Anadolu Agency: News in English, 01-12-05

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ANADOLU AGENCY

NEWS

05 DECEMBER 2001 Wednesday

CONTENTS

[01] TURKEY-PRESS SCAN

[01] TURKEY-PRESS SCAN

HURRIYET (LIBERAL)

The A.A filed suits against Internet Haber, Haber 3, Omnis Haber, Haber Turkiye and Gecce internet sites. The A.A is asking for a total of seven billion TL from the internet sites.

DERVIS GOES TO THE EU WITH ''TERRORISM FILE''
State Minister Kemal Dervis went to Brussels to attend G-13 meeting and one of the issues he will bring up at the meeting is ''financing of terrorism.''

Dervis will state that Turkey was the first country to expresss support to the international fight against terrorism and added that Turkey would continue its efforts in this field.

MILLIYET (LIBERAL)

The equal share of assets will be good for only couples who will marry in the future. The bill will not cover couples who are already married.

OZEN:''TURKEY IS IMF'S FAVORITE''
Garanti Bank General Director Ergun Ozen has said that Turkey, unlike Argentina, was no longer under a devaluation pressure and it was the IMF's favorite. Ozen said they didn't agree with the four percent economic growth in 2002 and expected a only 2.5 percent growth.

He also announced that the merging between Garanti and Osmanli bank would take place on Dec. 20, as it was earlier stated.

SABAH (LIBERAL)

Powell is being accompanies by 41 diplomats, press and security personnel. Security measures were intensified in Ankara prior to Powell's arrival. The cars allocated for the U.S. delegation, the halls at the airport were searched using sniffing dogs. Powell was protected by Turkish police, U.S. guards and anti-terrorism experts who are called SWAT.

PRESIDENTIAL PALACE:''WE DON'T WANT OPERATION AGAINST IRAQ''
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer said Turkey did not want an operation against Iraq. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell will bring up the issue during his visit to Ankara. ''We don't want an American military operation against Iraq. I don't know what Mr. Powell will say about the matter,'' Sezer told reporters.

CUMHURIYET (LEFT)

MAY 15 RETALIATION
As a retaliation to declaration of September 14 as ''Genocide Day in Asia Minor'' by Greece, Turkey decided to declare May 15 as the ''West Anatolian Turks Genocide Day''. The parliament is expected to make a decision on this retaliation decision which was discussed at the National Security Council and sent to the government as a recommendation. It is mentioned that a similar decision would be taken against Armenians.

RADIKAL (LEFT)

ECEVIT: ''SHARON WENT TOO FAR''
It was claimed that Israel wanted to topple Arafat. The United States said that Israel had the self-defense right while Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit is concerned: ''Sharon seems he is determined to impose extremely unjust sanctions. Israel should protect its people of course, but Palestinians' right of living should be taken into consideration.''

NEW PAGE ON CYPRUS
Agreement of Denktas and Clerides to come together again in mid-January displays the success of their yesterday's summit meeting and it can be said that a new page on Cyprus was opened. The sides' giving up their known positions brought the success. Denktas did not express recognition of the TRNC as a sovereign state and his confederation thesis and opened everything except political equality and Turkey's guarantorship to bargaining, and he shed greenlight to the EU. Rejection of Denktas' proposals which remove his ''intransigent man'' image could put pressure on Clerides in international area.

TURKIYE (RIGHT)

CRISIS IN AEGEAN, HOPE ON ISLAND
Retaliation of the National Security Council to Greece: when Athens declared September 14 as the ''Asia Minor Genocide Day'', the National Security Council recommended the Parliament to declare May 15, the day when Greeks landed on Turkish territories, as the ''West Anatolian Turks Genocide Day''. Meanwhile, the face-to-face meeting of TRNC President Rauf Denktas and Greek Cypriot administration leader Glafcos Clerides for the first time in last 4 years opened new doors for peace on the island. The summit meeting which was observed by U.N. Secretary General's Special Envoy to Cyprus Alvaro De Soto lasted 1 hour and 10 minutes. The two leaders agreed to come together again in January. Meanwhile, Denktas made dinner invitation to Clerides.

POWELL IN TURKEY FOR IRAQ
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell started his scheduled visit to Turkey yesterday. Powell who started a tour to seek support to a possible operation in Iraq will meet with President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit today.

ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)

ECEVIT: ''IT MAY BE WORSE THAN AFGHANISTAN''
Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said that worrysome developments had occurred in the region after Israel's intervention in Palestine, and worned that a situation worse than the one in Afghanistan might occur if clashes turned into a war. Meanwhile, President Ahmet Necdet Sezer said that he felt concern about the latest developments in Palestine and invited Palestine and Israel to act with common sense. Noting that Turkey's undertaking a mediating role at the current stafe was out of question, Sezer said that he would discuss the matter with the presidents of Egypt and Jordan.

-DERVIS:''EU SHOULD CONSIDER TURKEY WITH ROMANIA AND BULGARIA''
BRUSSELS - State Minister Kemal Dervis who is visiting Brussels to attend EU Economy and Finance ministers and ministers of candidate countries said that the EU must consider Turkey along with Romania and Bulgaria.

Prior to his departure from Belgium, Dervis was told by one of the reporters that the EU report assessing the economical situations of EU candidates, stated that Turkey needed 30 years to bring its economy to the level of the EU.

Dervis said ''We have to grow faster. We are not the country with the lowest income. I would like to stress one point. In Turkey, the economic growth rate could become easily seven percent in years without financial crisis. If we can overcome macroeconomic instability in a radical way, we can even exceed our targets. The estimated time would drop to 18-20 years. But we're pulling down our growth rate by having a crisis every three or four years.''

''My goal is to make the EU deal with Turkey alongwith Romania and Bulgaria, '' he stressed. ''If we are trying to join the EU, we should not be a category on our own, but we should be in the same group with these two countries. We won't be in the first ten, but we're ahead of Romania and Bulgaria in certain fields if you look at the national income and economic structure. The EU has no economic reasons to leave us behind these two countries. This is what I tried to emphasize in Brussels.''

''Compared to countries like Greece, Portugal, and Spain, the adjustment aid offered to Turkey is close to zero,'' he continued. ''We entered the Customs Union, but we received a very insignificant amount of financial help. This is what I told them. They are saying 'Yes, you are right, but we don't have money' and they are leading us to the European Investment Bank. We are getting a serious amount of credit from this bank, but it is not donation, and its interest rate is also not so low. Therefore, Turkey has a loss. The bank could increase its credit amount. I asked this from Italy, but they haven't responded yet.''

When asked how he viewed the EU, Dervis said: ''When we consider Turkey's geographical location, its economy relations and relations caused by millions of Turks living in EU countries, I can't see any other strategy outside the EU. Turkey should continue its joining strategy to the EU. I see some opposition on the EU side but full membership is not impossible. If we continue our stable strategy, we can reach our goal. Europe will change a lot in the next five years. It will have 25-26 members; decision mechanisms will change; veto right will be lifted in certain issues. We're also in this adventure. We're sitting at the table as a candidate unlike Ukraine and Serbia. We will advance step by step and I'm excited about it.

''I don't see a conflict between globalization and regional progress. We'll solder our ties with the Middle East, Central Asia and the Muslim world. We already have a very good relation with the United States. Integration with Europe is the natural result of the reform progress started by Ataturk. The increasing prosperity, after entering the EU, is also very important. Turkish people must attain this prosperity and I believe it will happen. We have to work harder,'' Dervis said.

-U.S. ADMINISTRATION SATISFIED BY TURKEY'S EFFORTS TO ERADICATE FINANCING
OF TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS
WASHINGTON- U.S. Deputy Secretary of Treasury John Taylor has said that his government was pleased about Turkey's efforts to eradicate financial resources of terrorism.

