Anadolu Agency: News in English, 01-06-16

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From: The Anadolu Agency Home Page at <http://www.anadoluajansi.com.tr/>

ANADOLU AGENCY

NEWS

16 JUNE 2001 Sunday

-TURKEY-PRESS SCAN

These are some of the major headlines and their brief stories in Turkey's press on June 16, 2001. The Anadolu Agency does not verify these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

HURRIYET (LIBERAL)

German President Rau told the paper that Turks contributed a lot to the development of prosperity in Germany. ''We have mosques in Germany. I am in favour of Islamic religious courses, but this is difficult in Germany. These courses should be taught in German. We can't accept fundamentalist Koran courses,'' he said.

THREE BANKS TO BE MERGED

Banking Regulatory and Inspectory Board decided to merger three banks which were earlier transferred to the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund. Interbank and Esbank will merge into Etibank on June 2, 2001. Meanwhile the Board also decided to annul Turk Ticaret Bankasi's permit to carry out banking services as of July 1, 2001.

MILLIYET (LIBERAL)

Banks requested to get 10 billion dollars for the debt swap auction worth of three billion U.S. dollars. Turkey carried out a debt swap yesterday in a bid to ease the Treasury's tough debt repayment schedule and help banks repay foreign exchange loans made more expensive by a 40 percent devaluation of the lira. The swap allows banks to exchange their short-term government debt, denominated in lira, for longer-term bonds linked to foreign exchange. Offers closed Friday afternoon, and the Treasury said it would announce the results Sunday. The move is designed to help the Treasury as it grapples with domestic debt repayments of some dlrs 50 billion due before the end of this year. By extending the term of its debt, the Treasury hopes to ease its repayment schedule.

SABAH (LIBERAL)

Turkbank couldn't escape from being shut down after the economic crisis although one billion U.S. dollars was transferred to the bank from the fund. Customers who have savings in this bank will be paid their money from Turkbank branches. The Banking Supervision and Inspection Council (BDDK) banned the bank from accepting savings as of July 1. The BDDK underlined that customers will get their fully savings.

PROJECT AIMS TO TURN ISTANBUL TO PARIS

Tourims Minister prepared a project called ''three Istanbuls.'' According the the project Beyoglu-Galata, Eminonu and Kilyos will be restructured within five years. Everything will be done by build-operate-transfer method and the state will not spend anything. If the project is implemented, the city will be a tourism city just like London and Paris and the number of tourists visiting the city is expected to be 20 million.

CUMHURIYET (LEFT)

University exams will be held on Sunday. A total of 1,474,288 students will enter the university exams tomorrow. The students prepared for the exam for the last one year. Students with pictures having head scarf on them, were not permitted to enter the exam.

ECHR SENTENCES TURKEY TO PAY FINE TO PEOPLE IN LICE

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) sentenced Turkey to pay a fine worth of 2,5 million sterlings (4 trillion 160 billion TL) to people living in Lice who suffered from the incidents that took place in the town in 1993. Turkey has to pay the compensation to its citizens till 22 June as the sides didn't object to the decision of the Court.

RADIKAL (LEFT)

Turkey chose ''friendly settlement'' of the dispute before the European Court of Human Rights in order not to be found guilty by the Court. Turkey will pay a fine of 4,1 trillion liras to its citizens in Lice township of southeastern Diyarbakır province.

FP CASE TO BE A SAMPLE CASE

The decision of the Constitutional Court about the Virtue Party (FP) will constitute a sample case for the others in the future. The problem of evidence gathered through illegal ways will be solved by the case and the limits of the political parties to get organized will be drawn. The Court Chairman Mustafa Bumin said that they want to conclude the case before July 15.

TURKIYE (RIGHT)

During a visit to Izmir, President Ahmet Necdet Sezer said that Turkey had always wanted to be in a dialogue with Greece and he added that Turkey and Greece could solve their problems only by talking. ''The developing friendship between our people helps us to improve relations. We should make use of the improving relations and turn it to solid steps,'' Sezer said.

