Anadolu Agency: News in English, 02-01-29

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

ANADOLU AJANSI

HABERLER

29 January

2002 Tuesday

Türkiye

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CONTENTS

[01] TURKEY-PRESS SCAN

[02] NATIONAL DEFENSE MINISTER CAKMAKOGLU SAYS M-60 TANKS PLANNED TO BE USED FOR AT LEAST TWENTY MORE YEARS

[03] TURKEY ASKS INFORMATION FROM GERMAN AND AMERICAN OFFICIALS ABOUT MURAT KURNAZ

[04] PRIME MINISTER ECEVIT TO GO TO BULGARIA ON WEDNESDAY

[05] DENKTAS: ''WE CANNOT ACCEPT EU AID THROUGH GREEK CYPRIOTS''

[06] TRNC SUBMITS DOCUMENT ON MISSING PEOPLE TO GREEK CYPRIOT SIDE

[07] MAGRIOTIS VISITS AYATRIADA MONASTERY IN ISTANBUL

[08] STATE MINISTER DOGRU LEAVES FOR AZERBAIJAN

[09] EU COMMISSION TURKEY REPRESENTATIVE FOGG ADVISES TURKEY TO REGARD EU REGULATIONS AS A GUIDE FOR TURKEY'S REFORMS''

[10] FM CEM HOLDS CONTACTS IN BOSNIA

[11] GREEK DELEGATION COMES TO DUZCE TO SHARE EARTHQUAKE EXPERIENCE WITH TURKISH MAYORS

[12] ANKARA TELLS HJELM-WALLEN OF ITS DISAPPROVAL OF PKK EXCLUSION FROM EU TERRORIST LIST

[13] S&P CHANGES OUTLOOK ON TURKEY FROM STABLE TO POSITIVE

[14] U.S. UNDERSECRETARY OF TREASURY TAYLOR MEETS WITH DERVIS

[15] CULTURE MINISTER TALAY GOES TO KAZAKHSTAN

[16] TURKISH-UKRANIAN INTERGOVERNMENTAL COMMERCIAL AND ECONOMIC COOPERATION COMMISSION 3RD TERM MEETING STARTS IN ANKARA

[17] COMMISSION APPROVES 3 ARTICLES VETOED BY PRESIDENT WITHOUT ANY CHANGE

[18] WORLD BANK TO GIVE USD 3 BILLION OF LOAN TO TURKEY IN 2002

[19] 7 PEOPLE ARRESTED ON CHARGES OF FORCING PEOPLE TO WRITE PETITIONS DEMANDING ''KURDISH EDUCATION''

[01] TURKEY-PRESS SCAN

HURRIYET (LIBERAL)

YILMAZ SAYS LAW ON BANKING TO BE SENT TO PRESIDENT AS IT IS
Motherland Party (ANAP) leader, State Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yılmaz said that the banking sector bill would be debated at the Parliamentary Planning and Budget Commission on Tuesday and noted, ''if it is ready, we will send it to President Ahmet Necdet Sezer on Thursday.'' Yılmaz noted that the coalition leaders discussed basically the law related to the banking sector. When asked whether or not the law would be sent as in the same form to President Sezer, Yilmaz said, ''That's our tendency. If the Parliament also accepts it, it will be done.'' Sezer had earlier vetoed three articles of the bill.

MILLIYET (LIBERAL)

CRISIS IN HARMONY
The constitutional amendment caused problem in the government. Devlet Bahceli, the leader of Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) left the coalition leaders summit in 20 minutes. Ecevit, Yılmaz and Bahceli could not reach an agreement on the amendments to be done in the law of adjustment. Bahceli said that it was not right to amend the text which was earlier accepted by the three coalition parties. Ecevit said in his part that the issue would be taken up in the parliament again.

SABAH (LIBERAL)

HISTORICAL GESTURE TO AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL
Amnesty International which was put on the black list by Turkey due to its reports against Turkey in human rights, makes peace with Turkey. State Minister Nejat Arseven in charge of human rights said that Turkey would accept the demand of Amnesty International to open an office in Turkey. Amnesty International noted that the developments in Turkey were promising.

