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

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ANADOLU AGENCY

NEWS

11 NOVEMBER

2001 Sunday

CONTENTS

[01] TURKEY-PRESS SCAN

[02] TURKEY PLANS TO BRING EU AND OIC COUNTRIES TOGETHER IN ISTANBUL

[03] 1 MILLION 852,000 GERMAN TOURISTS VISIT ANTALYA THIS YEAR

[04] TURKEY DONATES 533 MILLION U.S. DOLLARS TO DEVELOPING COUNTRIES BETWEEN 1997 AND 2000

[05] GREAT LEADER ATATURK COMMEMORATED IN NEW YORK

[06] ECEVIT:''WE AREN'T SAYING THAT TURKEY MUST BE OFFERED FINANCIAL AID FOR SENDING SOLDIERS TO AFGHANISTAN''

[07] PRIME MINISTER ECEVIT RESPONDS TO QUESTIONS IN BBC 1: ''TALIBAN CONSTITUTES THREAT FOR CENTRAL ASIA, CAUCASUS AND EVEN FOR TURKEY''

[08] OECD SAYS NUMBER OF CIVIL SERVANTS IN TURKEY IS NOT TOO HIGH

[09] WORLD BANK UPGRADES TURKEY'S CATEGORY FROM MIDDLE INCOME TO UPPER MIDDLE INCOME LEVEL

[10] TOURISM MINISTER TASAR GOES TO BRITAIN TO ATTEND FAIR

[11] SHEVARDNADZE SAYS TURKEY IS GEORGIAN'S MOST IMPORTANT PARTNER

[12] FOREIGN MINISTRY'S AFGHANISTAN COORDINATOR ERMAN SAYS TURKEY EXTENDED HUMANITARIAN AID TO 5,000 PERSONS IN NORTHERN AFGHANISTAN

[01] TURKEY-PRESS SCAN

HURRIYET (LIBERAL)

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES CALL ON BUSH TO FINACIALLY HELP TURKEY
U.S. House of Representatives sent a letter to President George W. Bush and asked him to offer financial support to Turkey. The letter which was penned by 36 representatives, said that Turkey, during hard times, always proved its friendship to the United States. A number of important members such as Dan Burton, Tom Lantos and Dou Bereuter were among those who signed the letter.

MILLIYET (LIBERAL)

TURKEY'S NATIONAL PROGRAM FAILS
EU Commission, in a text of 41 pages, compared Turkey's National Program with the Accession Partnership Document. Unfortunately, the commission later announced that the two documents do not overlap. Out of 31 fields that were compared, the EU Commission said Turkey accomplished full adjustment only in six fields. The Commission criticized the National Program for having freedom of expression among its medium term goals.

SABAH (LIBERAL)

MINISTRY TAKES PICTURES OF OCALAN
Turkey was uneasy when the pictures of Abdullah Ocalan, the head terrorist were published in the press organs of the terrorist organization PKK in Germany. It has been found that the Justice Ministry took the pictures of Ocalan in order to send them to a case pending before the European Court of Human Rights. Justice Minister Turk said that the lawyers of Ocalan gave the pictures to the PKK newspaper.

CUMHURIYET (LEFT)

GERMANY IS BASE OF ISLAMIST FUNDAMENTALISM
Intelligence units warned that Islamist organizations are using Germany as a base. It was reported that these orgaizations were planning their activities in Turkey from Germany. These groups are benefiting from the vacuums in German laws and democratic environment in this country. There are a total of 124 big and small Islamic organizations in Germany.

RADIKAL (LEFT)

EU PRAISES GREEK CYPRIOTS
The Progress Report prepared by the EU for the Greek Cypriot Administration is full of praises. The Greek Cypriots, who fully fulfilled Copenhagen criteria, looks like the most likely country to join the EU. The EU is preparing progress reports for 13 countries including Turkey.