CASE AGAINST FP TO CONTINUE NEXT WEEK

The Constitutional Court delegation continued its investigations regarding the Virtue Party (FP). The trial will continue next Tuesday. Constitutional Court Chairman Mustafa Bumin said that there were too many evidence regarding the case and all of them were being assessed one by one. The court is trying to decide if these could be regarded as evidence showing that the FP became a center for anti-secular activities. Bumin said the case will be finalized next week.

ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)

International Labor Organization (ILO) Application Committee decided that the government's Job Security Bill was in line with ILO Agreement 158. Turkish Conferderation of Labour Unions (Turk-Is) representatives who spoke at the meeting said that they supported the bill although there were certain shortcomings. Labor Minister Yasar Okuyan said Turkey for the first time was praised by the committee.

OECD SUPPORTS DERVIS'S RPROGRAM

OECD Secretary General Donals JOhnston has said that the IMF and OECD fully supportes the economic program led by State Minister in charge of Economy Kemal Dervis. At a briefing held at OECD Istanbul Development of Private Sector Center, Johnston said the OECD had meetings only four times outside Paris in its history. He said the reason they are organizing the briefing in Istanbul is the fact that the Turkish government was supporting their unit which aims to develop private sector in Turkey.

CONTENTS

[01] FOREIGN LANGUAGE SPEAKING GENDARMERIE TEMAS PATROLLING ANTALYA COAST TO MAINTAIN SECURITY FOR TOURISTS

[02] WATERFALLS IN MENEMEN TO OPEN TO TOURISM

[03] BRANCHES OF BANKS IN SAVINGS DEPOSIT INSURANCE FUND DECREASED BY 24,8 PERCENT

[04] ANKARA GOVERNOR GUR SAYS CAMPAIGN STARTED TO SUPPORT NATIONAL EDUCATION HAS TO REACH SUCCESS

[05] ''NO BARRIER VISITATION'' PERMITTED IN PRISONS

[06] 20,000 TOURISTS TO COME TO KUSADASI IN TWO DAYS

[07] 7,000 BULGARIAN CITIZENS OF TURKISH ORIGIN WILL CAST THEIR VOTES IN TURKEY TOMORROW

[08] RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR TO TURKEY LEBEDEV SPEAKS TO TRT: ''PUTIN CAN COME TO TURKEY WHEN BLUE STREAM STARTS TO OPERATE''

[09] YUCELEN:''THE INTERIOR MINISTRY WILL MOTIVATE UNITS THAT FIGHT AGAISNT CORRUPTION''

[10] ECEVIT:''EU FOUND TURKEY'S PROGRESS IN GENERAL AS SATISFACTORY''

[11] GENERAL STAFF:''THERE WON'T BE ANY TESTING OF ISRAELI OR U.S. WEAPONS IN MANEOUVRE IN KONYA''

[12] EU SUMMIT -PRIME MINISTER ECEVIT MEETS WITH LITHUANIAN PRIME MINISTER PAKSAS

[01] FOREIGN LANGUAGE SPEAKING GENDARMERIE TEMAS PATROLLING ANTALYA COAST TO MAINTAIN SECURITY FOR TOURISTS

Dokuzoglu told the A.A that security was the most important thing for a tourist everywhere in the world.

Dokuzoglu also said that certain improvements were being made in Konyaalti and Kaleici areas to draw more tourists to these places. His office also applied to the Culture Ministry and asked for support to expand the Antalya Museum.

[02] WATERFALLS IN MENEMEN TO OPEN TO TOURISM

Menemen head official Sahin Tutuncu stated that the waterfalls on Ibrim stream was an extremely beautiful sight but it was not known since there ws no road leading there. He said his office would build a road by using the machinery of the Rural Affairs Regional Directorate. He said he collected the necessary money necessary for the road's construction.

''Turgutlar village has an unspoiled beautiful nature. Ibrim Stream is not polluted. There are all kinds of reptiles, frogs, fish, crabs, mammles and wild animals. There are also many bird species in Dumanli Mountains,'' he explained. Tutuncu also indicated that they would set up tents in the area for tourists. He underlined that preserving the nature and keeping it unspoiled was very important for them.

