TRKNWS-L Turkish Daily News (January 29, 1996)

From: TRKNWS-L <trh@aimnet.com>

Turkish News Directory

CONTENTS

TURKISH DAILY NEWS

29 January 1996

[01] Turkish tourism hits new high in 1995

Turkish Daily News

ANKARA- In a record year for Turkish tourism, 7.7 million tourists visited Turkey in 1995. The Tourism Ministry said the number of tourist arrivals in the country has been increasing steadily since the end of the year, marking a 15.8 percent increase in visitors compared to the previous year.

A total of 7,726,471 tourists visited the country in 1995, whereas the corresponding figure for 1994 was 6,670,618, according to Tourism Ministry statistics. Officials said this represented a great boost for the Turkish tourism industry.

The greatest number of arrivals since the start of the season have been from Germany, totalling 1,656,310 in 1995.

With alternative tourism attracting more and more people due to changing attitudes to traditional sun, sea and sand holidays, the Tourism Ministry is publicizing winter tourism, hunting, underwater sports and tracking.

Officials said their new project, entitled "Four Seasons, Twelve Months in Turkey," aimed to make the most of the potential for alternative tourism throughout the country and to promote its attractions around the world.

There were 2,300 tourism centers in Turkey, expected to grow to 3,300 soon, and 2,300 travel agencies, officials added.

There has been development in the Black Sea tourism sector in recent years, especially since 1988, when the Sarp border gate was opened. Officials said that travel agencies had contributed greatly to the expansion with their promotional work.

The Turkish Tourism Ministry has launched a five-year project, "Faith Tour 95," to promote Turkey and to open Muslim, Christian and Jewish sanctuaries to visitors.

Officials said that 61 people, including clergy members, academics and the press, had been invited to participate in the nine-day tour last year, which was scheduled to pass through places determined by the Tourism Ministry from 316 sites between Istanbul and Adana.

Ministry officials added that "faith tourism" would increase the number of tourist arrivals and the flow of foreign currency into the country by promoting valuable Muslim, Christian and Jewish works of art and sites of significance.

Talking about winter tourism, officials said that their aim was to increase the share of winter tourism within foreign tourism as a whole, so that it became a mass touristic activity.

Skiing complexes and centers in other countries were studied, and a national structure and minimum standard level has been established. Turkey has high mountains and lots of snow, making it ideal for winter sports.

Turkish tourism has been growing every day because of Turkey's weather, natural beauty, historical sites, and the hospitality of its people.

[02] Turkish undersecretary in China

ANKARA- At a time when the U.N. Security Council prepares to take on issues vital for Turkey such as a new coordinator for Cyprus and the flushing of oil through the Iraqi pipeline, Turkish Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Onur Oymen paid a visit to China, one of the permanent members of the council.

"We are exchanging views on a variety of issues. Our views on a number of issues, such as the Bosnian question, are very close," Oymen told the Anatolia news agency in Beijing. "We hope that the U.N. will play a more effective role, and then we can cooperate with China further." Oymen stressed to China the need to reform the United Nations.

He also took the opportunity to assure China that the Uygurs, or Uighurs, a group of people of Turkish heritage living in Xinjiang, would serve as a bridge for friendship between the two people.

"We have close ties. Millions of Turkish-speaking people live in China, and we want to see them as a bridge for friendship, an element of economic and cultural cooperation, between the two countries," he said.

Oymen said that he had conveyed the invitation of President Suleyman Demirel to Chinese President Jian Zhemin to visit Turkey. He added that a visit of the Turkish foreign minister was also on the agenda.

Official reflects confidence over Baku-Supsa oil pipeline

Pipeline's Coordinator Bilsel Alisbah says that accepting Turkey's financing proposals for this line will expedite work on Baku-Ceyhan line

Turkish Daily News

ANKARA- Bilsel Alisbah, an advisor to the prime minister and the coordinator in charge of pipelines, has said that an acceptance of Ankara's proposal for financing a proposed pipeline to run between the Azeri capital Baku and Supsa on Georgia's Black Sea coast would give Turkey an important advantage.