TURKIYE (RIGHT)

CALL FOR AID TO TURKEY
A total of 36 members of the U.S. House of Representatives sent a letter to U.S. President George W. Bush and asked him to give economic aid to Turkey which extends full support to the U.S. in the fight against terrorism. The 36 members of the House of the Representatives said in the letter that Turkey is a traditional ally of the U.S. and it suffered a lot from terrorism. The letter noted that if the U.S. can extend economic support to Turkey in the form of trade facilities or aid by international organizations, this will give both material and spiritual courage to Turkey. An ally country such as Turkey which has always extended support to the U.S. deserves such an aid in its difficult times, the letter added.

ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)

[02] TURKEY PLANS TO BRING EU AND OIC COUNTRIES TOGETHER IN ISTANBUL

Turkey plans to bring together the EU and Organization for the Islamic Conference (OIC) countries in a conference in Istanbul at the end of February or beginning of March 2002.

Foreign Minister Ismail Cem explains the details of this project to his counterparts he meets in New York and tells them that he wants to see them in that conference.

Sources say that the conference namely ''Harmony of Civilizations'' will bring together the western countries with Islamic countries for the first time on an institutional basis and at the level of ministers.

Academicians and officials from think tanks are also planned to take part in the conference.

Turkey voiced this idea during the European Conference held on October 20 for the first time.

Turkey's second important initiative which it wants to put into practice during the meetings in New York is signing of a cooperation protocol which will cover Russia and Eurasia.

The text of the ''Protocol on Cooperation in Eurasia'' will be finished soon. Foreign Minister Cem and his Russian courterpart Igor Ivanov are expected to sign it on Friday.

The protocol foresees intense cooperation between Turkey and Russia in economy and politics which have close relations with Central Asian republics.

The two ministers will meet on November 16, Friday.

[03] 1 MILLION 852,000 GERMAN TOURISTS VISIT ANTALYA THIS YEAR

A total of 4 million 54,139 tourists arrived in Antalya Airport in the first 10 months of the year and 86 percent of these tourists came from European countries while Germans constituted 45 percent of the total tourist number.

Russians, on the other hand, constitutied ten percent of tourists who visited Antalya.

[04] TURKEY DONATES 533 MILLION U.S. DOLLARS TO DEVELOPING COUNTRIES BETWEEN 1997 AND 2000

Most of these donations were made to developing countries in the Balkans and the Middle East to help their development efforts.

Turkey's donations were under four categories which were project and program aid, technical cooperation, urgent aid and other aids.

State Statistic Institute's data showed that Turkey's donations in 2000 was 86,1 million U.S. dollars which was 31,3 percent less than the previous year. In 1999, Turkey's donations had reached 125 million 327,000 U.S. dollars.

[05] GREAT LEADER ATATURK COMMEMORATED IN NEW YORK

Speaking in the ceremony held by Turkish American Associations Federation (TADF) and Inter-universities Turkish Students Union (ITSS), Cem said that the things told by Ataturk started to be understood better nowadays.

Cem said that Ataturk brought concepts like ''woman-man equality,'' ''human rights,'' and ''progression'' and Turkey has become a model country for the Islam world whose population is 1,5 billion. Cem stated that the book namely ''Clash of Civilizations'' referred to Ataturk and Turkey in that respect.

Turkish Consul General in New York Mehmet N. Ezen said in his part that the terrorist attacks in the U.S. on September 11 were also directed at Islam, noting that the attacks humilitated Islam religion.

Turkish Ambassador to the U.S. Faruk Logoglu, Chairman of TADF Egemen Bagıs and ITSS Chairman Nihat Aliyev also attended the ceremony.

[06] ECEVIT:''WE AREN'T SAYING THAT TURKEY MUST BE OFFERED FINANCIAL AID FOR SENDING SOLDIERS TO AFGHANISTAN''

Ecevit attended Breakfast With Frost program which was broadcast live on BBC 1 on Sunday morning.

Answering to reporters' questions after the program which was shot at NTV's Anakra Studio, Ecevit said occupation of Mazar-i Sharif by General Dostum's forces was a very important development. ''I think the rest will come. The United States and Britian have not yet interfered but I hope that they will get positive results soon,'' he maintained.

