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Turkish Press Review 96-06-06Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>CONTENTS
TURKISH PRESS REVIEWTHURSDAY JUNE 6, 1996Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning[01] TUSIAD OPENS OFFICE IN BRUSSELSThe Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association (TUSIAD), has opened an office in Brussels expressly for the benefit of Turkish business and trade circles at home and in Europe.While in Brussels on an official visit, Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz attended the opening ceremony together with Turkish and European officials. The office will be a "Turkish base" in Europe, designed to develop ties between the Turkish business sectors and the European Union (EU). /Hurriyet/ [02] WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY MARKED WITH SPEECHESWorld Environment Day was marked by President Suleyman Demirel with a message in which he expressed optimism that worldwide awareness of the dangers of environmental destruction was leading to the issue being addressed before it was too late. Demirel defended Turkey's determination to continue its economic development with the doctrine of "sustainable development" and said: "This is a problem of balances. Conservation of the environment by abandoning development is not an adequate way. We are not candidates to be the poor watchdogs of rich resources".Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz pointed out in his message the importance of international cooperation in the solution of environmental problems. Yilmaz said: "The Habitat II conference in Istanbul discusses the environment as well as other issues, and guests from around the world are engaged in an exchange of knowledge to initiate significant decisions and determine common positions on environmental issues". /All papers/ [03] TURKISH AND JAPANESE TALKS START TOMORROWTurkish Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Onur Oymen departed for Tokyo yesterday to attend high level political talks with his Japanese counterpart Ambassador Shunji Yanai. Oymen's talks will concentrate on bilateral and international issues and will take place within the framework of the political consultation mechanism that exists between the two countries. The talks, which will be the fifth such meeting between the sides, are due to begin on Friday. /All papers/[04] TURKEY URGES INVESTIGATION OF ISLAND'S STATUSTurkey yesterday called for an investigation into the legal status of a Mediterranean island. Foreign Ministry Spokesman Omer Akbel told reporters yesterday, during a regular briefing, that the trouble arose when Greece attempted a "fait accompli" and tried to have Gavdos an island near Crete included in the NATO exercise. "It should be investigated whether this Gavdos island is also among the islets whose status needs to be determined" Akbel said. "Our representative in the NATO meeting did not make a political but a technical announcement that an investigation into the legal status of this island was needed" Akbel said. A NATO exercise around Crete will take place this autumn. Akbel said Gavdos island had not reached the stage of being disputed territory. "After the investigation, if necessary, the status of the island might be the subject of dispute" he said. /Cumhuriyet/[05] GHALI APOLOGIZES TO TURKEYUN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali's "feelings toward Turkey are nothing but the most friendly, warm, cordial and respectful" his spokesman said yesterday. Ahmad Fawzi made the comment in responding to reports in the Turkish-language press quoting various Turkish political figures as attacking Ghali for referring to the "Federal Republic of Turkey" at Monday's opening session of the Habitat II conference. He said the reference to Turkey as a "federal republic" was included in notes prepared by the conference undersecretariat and "put in front of the secretary general seconds before" he was to introduce Turkish President Suleyman Demirel on Monday. The notes contained this mistake four times, Fawzi said, but Ghali caught it on the second reference. Fawzi "once again" apologized on behalf of the secretariat for making the error and on behalf of the secretary general for "not having caught the mistake for the first time".Meanwhile, it is reported that a meeting, due to be held yesterday between Ghali and President Rauf Denktas of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), will be held today. /Cumhuriyet-Hurriyet-Sabah/ [06] TURKEY-EU MEETINGSThe Maritime Undersecretariat and the Southeast Anatolia Project (GAP) Regional Development Administration were also included in the "Coordination Council of the European Communities" to improve cooperation between the European Communities and Turkey following the customs union. A circular regarding this issue has been sent to related departments by Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz. /Cumhuriyet/[07] IRAN RECEIVES A 10 % SHAREIran has received a 10 % share from $4 billion worth of a project pertaining to Azerbaijan in the Caspian Sea. Ankara has expressed its satisfaction over the agreement signed between Baku and the consortium in which the Turkish Petroleum Board (TPAO) has a 9 % share. Even though the US has been worried about Iran's share, it is reported that the consortium needs Tehran's cooperation to operate the