CUMHURIYET (LEFT)

CAKAN'S NATURAL GAS FIASCO
Energy Ministry has solved the natural gas problem since the issue was on the agenda of the media for a long time. However, the reduction in the natural gas prices will end soon. Electricity, Gas and Bus Company (EGO) which is the organization of Ankara Greater City Municipality opened a case to Council of State for the cancellation of the notification that limits the profit of the municipalites by 30 percent.

RADIKAL (LEFT)

29 OTHER PEOPLE TAKEN INTO CUSTODY
Police took into custody 29 persons whose majority were women and who wanted to submit petitions to Esenler and Kucukcekmece head officials' offices in Istanbul asking for education in Kurdish. When seven women who came to Kucukcekmece office entered the building to submit their petitions, they were detained. Other 22 persons including many women who came to the head official's office in Esenler district were also taken into custody.

TURKIYE (RIGHT)

TUSIAD WARNS POLITICIANS
Turkish Industrialists and Businessmen Association (TUSIAD) Executive Board Chairman Tuncay Ozilhan said on Sunday that Turkey was about to be dragged by an optimism flow and it could be diverted from its route immediately. Ozilhan said at the ceremony which was held by Bursa Industrialists and Businessmen Association (BUSIAD) that, ''if you go out vote hunting without bettering the economy and without fulfilling our commitments to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Union (EU), you will give rise again the populist policies which dragged the country to the troubles in the past.''

ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)

[02] NATIONAL DEFENSE MINISTER CAKMAKOGLU SAYS M-60 TANKS PLANNED TO BE USED FOR AT LEAST TWENTY MORE YEARS

Responding to a question with notice presented by Felicity Party (SP) deputy Zeki Celik, Cakmakoglu said that M-60 tanks were used both in European countries and also in Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and South African Republic.

Noting that Turkey has sufficient number of M-60 tanks, Cakmakoglu said that ''the modernization of M-60 tanks will be carried out in Turkey irrespective of the country or firm with which Turkey will make agreement for their modernization. No M-60 tanks was given to any company including an Israeli one as the modernization of M-60 tanks will be carried out in Turkey.''

Responding to another question with notice submitted by True Path Party (DYP) deputy Ilhan Aytekin, Cakmakoglu said that there were ongoing negotiations with the Israeli company IMI regarding the modernization project of 170 M-60 tanks, and that no contract was signed with it yet.

Noting that IMI company undertook the modernization project of M-60 tanks in Israeli army, Cakmakoglu said that if a contract is signed with that company, the latter will be obliged to prefer using the equipments that can be produced in Turkey.

Cakmakoglu said that Turkey planned to get a guarantee letter for the advance payment and other payments.

-ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES MINISTER CAKAN SAYS NO CRISIS IS EXPECTED IN
ELECTRIC ENERGY UNTIL 2006
ANKARA - Energy and Natural Resources Minister Zeki Cakan said on Tuesday that he didn't expect any crisis in meeting the demand of electric energy until 2006.

Responding to a question with notice submitted by Felicity Party (SP) Ankara deputy Zeki Celik, Cakan said that natural gas combit circles are expected to operate in the first quarter of this year.

Cakan noted that energy saving measures will continue to be implemented.

''Turkey is still not self-sufficient in respect of production of electric energy,'' said Cakan and noted that Turkey imported electric energy of 3 million kilowatt hours in 2000.

Cakan stated that they adopted regulations to enable also the private sector to invest in the sector in order to meet the increasing electric energy.

[03] TURKEY ASKS INFORMATION FROM GERMAN AND AMERICAN OFFICIALS ABOUT MURAT KURNAZ

According to the information A.A correspondent got from diplomatic channels, Turkey asked Germany for information about the citizenship of Kurnaz and asked the U.S. for information about his detention and his whereabouts.

Diplomatic sources said that Turkey can take initiatives only after it receives official information from Germany and the U.S.

German Foreign Ministry Spokesman Sabine Sparwasser said on Monday that Kurnaz could not be brought to Germany as he was not a German citizen although he was born and grew up in Germany.