Taylor said there were ongoing efforts to unreveal the organizations which provide financing to terrorist organizations such as the PKK but it would take time to detect these links.

Taylor held a press conference on Tuesday for foreign members of the press in Washington D.C. and briefed them about the developments regarding the confiscation of assets of certain organizations in the United States which finance terrorist organizations.

When asked if these efforts also included organizations which are linked to the PKK, Taylor said that unrevealing these links takes time.

''From the beginning, Turkey has been very helpful to the efforts to block the assets of organizations linked to terrorism,'' Taylor continued. Turkey is not only helping the fight against the financial aspect of terrorism, but it is helping in general. It takes time to detect the financial links of terrorist organizations like the PKK. This is something we're working on but I cannot tell when actually it will happen,'' he stated.

Diplomatic sources told the A.A that the PKK was not actively collecting money in the United States and that organizations such as the PKK and DHKP- C were on the monitoring list of the U.S. Justice Department. The same sources said that the PKK and DHKP-C were collecting money more actively in Europe. They also declared that Turkey would be very pleased if the United States asks Europe to corner such organizations.

Since Sept.11 terrorist attacks, Taylor said the U.S. government froze a total of 27.8 million U.S. dollars that was going to be used by terrorist organizations and this amount was 61 million U.S. dollars all around the world. He also added that the United States was working together with over 130 countries in this field.

-DERVIS SAYS TURKISH ECONOMY STARTS MOVING UPWARD (2)
BRUSSELS- State Minister Kemal Dervis said on Wednesday that the Turkish economy started moving upward.

Dervis spoke to reporters before he left Belgium where he had come to attend the joint meeting of EU Economy and Finance Ministers Council (ECOFIN) and Ministers of Candidate Countries.

When asked whether or not he ever felt into despair and felt lonely, Dervis said, ''I don't feel lonely in Turkey as there are many friends. However, the situation especially after September 11 seemed really difficult for three-four weeks. We had just started to recover and interest rates had started to decrease, and there had been a specific stability in currency. We saw the first upward move in August in private manufacturing industry's capacity utilization figures. The incident of September 11, was a very serious strike. The currency increased to 1 million 650 thousand Turkish liras and interest rates rose to 95 percent. We were really upset.''

''However, later on a transformation better than we expected happened. The IMF management rapidly confirmed these negative effects. Within a few weeks, it brought a supplementary financing source to Turkey which will balance these negative effects in 2002 to its shareholders and the decision was taken rapidly. I clearly state that Turkey's foreign policy and involvement in fight against terrorism undoubtedly helped us in making such a rapid decision. Otherwise, the decision would not have been taken rapidly. Besides, we couldn't receive this support if the programme had not been implemented seriously. As we are a good ally which achieves its economic targets and keeps its words, those who give the money trust Turkey,'' he said.

When asked what was going to happen from now on, Dervis said, ''the value added tax figures were very good in October. What does this mean? The value added tax is collected over sales. There is a movement in the economy. Exports were very good in October and in November. The growth rate of the world trade volume was 14 percent last year and I suppose that it will be zero percent this year. There is a recovery in the real economy in such a difficult period. I think that also temporary reduction in value added tax on household appliances contributed to this recovery. Production resumes when stocks are finished. I suppose that this process has started in Turkey and it is positive. I am sorry that the class with the lowest income are not feeling the recovery at the moment. New fields of business should be created and employment and wages should increase to make them feel relaxed. These will take time but the process has started.''

''The second important thig is there were strange opinions that 1 U.S. dollar would be 2 or 3 million Turkish liras. One U.S. dollar had increased to 1 million 650 thousand liras but later it decreased to 1 million 480 thousand liras. We managed to get rid of the psychology that U.S. dollars can always increase. This is very important because the medium class has foreign exchange in their houses. And they have started to exchange them with Turkish lira,'' he said.

''Everybody should make self-sacrifice in some way. It is very normal that the Confederation of Turkish Labor Unions (Turk-Is) protects its member unions and employees. It was mentioned in the Prime Ministry circular that those who are above fifty years of age will be retired. They will get all their rights and compensations. Some factories were closed down. There is no profit and production. Some people in Turkey do not have the luxury of receiving salary without working. There is not any other way. As far as possible, we should make this in stages and by reaching agreement with labor unions. I don't think there would be a serious problem,'' he said.

Dervis stressed that the Turkish economy had overcome several problems and the primary target now should be decreasing the inflation rate.

Noting that the upward move in the Turkish economy had started in October and November and entered ''recovery trend'', Dervis said that a different atmosphere would emerge with implementation of the programme and flow of foreign source.

''We will hold new debenture bond auctions with attractive prices within the voluntary mechanisms. We won't face the problem of insufficient demand to state bonds and amount of debt will reduce. We have recorded a great progress,'' he said.

''The good situation in current transactions and exports will continue because the currency is very competitive. In the end, there will be a relieving effect in the foreign exchange. People have gotten rid of the U.S. dollar panic. I think that the main and prior issue will be the inflation in 2002. We should decrease the inflation rate to 35 percent,'' he said.

-DERVIS SAYS THERE IS COORDINATION PROBLEM IN TURKEY
BRUSSELS- State Minister Kemal Dervis told reporters before he left Belgium that lack of coordination in Turkey was a very serious problem.

Responding a question about measures to draw foreign investments, Dervis said that the reports of the EU Commission considered Turkey out of field regarding foreign capital.

''Everybody can draw direct investment up to six percent of its national income. If Turkey draws investment up to five percent of its national income, it is worth 8 billion U.S. dollars. The total direct investment we can draw is 1 billion U.S. dollars. If we draw 8 billion U.S. dollars, we don't need an IMF program. This has some reasons. Macroeconomic instability is a problem and it is a question mark for investors. There are hitches in tax system. I am one hundred percent in favor of tax accounting. If this does not exist, it becomes disadvantageous especially for foreign investors. It exchanges its dollar with Turkish lira and it loses its equity capital in one year,'' he said.

Noting that lack of coordination in Turkey was a very serious problem, Dervis said, ''foreign investor negotiates with a ministry and gets a signature. Later, another ministry cannot approve it. It may have some rightful reasons. There is a very serious lack of coordination in Turkey. The report which we submitted to the EU was prepared by the State Planning Organization (DPT), the responsibility was given to the DPT in Janury 2001. This report was prepared after a ten-day delay but without a contribution of any other units and it created some problems for us in Brussels. Turkey became the only country which did not present a medium term number and strategy. Such a report should have been prepared in coordination of DPT, Treasury Undersecretariat, Finance Ministry and Foreign Trade Udersecretariat.''

''In coming months, we should carry out a very serious work and determine how we will achieve the targets. And we should submit the next report by August 2002. We should present a perfect report,'' he said.

State Minister Kemal Dervis said that the Turkish government was successfully implementing the economic programme.

''Turkey is a country which absolutely repays its debts on time. We do have the opportunity of reducing the debt rate to sixty percent in three years. We foresee a ten percent decrease every year,'' he said.

''We show three dimensions of the programme to the IMF. The first dimension is the final part of sweeping we have been making in the finance sector. We will finalize everything; organization of state banks, privatization of Vakiflar Bankasi, recovery of the finance sector. The second one is the correction of the atmosphere where the private domestic and foreign investors are making business. We should remove the bureaucratic obstacles. The third dimension is related with public management. Some serious changes will be made in the issues of coordination and personnel policy. For example, paying wages on basis of performance,'' he said.

-TURKEY RAISES USD 340 MILLION THROUGH EXPORTS OF HAZELNUTS
TRABZON - Turkey raised 340 million 786 thousand 326 U.S. dollars through exports of hazelnuts as of the end of the 14th week of the 2001-2002 export season which started on September 1, 2001.