[03] BRANCHES OF BANKS IN SAVINGS DEPOSIT INSURANCE FUND DECREASED BY 24,8 PERCENT

A report prepared by the Banking Regulatory and Inspectory Board said that the number of banks' branches in the Fund were decreased by 24,8 percent from 1,243 to 935 as of May 7, 2001.

The number of personnel was decreased by 32,6 percent from 26,585 to 17,922 in the same peroid.

The management and personnel costs of these banks were also decreased. The personnel costs decreased by 50,8 percent and management costs decreased by 66,9 percent as of April 2001 compared to the previous month.

The number of branches and personnel of the banks in the Fund are as follows:

. No. of Branch No. of Personnel

----------- ------------- --------------------
Bank As of Transfer date On May 7 As of Transfer date On May 7

----- ------------------ -------- ---------------- ---------
Bank Express 25 26 721 618

Demirbank 198 202 4,241 3,896

Esbank 94 77 2,363 1,764

Etibank 151 151 2,076 1,972

Iktisat Bank. 62 62 1,305 1,257

Interbank 38 41 1,732 1,282

Sumerbank (x) 401 138 9,357 3,953

Turkbank 274 238 4,790 3,180

------------ -------- ---------- ---------- ---------
Total 1,243 935 26,585 17,922

------------- -------- ---------- ---------- ---------
(x) Egebank, Bank Kapital, Yurtbank, Yasarbank and Ulusal Bank

were merged into Sumerbank.

[04] ANKARA GOVERNOR GUR SAYS CAMPAIGN STARTED TO SUPPORT NATIONAL EDUCATION HAS TO REACH SUCCESS

The Executive Board members of 25 institutions and representatives of non- governmental organizations participated in the meeting chaired by Ankara Governor Yahya Gur on Saturday.

Issuing a written statement about the campaign, Gur said that the aim of the campaign is to teach reading and writing to illiterate women and men who are older than 14 years in 60-day courses.

Gur said that these citizens can also participate in a second course for 180 days in order to make them graduates of elementary school.

Gur noted that they also target at finding jobs for these people, adding that Ankara Governor's Office Environment Foundation gave 70 billion liras to support the campaign.

The courses are planned to start on September 8, 2001.

[05] ''NO BARRIER VISITATION'' PERMITTED IN PRISONS

Justice Ministry said in a written statement on Saturday that the second and third paragraphs of Article 16 of Anti-Terrorism Law No. 3713 were amended and circulars were sent to prosecutors on June 15, 2001. According to the circular, prisoners will meet with their spouses and children between the ages of 0-10 unless they don't have severe disciplinary punishments.

[06] 20,000 TOURISTS TO COME TO KUSADASI IN TWO DAYS

Kusadasi Port Directorate stated that among the 14 ships, there are the world's biggest transatlantics such as Golden Princess, Costa Atlantica and Millenium Splender of the Seas. The tourists will visit Ephesus, the House of Virgin Mary, Didim and Priene besides other places.

This year, 1,900 ships are expected to visit Kusadasi Port bringing 550,000 tourists.

[07] 7,000 BULGARIAN CITIZENS OF TURKISH ORIGIN WILL CAST THEIR VOTES IN TURKEY TOMORROW

There will be two ballot boxes in Edirne and four in Tekirdag's Corlu township. About 7,000 people in Thrace will cast their votes tomorrow. A total of 52 Bulgarian political parties are participating in the elections.

Officials said that there was a four percent threshold in Bulgaria and that the votes that will be used in Turkey would affect the election results.

[08] RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR TO TURKEY LEBEDEV SPEAKS TO TRT: ''PUTIN CAN COME TO TURKEY WHEN BLUE STREAM STARTS TO OPERATE''

Lebedev participated in a tv programme in the state-run tv channel TRT-2 the same day and said that ''As Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov told me, President Putin will come to Turkey in the first half of next year. This can be anytime from January to June, but I can say that he will possibly visit Turkey when the Blue Stream starts to operate.''

Lebedev said that generally the project is going fine, adding that according to the information he got from the experts, the project will be completed in April next year.