Sparwasser said that if children who were born in Germany before 1990 didn't get German citizenship, they preserved their own nationality.

Kurnaz's whereabouts remain unknown.

[04] PRIME MINISTER ECEVIT TO GO TO BULGARIA ON WEDNESDAY

Ecevit, who will leave for Bulgaria from Esenboga Airport at 11.00 local time, will hold a news conference before his departure.

Ecevit will start his contacts in Bulgaria by laying a wreath at Unknown Soldier Monument and meet with Bulgarian Prime Minister Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. After the interdelegationary meetings, Ecevit will hold a joint news conference with Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.

After meeting respectively with Bulgarian Parliament Speaker Ognian Gercikov and President Georgi Purvanov, Ecevit will attend the dinner to be hosted by Bulgarian Prime Minister.

Ecevit will separately receive delegations from the Rights and Freedoms Movement (HOH) and chief mutfi's office, chairman of Turkish businessmen associations in Bulgaria and BSP leader Sergey Stanisev on October 31.

Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit who will address the Atlantic Club, will complete his two-day official visit and leave for Turkey.

Ecevit's wife Rahsan Ecevit, Transportation Minister Oktay Vural, Labour and Social Security Minister Yasar Okuyan and Foreign Ministry and Prime Ministry bureaucrats will accompany Ecevit in his visit.

Problems in the economic and commercial relations between the two countries and improvement of these relations will mainly be taken up in Ecevit's visit.

Turkish side will also ask the Bulgarian side to bring facilities in visa applications for Turkey, and to give visas for longer period of time. The two sides will also search for ways to solve the problems in Upper Arda Dam System and Plovdiv-Kapıkule Highway Projects.

An important issue to be taken up in the meeting is the problem that is related to the social security. The social security problems of Turkish origin persons who come to Turkey after working for a certain period of time in Bulgaria will also be discussed in the meeting.

[05] DENKTAS: ''WE CANNOT ACCEPT EU AID THROUGH GREEK CYPRIOTS''

During a meeting with French Ambassador to Southern Cyprus Jacques Depaigne, Denktas said to a reporter, ''we are asking the EU to give us the aid directly. Any aid that is given through the Greek Cypriots is not valid and it's not acceptable. It looks like they're planning to give 200 million euros in the next five years. Naturally, this is a smaller amount than what Turkey gives us each year. But even if money pours down on us from the sky, the aid would not help anything if we don't focus on production, if we don't make investments, if the sanctions are not lifted, and if tourism doesn't develop.''

The TRNC president underlined that the financial aid would not help anything if the sanctions are not lifted.

When asked if he would attend the EU-Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) meeting in Istanbul in February, Denktas said that his country hadn't yet received an invitation from the EU.

He pointed out that the Greek Cypriot side was invited to the meeting as the ''Cyprus Republic''.

[06] TRNC SUBMITS DOCUMENT ON MISSING PEOPLE TO GREEK CYPRIOT SIDE

TRNC President Rauf Denktas said on Tuesday that the Turkish side submitted its document on the missing people during the meeting of TRNC President Rauf Denktas and Greek Cypriot leader Glafcos Clerides on Tuesday and that the studies on the issue would continue.

Greek Cypriot administration Spokesman Mihalis Papapetrou said in his part that the Turkish side's document would be examined.

The document of the Greek Cypriot side was sent to TRNC by the U.N. and Clerides proposed to transfer the issue to the Committee of Missing People.

The issue of the missing people is considered seperately from that of Cyprus negotiations.

[07] MAGRIOTIS VISITS AYATRIADA MONASTERY IN ISTANBUL

The couple had a horse-drawn carriage ride in Ayatriada and said prayers at the monastery.

Magriotis told reporters that he had been to Istanbul before and he found it more beautiful every time he visited the city.

Magriotis said that he would answer reporters' questions after his meetings today and tomorrow.

He later had a meeting with the Chief Priest of the monastery Danilidis and other officials.

