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Turkish Press Review 96-06-12Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>CONTENTS
TURKISH PRESS REVIEWWEDNESDAY JUNE 12, 1996Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning[01] DEMIREL AND WEIZMAN DISCUSS PEACE PROCESSPresident Suleyman Demirel and visiting Israeli President Ezer Weizman met in Istanbul yesterday and discussed the Middle East peace process in the wake of Israel's general elections. Israeli Prime Minister-elect Benjamin Netanyahu said that under his leadership Israel's policy toward Turkey would continue unchanged, and gave this message to Weizman to extend to Demirel. It is reported that after visiting the US in the near future, Netanyahu will also pay a visit to Turkey.Weizman, in Turkey for Habitat II, told reporters after the one-hour meeting at the Lutfi Kirdar Congress Centre that the peace process would continue, despite the election of Likud bloc leader Benjamin Netanyahu as Israel's new prime minister. Weizman also said the Arab nations need not fear an Israeli military agreement with Turkey. "This is a military training agreement not a military pact. If they, the Arab nations, believe the two countries will stage a grand attack on Syria, this is absolutely stupid" he added. Meanwhile, Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto arrived in Istanbul yesterday to attend the Habitat II City Summit. Bhutto met President Demirel and will meet Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz. She said: "We will exchange views regarding bilateral, regional and international problems". While the Tanzanian Deputy Head of State came to Istanbul the previous day, heads of state of Albania, Kenya, Uganda, Bulgaria, prime ministers of Burundi, Gine Bissau, Cibuti and Armenia and deputy prime ministers of Lesotho, Turkmenistan, Moldova and the People's Republic of China arrived in Istanbul yesterday. Istanbul has been included in the Mega-Cities project which aims to bring common solutions to common problems by an exchange of experience among big cities of the world. The Mega-Cities project, which was drawn up by Dr.Janice Perlman in 1986, celebrated its 10th anniversary in Habitat and included Istanbul as the 19th Mega-City. /Hurriyet-Cumhuriyet/ [02] DEFENCE MINISTER SUNGURLU VISITS BELGIUMDefence Minister Oltan Sungurlu is going to Brussels to attend NATO meetings there and a dinner in which the defence ministers of the European countries will participate. Sungurlu will attend meetings of the Defence Planning Committee, the Nuclear Planning Group and the North Atlantic Council on June 13. On June 14, Sungurlu will attend a meeting of defence ministers, and return on June 15. /All papers/[03] GERMANY WARNS GREECE ABOUT ANTI-TURKEY VETOGerman Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel, speaking to his Greek counterpart Theodoros Pangalos, warned that Greece should stop trying to block the road to customs union with Turkey.Talking with Pangalos in Berlin, Kinkel said that Germany did not want to see the present tension between Turkey and Greece continue. In order to put relations on a better footing, Kinkel recommended that Greece review its stance about its veto against European Union (EU) financial aid to Turkey through the customs union agreement. /Hurriyet/ [04] ARMENIA SUPPORTS FULL EU MEMBERSHIP FOR TURKEYJust prior to making a three day official visit to France, Armenian Head of State Levon Ter Petrosyan said that his country would welcome Turkey's full membership in the European Union. Petrosyan said that Armenia too would benefit from Turkey's inclusion in the Union. /Hurriyet/[05] GONENSAY COMMENTS ON AEGEAN SITUATIONForeign Minister Emre Gonensay, commenting on the Aegean Sea situation, said that problems in the region stemmed from uncertainties. He noted that Turkey had not given way in the region, but rather, was still open to dialogue and was ready to reach a compromise agreement. Stressing this point, Gonensay said that "this was the only way to solve the problem."Shortly after making his comments, Gonensay set off for Luxembourg preparatory to attending an EU meeting in Florence, Italy, where it appears that the Greek veto against Turkey will be taken up at higher levels. Gonensay has already informed the EU meeting that Greece has done its best to foment problems with Turkey-first by creating the Kardak islets problem and then by raising the question of sovereignty over the Gavdos island near Crete. /All papers/ [06] RED CERSCENT CELEBRATES 129TH ANNIVERSARYKemal Demir, chairman of the Red Crescent, said that the number of blood donations is rising but the organization needs more. At a press conference called on the occasion of the 129th anniversary of the Red Crescent, Demir said that the organization was working on establishing a site from where the whole country's blood product needs could be met. Demir said that a medical centre would be opened in Istanbul in one or two months time and that the Red Crescent had sent medical materials, in the range of 12,850 tons, to 15 countries since the beginning of 1995 and added that they had sent about 10,000 tons of food, medicine, medical materials and clothing to Bosnia-Herzegovina.President Suleyman Demirel sent a celebratory message to Demir in which he said that the Red Crescent carried out its services not only in Turkey but also abroad giving help to anybody, no matter what nationality or religion they were. "The Red Crescent has given aid worth over $200 million to 42 different countries in the last five years. It has also given money aid, in different amounts, to 24 other countries" Demirel said. Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz also sent a congratulatory message to Demir. "The Red Crescent is a symbol of solidarity, equality and kindness. We are proud of it due to its efforts to improve tolerance, friendship, respect and peace between people" Yilmaz said. /All papers/ [07] AUTO INDUSTRY EXPORTS UP 48 % IN JANUARY-MAYExports by Turkish motor vehicle and parts producers rose by 48 % in January-May 1996 to $575 million from $387.38 million in the same 1995 period, the Association of Turkish Automotive Industry (OSD) said in a statement. Exports of motor vehicles made up $244.05 million of the total amount, up 132 % from January-May 1995. Automotive parts exports increased by 17 % to $330.96 million over the same period.Bus exports boomed by 179 % up to $82.47 million in the first five months of 1996 from a previous $29.59 million. Car exports leapt by 169 % to $141.3 million from $52.6 million in the first five months of last year. Turkish automotive exports rose sharply to $1.19 billion in 1995 from $750.3 million in 1994. /All papers/ [08] AZERI PRESIDENT ALIYEV LAUDS ANKARA-BAKU TIESPresident of Azerbaijan, Haydar Aliyev, said yesterday that relations between his country and Turkey were unique in the world and added that these relations were based on "special factors". Aliyev made these remarks while receiving a delegation from the Turkish Parliament which is in Baku to attend a meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization (BSEC). Aliyev noted that Azerbaijan had been trying over the past five years under very tough conditions to preserve its independence. He said that the biggest obstacle facing them today was the dispute with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh, a predominantly Armenian enclave within Azerbaijan. Aliyev stated that his country obtained the most support for its position vis-a-vis this problem from Turkey.Speaking on behalf of the Turkish delegation, Kamer Genc, a deputy speaker for the Parliament, said that Turkey considered Azerbaijan's problems as if they were its own problems. Genc said that the two countries had to support each other in every international forum. /All papers/ [09] 12 PKK MILITANTS KILLEDTurkish security forces killed 12 militants of the PKK terrorist organization during separate clashes in the southeast of Turkey, security officials said yesterday. The emergency rule regional governor's office said in a statement that 12 PKK terrorists were killed in Bitlis, Hakkari, Diyarbakir and Tunceli provinces. The statement did not say when the clashes took place but one PKK would-be bomber was killed in Tunceli on Monday when a crude device she was carrying exploded. /All papers/[10] TURKISH NAVAL FORCES STAGE EXERCISES IN THE MEDITERRANEANReports say that the area of the Turkish Naval Forces' "Sea Wolf-2_96" military exercises in international waters of the east Mediterranean has been extended."Saa Wolf" exercises, which started under the command of Admiral Salim Dervisoglu, the fleet commander, on June 6, are planned to continue for three weeks contrary to the previous years' two-week period. The "Sea Wolf" war games will end on June 28. /Cumhuriyet/ [11] TURKISH - WORKING LANGUAGE OF BSECOTurkish has been accepted as the working language of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization (BSECO). Prior to the meeting of the BSECO Parliamentary Assembly that will start tomorrow in Baku, the Permanent Committee has convened to discuss organizational issues. During the meeting, the Permanent Committee accepted Russian, French and Turkish as the organization's working languages. English is the official language of BSECO. /Cumhuriyet/[12] TURKEY ELECTED MEMBER OF ILO BOARD OF DIRECTORSDuring the 83rd General Assembly meeting of the International Labour Organization (ILO), Turkey was elected to membership in the Organization's Board of Directors. Labour Minister Emin Kul noted that this was an indication of Turkey's prestige in the international arena. /Cumhuriyet/[13] TURKISH TELECOM BREAKS OFF RELATIONS WITH FRENCH TELECOMTurkish Telecom has broken off relations with its French counterpart on the grounds that the French company has continued its cooperation with MED TV owned by the PKK terrorist organization. Following warnings by Turkey, French Telecom did not renew its agreement with MED TV, but rented a Portuguese transponder for the same channel instead.Prior to the MED TV disagreement, the French telecommunications company offered Turkey a cooperation deal in a "Global Star Communications Project" worth $4 billion, as well as a share in the establishment of a new pocket telephone network. Rejecting these French proposals, Turkish Telecom decided instead to cooperate with US companies. /Sabah/ [14] TOURISM BOOM EXPECTED IN 1996Having hosted more than seven million foreign tourists in 1995, in 1996 Turkey is expecting 9.5 million visitors from abroad. Even before this year's summer season opened, nearly 1.7 million foreign tourists visited Turkey. This year's tourism revenues are expected to reach TL 6 billion. Tourism Minister Isilay Saygin noted that the international popularity of Turkey, offering "sea, sun and sand" was gradually increasing. Winter tourism, hunting, caving, rafting, trecking and cycling, all newly established in Turkey, have further increased the attraction of Turkey among foreign visitors. According to the World Tourism Organization (WTO) Turkey ranks 20th among countries earning the highest revenues from tourism. /Milliyet/Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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