Alisbah told the Anatolia news agency on Friday that this development would also expedite work by Turkey on a proposed line between Baku and Ceyhan on Turkey's Mediterranean coast.

Alisbah said they would push the Azerbaijan International Operating Company (AIOC), an offshoot of the multinational consortium set up for processing Caspian oil, to opt for Turkey's financing proposal during a meeting the company is due to hold on Feb. 9.

He expressed confidence that by Feb. 19, when a final meeting on the subject is planned in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, Turkey's proposal will have been accepted.

Alisbah added that the "upper limit" of Turkey's financing proposal for the Baku-Supsa line was $250 million, and said that they would seek to ensure that at least 51 percent of the construction work for this pipeline is carried out by Turkish companies.

Indicating that he will join a delegation of Turkish officials going to Washington on Jan. 29 for talks on Azeri early oil, Alisbah went on to say that while in the U.S. capital they will also meet with World Bank officials concerning the proposed Baku-Ceyhan pipeline.

[03] Rock-islands cause new tension between Turkey and Greece

ANKARA- The Turco-Greek tensions caused by two "rock-islands" in the Aegean Sea has increased over the weekend when Greek Foreign Minister Theodoros Pangalos accused Ankara of "trying to force Greece to the negotiation table." Pangalos, who has previously declared the matter "closed for Greece," announced over the weekend that he was "worried" about the Turkish intentions.

"Turkey's aim is to force us to the negotiation table regarding the status of the rocks and the uninhabited islands," he said in a program on the private television channel Antenna.

"I am worried because Turks do nothing by coincidence." Ankara has started a legal and technical study regarding the status of the rocks and uninhabited islands in the Aegean Sea.

Some Turkish officials indicated that the two Aegean neighbors should bilaterally discuss the situation on the basis of two agreements, one made in 1932 between Turkey and Italy, who then had the 12 islands, and a 1947 agreement between Italy and Greece, giving the islands to Greece.

Pangalos claimed that the Turks were not interested in particular in Imia -- the two rock-islands which have caused the exchange of demarches between the two countries -- but the whole set of rocks and islands.

"The Turks are using Imia as a new cause of friction," Pangalos said. "They want to force us to the negotiation table, but we must insist on our views. I am sure that the recent events have shown those who advocate talks with Turkey on all issues that they are wrong." Turkey, meanwhile, is preparing to convey its views to Greece once more. The Turkish note, expected to be given in the coming days, will stress once more the Turkish view that the island is Turkey's.

[04] Turkish brigade to be responsible for "zone of separation"

Turkish Daily News

ZENICA, Bosnia- Turkish reinforcements, including troops, armor and artillery units arrived in Bosnia over the weekend to start duty in their extended area of responsibility.

With the new arrivals the Turkish contingent, which has been in Zenica in central Bosnia for two years, becomes a brigade, and its capability and operational range will increase.

The new equipment includes seven armored fighters, ten armored personnel carriers and 26 containers.

The mechanized division, a subdivision of the Turkish contribution to the Implementation Force (IFOR), will be in Sarajevo in the coming days to guard IFOR headquarters.

The Turkish brigade will now be responsible for part of a "zone of separation," covering 1,850 square kilometers -- 1,000 square kilometers larger than it had been two months ago.

The "zone of separation" is formed by two regions -- the Bosnian side and the Serbian side. This area has been located between the two sides' lands at the border, according to the Dayton accords signed in November 1995.

The Turkish patrols will monitor the region on a day-to-day basis. Under the rules of the Dayton accord, the zone of separation is an area where no one can carry arms, except the patrols.

Turkish military officials point out that the Serbians have good relations with the Turkish soldiers, and proposed them to stay in their lands "to protect them from Bosnians." After hundreds of years, Turks have returned to these lands, not for conquest but to bring help to those who need it. Part of the Turkish soldiers' duty is to help the people of Zenica in building new facilities or rebuilding those that had been destroyed.

The Turks have so far distributed 30,000 food packages in the region, as well as rebuilding 15 schools.