[08] STATE MINISTER DOGRU LEAVES FOR AZERBAIJAN

He noted that they would discuss measures which aimed to increase and further develop the mutual trade volume between the two countries.

Dogru stated that they would assess the proposals directed towards encouraging the mechanisms which would ease the commercial information flow between the two countries and solving the problems in banking sector and transportation field.

He said, ''the two countries will debate foreign trade, customs, standardization, agriculture, tourism, working and public security in accordance with the agreements of commercial and economic cooperation, prevention of double taxation, mutual encouragement and protection of the investments.''

State Minister Dogru said that he would meet with Azerbaijani President, Azerbaijani Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and some other ministers.

Officials of Foreign Ministry Undersecretariat, Foreign Ministry and Turkish Cooperation and Development Agency (TIKA) will accompany Dogru in his visit to Azerbaijan.

Dogru and accompanying delegation will return to Turkey on February 2, 2002.

[09] EU COMMISSION TURKEY REPRESENTATIVE FOGG ADVISES TURKEY TO REGARD EU REGULATIONS AS A GUIDE FOR TURKEY'S REFORMS''

Speaking at a panel meeting on Turkey's EU adjustment process organized by the Economic Development Foundation (IKV), Fogg said that participation in the EU should aim to improve people's lives.

''We should see what it will bring to people in Turkey,'' she said.

Speaking about the ongoing reforms, Fogg said that the government was taking very important steps through its reforms but criticized the Turkish Parliament for failing to help the government.

Speaking about the EU's terrorist list which didn't include PKK amd DHKP-C terrorist organizations, Fogg said, ''the terrorist list might have been misunderstood. This is at its early stage and it will develop in the future.''

Fogg declined to comment on the bills which are currently being discussed at Parliament.

Turkey's Secretary General in the EU Volkan Vural has pointed to the transformation which Turkey is undergoing. Vural maintained that Turkish people were capable of change and he underlined that this change had already started.

''It would be the biggest mistake to deny that we have a thorny road ahead of us,'' he said. ''Turkey has serious technical problems. We would lose time if all our ministries and institutions ignore the EU regulations.''

-NSC MEETING ENDS
ANKARA - The meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) headed by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer ended.

The meeting which started at 9.30 local time, lasted for six hours.

NSC General Secretariat said after the meeting that NSC held its regular meeting.

Noting that State Ministers Tunca Toskay and Sukru Sina Gurel participated in the concerned parts of the meeting due to the issues that were on the agenda.

''The NSC discussed separatist activities mainly of demanding education in another language other than the official one which were mainly directed by the terrorist organization, activities which are against the security of the country and the measures taken against these activities at the meeting in line with intelligence and security reports covering the last one year, '' it was noted.

The Secretariat General said that the visit of Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit to the U.S., Turkey-U.S. relations, developments in Cyprus and the recent political situation were reviewed within the scope of foreign political developments.

Foreign Ministry informed the Council about the main factors of the strategy to be followed by Turkey in respect of security for improvement of the economic relations with foreign countries and the Foreign Trade Undersecretariat informed the Council about assessment of Turkey's foreign trade in 2001 and expectations for 2002. The importance of contribution of improvement of foreign trade on national economy and national security was also stressed, it was added.

[10] FM CEM HOLDS CONTACTS IN BOSNIA

Lagumdzija voiced the importance Bosnia attributed to the EU-OIC Forum meeting that will be held in Istanbul between 12-13 February, adding that they would certainly participate in the meeting. The two sides also reached agreement on Turkey's repairing the children's hospital in Sarajevo.

Cem's scheduled visit to Turkish troop in Zenitsa was cancelled as Cem arrived late in Bosnia due to the fog. Lagumdzija thanked Cem as he came to Sarajevo in spite of the heavy fog.

After meeting with the Bosnian Presidential Council members, Cem will leave for Turkey.

Cem is expected to leave Istanbul for New York to attend the World Economic Forum meetings on Wednesday.