Lebedev said that Russia does not need formation of a Kurdish state in Northern Iraq, adding that ''I don't personally believe that the Kurds living in northern Iraq want to set up a state. They want autonomy. It is their right to want that, but we must respect the territorial integrity of that country.''

Referring to the Cyprus issue, Lebedev commented that ''the island was divided by a military operation and the then administration in Athens knew the development to this operation stage. The thing that matters is to find the practical method of solving the Cyprus issue now.''

Lebedev said that he does not regard any problem between Turkey and Russia, adding that the two countries contribute to the solution of problems and regional peace in line with their interests.

Lebedev added that the Armenian claims of genocide have to be left to historians.

[09] YUCELEN:''THE INTERIOR MINISTRY WILL MOTIVATE UNITS THAT FIGHT AGAISNT CORRUPTION''

Yucelen introduced himself to the members of press at a breakfast meeting and told them that they would not meet any difficulties while following up the news of his ministry.

''I cannot personally participate in the activities of the units which fight corruption but my job would be to remove the obstacles they face in their efforts. My job is to maintain coordination and offer them a good working environment,'' Yucelen said.

He indicated that he would meet weekly meetings with the top officials of gendarmerie, security and coast guard units. He asked the reporters to contact him directly regarding the news about himself and call the Press Undersecretariat for news about the ministry's activities.

Responding to questions of journalists, Yucelen said that favouritism was not in question in his ministry, adding that ''persons will be appointed to the positions which need personnel.''

Noting that fight with corruption and gangs would continue, Yucelen said that the personnel working in these units would be encouraged.

Yucelen said that he won't personnaly take part in the operations, adding that he is not the director of such operations.

Yucelen added that he would do his best to improve the personnel rights of the security organization.

[10] ECEVIT:''EU FOUND TURKEY'S PROGRESS IN GENERAL AS SATISFACTORY''

''The EU has welcomed Turkey's National Program for the adoption of the acquis. The EU calls for Turkey to implement the priorities of the accession partnership. In this framework, the need for further progress in some areas, including human rights is mentioned. The importance of hte economic program being implemented by the government is also stressed,'' he said.

Ecevit said that the Turkish Parliament and the government were engaged in an intensive effort to make the necessary constitutional changes, in accordance with the national program for furthering democracy. ''In this respect I envisage to act expeditiously and get together with the leaders of the coalition next week in order to assess the proposals of the Turkish Parliament's inter-party intermeidary commission regarding the amendsments to the constitution,'' he said.

''In short, the European Council has demonstrated that the efforts for Turkey's process towards full membership will continue unabated. This is a welcome development. The steps taken by our government since the Helsinki European Council has shown that it has given an impetus to our process for full membership. Rapid steps that will be taken in this process will help us reach our goal and will enable us to achieve our objectives within the enlargement process. On the other hand, the consultations concerning regional issues regarding Europe's future and peace and stability at the Goteborg European Council, has once again shown the scale of the existing cooperation between Turkey and the EU.''

[11] GENERAL STAFF:''THERE WON'T BE ANY TESTING OF ISRAELI OR U.S. WEAPONS IN MANEOUVRE IN KONYA''

The written statement released from the General Staff said that recently certain newspapers covered stories which worried the people living in the area.

For many years, Air Forces' pilots are trained in this region and long missile arms systems of Land Forces are tested in Konya, it was said. ''The air maneouvre which will take place in Konya is a standard joint training exercise. None of the things that were claimed in similar news stories in the past took place in these exercises so far. There will be no testing of the weapons newly developed by Israel and the United States, or bombs containing uranium or low flights at 100 meters hight. These people are creating worries among the public by the lies they make up. The Turkish Air Forces deveted itself to its nation and it would never do anything that would hurt the Turkish land or people. People in the area should comfortably continue living their daily lives and this would constitute the best answer to these circles.''

[12] EU SUMMIT -PRIME MINISTER ECEVIT MEETS WITH LITHUANIAN PRIME MINISTER PAKSAS

Memberships of Lithuania to the NATO and EU were taken up in the meeting.

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