Officials at the Black Sea Hazelnuts Exporters' Association told the A.A correspondent on Wednesday that one quintal (100 kg) of standard hazelnuts was now about 240 U.S. dollars.

Turkey which exports hazelnuts to nearly 80 countries has exported 139,072 tons of hazelnuts so far in the 2001-2002 export season.

In the same period last year, Turkey had exported 88,931 tons of hazelnuts, obtaining 280 million 287 thousand U.S. dollars of income.

Turkey has earned 340 million 786 thousand 326 U.S. dollars income so far from hazelnut exports since September 1, 2001.

Turkey targets to export more than 250 thousand tons of hazelnuts in the 2001-2002 export season which will end on August 31, 2002.

-TURKISH RED CRESCENT TO SEND AID TO CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL IN KABUL
ANKARA - Red Crescent Chairman Ertan Gonen announced Wednesday that a medical team and equipment would be sent to Ataturk Children's Hospital in Kabul.

Gonen told the A.A that upon the request of head doctor of the hospital, Red Crescent started its preparations to send medical equipment and a team of doctors to the Afghan capital.

The head doctor of the hospital said that everyday three or four children were dying at the hospital and he called on all countries to send help as soon as possible.

Red Crescent will work together with the International Red Cross organization and send the medical equipment and the team to the hospital in the next ten days.

-RESTORATION OF SUMELA MONASTERY MOSTLY COMPLETED
TRABZON- Restoration of Sumela Monastery has been mostly completed, it was reported on Wednesday.

The restoration of the monastery's roof is over and works inside the structure is continuing. Officials said that the remaining works would be completed next year.

Sumela Monastery which is known as Meryemana Monastery among the people is believed to have been built 385 A.C. on the slope of a mountain in Altindere Valley, south of Macka township of Trabzon. Later, Alexios III added another part to the monestary in 1360. This part is 17 meters high, 40 meters long and 14 meters wide and has 72 rooms.

The Culture Ministry has been carrying out restoration activities at the monastery for 15 years.

Since the beginning of this year, 82,000 Turkish and 16,021 foreign tourists visited the monastery and these figures are expected to increase after the completion of restoration.

-TUZMEN SAYS FACILITIES WILL BE OFFERED ALSO TO TRANSPORTERS VIA EXIMBANK
ANKARA- Foreign Trade Undersecretary Kursad Tuzmen said on Wednesday that the facilities which would be offered to exporters within framework of the package of support to the real sector would be taken up by the Eximbank Board and they would be later put into practice.

Speaking to the A.A correspondent, Tuzmen said that transportation had been included in the group of services which provided foreign exchange. He added that transportation would benefit from the Eximbank sources.

Tuzmen said that as Eximbank, they targeted to reduce problems of transporters.

-JOINT PRESS STATEMENT OF CEM-POWELL
ANKARA - The U.S. State Secretary Colin Powell said on Wednesday that they did not have any demand from Turkey about Iraq, noting that they did not take any decision yet in this respect.

Powell, currently in Ankara on an official visit, held a joint news conference with Foreign Minister Ismail Cem.

Responding to a question asking about their expectations from Turkey on Iraq, Powell said this issue created a great danger, stressing that the issue has not been discussed yet.

Powell said the next stage regarded with fight against terrorism campaign, has not been clarified, noting that they did not have any demand from Turkey.

Foreign Minister Ismail Cem in his part said they dicussed developments regarded with Iraq, and noted that they conveyed the point of view of Turkey. Cem said Iraq should abide by the U.N. decisions. Cem said Iraq should be supported by its neighbours while doing this.

-CHANGE IN DGM LAW
-JUSTICE COMMISSION ADOPTS THE LAW, VETOED BY PRESIDENT SEZER
TO BE DISCUSSED ONCE AGAIN, WITHOUT ANY CHANGE
ANKARA, Dec 5 (A.A) - Parliamentary Justice Commission on Wednesday adopted the law, vetoed by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer to be discussed once again, without any change. The law foresaw amendments both in State Security Court (DGM) Law No. 4719 and also in the law on fight against organized crimes no 3842.

