Anadolu Agency: News in English, 01-04-21

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ANADOLU AGENCY

NEWS

21 APRİL 2001 Sunday

HURRIYET (LIBERAL)

Cavit Caglar, a former minister and businessman who was wanted in Turkey and who was captured in the U.S. will be extradited to Turkey. Caglar's request of being released on bail was rejected by the US. court once again. After that Caglar told the U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew Peck that he was not an ordinary person, and he wanted to return to Turkey. The court accepted this and decided to transfer the issue to the U.S. Justice Department for extradition proceedings. If these proceedings are not completed before April 30, the case will continue.

PRESIDENT SEZER CONCERNED ABOUT DEATH FASTS

President Ahmet Necdet Sezer warned both the government and the inmates who are on death fast in prisons. Sezer said that the necessary amendment in the law should be made as soon as possible and the inmates should give up death fast.

MILLIYET (LIBERAL)

The paper claimed that a secret organization was founded by Istanbul Security Director Abanoz upon the order of Interior Minister Saadettin Tantan. ''This organization gathers information about persons in Istanbul and even prosecutors don't have any information about it. The name of the organization is Office of Corruption with Bribery and Corruption,'' the paper alleged.

FORD FACTORY OPENED IN A GREAT CEREMONY

The Ford factory which was founded in Gebze was opened in a great ceremony on Friday. Jecques Nasser, the President of Ford Motor Company, said on Friday that they set up Kocaeli Automotive Factory by basing on their 70- year old friendship with Koc Holding, and noted that they had confidence in the Turkish market. Nasser stresed that this factory was the best example of lobbying for Turkey, adding this investment was a more important message than words to world finance circles.

SABAH (LIBERAL)

President of Ford Motor Company Jacques Nasser said that ''our investing in Turkey is a message to the international finance circles. We trust Turkey.'' A total of 4000 workers will work in the factory which was opened in Gebze on Friday and it will provide employment for 20,000 persons in by- industry sector. A total of 150,000 commerical vehicles will be produced annually and an exportation of one billion dollars will be made.

DEPUTIES WILL HAVE TO PAY THE DIFFERENCE FOR FIRST-CLASS THY TICKETS

The Turkish Airlines (THY) which is expected to be privatized, has started to take certain measures. THY has also achieved the right to determine the price of the tickets by the amendment made in the Law of Civilian Aviation. The first measure the THY will take is to end its advantageous practices for deputies, who will have to pay the difference for their first-class tickets from now on.

CUMHURIYET (LEFT)

President Ahmet Necdet Sezer said that everybody has to launch efforts to end death fasts and hunger strikes in prisons, but he also wanted the inmates who are on death gast to give an opportunity to the laws that will go into force.

ONLY CONDITION IS CYPRUS

The recent economic crisis in Turkey will also be taken up in the European Union (EU) Finance Ministers meeting which will start today in Malmo city of Sweden. The letter written by Premier Bulent Ecevit to the state and government leaders of G-7 countries asking for financial aid will come to the agenda of the meeting. Germany is warm about aiding Turkey, yet it puts forward political conditions particularly about Cyprus.

RADIKAL (LEFT)

When Ankara State Security Court (DGM) Prosecutor Talat Salk said that he finished writing the indictment related to the operation ''White Energy'' and the case will start to be heard on Tuesday, tension arose in DGM. DGM Chief Prosecutor Cevdet Volkan said that ''the indictment is very long, how can we approve it without examining it carefully? Maybe a suit will not be filed.'' The indictment also includes the name of Energy and Natural Resources Minister Cumhur Ersumer.

PRESIDENT SEZER CONCERNED ABOUT DEATH FASTS

Presidential Office Spokesman and Chief Press Consultant Metin Yalman said yesterday that President Ahmet Necdet Sezer is extremely concerned about prisoners' death fasts and hunger strikes. President Sezer wants prisoners to put an end to their actions.'' Referring to death fasts and hunger strikes in prisons, Yalman stressed in a press briefing that ''President Sezer stressed that the state was responsible for protection of security and health of prisoners. President Sezer noted that the state had to fulfil this responsibility in any occassion. At his meeting with Justice Minister Turk, President Sezer stressed that all legal changes should be made as soon as possible to put an end to death fasts and hunger strikes.'' Yalman told reporters tha ''President Sezer emphasized that the right to life was sacred. President Sezer noted that relatives of prisoners, non-governmental organizations and all citizens should expend efforts to put an end to death fasts and hunger strikes.''

TURKIYE (RIGHT)

The Turkish associations in the U.S. launch initiatives against the efforts of Armenians to make the world recognize April 24 as the so-called genocide day. Turkish-American associations started a campaign and sent faxes, e- mails and letters to U.S. President George W. Bush in order to prevent the U.S. administration to recognize the so-called genocide day.

ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)

When asked if there were threats to Justice Minister Hikmet Sami Turk in a press briefing he staged, he said, ''threats come to certain non- governmental organizations and authors, who want death fasts to be ended, through e-mails or by faxes. You may guess the position of justice minister, who directly deals with prisons.''

-CAVIT CAGLAR'S EXTRADITION PROCESS EXPECTED TO LAST ONE WEEK

WASHINGTON D.C. - The extradition process of former minister and businessman Cavit Caglar to Turkey is expected to last nearly one week.

Sources said on Friday that the official decision of the U.S. court in Manhattan, New York regarding Cavit Caglar's extradition to Turkey will be conveyed to the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington D.C. on Monday.

Following that, the U.S. Department of Justice will inform the Turkish Embassy about extradition. The Turkish Embasy will convey this information to the Justice Ministry in Ankara.

The Turkish security units will be charged for bringing Cavit Caglar from New York to Turkey by the Justice Ministry's taking the necessary measures.

Sources said that as Caglar demanded his extradition to Turkey himself, the U.S. doesn't want Turkey to send extradition documents and this will shorten the extradition process.

-U.S. ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE WALKER LEAVES TURKEY

ANKARA - Edward Walker, the assistant U.S.

secretary of state for the Near East, who came to Ankara to hold contacts about Iraq and the developments in the region, left Turkey on Saturday.

Walker had met with Ugur Ziyal, the Foreign Ministry Deputy Undersecretary and exchanged views with him about Iraq and the developments in the region.

The U.S. which searches for a new policy in Iraq after U.S. President George Bush came to power, tries to tighten the sanctions on Iraqi administration headed by Saddam Hussein and at the same time it tries to find ways to meet the losses of neighbouring countries like Turkey which suffer from the embargo.

-IMF SPOKESMAN HAWLEY SAYS IMF WELCOMES TURKEY'S SPEEDING UP

ITS EFFORTS FOR UNDERTAKING ECONOMIC REFORMS

WASHINGTON D.C. - International Monetary Fund (IMF) has welcomed Turkey's speeding up its efforts for undertaking economic reforms.

IMF Spokesman David Hawley told A.A on Saturday that IMF welcomed the progress recorded by Turkish officials in the implementation of the economic programme.

It is not certain yet when the negotiations between the IMF delegation which is currently in Ankara and the Turkish government on the new letter of intent will end.

Financial circles in Washington D.C. said that the amount of the foreign source that will be transferred for the new economic programme will become clear after an agreement is reached on the letter of intent. The same sources said that Turkey has been already continuing its contacts with the U.S., industrialized countries group G-7, European Union (EU), IMF and the World Bank on the issue.

The new economic programme of Turkey is expected to be approved by the IMF Executive Directors Board after 2-3 weeks following the IMF delegation's return to Washington D.C.

The spring term meetings of IMF and World Bank are not directly linked with the case of Turkey which is expected to be taken up as a secondary issue at the meetings.

-TURKISH SPEAKING COUNTRIES SUMMIT TO BE HELD IN ISTANBUL

ANKARA - The seventh Turkish speaking countries summit will be held in Istanbul between 26-27 April in which presidents of Turkey, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan will participate.

The previous summit was held in Baku last year.

Turkey's political and economic relations with the Central Asian Republics which have historical, cultural and language ties with Turkey, started in 1991 by the dissolution of the Soviet Republic.

The first summit which aimed at developing and speeding up the relations between the Turkish Republics and Turkey, was held in Ankara between 30-31 October, 1992.

The ex-president Turgut Ozal, the then President of Azerbaijan Ebulfez Elcibey, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kyrgyz President Askar Akayeav, Uzbek President Islam Kerimov and Turkmen President Saparmurad Niyazov attended this first summit. The summit which started with great hopes was limited with certain decisions signed among culture ministries.

The second summit of Turkish Speaking Countries was held in Istanbul (1994), the third one in Bishkek (1995), fourth one in Tashkent (1996), fifth one in Astana (1998) and the sixth one was held in Baku in 2000.

The issues taken up in the summits were announced by declarations. Declarations mainly expressed pleasure over the transportation of oil and natural gas from regional countries to world markets, and they stressed the importance of strenthening of relations, commercial and economic cooperation, joint struggle against terrorism and drug trafficking, regional problems and the importance of the U.N. and OSCE principles.

-69 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS CAPTURED IN IZMIR

IZMIR - A total of 69 immigrants, who wanted to go abroad through illegal ways were captured on Saturday in western Izmir province.

Acting on a tip-off, gendarme searched three mini-buses in Isıkkent region of Izmir-Aydın highway and captured 20 Pakistanis, 12 Afghans, 14 Palestinians, 10 Indians, 9 Bangladeshis and four Iraqis in the mini-buses.

The suspects confessed that they came to Izmir to escape abroad. The drivers of the mini-buses were taken into custody.

-GREEK SHIP BRINGS 427 TOURISTS TO CANAKKALE

CANAKKALE - The Greek-flagged ship ''Ocean Majesty'' brought 427 tourists to western Canakkale province on Saturday.

The tourists whose majority are British and American came to Canakkale by the Greek ship from Piraievs port of Greece.

The ship will leave Canakkale in the evening.

-BUSINESS FAIR HELD FOR TURKISH STUDENTS IN U.S.

NEW YORK - Turkish-American Business Forum and Interuniversities Turkish Student Society (ITSS) jointly held the third business fair in Turkish House in New York on Saturday.

More than 300 university students or new graduates participated in the business fair and met with the representatives of firms which look for new staff. Many Turkish students find jobs in Turkish and foreign companies in the U.S. by these business fairs held once a year.

Statistics say that there are nearly 15,000 Turkish students studying in the U.S. universities. A significant number of these students find jobs and stay in the U.S. after finishing their degrees.

Many leading finance, insurance, textile, air transportation and technology firms like Metlife, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, Deloitte&Touch, Blue Speed, Kiska Construction, THY, Mavi Amerika Sportswear, Morgan Stanley, SelectMinds attended the business fair.

A recent survey showed that Turkish students contribute to the American economy by 836 million dollars annually.

-GREEK FM'S MOTHER MARGRETA PAPANDREOU COMES TO ISTANBUL

ISTANBUL - Margreta Papandreou, the mother of Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou arrived in Istanbul on Saturday to participate in the meetings of ''Winpeace'' which was founded by women members of non-governmental organizations in Turkey and Greece.

Margreta Papandreu and the accompanying delegation were welcomed by Zepnep Oral, the Co-Chairperson of Winpeace at the airport.

Speaking at the airport, Papandreou said that she was very happy to be in Turkey. Noting that it will be women who will make the peace, Papandreou said that ''we must work hard also to protect the peace after it is installed.''

Noting that there is a close relation between militarism and gender, Papandreou said that they are trying to overcome the discrimination between genders.

She said that the debate on disarmament is very important, adding that she was pleased by the developments about disarmament between the two countries. ''We must urge the two countries for continuation of positive relations. Turkey and Greece should be examples of peace in the region,'' she said.

Zeynep Oral said in her part that the aim of the Turkey-Greece women peace initiative is to develop peace culture, adding that they will take up the issue of disarmament which recently came to the agenda of the two countries in the meetings which will last for two days in Istanbul.

''We aim at disarmament and transferring the income to be gained by this disarmament to fields like health and education,'' she stressed.

-GAP REGION EXPORTS PRODUCTS WORTH OF 7.1 MILLION DOLLARS

TO TURKISH REPUBLICS IN JANUARY-MARCH 2001

GAZIANTEP - Agricultural and industrial products worth of 7,1 million dollars were exported from Southeast Anatolian Project (GAP) region to Turkish Republics with a decrease of 26,2 percent in the first three months of 2001.

The exports from GAP region to the Turkish Republics covering the same period last year was 9,7 million dollars.

GAP region exported 22,000 dollars of dry fruit, 1,5 million dollars of cereals and seeds and 5,6 million dollars of textile goods to Turkish Republics in January-March 2001.

GAP exported most of its products to Uzbekistan by 2,8 million dollars.

-INTERIOR MINISTER TANTAN DENIES CLAIMS SAYING THAT HE WILL RESIGN

AND THERE IS A QUARREL BETWEEN ANAP LEADER AND HIMSELF

ISTANBUL - Interior Minister Saadettin Tantan denied on

Saturday the claims saying that ''there is a quarrel between Deputy Premier Mesut Yılmaz, the leader of the Motherland Party (ANAP) and himself and he would resign.''

''These are out of question,'' Tantan said in his speech at ANAP Fatih Congress meeting. ''Such claims are always put forward,'' said Tantan stressing that no power can intimidate him in his struggle.

Tantan added that he is doing his mission on behalf of the nation.

-STATE MINISTER MIRZAOGLU SAYS HE BELIEVES MARITIME MINISTRY

TO BE FOUNDED THIS YEAR

ISTANBUL - State Minister Ramazan Mirzaoglu, who is in charge of maritime, said on Saturday that he believed the Maritime Ministry would be founded this year.

''The number of ministries won't increase by the foundation of the Maritime Ministry and there won't be an extra staff burden on the state,'' Mirzaoglu said.

Mizaoglu attended the ceremony held upon the launching of the ''M/T LIEKE THERESA'' chemical tanker, which was built by RMK Marine Shipg Building Industry and Naval Transportation Inc. of Koc Holding for the Dutch ''Unifleet BV'' and ''Heuvelman Shipping And Trading BV'' firms, into the sea at Tuzla RMK Shipyard.

Speaking in the ceremony, Mirzaoglu said that states and organs concerned in maritime want to see one counterpart in maritime which is Prime Ministry Maritime Undersecretariat in Turkey.

''However the Maritime Undersecretariat is not the sole authority in real meaning of the term. The authorities and responsibilities in maritime have been shared by 10 ministries and nearly 30 public institutions. There are 57 laws, two decrees having the force of law, 29 regulations, 41 statutes and 128 decrees about maritime. Turkey needs a faster, more effective and productive structure which will end the disorder in Turkish maritime administration. We have resulted our studies on the foundation of the Maritime Ministry and the bill will be submitted to the council of ministers soon. The existing State Ministry responsible for maritime will be the Maritime Ministry,'' he said.

-MACEDONIAN CULTURE MINISTRY COMES TO KUSADASI

KUSADASI - Ganka Samoilova-Cvetanova, the Macedonian Culture Minister arrived in Kusadası town of western Izmir province on Saturday to participate in the celebrations to be held upon April 23, National Sovereignty and International Children's Day as the guest of Kusadası municipality.

Cvetanova and the accompanying delegation visited Kusadası mayor Fuat Akdogan. Akdogan said that Kusadası is sister city of Gorce Petrov city of Macedonia. ''We want further improvement of the bilateral relations also in the fields of culture, trade and tourism,'' he said.

Macedonian Culture Minister Cvetanova said that Macedonia and Turkey are very similar to each other in respect of history, culture, traditions and customs. ''I fell very comfortable in Turkey,'' Cvetanova said.

The guest minister will visit the historical and touristic places of Kusadası during their stay which will continue for three days.

The Macedonian Minister is also expected to meet with Culture Minister Istemihan Talay who will come to Kusadası.

-STATE MINISTER MIRZAOGLU SAYS REPAYMENT OF LOANS

BY MARITIME SECTOR HAS BEEN EASED

ISTANBUL - Ramazan Mirzaoglu, the State Minister who is in charge of maritime affairs said on Saturday that the repayment of the loans used by maritime sector has been eased due to the economic crisis.

''A significant amount of credit nearly 50 million dollars has been provided from the Fund of Encouraging Investments to the sector to develop ship building industry,'' Mirzaglu said in the ceremony held upon the launching of the ''M/T LIEKE THERESA'' chemical tanker at Tuzla shipyard.

Noting that ship building industry is an industry field which can be used by developing countries a tool of development, Mirzaoglu said that the sector creates a significant amount of employment.

Referring to the ship traffic in the Stratis, Mirzaoglu said that

it is not only Turkey's, but the whole world's responsibility to protect Straits. Mirzaoglu said that the ship traffic in the Straits increases every day adding that annually 50,000 ships pass through the Straits.

Mirzaoglu pointed out that the amount of oil and oil products transported through the Istanbul Strait last year reached 91 million tons. He stressed that two traffic control centres and 13 traffic observation stations will be built in Istanbul and Canakkale Straits. ''The aim of the project is to bring technological safety to the straits rather than decreasing the number of ships that pass through the Turkish straits,'' he said.

-INTERROGATION OF MEHMET FIDANCI, HEZBOLLAH HITMAN CONTINUES

DIYARBAKIR - The interrogation of Mehmet Fidancı, who was captured for being involved in the assasination of Diyarbakır Security Director Gaffar Okkan and five policemen, continues on Saturday.

Fidancı, who was captured in an operation in Diyarbakır, is being questioned at Diyarbakır Anti-Terrorism department. Fidancı will be transferred to Diyarbakır State Security Court (DGM) on Monday.

Fidancı had confessed to the police that he was involved in the killing of Okkan and five policemen.

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