When asked if there was a solid development regarding financial aid to Turkey for siding with the United States, Ecevit said ''There is no concrete developmetns. We are not saying that Turkey should be helped financially for sending soldiers to Afghanistan. We're hoping that our allies will already think about this.''

Responding to another question, Ecevit said the economy measures of the government will gain certainty in the coming days.

Answering a question about the police team which is allegedly going to the United States, Ecevit said he hadn't yet received informatino about the matter. He added that security forces go to this country for training.

[07] PRIME MINISTER ECEVIT RESPONDS TO QUESTIONS IN BBC 1: ''TALIBAN CONSTITUTES THREAT FOR CENTRAL ASIA, CAUCASUS AND EVEN FOR TURKEY''

Ecevit explained the views of Turkey about the operation in Afghanistan.

When Sir Frost said that Turkey extended great support to the operation in Afghanistan noting that the fight was not against Islam, but terrorism, Ecevit reminded that 99 percent of Turkish population is Muslim. Turkey is also a secular country which showed both to the world and the Islamic world that Islam can coexist with secularism, modernity and democracy, Ecevit said.

Prime Minister Ecevit showed the photograph of the then Afghan King Emanullah Han and the accompanying delegation in 1928 during his official visit to Turkey and stressed that the King and the accompanying delegation dressed in a modern way.

Pointing out to the transformation led by Taliban in that country, Ecevit said that Taliban does not only constitute a threat for its country, but also for its region, the Caucasus, Central Asia and Turkey.

Stressing that it is natural for Turkey to extend support to fight with terrorism and help its western friends, Ecevit said that Turkey suffered from terrorism, particularly separatist terrorism, communist terrorism and Islamist terrorism for more than 20 years. Turkey immediately extended support to the U.S.'s call to fight together against terrorism, Ecevit said and noted that the U.S. has always extended great support to Turkey in its fight with terrorism for long years. ''Thus our support was very natural,'' Ecevit said.

When asked to evaluate the anti-war attitude and demonstrations held in various countries, Ecevit said that such opposite views were also voiced in Turkey as a democratic country. Yet the majority of the people although they don't like war, extend support to this fight, said Ecevit. Majority of the Turkish people know that Turkey extends support to this operation at the point of fighting with terrorism, he said.

When asked if he believed the modern elements of Taliban should be in the future of Afghanistan, Ecevit said that he does not know whether or not such modern elements exist within Taliban, adding Turkey believes that a government in which all ethnic groups are represented should be formed in Afghanistan. ''We must work for foundation of this government even before the the war ends. Certainly the Afghan people deserve to be governed by a better regime than Taliban,'' Ecevit said. David Frost said at the end of the interview that he was honored to host Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit for the first time and he would like to have another meeting with Ecevit soon.

[08] OECD SAYS NUMBER OF CIVIL SERVANTS IN TURKEY IS NOT TOO HIGH

Finance Ministry officials reported that teachers, medical personnel and policemen constituted a majority of civil servants in Turkey. They indicated that Turkey still needed 60,000 teachers and 50,000 medical personnel.

''The real problem is not the number of civil servants but their distribution. Most civil servants are working in certain areas and this is an unfair distribution. If some of these civil servants are moved to areas which are in need, the solution would be solved,'' one official said.

Meanwhile, OECD's statistics also revealed that the number of civil servants in Turkey is not too high. OECD's figures show that one in every 10 people in Finland, 1 out of 12 in Canada, 1 out of 13 in the United States and Hungary, 1 out of 14 in Ireland, 1 out of 19 in Germany and the Netherlands, 1 out of 25 in Spain and Italy are civil servants. In Turkey, 1 out of 30 people is a civil servant.

Below is a table showing the number of civil servants compared to the total population:

COUNTRIES CIVIL SERVANTS COMPARED TO TOTAL POPULATION
----------- ------------ ------------
Austria 441.560 5.44

Canada 2.548.137 8.15

Czech Republic 715.858 6.96

Finland 536.632 10.40

French 4.819.300 8.18

Germany 4.364.100 5.27

Greece 270.897 2.56

Hungary 791.436 7.80

Ireland 235.326 6.19

Italy 2.275.946 3.95

The Netherlands 828.033 5.20

New Zealand 205.305 5.37

Spain 1.552.838 3.88

Turkey (2000) 2.197.152 3.34

The U.S.A 20.572.000 7.46

[09] WORLD BANK UPGRADES TURKEY'S CATEGORY FROM MIDDLE INCOME TO UPPER MIDDLE INCOME LEVEL

According to the ''Classification of Economies'' study of the World Bank, Turkey's position has been upgraded to the upper middle income level again.

Turkey's category was previously downgraded to the middle income level upon the quakes in Marmara and Duzce in 1999.

The reconstruction in economy, and positive expectations in its economic future have been effective in World Bank's upgrading Turkey's category.

Turkey's neighbours Bulgaria, Iran, Iraq, Syria and countries such as Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Russia and Thailand are in the middle income group.

Turkey's national income per capita is around 3,000 U.S. dollars for the moment, yet it is expected to decrease to 2,200 U.S. dollars according to the data in 2001 and its category is expected to decrease to medium income countries group again.

[10] TOURISM MINISTER TASAR GOES TO BRITAIN TO ATTEND FAIR

Prior to his departure from Ataturk Airport, Tasar told reporters that Turkey was participating in the fair with an ambitious organization and aiming to increase its share from the world tourism pie.

''We want to determine our shortcomings and we want to be more active in our promotion abroad. Therefore we are starting an ambitious campaign this month,'' he indicated.

He said that the three stages of the campaign would be to create an image for Turkey, to wipe out the prejudices against Turkey and to promote certain tourism destinations in the country.

Turkey's participation in the fair also aims to increase Turkey's share in the British tourism market, Tasar said . ''The number of British tourists visiting our country is unsufficient. We should increase the tourist traffic between our countries. An average British person takes two vacations a year and we should benefit from this potential,'' he commented.

[11] SHEVARDNADZE SAYS TURKEY IS GEORGIAN'S MOST IMPORTANT PARTNER

''Turkey is Georgia's number one partner, neighbour and friend.''

Shevardnadze who evaluated the contacts he had with President Ahmet Necdet Sezer between 8-9 November in Tbilisi, told journalists that the legal ground of the bilateral relations between the two countries has been formed.

The two presidents reached a consensus of opinion to do everything in fight with terrorism, Shevardnadze said and noted that he also discussed regional issues with Sezer in details.

''I would like to thank to Turkish people and their President as they extended support to the territorial integrity of Georgia and to returning of immigrants' back to Abkhazia,'' he said.

He added that they also exchanged views with Sezer regarding the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC), formation of Eurasian corridor, revival of Silk Road and the transportation of energy sources in Caspian basis to world markets.

Shevardnadze added that he shared the same view with Sezer about the preparation of the agreement on Tbilisi-Ahalkalaki-Kars railway line and opening this line to service.

[12] FOREIGN MINISTRY'S AFGHANISTAN COORDINATOR ERMAN SAYS TURKEY EXTENDED HUMANITARIAN AID TO 5,000 PERSONS IN NORTHERN AFGHANISTAN

Erman who has been holding contacts in Northern Afghanistan since Nov. 3, told A.A that Turkey gave 25 tonnes of wheat to nearly 5,000 persons who had to leave their homes in the region of Hoca Bahauddin and helped in the construction of 1,200 houses.

Erman said that Turkey cooperates with French aid organization Acdet for sending humanitarian aid to the region, adding that another aid programme is on the way for Ramadan.

Erman noted that a primary school was also built in the region by the help of Turkey. He said he met with Abdullah Abdullah, the foreign minister of the ousted Afghan government and Field Commander Gazi Kebir in his contacts.

Erman was also present in the meeting of President Ahmet Necdet Sezer with the ousted Afghan President Burhaneddin Rabbani during his visit to Tajikistan on November 8.

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