The Justice Commission adopted four articles of the law, which was partially vetoed by the President Sezer. The law also limits the fields of responsibility of the State Security Courts. President Sezer partially vetoed the law saying internal security and public order could not be ignored.

The law foresees some changes about the law regarded with Foundation and Judgement Methods of the DGMs, Criminal Trial Procedure Law (CMUK), and the Law on Fight against Crime Organizations.

-BSECPA 18TH TERM MEETING STARTS IN SOFIA
-NINE PARLIAMENTARIANS FROM TURKEY ATTEND THE MEETING
SOFIA- The 18th term meeting of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Parliamentarian Assembly (BSECPA) meetings started in Bulgarian capital city Sofia on Wednesday.

The BSECPA was founded in 1992 within the framework of the BSEC.

Ognyan Gercikov, the Bulgarian Parliament Speaker and the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Parliamentarian Assembly (BSECPA) term president, who addressed the opening of the meeting, pointed out that members of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) will continue cooperation against international terrorism.

A total of nine parliamentarians from Turkey attend the meeting.

Necessary regulation changes will be discussed for the improvement of agriculture sector.

BSECPA 18th will end on Thursday following a news conference.

-JOINT PRESS STATEMENT OF CEM AND POWELL (2)
-CEM: ''TURKEY SUPPORTS CAMPAIGN STARTED AGAINST TERRORISM
UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF THE U.S.''
ANKARA - Foreign Minister Ismail Cem said on Wednesday that Turkey supported the campaign, started under the leadership of the U.S., against terrorism following September 11 attacks.

Powell, currently in Ankara on an official visit, held a joint news conference together with Foreign Minister Ismail Cem.

Cem said the talks were very positive, stressing that positive relations with the U.S. continued also in Bush administration as it was in previous U.S. administrations. Cem said they exerted efforts to consolidate those relations.

Pointing out that interests and concerns of Turkey and the U.S. were parallel, Cem said Turkey was very important for the U.S. due to geographical means.

Cem said they discussed issues like Balkans, Caucasus, and Central Asia energy resources, and noted that the two countries were in cooperation on those issues.

Cem said, ''September 11 attacks are a great tragedy. However, this tragedy revealed a joint responsibility in fight against terrorism. We expend support to the U.S. as the leader of this global campaign. We are sure that this fight will be resulted by the victory of all pacifists.''

Stressing that terrorism did not have any religion or geography, Cem said that they sincerely supported the United Nations (U.N.) resolutions about this issue and that they expected all the countries to help implementation of those resolutions.

Cem said, ''we expect all the countries to fulfil their responsibilities in fight against terrorism within the framework of the U.N. resolutions and take these seriously.''

Reminding the reporters that an agreement about the formation of a temporary administration in Afghanistan had been signed, Cem noted that cooperation of Turkey and the United States continued.

Cem said, ''we believe that Turkey can play a very important role in this matter when its historical existence in the region is taken into consideration.''

Both countries were uneasy about the recent developments in the Middle East, Cem noted and drew the attention to the importance of the implementation of Mitchell report.

Foreign Minister Cem said that they also debated Caucasus during their meeting, adding that developments in Georgia, energy corridors in Eurasia, and Baku-Ceyhan project were the other issues they took up at their meeting.

-STATE MINISTER KARAKOYUNLU SAYS TURKEY HAS EXERTED UTMOST EFFORT TO
RESTORE TRANQUILITY AND PEACE IN MIDDLE EAST
ANKARA- State Minister Yilmaz Karakoyunlu said on Wednesday that Turkey had exerted utmost effort so far to bring tranquility and peace to the Middle East.

David Sultan, Israeli Ambassador to Turkey, paid a courtesy visit to Karakoyunlu.

During the meeting, Karakoyunlu said that Sultan wanted to exchange the views with himself about the institutions under his responsibility.