project. /Cumhuriyet/[08] TENSION IN TURCO-EGYPTIAN RELATIONSAnkara has expressed "surprise" over remarks by Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa concerning the military cooperation accords concluded between Turkey and Israel. Turkish Foreign Ministry Spokesman Omer Akbel said at his press conference yesterday that the Egyptian Ambassador in Ankara had been summoned to the Foreign Ministry for an explanation. Amr Moussa was quoted as saying in a statement to the official Syrian daily Tishreen that Turkish-Israeli military cooperation would cause the establishment of new pacts and subsequently new clashes in the Middle East. "When Amr Moussa was in Ankara (in May) he met with President Suleyman Demirel and Turkish Foreign Minister Emre Gonensay. After these meetings Moussa expressed his satisfaction over the information furnished him about the Turkish-Israeli agreement. We cannot understand these remarks of his now and meet them with great surprise" Akbel said.The Egyptian Ambassador told journalists after the meeting at the Turkish Foreign Ministry that Moussa did not use any expression against Turkey and added that his statement was not different from those he had made in Ankara. /Milliyet/ [09] TURKEY AMONGST TOP FORTY HOUSING PROJECTSIn a housing project competition organized by Habitat II, the UN sponsored conference on world housing currently being held in Istanbul, a Turkish project placed among the top forty entrants out of 600.The project, a satellite urbanization project for Ankara, although highly placed did not make it into the top twelve projects which won special awards. During the presentation ceremony by UN Secretary General Boutros-Ghali, Ghali noted that the top twelve projects perticularly reflected the need for close cooperation between the government and the private sector-especially in connection with resolving the huge housing problem. /Cumhuriyet/ [10] HABITAT DELEGATES ACCEPT "ISTANBUL MANIFESTO"Delegates attending the giant Habitat II conference on world city and housing problems yesterday voted in favour of the "Istanbul Manifesto" on protection of the environment and the need for more effort to preserve what there is left of the world's natural resources.In a later statement it was stressed that the manifesto urged new ways of protecting the environment and called for more determination to preserve the natural heritage of mankind. /Cumhuriyet/ [11] GERMAN MINISTER TOURS NEW HOUSING ESTATEGerman Housing Minister Klaus Topfer and an accompanying delegation toured the Esenkent housing project near Istanbul, and examined one of the houses in detail.Esenkent officials noted that the project and other similar projects connected to other large cities in Turkey were designed to do away with slum suburbs and hastily built poor quality housing schemes. The German delegation was briefed on the projects and was later given lunch along the Bosphorus. Local administrations in Turkey have also been encouraged by the news that top World Bank official Koch-Weser has announced a new funding package that Turkish city authorities will be able to benefit from. The 15 billion dollar aid package will be open to local authorities struggling to resolve city urbanization problems without the cast resources. /Cumhuriyet/ [12] NEW GUARANTEES FOR BOSNIA INVESTMENTSThe World bank is setting up a new fund to safeguard investors in Bosnia concerned about the political risk involved. The fund will guarantee the investments of companies and individuals now looking for new markets in the re-building of Bosnia. Although the fund project is only at the drawing-board stage, World Bank expert Peter Glenshaw has been in contact with the Turkish Economic Relations Board (DEIK), for its views on the Bosnia situation. /Sabah/[13] TURCO-ISRAELI COOPERATION IN ACTIONTurco-Israeli relations, which improved after a visit to Israel in 1993 by the then Foreign Minister Hikmet Cetin, resulted in reapprochement between the two countries. Bilateral cooperation in the modernization of Turkish F-4 and F-16 fighter plane pilot training are concrete consequences of improving Turco-Israeli friendship. According to Turkish Air Force Commander General Ahmet Corekci, the F-4 jets will be equipped with radar produced by the Israeli Elta company, and as a result of this modernization, a flying F-4 jet will be able to locate ground targets as well as targets in the air. This modernization will improve the deterrent power of Turkey against countries like Syria possessing SAM misiles. /Cumhuriyet/[14] KIRKUK-YUMURTALIK PIPELINE WORKING AGAINInactive for five years as a result of the UN embargo imposed against Iraq after the Gulf War, the Kirkuk-Yumurtalik pipeline was brought into operation again last Thursday. According to the new accord reached between Iraq and the UN, 450 thousand barrels of oil will be pumped through daily and sold on the international market. Iraqi Oil Minister Amir Mohammed Reshid noted that the oil will be transported via Ceyhan Port in the Mediterranean and Bekir Port in the Gulf. In exchange for the oil, Iraq will bug food and medicine. Reshid pointed out that Iraqi oil resources were rich enough to meet the needs of the region as well as of Europe and added that Turkey and Iraq were discussing the joint construction of a pipeline to carry Iraqi oil through Turkey to Europe. /Sabah/Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |