Turkish Daily News, 96-05-09
From: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>
TURKISH DAILY NEWS
9 May 1996
CONTENTS
[01] Turkey's chase after PKK militants turns into a cross-border
operation
[02] Turkey may visit Eurobond market by early June
[03] World apparel convention ends after two-day focus on business
[04] Parliament to vote on Ciller inquiry today
[01] Turkey's chase after PKK militants turns into a cross-border
operation
15 PKK militants reported killed during the attacks
TDN staff with Wire Dispatches
ANKARA- Turkish troops have intensified their attacks on
Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) bases since Sunday, turning their
mission into a cross-operation.
Fifteen militants were killed on Wednesday during assaults by
Turkish troops backed by U.S.-made Cobra helicopter gunships,
the semi-official Anatolia news agency reported.
Quoting regional sources, Anatolia said operations had been underway
for several days, but that troops had penetrated up to 10 kilometers
inside northern Iraq while chasing a number of PKK militants on
Tuesday.
Also on Tuesday an Iraqi group, the Kurdistan Democratic Party
(KDP), accused Turkey of damaging a village and forcing scores
of civilians to flee their homes due to long-range artillery shelling
and bombing by planes.
The KDP said that the Turkish artillery had rained more than 60
shells on the Iraqi side of the border near Terwanish over three
days.
Turkish authorities remained silent about the operation, although
Chief of Staff General Ismail Hakki Karadayi is currently on a
visit to the Emergency Rule region along with many other high-ranking
military officials.
Karadayi paid a visit to Necati Bilican, governor of the Emergency
Rule region in Diyarbakir, to congratulate Bilican on his new
post and wish him success.
"The second purpose of our visit is to be briefed on the
latest developments in the region," Karadayi was quoted as
saying.
Anatolia did not say how many troops were involved in the operation.
"Security forces began a cross-border operation three days
ago. They went about eight or ten kilometers into northern Iraq,"
a military official based in eastern Turkey told Reuters.
He said about 35,000 troops had been deployed for some time along
the Iraqi border, concentrating on short-range missions.
"But now Cobra helicopters are also supporting the troops'
operation (further into Iraq)," the military official said.
Around 35,000 Turkish troops spent six weeks in northern Iraq
last spring but failed to oust PKK forces there.
(TDN, 09.05.1996, page 1)
[02] Turkey may visit Eurobond market by early June
Reuters
ANKARA- Turkey may visit Eurobond markets with an issue
of some $300 to $500 million by early June, despite prolonged
economic problems and low credit ratings, Turkish bankers said
on Tuesday.
They say the maturity of the issue could be between three and
five years. Turkey, which tapped samurai markets with 75 billion
yen worth of five-year bonds in April, is expected to give a mandate
for the Eurodollar deal soon.
It is also expected to raise some 30 billion yen this month under
a Medium Term Note (MTN) program set up last year, government
officials said.
Turkey is planning to borrow $2.5 billion on international capital
markets this year. It has already raised about $1.1 billion through
the samurai and two earlier Euro issues -- a 500 million mark
and a 10 yen billion issue.
"Sentiment is positive. It will be more positive if Turkey
reaches an accord with the International Monetary Fund (IMF),"
said an official from a state-owned bank.
Turkey is expected to resume negotiations with the IMF for a new
stand-by arrangement later this month. An IMF team is expected
to arrive in Turkey on May 14 for consultations.
Turkey's sound record in debt servicing, despite economic ills
and low credibility, helps it borrow abroad. Turkey repaid its
debts on time in 1994 with no international financial support
when its economy was hit by a severe economic crisis.
Turkey currently has a B-plus rating with a stable outlook from
Standard & Poor's and Ba3 from Moody's.
Bankers and officials expect no upgrading in these ratings in
the near term and say Turkey first needs to make progress in key
structural reforms to curb big deficits and high inflation.
Economists say political instability, sparked by general discord
between the partners of the uneasy conservative coalition, and
a lack of consensus on structural reforms within the ruling alliance,
is the major obstacle facing the country's efforts to further
improve its foreign borrowing performance.
Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz said on Monday the coalition would
send a series of draft laws to parliament in the coming weeks
to increase state revenues through taxing unregistered gains and
reform loss-making social security institutions.