Karakoyunlu said, ''I am very pleased to exchange views with Sultan about the institutions within the scope of privatization and under my responsibility. I will make use of the views of the distinguished Ambassador.''

Responding to questions of reporters about his predictions about the terrorist attacks in the Middle East, Sultan said that all the world saw the terrorist attacks that had been staged.

Sultan said that they were also fighting against terrorism and noted that as Palestine could not conduct a fight against terrorism, they were doing it.

Upon the same question, Karakoyunlu said, ''Turkey has been following the incidents in the Middle East carefully and sensitively since the very beginning. Turkey has done its best to ensure peace and tranquility in the region so far. We still follow our policy to reach a compromise ground between the sides in the possible shortest time and we are exerting all the efforts to reach success in these efforts.''

Karakoyunlu added, ''of course, Turkey feels sad about such incidents which occur in the Middle East from time to time. We are in a new world understanding in which all the issues are evaluated in regard to international terrorism definitions. To this end, we believe that Middle East should also reach tranquility in the possible shortest time.''

-SANTA CLAUS' BIRTHDAY TO BE CELEBRATED IN DEMRE
ANKARA- Tourism Minister Mustafa Tasar said on Wednesday that children from all over the world had come to Turkey to celebrate the birthday of Santa Claus.

Tasar told A.A correspondent that 40 children from 20 countries had come to Demre township of southern province of Antalya as the guest of Tourism Ministry.

Tasar noted that they had organized ''Santa Claus Festival'' to promote Turkey's cultural heritage in the world and that this activity was important for the promotion of Turkey and its cultural heritage in the world.

Stating that Turkey was a modern and secular country, Tasar pointed out that all the cultural heritage and historical artifacts belonging to all religions were protected as a world heritage.

Stating that the birthday of Santa Claus would be celebrated on Thursday in Demre township, Tasar noted that besides the children from all over the world, representatives of religious communities had been invited to the celebrations.

The guests will attend the ceremonies to celebrate the birthday of Santa Claus in St. Nicholas Church in Demre on Thursday. Later, the children will visit Demre, Patara and Saklikent.

-JOINT PRESS STATEMENT OF CEM AND POWELL (3)
-CEM: ''ECONOMIC RELATIONS SHOULD BE FURTHER IMPROVED''
ANKARA- Foreign Minister Ismail Cem requested on Wednesday that the United States should lift some of economic quotas imposed on Turkey.

Cem and U.S. State Secretary Colin Powell, who is paying an official visit to Turkey, held a joint press conference.

Foreign Minister Cem said that they debated bilateral economic relations during their meeting and that he thanked Washington administration through Powell for the support it had extended regarding international economic organizations like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank.

Cem noted that he underlined the necessity to further improve the economic relations during the meeting.

Commercial relations should not be limited with only a few fields, Cem stated and said that Turkey and the United States should make trade freely.

Cem requested that economic restrictions against Turkey should be lifted.

Noting that they also touched on the European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP), Cem thanked Powell for the support that the United States had extended for the agreement reached on ESDP.

Cem said that they also evaluated recent developments in Cyprus and that both Turkey and the United States sincerely supported the face-to-face meeting of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Rauf Denktas and Glafcos Clerides, the leader of the Greek Cypriot administration.

The two leaders were trying to create a new atmosphere and process for themselves, for their own peoples and for everybody, Cem stated.

-PRESIDENT SEZER SAYS TURKEY TO CONTINUE TO SUPPORT THE U.S. IN ITS FIGHT
AGAINST TERRORISM
ANKARA- President Ahmet Necdet Sezer who received the U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, pointed out that Turkey would continue to support the U.S. in its fight against terrorism.

Presidential Press Center issued a statement and said Sezer received Powell today and recalled that Foreign Minister Ismail Cem also attended the meeting.

