Anadolu Agency: News in English, 01-09-11

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ANADOLU AGENCY

NEWS

11 AUGUST 2001 Tuesday

CONTENTS

[01] TURKEY-PRESS SCAN

[02] INTERIOR MINISTER YUCELEN DEPARTS FROM DAMASCUS

[03] STATE MINISTER DERVIS MEETS IMF TURKEY DESK CHIEF KAHKONEN

[04] FOREIGN MINISTRY UNDERSECRETARY LOGOGLU TO TAKE OVER TURKEY'S DIPLOMATIC MISSION IN THE U.S. FROM ILKIN

[05] INTERIOR MINISTER YUCELEN RETURNS FROM SYRIA (1)

[06] INTERIOR MINISTER YUCELEN RETURNS FROM SYRIA (2)

[07] IMF TURKEY DESK CHIEF KAHKONEN VISITS BAYAR

[08] IHD CHAIRMAN ONDUL CONDEMNS YESTERDAY'S SUICIDE ATTACK IN TAKSIM

[09] TURKEY AND POLAND MAKE COOPERATION IN CONSTRUCTION OF INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT AND ECONOMIC ZONE PROJECT

[10] TRANSPORTATION MINISTER SAYS MARMARAY PROJECT TO BE COMPLETED IN 4 YEARS

[11] LAMASSOURE REPORT ON TURKEY BEING DISSCUSSED BY EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

[12] YERMEZ, LEADING SUSPECT OF KILLING OF GARIH, ARRESTED

[01] TURKEY-PRESS SCAN

HURRIYET (LIBERAL)

''WE ARE FED UP WITH BRIBE''
Administrators of companies investing in Turkey announced that they are fed up with giving bribes to public officials by calling these bribes as ''present'' or ''donation.'' The report on administrative obstacles faced in investments was prepared by Foreign Investment Advisory Services (FIAS) and Treasury Undersecretariat. According to this report and according to administrators of foreign companies, the reason for bribe and corruption is the difficulties faced in bureaucracy. Corruption is the most serious obstacle in front of investments.

MILLIYET (LIBERAL)

LIVE BOMB: TWO DEAD, 20 INJURED
A suicide attack caused horror in Taksim district of Istanbul. A teenager from northern Bartin province who was a member of the illegal terrorist DHKP-C organization set off a bomb in front of a police station as the police asked him to stop. The suicide attacker killed two policemen while injured 20 others, including 13 policemen and one tourist. The suicide attacker had benefited from the law on conditional release and suspension of punishments.

SABAH (LIBERAL)

DHKP/C said they made the attack to protest F type prisons.

DERVIS: WE CAN NOT GIVE UP TIGHTENING BELTS
State Minister Kemal Dervis said it was not possible to give up strict finance policy, however noted that a few measures would be taken which will help real sector to recover.

Addressing the TOBB council meeting, Dervis said, ''if we give up those policies, then the interest rates will increase, and we will lose everything immediately.''

CUMHURIYET (LEFT)

The report said unoffical payments, including the donations and gifts, sometimes reached 25 percent of the amount of investment.

A total of 63 percent of entrepreneurs complained about corruption as deterring element to investments.

TURKEY'S SENSITIVITY TO MOROCCO ABOUT TECIMER
Rachid Aguassim, the First Secretary of Moroccan Embassy, was summoned to Foreign Ministry on Monday after Aysegul Tecimer was released by Moroccan authorities. Tecimer was wanted in Turkey for smuggling historical works of art.

Turkekul Kurttekin, the Director General of the Middle East Department, who talked to Aguassim, conveyed Turkey's sensitivity on the issue, and voiced the disappointment felt over the release of Tecimer.

RADIKAL (LEFT)

TUSIAD: ''THERE SHOULD BE FULL FREEDOM''
The Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association (TUSIAD) announced its proposals regarding freedom of thought and expression. The association which requested that the articles that consider thought as a crime be erased from the Constitution, brought three limitations to freedom: Violence foresight, incitement for crime and insult. TUSIAD asked for many legal changes, including Article 8 of the Anti-Terror Law, and articles 155, 159, 311 and 312 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK).

TURKIYE (RIGHT)

Chhibber said Turkish government with the economic program it implemented, revealed its long term intentions. He said the International Monetary Fund (IMF) played an important role in this respect.

Chhibber said one of the most important obstacle preventing foreign investment to come to Turkey was the macro-economic instability and administrative obstacles.

Chhibber pointed out that not only the government but also other institutions have responsibilities to attract foreign capital to Turkey.

ENERGY SUMMIT TO TAKE PLACE IN SEPTEMBER 27-28
Energy Congress will take place in Istanbul in Septemer 27-28.

Istanbul Fuarcilik Corp. issued a statement and said important names from Turkish republics will also attend the congress.

Azerbaijani Privatization Minister Farhad Aliyev, Georgian Energy Minister Davit Mirstskhulava, and Turkmen Deputy Prime Minister Amangeldi Atayev will attend the congress.

ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)

Cem underlined that European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP) was not a problem between Turkey and the EU, but a problem between NATO and the EU.

ARSEVEN: CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT PACKAGE CAN NOT BE NARROWED
State Minister Nejat Arseven said he did not have any concerns regarding passage of the 37-article constitutional amendment package from the Parliament. He also said the package could not be narrowed.

Arseven also said the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) did not have any contradicting statement to the issue as it was exaggerated in media.

[02] INTERIOR MINISTER YUCELEN DEPARTS FROM DAMASCUS

Yucelen had signed a cooperation agreement on security and an agreement for re-admission of illegal migrants and been received by Syrian Prime Minister Muhammed Muri.

As Yucelen was informed about the blast which occured in Istanbul, he cancelled his visit to Aleppo which had been scheduled for today.

[03] STATE MINISTER DERVIS MEETS IMF TURKEY DESK CHIEF KAHKONEN

No statement has been made following the meeting which lasted for nearly two hours in Treasury Undersecretariat.

It was reported that macro-economic targets in 2002 and estimations pertaining to the last quarter of the year were discussed.

Treasury Undersecretary Faik Oztrak, deputy undersecretaries of the Treasury, Central Bank Deputy Governor Sukru Binay, and officials from Finance Ministry and State Planning Organization (DPT) attended the meeting.

[04] FOREIGN MINISTRY UNDERSECRETARY LOGOGLU TO TAKE OVER TURKEY'S DIPLOMATIC MISSION IN THE U.S. FROM ILKIN

Logoglu, who was given agreement by the U.S. State Department, is expected to be in the U.S. on September 23. Ugur Ziyal, the Deputy Undersecretary, will be appointed as Foreign Ministry Undersecretary.

Baki Ilkin, Turkey's Ambassador in Washington, is expected to return to Turkey at the beginning of next week after attending farewell receptions this week. Ilkin is expected to be appointed as Foreign Ministry Deputy Undersecretary.

Ilkin has played an important role in improvement of Turkish-U.S. relations as Turkey's Ambassador in Washington since 1998.

Turkish-U.S. relations were for the first time began to be mentioned as ''strategical partnership,'' during the period of Bill Clinton, the former U.S. President. Harmonized cooperation developed between Mark Parris, the former U.S. Ambassador in Ankara, and Ilkin played an influential role in development of relations.

Ilkin is described as ''tolerant, good-willed, and harmonized,'' in diplomatic circles in Washington. Ilkin agreed with Livingston-Solomon- Solarz, a lobby company, and acted as pioneer in formation of an effective Turkish lobby in the U.S. Congress. With the contribution of the lobby company, the draft law regarded with so-called genocide on Armenians was dropped from the agenda.

During this period, Ilkin and the personnel of Turkey's Embassy in Washington D.C. exerted efforts to explain the importance that Turkey has for the U.S. to the U.S. administration and the Congress and these efforts were effective in preventing the adoption of a number of resolutions prepared by Greek Cypriot and Armenian lobbies.

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton paid one of his longest visits abroad to Turkey. During the administration of George Bush, who took over the presidency from Clinton, high-level contacts between the new administration and Turkey were held in the possible shortest time as a result of the efforts to express the importance that Turkey has for the U.S.

Within this framework, Donald Rumsfeld, the U.S. Secretary of Defense, paid his first official abroad tour to Turkey while Foreign Minister Ismail Cem was welcomed in Washington D.C. in the highest level.

Besides meeting U.S. State Secretary Colin Powell, Cem was received by Vice President Dick Cheney.

Bush gave the message that they were beside Turkey when Turkey faced economic crisis. The support of U.S. administration contributed to the release International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank loans to Turkey.

Turkey's exportation to the U.S. increased from 2.1 billion to 3 billion U.S. dollars between 1997 and 2000 while the trade volume between two countries reached almost 7 billion U.S. dollars.

Ambassador Baki Ilkin released a farewell message for the Turkish-American society in which he called on Turkish people who are living in the U.S. to continue their active lobby against activities to blacken Turkey.

Ilkin said, ''my wife and I consider ourselves as one of the honorary members of Turkish-American society.''

[05] INTERIOR MINISTER YUCELEN RETURNS FROM SYRIA (1)

Yucelen, who returned to Turkey from Syria earlier than his schedule because of the bomb attack in Taksim, responded to the questions of reporters at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport.

Pointing out that he felt great sorrow over the bomb attack in Taksim, Yucelen said, ''I express my condolences to our nation and the security forces.''

Stressing that no word could lessen the sorrows created with the act of violence, Yucelen said, ''I would like to make a last call to the families of those who launch illegal actions. The families should help us. Those who launch illegal actions should put an end to their actions. Our state is very big and strong. Our state is determined.''

Yucelen said, ''for the last time I am advising to those to put an end to death fasts and hunger strikes, and I call on the families of those to cooperate with us. Also, those who incite them and exploit them should know that the state would not tolerate those who work against the state. They should accept this as a last warning.''

(to be continued)

[06] INTERIOR MINISTER YUCELEN RETURNS FROM SYRIA (2)

''Our officer intervened when he saw the assailant before he entered the police station where there were 35 police officers,''said Yucelen who shortened his visit to Syria and returned to the country due to the bomb attack in Istanbul on Monday.

Responding to questions of journalists who asked what he meant by saying ''the last call to the families'', Yucelen said that ''we have been tolerant for three months. We thought that common sense would prevail, but if they don't understand what tolerance means, we will use our legal rights.''

Journalists asked if the government would intervene with the death fasts, Yucelen said that ''this is not our issue for the moment. We are in pain now. But everybody should know that if we need to intervene, we will intervene.''

When asked if the police received tips of ''suicide bomb attacks,'' Yucelen said that ''I would like to thank to our police one more time. Our intelligence units worked very well. We received such tips from time to time and possible attacks were prevented. The police are always ready for all sorts of threats...Unfortunately, the police fulfilled their duty, but two of them died.''

Upon a question asking if they will think of changing the place where the rapid force units were deployed, Yucelen said that ''there is no mistake in the place where they were deployed.''

''We can't search everybody in the street thinking that they are suicide bombers,'' Yucelen said.

''It seems now that the attack was staged by that person only, and he was not backed by anybody else. Our investigation continues. There is no mistake in the preliminary investigation,'' he said.

[07] IMF TURKEY DESK CHIEF KAHKONEN VISITS BAYAR

Responding to questions of the A.A correspondent following the meeting, Kahkonen said that his contacts with Turkish officials were continuing.

Recalling that he would attend a meeting in British capital London next week together with government officials, Kahkonen said that he would explain his views about Turkish economy at the meeting.

Kahkonen added that he did not plan to hold a press conference before departing from Turkey.

The meeting between Kahkonen and Bayar focused on developments in the privatization in the last eight months, and the privatization program for the year 2001.

[08] IHD CHAIRMAN ONDUL CONDEMNS YESTERDAY'S SUICIDE ATTACK IN TAKSIM

Releasing a written statement, Ondul condemned yesterday's suicide attack in Istanbul's Taksim Square in which two policemen were killed.

''The IHD rejects violence in every field of political works and life in principle,'' he said.

Stressing that democratic standards could be increased with democratic methods, Ondul said, ''we condemn any kinds of acts of violence against physical and psychological existence of human being. We defend right to live for everyone without any conditions.''

Noting that the mentality of September 12 had still been dominant in Turkey, Ondul added, ''despite many deficiencies, 37-article constitutional amendment package should be adopted by the parliament. The package will be encouraging for the reforms required by our society.''

[09] TURKEY AND POLAND MAKE COOPERATION IN CONSTRUCTION OF INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT AND ECONOMIC ZONE PROJECT

The project which will be undertaken in Biala Podlaska region by build- operate and transfer system is supported by the EU, the U.S. and NATO.

The project is aimed to be completed in 2004 and it is expected to cost nearly 4 billion dollars. An international airport, hospital, university, entertainment centre, sports building complex, thermic station, hotel and automobile rally (Formula 1) track will be built.

EPIT & KRWZ company's executive board president Vahap Toy informed the Turkish and Polish journalists about the project in the construction site of the firm in Biala Podlaska region, which is in eastern part of Poland.

Toy said that after the project, two more regional projects will be undertaken, and stressed that the projects will be successors of Biala Podlaska project.

Toy said, ''we have a financial source of more than 6 billion U.S. dollars. We will use 4 billion U.S. dollars of this source in the Biala Podlaska Project.''

Noting that the United States and Canada extended full support to them, Toy noted, ''other countries wanted to join our consortium. At first, no one relied on us. Now, a Turkish firm offered us to donate 3 million U.S. dollars to take part in the investment. We have never been involved in bribery, donation or corruption. We have only one principle, and it is to work honestly. We will construct the most prominent hospital of the world. We also work on a highway project between Warsaw and Biala Podlaska.''

Describing the region as the most important of give gates opening to Eastern Europe, Toy noted, ''we will prove Turkish construction sector's quality and high-technology to the world once again. We will employ 35 thousand people in the construction. The project will provide job opportunities to 40 thousand people after it is finalized. 23 Turkish firms have undertaken management of the project that is expected to cost 4 billion U.S. dollars. The project will make a contribution of 1 billion U.S. dollar to Turkish economy.''

Toy stated that the build-operate-transfer system period was 35 years,15 percent of the project would be opened to public in six months and the project would bring 1.6 billion U.S. dollars annually after its completion.

Biala Podlaska Mayor Andrzej Czapski said his office would do its best to support the project and that they were anxiously waiting for the Environment Ministry's decision regarding forests. ''We are at the junction point where railroads and highways join in East and West. Therefore, the project is important,'' he added.

Biala Headman Boguslaw Zadlo indicated that the project was a big opportunity for a region whose unemployment rate is increasing every day. EPIT & KRWZ's Executive Council Deputy Chairman Richard Grabaz remarked that the project would greatly contribute to Polish-Turkish relations.

Toy and the accompanying Turkish delegation visited the 600-year old Jasna Gora St. Paul Monastery in Czestochowa which has great significance for the Catholics.

[10] TRANSPORTATION MINISTER SAYS MARMARAY PROJECT TO BE COMPLETED IN 4 YEARS

Speaking at a meeting of Istanbul Council on Tuesday, Vural briefed listeners about the activities of his ministry.

Drawing attention to Istanbul's unique location and natural beauties, he said that they have to create a clean Istanbul and solve the transportation problem in the city. He indicated that cooperation with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) was necessary to achieve this goal.

Pointing to Istanbul's strategic location as a bridge between Europe and Asia, Vural said 205 out of the 872 international shipping companies and 66 out of the 134 international passenger transportation companies were based in the city.

Vural said that the Marmaray Project had strategical importance in the coordination of east-west transportation. ''President Ahmet Necdet Sezer is also closely following up on the project,'' he added.

Vural stated that turning the straits into oil pipelines would constitute a threat for Istanbul's economy, and he stated that Istanbul was important not only for ships carrying oil but for all commercial ships. He also emphasized that oil transportation through the straits would pose great risks for the inhabitants of Istanbul.

[11] LAMASSOURE REPORT ON TURKEY BEING DISSCUSSED BY EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

The report extended support to the efforts to make Turkey have a modern constitution.

The report which is a draft for the moment and which was discussed at the EP Foreign Relations Commission this morning drew attention to changes such as dismissal of military judges from State Security Courts, the adopted amnesty law and shortening of the custody period and called the steps taken in the human rights to be continued.

The report said that the coming months are very important as the political and economic reforms will show their influence in Turkey, and European Parliament has to determine an attitude regarding Turkey-EU relations till 2002 fall.

The report said that EP welcomed the national programme, adding that the programme hoped to be put into practice as scheduled. The political decision making mechanism should be in the hands of civilian officials who are elected in a democratic way and the parliament should have the capacity to monitor the activities of the national security council, it stressed.

Calling Turkey to abide by the Loizidou case decision of the European Court of Human Rights, the report said that it ''noted'' the decision ECHR took about the closed Welfare Party (RP). The report also called Turkish officials to impede the obstacles that stand in front of political activities within the scope of freedom of expression and pluralist democracy.

''We also take into consideration the constitutional amendment study related to the abolishment of the limits on usage of Kurdish language,'' the report said and noted that Turkey has to do the necessary regulations in line with the protection of national minorities and European Charter that is related to the regional and minority languages without disturbing the territorial integrity of Turkey. The report also stressed that all sorts of measures have to be taken in fight with corruption and bribery.

The report said it also welcomed the economic reforms undertaken to overcome the financial crisis, adding that it supports EU's extending finarcial aid to Turkey to support these reforms.

The report's part on Cyprus called on Turkish officials to extend support to the activities of the U.N. Secretary General and contribute to sides' starting proximity talks. The report said the dialogue started by Turkish and Greek officials to create a confidence building atmosphere was pleasing.

The report also called Turkey to extend constructive support to ESDI, and it also extended support to the process started by Turkish and Armenian scientists and former diplomats to improve friendship between the two countries.

The report which will be submitted to the EP's general council's session to be held on Oct. 25, will get its final form with the amendments to be proposed by the political groups in EP.

[12] YERMEZ, LEADING SUSPECT OF KILLING OF GARIH, ARRESTED

Yermez was sent to the military prison in Hasdal district.

Garih, the Chairman of ALARKO Holding Executive Board, was found dead in a cemetery in Eyup district of Istanbul on August 25. He had been stabbed 11 times.

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