories. -ECEVIT SAYS COALITION PARTNERS WORKING IN FULL HARMONY Ecevit exchanged holiday greetings with journalists on Monday. Ecevit said noone has yet been appointed to replace Chairman of Banking Supervision and Inspection Council, but added that a name will certainly be announced in the next few days. When asked to comment on Dervis, Ecevit said Dervis was avoiding to present himself as a ''messiah.'' ''Kemal Dervis knows very well that this is a team work and noone could bring a solution to such problems in the world.'' Ecevit indicated that Temizel's resignation was a surprise for the government as much as it was for the public. ''He has a wide experience in Turkish economy and financial matters. We'd have been happy to have him during this period, but I failed to make him change his opinion,'' he elaborated. When asked if Turkey was asked by the U.S. government to change its Iraqi policy in order to obtain financial aid from the IMF and the World Bank, Ecevit said these were two separate issues and the United States never attempted to view them together. The prime minister said the government was doing its best to maintain the political stability. ''We're working in full harmony as three coalition partners and I'm certainly not expecting to face any troubles in the government,'' he said. When asked if the retirees' and civil servants' wages would be increased after the foreign exchange rates were floated, Ecevit said Dervis was very much focusing on this matter.
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