[11] GREEK DELEGATION COMES TO DUZCE TO SHARE EARTHQUAKE EXPERIENCE WITH TURKISH MAYORS

Rendi Mayor Georges Loakeimidis, who said he feels very much at home in Turkey, said, ''I had two earthquakes during the time I served as a mayor. I'm teaching at a university about how we should protect ourselves against earthquakes. There are things we have to do before and after an earthquake. The bad thing about earthquakes is that they don't happen twice in ten years and therefore a mayor doesn't experience a second earthquake while he's still serving. Therefore, the earthquake catches us off guard each time. We'll support you in this program and we'll share experiences.''

[12] ANKARA TELLS HJELM-WALLEN OF ITS DISAPPROVAL OF PKK EXCLUSION FROM EU TERRORIST LIST

It was stated that the Swedish side welcomed Ankara's request and said that their government had no problem on this matter and that they already took the necessary measures against terrorist organizations.

Hjelm-Wallen said that only her country's approval would not be enough to include PKK and DHKP-C in the list, but she promised that her government would do its best to correct this mistake.

Yilmaz briefed his Swedish counterpart about the Constitutional package, the changes made in the Turkish Civil Code, and what has been so far done related to Turkey's National Program. Yilmaz also told her about the Turkish government's plans for the next two months.

The Swedish delegation said they supported Turkey's EU membership and that they appreciated Turkey's progress in this field.

Yilmaz and Hjelm-Wallen also discussed bilateral relations during their meeting.

Cyprus and international matters will be discussed during tonight's dinner.

[13] S&P CHANGES OUTLOOK ON TURKEY FROM STABLE TO POSITIVE

Releasing a statement, S&P said that Turkey's macroeconomic and structural reform policies which were backed by a three-year maturity IMF loan of 16 billion U.S. dollars would play an important role on decrease in Turkey's debts this year and settlement of them on a sustainable level and that this was effective in revision in outlook on Turkey.

S&P said that it would upgrade Turkey's rating if the economic programme continued on track.

[14] U.S. UNDERSECRETARY OF TREASURY TAYLOR MEETS WITH DERVIS

Speaking to reporters following the meeting which was held at the Bogazici University in Istanbul and closed to press, Taylor said that his visit was very positive.

Noting that economy experts and bankers and he had discussed the reforms, Taylor said that he would proceed to Ankara and continue holding contacts there.

Stressing that he was paying a visit to Turkey Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit's visit to the United States, Taylor said that many U.S. officials would pay visits to Turkey for economic partnership. Noting that he would give information to the U.S. President and other secretaries when he returned to the United States, Taylor said, ''together we will hold economic talks better. We will discuss new partnerships in economic growth.''

Responding a question, Taylor said that the reforms that the Turkish government had put into practice were very important and it was a path leading to a better economy.

Recalling that experts and he had also discussed constitutional amendments, Taylor said, ''implementation of these is also very important. However, I can say that it was a satisfying meeting.''

[15] CULTURE MINISTER TALAY GOES TO KAZAKHSTAN

Prior to his departure, Talay said TURKSOY was established ten years ago among Turkish speaking countries and it was an organization to increase cultural and artistic activities in this region of the world. During his stay in Kazakhstan, Talay will discuss the organization's activities.

The culture minister will also visit the Eurasia University built by the Turkish companies in Kazakstan.

[16] TURKISH-UKRANIAN INTERGOVERNMENTAL COMMERCIAL AND ECONOMIC COOPERATION COMMISSION 3RD TERM MEETING STARTS IN ANKARA

Karakoyunlu who heads the Turkish delegation said that they would make use of information and experiences of Ukranian Deputy Prime Minister Vasly Rohovyy and the delegation accompanying him, adding, ''this information and experience will contribute to development of our relations and birilliant future.''

Recalling that the trade volume between Turkey and Ukraine was 1.2 billion U.S. dollars, Karakoyunlu said that 980 million U.S. dollars part of this trade volume was imports from Ukraine by Turkey.

Karakoyunlu said that he believed both sides would expend every possible effort at the meeting to diversify the bilateral trade and balance it.

Recalling that Turkish contractors had undertaken commitments equal to 430 million U.S. dollars in Ukraine and they had completed 300 million U.S. dollars part, Karakoyunlu said that this amount proved the success of Turkish contractors.

''However, high customs duties imposed on the equipment that our contractors want to use it Ukraine constitute a serious problem. Turkish contractors are ready to convey their information and experiences in giant projects in Ukraine. As of today, 223 companies including joint ventures are making business in Ukraine. 23 million U.S. dollars have been brought to Ukraine as capital by Turkish businessmen. In return, Ukraine continues its trade with 34 businessmen in Turkey and total investments in Turkey is 300 thousand U.S. dollars,'' he said.

''Besides, the Turkish Eximbank has extended 20 million U.S. dollars loan to Ukraine. Ukraine can use this loan at any time but the Ukranian side should approve the agreement first,'' he said.

''There is not a concrete cooperation between Turkey and Ukraine in field of industry. However, there is high opportunity of cooperation in manufacturing, electronics and communications within scope of privatization in Ukraine. Besides, small and medium scale enterprises will have a very important place in development of relations,'' he said.

Karakoyunlu said that Ukraine had an important place regarding both transportation to Ukraine and transit transportation but there were serious problems in transportation and he believed a solution could be found at the meeting.

Recalling that local tax was being collected from Turkish vehicles especially in Odesa which was contrary to both agreements signed between Turkey and Ukraine to Ukraine's single tax law, Karakoyunlu said, ''despite the applications about this matter, a result has not been achieved yet.''

Noting that there were problems with Ukraine about the matter of visa, Karakoyunlu said that solution of this matter would make an important contribution to overcoming of problems.

Stressing that cooperation between Turkey and Ukraine was continuing successfully and removal of some problems would contribute to cooperation, Karakoyunlu said that the two countries could cooperate also in agriculture, industry, tourism and energy.

Meanwhile, Vasly Rohovyy said that bilateral economic and commercial relations would be improved as a result of these meetings and after solution of problems.

''Our relations have a ten-year history and during this period, our trade volume has increased by ten-fold. At today's meeting, preparatory works on Turkish President Ahmat Necdet Sezer's visit to Ukraine in coming days will be carried out. Our presidents targeted to double the bilateral trade volume. Our target is to open new fields in our cooperation,'' Rohovyy said.

A protocol is expected to be signed on Wednesday after the commission meeting.

[17] COMMISSION APPROVES 3 ARTICLES VETOED BY PRESIDENT WITHOUT ANY CHANGE

The law had been adopted on January 12, 2002 and President Sezer had vetoed articles 6 and 7 and temporary article 1 of the law on January 25, 2002 and sent them to the parliament for reconsideration.

Article 6 of the law states that the rule that personnel, who are not subject to provisions of special law can not work at state banks after December 31, 2002. Article 7 regulates supervision of autonomous committee, supreme committee and institutions which are connected to those. Provisional Article 1 of the law links responsibility of administration, inspection and discharge committees of the state banks to the provisions of special law that is implemented for private banks. It also says those members can not be considered civil servants according to the criminal and administration law.

These articles are expected to be taken up at the Parliamentary General Assembly on Wednesday.

[18] WORLD BANK TO GIVE USD 3 BILLION OF LOAN TO TURKEY IN 2002

Sources said on Tuesday that PSFSAL2 would have a libor+0.75 percent interest rate and seventeen-year maturity and there would not be redemption in first five years.

While the delegation continues its contacts in Turkey about PSFSAL2, the World Bank Board is expected to hold its meeting on this loan through the end of February.

The World Bank puts forward settlement of determination in restructuring of state banks and the action plan on ''Increase of Transparency and Development of Influent Public Management in Turkey'' on a legal basis as a condition of approval of PSFSAL2.

Meanwhile, World Bank Vice President for Europe and Central Asia Johannes Linn is expected to come to Turkey in the middle of February.

Linn will have contacts in Turkey about the additional financial aid that can be given to Turkey this year and the Country Assistance Strategy.

[19] 7 PEOPLE ARRESTED ON CHARGES OF FORCING PEOPLE TO WRITE PETITIONS DEMANDING ''KURDISH EDUCATION''

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