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Turkish Press Review 96-05-22Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>CONTENTS
TURKISH PRESS REVIEWWEDNESDAY MAY 22, 1996Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning[01] SOLANA IN TURKEYNATO Secretary-General Javier Solana, who is due in Turkey today for a visit, has reiterated that he is prepared to play a role in trying to activate a rapprochement between Turkey and Greece if the sides ask this of him. Underlining Turkey's continued importance for the North Atlantic alliance, Solana indicated that he did not think this importance would diminish in any way in the future. The NATO Secretary -General also lauded Turkey's "generous" role in the alliance's Implementation Force in Bosnia. This will be Solana's first visit to Turkey since he was appointed NATO secretary-general, and is being billed as an "orientation visit".Solana will meet with Foreign Minister Emre Gonensay today and with the Chief of General Staff and Defence Minister tomorrow. /Milliyet/ [02] EXPORTS CLIMB 11.7 %In the first four months of 1996, exports are expected to increase by 11.7 % to reach $7.6 billion, compared to the same period last year, according to provisional statistics provided by the Exporters Union. Increase in Turkish exports, which stood at 6.4 % in January and 3.2 % in February, jumped to 32.8 % in March. While automotive and electronics exports noticeably increased in the same period, textile and ready-wear exports stayed at the same level. /Milliyet/[03] GONENSAY WARNS US REGARDING PROVIDE COMFORTTurkish Foreign Minister Emre Gonensay, emerging from talks in Washington with US officials on Monday, remained firm on Turkey's insistence on an "all-round package deal" to problems over the Aegean between Ankara and Athens. Gonensay, who was on a working visit to Washington with a delegation of Foreign Ministry senior officials, mainly focused on Turkish-Greek relations and Operation Provide Comfort during the first day of his intensive contacts that included meetings with Secretary of State Warren Christopher, Secretary of Defence William Perry, National Security Adviser Anthony Lake, and Acting Assistant Secretary of State for European and Canadian Affairs John Kornblum. Gonensay met with Deputy Secretary of Energy Charles Curtis yesterday to discuss the future of the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline.Operation Provide Comfort (OPC) was one of the top items on Gonensay's agenda for discussions with his American counterparts. He said he drew a picture for the Americans which reflected the political frustration the Turkish people and Parliament were experiencing because of the ongoing imbalance of power that emerged in northern Iraq in the aftermath of the Gulf War. He said he conveyed DSP leader Ecevit's proposals to restructure OPC in a manner more congruent with the expectations of the Turkish Parliament. "Our suggestions were received positively, with understanding" he said. In a press conference after meeting with Christopher, Gonensay said that Turkey was determined to solve its Aegean disputes with Greece either through direct negotiations or through a "third-party mechanism" -but with one condition: "We consider all Aegean issues as interlinked" he said, referring to such issues as the limits of territorial waters; FIR demarcation; demilitarization of islands; airspace limits; and exploitation of the continental shelf. His US counterparts regarded the Turkish approach as both rational and congruent with international law, he said. /Cumhuriyet/ [04] ANKARA WELCOMES UN-IRAQ PIPELINE AGREEMENTAnkara has welcomed the signing of an agreement between the UN and Iraq that envisages a limited sale of Iraqi oil. Baghdad will export two billion dollars worth of oil in six months under the agreement.Ankara has made great efforts to achieve this end under the auspices of the UN and Baghdad for two years. Ankara expects that the deal will lead to a gradual abolition of the oil embargo imposed on Iraq and bring stability to Iraq. /Hurriyet/ [05] AMB.ULUCEVIK SPEAKS AT THE 49TH WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLYSpeaking at the 49th World Health Assembly, Turkey's permanent representative to the World Health Organization in Geneva, Ambassador Tugay Ulucevik said: "The world has become a global village and one thing that is certain is that diseases know no boundaries. Our aim is to establish a future in which disease and preventable deaths are eliminated". He noted that health has become a political, social and economic issue in many countries, and thus health issues are given the utmost importance. According to Ulucevik, health policies should go beyond the health sector, and inter-sectoral cooperation is needed. He said that a draft proposal for health care reform in Turkey had been prepared. /All papers/[06] GERMAN AMBASSADOR COMMENTS ON TURCO-GERMAN RELATIONSGerman Ambassador to Ankara Dr.Hans-Joachim Vergau gave a conference on Turco-German relations at Edirne Chamber of Trade. Vergau expressed his pleasure that the assasination attempt against President Demirel had failed. He noted that Germany would not receive warmly a Turkish government aiming to alienate Turkey from Europe. Commenting on German policy regarding Turkey's full membership in the European Union, Ambassador Vergau said that Turkey being a Muslem country was not an obstacle to its being accepted into the EU. "Since 1963, Turkey and Europe have experienced important changes. Efforts to set a definite date for the acception of Turkey into the EU on the grounds of the Ankara Agreement is not realistic," Vergau added. /Milliyet/[07] ANNULMENT OF TURCO-ISRAELI AGREEMENT ON THE AGENDASome negative impacts of the Turco-Israeli agreement for military cooperation recently signed between the two countries may force Turkey to withdraw from the agreement. At a party group meeting yesterday, Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz noted that the agreement had brought more damage than benefit to Turkey, since nobody had managed to convince the Arab countries that this was nothing more than a simple agreement for training cooperation. In reply to a related question, National Defence Minister Oltan Sungurlu pointed out that an annulment of the agreement was possible".The agreement has led to strong reactions among the muslem countries especially after Israel attacked the Hizbullah Cana camp. The incident involving Ibrahim Gumrukcuoglu, who attempted to murder President Suleyman Demirel also stemmed from negative reaction to the agreement. /Milliyet/ Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |