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Turkish Press Review, 97-01-24Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>CONTENTS
TURKISH PRESS REVIEWFRIDAY, JANUARY 24, 1997Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning. [01] GOVERNMENT DOWNPLAYS GERMAN COURT'S CONTROVERSIAL CLAIMSInterior Minister Meral Aksener announced on Thursday that the government had looked into the issue thoroughly and found that neither the Turkish government nor Ciller had been implicated during the drug smuggling case, heard in the Frankfurt Federal Court. Aksener said the statement was disturbing and hideous. The minister added that there was very close cooperation and a steady flow of information between German and Turkish security agencies on the trafficking of illegal narcotics.Responding to opposition demands for an investigation into the affair, Justice Minister Sevket Kazan said it was unfair to accuse the government of being ignorant of the issue, and that the Foreign Ministry and the Bonn embassy had taken all necessary action. Veteran leftist politician Bulent Ecevit said that claims by a German judge that True Path Party (DYP) chairwoman Tansu Ciller was sanctioning international narcotics smugglers had undoubtedly been induced by some of Ciller's own public statements./Milliyet/Sabah_ [02] US DEFENDS ARMS SALE TO TURKEYU.S. State Department spokesman and Assistant Secretary of State Nicholas Burns said that Turkey was a NATO ally of the United States and they had a defense relationship with Turkey. He added: "There will be arms sale between the U.S. and Turkey, and Turkey will purchase arms from other countries. These issues cannot be generalized."Burns lauded Turkey's expanding role in the region and said: "Turkey is an important counrty to the newly independent countries of the former Soviet Union, particularly in the Caucasus and Central Asia, and particularly to those of Turkic ethnic origin. So, we find Turkey's role to be expanding and that's a good thing." Burns stressed that Turco-U.S relations were multi-faceted and on the whole, quite good and fundamentally important./All papers/ [03] A BIGGER EU SHOULD TAKE IN TURKEYIn the edition dated 21 January, 1997, of the International Herald Tribune it was claimed that Turkey was the victim of unfair treatment.As the EU prepares to expand eastward, one piece is in danger of being left out. This piece is Turkey, the West's "front-line state" of the post-Cold War era. Turkey is a key member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. [04] TURKEY AMONG COUNTRIES TO RECEIVE IRAQ COMPENSATIONTurkey is among the countries, organizations and individuals that will start receiving compensation as from the middle of February from the Compensations Committee set up under the United Nations. The Executive Secretary of the Committee, Carlos Alzamora said that 30 percent of the revenue gained by Iraq from its food-for-oil deal under resolution 986 would be given to the committee. Alzamora said money had already started flowing to them from this source, and indicated that they had come to the point of being able to start making payments.Turkey estimates its losses as a result of the U.N. embargo imposed on Iraq in 1990, for invading Kuwait, at anywhere up to $ 30 billion./Sabah/ [05] FREE TRADE ACCORD WITH ISRAEL CLEARS PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEESA bill to ratify the Turco-Israeli Free Trade Area Accord cleared Parliament's Industry and Foreign Affairs Committees on Thursday. The accord envisages lower customs duties in the area of bilateral trade. The Israeli side will lower in stages over a period of two years, the customs tax on Turkish textile exports, which currently stands at 62 percent. Israeli textiles imported to Turkey are subject to a 12 percent tax.The accord, signed in Jerusalem on March 14, 1996, envisages mutual concessions regarding agricultural products as well as provisions aimed at developing the trading of services. /All papers/ [06] SECURITY FORCES KILL 50 REBELSSecurity forces backed by air support killed 50 separatists from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) during the last 24 hours of operations in Saggoze, near the southeatern town of Bingol. The Emergency Rule Region governor's office said that during massive operations security forces seized more than 120 rifles, mostly long-range weapons, huge amounts of ammunition and 20 machine guns in several towns in the provinces of Sirnak and Van. No military casualties were reported./Sabah/[07] CILLER TO VISIT ROMEForeign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Tansu Ciller will meet with foreign ministers of five leading EU countries (Germany, Britain, France, Italy and Spain) next week in Rome, Italy, and take up Turco-EU relations. Ciller, who is also expected to meet with Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, will leave Turkey on 28 January.During the meetings, Ciller and Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Onur Oymen will discuss the EU expansion process, the implementation of the Customs Union accord, Turco-Greek relations and the Cyprus problem. /Milliyet/ [08] NONINO AWARD PRESENTED TO YASAR KEMALNoted Turkish author Yasar Kemal has been presented with the first Nonino international literature award for 1997 in Italy. Kemal will receive his award tomorrow during a ceremony in the Percoto district of Italy. Kemal will deliver a speech entitled "Turkey and the Novel". A jury consisting of 13 persons unanimously elected Yasar Kemal for the award. In a statement to the La Stampa Newspaper, Kemal said that he was proud of winning an award from a Mediterranean country, because he was also from a Mediterranean country. /Sabah/[09] OIL PIPELINE SABOTAGEMilitants of the PKK terrorist organization sabotaged part of the Kirkuk-Yumurtalik oil pipeline passing through Sogutlu village in the Midyat district of Mardin the previous night. When bombs exploded, the pipeline was damaged and burning oil covered a large area in flames. Turkish Oil Pipeline and Transportation A.S. (BOTAS) officials said: "Losses wil come to about TL four billion". /Sabah/[10] TURKISH STOCK MARKET INDEX AND VOLUME AT RECORD HIGHTurkish shares surged to the year's 15th record close on Thursday record volume was boosted by the Constitutional Court's rejection of a challenge to a law enabling the privatistion of Turk Telekom, brokers said.The IMKB National-100.XU100 index closed at an alltime high of 1,352, up 101 points, or 8.07 percent above Wednesday's previous high of 1,251. Daily volume hit a record of 43.46 trillion lira, up from Wednesday's 29.40 trillion and previous high of 35.89 trillion lira on November 29, 1996./Cumhuriyet/ END Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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