The minority coalition needs suport from the left-wing Democratic
Left Party (DSP) to pass the drafts from the general assembly.
The DSP hindered efforts to privatize state firms and reform pension
funds in the past.
Turkish banks, which borrowed about $1.5 billion via one-year
syndicated loan deals last year at spreads of more than 100 basis
points, are active in the markets again this year. They have pulled
down their borrowing costs below 100 bps and are trying to extend
maturities to two years.
They have signed or launched deals worth over $530 million so
far this year, despite political uncertainty that began when the
right-left government collapsed in September, leading to inconclusive
December polls and weeks of alliance talks.
Three of the deals had a final maturity of two years with put
options. A $100-million one-year syndicated loan for the state-run
Halk Bank, which will close on Friday, is expected to be oversubscribed,
bankers say.
Some other Turkish banks are likely to go into the loan markets
in coming weeks.
(TDN, 09.05.1996, page 2)
[03] World apparel convention ends after two-day focus on business
Turkish Daily News
ISTANBUL- The 12th World Apparel Convention concluded Wednesday
at Ciragan Palace with the final session on "the place of
fashion in our lives." The convention, entitled "The
Winds of Enterprise," was organized by the International
Apparel Federation (IAF) and was attended by 600 Turkish and foreign
delegates.
The government interest in the convention was noted by both the
participants and the media. President Suleyman Demirel sent a
message of goodwill and welcomed the foreign participants to the
convention. At the opening ceremony of the convention on Tuesday,
Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz delivered the introductory speech,
in which he pointed to the growing potential of the Turkish textile
and clothing industry and invited foreign textile investment in
Turkey.
The convention was chaired by Hasan Arat, the chairman of the
IAF, and Turan Sarigulle, the chairman of the Turkish Clothing
Manufacturers' Association (TGSD).
The first session of the convention chaired by Peter G. Brown
of Kurt Salmon Associates was on "Global Consumer Behavior"
in which world-famous trademarks and consultant firms presented
theses on the subject with the participation of Vitali Hakko of
Vakko, Vakifbank General Manager Fehmi Gultekin, J.A.M. Kamp of
C & A and Gaetano Marzotto of the Marzotto Group.
In the afternoon session on "A Detailed Analysis of the Developing
Markets," chaired by Jerry J. Weinfuss of the EDS, the effects
of the new age of communication and transport industries and the
role of politics in the new markets were discussed. This session
had the participation of Herbert Hein of Karstadt AG, Mustafa
Taviloglu of Mudo, Onder Eren of Quiksilver, Peter A. Jacobi of
Levi's International, Mehmet Ali Babaoglu of Orta Anadolu and
Dr. J. Adamicek of Textilwirthshaft.
In the last session of the first day of the convention the subject
of "Strategic Cooperation in the Developing Markets"
was discussed. Speakers of this session, which was chaired by
IBM's Daniel J. Sweeny, included John Adams of Russell Corp.,
Frans Van der Velde of Scotch & Soda BV, Ted Wachtmeister
of H & M, Safa Ocak of TSKB and Karl H. Schwarz of Textilwirthshaft.
British young stylists win the IAF prize
In the evening of the first day of the gathering, the prizes in
the first IAF Young Stylists Competition were presented.
British designers Ren Pearce and Andrew Fionda were voted the
winners of the competition, winning the IAF Prize while Umit Unal
of Turkey, who came second, was presented with the TGSD Prize
and Jaana Seppa of Finland won the Beymen Prize for coming third.
The second Young Stylists Competition will take place in May next
year in Hong Kong.
World Forum of Clothing Manufacturers
In the second day of the International Apparel Convention, the
World Forum of Clothing Manufacturers was held with the participation
of the Central Asian republics, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland,
Tunisia, the Russian Federation and Pakistan.
Russian Deputy Minister of Textile, Valentine Lebedev, said the
Russian apparel industry can only survive with foreign investment
and supply of raw materials from abroad while Turkmenistan's Deputy
Minister of Textile Ahmet Calik declared their target as $2 billion
textile exports for next year. The Kyrgyzstan deputy minister
of industry and trade, Ergesh Tilekmatov, informed the forum about
the privatization of the Kyrgyzstanian textile industry, and in
his address the Kazakhstan representative, Kiara Amreeva, pointed
to the role of outdated machinery as a factor in limiting Kazakhstan's
success in the textile industry and also invited foreign investment.