The statement said Sezer stressed that Turkey and the U.S. were always in friendship and solidarity, and noted that relations between the two countries were further strengthened following September 11 attacks. Sezer said Turkey would continue to support its friend and ally U.S. in its fight against terrorism.

President Sezer stressed that strategic relation betwen Turkey and the U.S. has a fundamental importance in strengthening of understanding of peace, stability and cooperation in a vast geography extending from Southeastern Europe to Afghanistan.

Pointing out that September 11 attacks required the international community to understand the real characteristics of terrorism, Sezer said an attitute in international level should be adopted in definition of terrorism in international level.

President Sezer said Turkey wanted to increase economic and trade relations with the U.S. to a higher level appropriate to the strategic partnership between the two countries, adding that they expected the U.S. companies to increase investments in Turkey.

Powell in his part focused on the importance which the U.S. administration attributed to friendship with Turkey, and thanked for the support expended by the Turkish government and people since September 11 attacks.

Sezer and Powell exchanged views on regional problems like Afghanistan, the Middle East, Iraq, the Caucasus.

-DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER YILMAZ MEETS WITH EU COMMISSIONER VERHEUGEN
-A NEW STRATEGY WILL BE SET FOR TURKEY'S EU MEMBERSHIP PROCESS
BRUSSELS- Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz said on Wednesday that a new strategy would be set for Turkey's European Union (EU) full membership process.

Yilmaz, who gave information about his meeting with Guenter Verheugen, the EU Commissioner for enlargement, said that a very beneficial meeting on Turkey-EU relations was held in a very positive atmosphere.

This positive atmosphere was created by the constitutional amendments made in Turkey, the formula found to reach a compromise with the EU regarding European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP) and the new dialogue process launched in Cyprus, Yilmaz said.

Yilmaz noted, ''Verheugen thanked Turkey for its solidarity and cooperation in fight against terrorism following the September 11th terrorist attacks. And, this attitude was appreciated by the EU.''

''Verheugen stated that constitutional amendments made in Turkey were perceived as a very important step taken in the full membership path and that the compromise reached on ESDP and the developments in Cyprus were the other things paving the way for Turkey's full membership perspective as was noted in Turkey's Progress Report for 2001. Besides this, he noted that there were some deficiencies in human rights in Turkey and that this was followed by member countries. Verheugen also stressed that overcoming those deficiencies was of utmost importance,'' Yilmaz said.

Yilmaz quoted Verheugen as saying that they foresaw to launch new dialogue and initiative to mark progress in Turkey's full membership perspective and said, ''he will visit Turkey in January. We will discuss the matter in detail then.''

He said during the meeting that EU enlargement process had gained momentum recently, Yilmaz noted.

Yilmaz stated that he also said during the meeting that in the strategy document, full membership of 10 countries was foreseen in 2004 and making a new road map and a new strategy for the membership of the remaining candidate countries was envisaged.

He noted that Turkey had a new approach not to be left behind in that process, Yilmaz said.

Yilmaz noted, ''I said that Turkey's full membership target should be supported by some concrete measures. I noted that EU should extend support within the framework of a comprehensive strategy to overcome economic and social imbalance among regions in Turkey and to contribute to the solution of employment problem.''

Stating that they reached a consensus to prepare a new strategy for Turkey, Yilmaz noted that the EU was preparing a list of terrorist organizations. He said, ''I stated that the terrorist organizations which threaten Turkey must be included in that list.''

Yilmaz said that he noted during the meeting that the face-to-face meeting with President Rauf Denktas of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and Greek Cypriot leader Glafcos Clerides was held by Denktas' initiative.

That meeting would start a new direct dialogue process without any preconditions, Yilmaz noted.

Yilmaz stated that during the meeting, he also said that EU was expected to support a permanent solution which took into consideration equality of the sides in Cyprus.

''About adjustment laws, I stated that we knew how much those laws were important in regard to the EU and that the goverment had completed its works. I also noted that we would take that issue up at the parliament following the discussions on the budget and we would reach a conclusion,'' Yilmaz added.

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