Hayrettin Somun, the ambassador of Bosnia-Herzegovina to Turkey,
asked those who wish to trade with his country to bring their
investments, at least in part into Bosnia-Herzegovina itself.
The Azerbeijan ambassador, Mehmet Aliev Nevruzoglu, pointed out
in his speech that although Azerbeijan is known for its rich oil
industry, his country is also rich regarding textile products.
Polish Ambassador Heusel Wojciech elaborated on the economic problems
of Poland while highlighting the signs of recovery in the Polish
economy at the same time.
Pakistan Consulate General Rahat Ulain said that 60 percent of
Pakistani exports are textile products while the Tunisian representative,
Hedi Charfi, said that that country had realized $2.5 billion
worth of textile exports last year, placing Tunisia fifth in textile
exports to Europe after China, Hong Kong, Turkey and India.
(TDN, 09.05.1996, page 2)
[04] Parliament to vote on Ciller inquiry today
The number of votes in favor of the RP probe into the TOFAS bidding
process is expected to exceed 300
DSP says its own research indicates an investigation of Ciller
is necessary
TDN Parliament Bureau
ANKARA- Parliament will vote today on a second motion introduced
by the main opposition Welfare Party (RP) for an investigation
of True Path Party (DYP) Chairwoman Tansu Ciller's alleged corruption
in the automotive concern TOFAS.
Ciller has been accused of irregularities in the bidding process
in the privatization of TOFAS.
Besides the RP, other parliamentary opposition parties, namely
the Republican People's Party (CHP) and the Grand Unity Party
(BBP) will back the motion. After making the necessary examination
in regard to the issue, the opposition Democratic Left Party (DSP),
which backs the coalition but is not a partner, has decided that
the inquiry should go ahead.
The passage of a parliamentary motion late April regarding the
launching of an inquiry into Ciller, concerning the alleged corruptions
at TEDAS, led to a crisis of confidence between the coalition
partners. The motion, which was also introduced by the pro-Islamic
RP, was passed by 232 votes to 179 in the 550-seat Parliament
in a secret vote, during which 32 deputies from Mesut Yilmaz's
Motherland Party (ANAP) apparently voted in favor of the investigation.
Reportedly, the number of ANAP deputies who will vote in favor
of the TOFAS inquiry during today's parliamentary session might
number up to 60. The total number of votes in favor of the motion
is expected to be exceed 300.
Although Ciller had earlier announced that she would vote for
the TOFAS probe, her DYP colleagues are expected to vote against
the motion. However, Ciller's intraparty opponents may reportedly
either not attend the vote, as was the case during the TEDAS vote,
or some might vote in favor.
Prior to the vote of the TOFAS inquiry, the DYP Parliamentary
Group Administration distributed a booklet to all DYP deputies
attacking the legal basis for an inquiry. Professor Zeki Hafizogullari
gave legal advice in which he said that the motion against Ciller
should be rejected. Hafizogullari said in the booklet that the
issue cannot be made the subject of a parliamentary inquiry because
there already exists a finalized court ruling in regard to the
disputed matter.
However, an investigation carried out by a committee set up within
the DSP parliamentary group has yielded an opposite opinion. Briefing
his group about the outcome of his studies, Zekeriya Temizel said
that the court ruling had related to the TOFAS bidding commission.
"The investigation of the alleged irregularities may bring
to the surface the reasons which led Ciller to open the sealed
bidding envelope," Temizel said.
Pointing out that he and his colleagues had carried out their
investigations by listening to all concerned, Temizel said that
under existing Turkish legislation, the opening of the sealed
bidding envelopes by the prime minister could not be accepted.
Temizel noted that the bidding was opened for selection of a firm
which would market $600 million dollar state shares in TOFAS.
He said that the sealed envelopes which contained the final offers
of two competing firms, requested by the tender commission, were
opened by Ciller at the prime minister's residence. He said that
under the law, the envelopes should have been opened in front
of the tender commission.
Temizel said that although it was the Interbank-Schroder group
which had won the tender by making the lowest bid, the Finansbank-
Lehman
group was also given the tender, in violation of bidding conditions.
He added that both groups were given excess payments ranging between
$550,000 and $750,000.
(TDN, 09.05.1996, page 5)
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