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Turkish Press Review, 97-01-29Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>CONTENTS
TURKISH PRESS REVIEWWEDNESDAY JANUARY 29, 1997Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning[01] EUROPE'S BIG FOUR TO TACKLE TURKEY ON CYPRUS, HUMAN RIGHTSEurope's Big Four, whose foreign ministers will come together with their Turkish counterpart Tansu Ciller today in Rome, are expected to take up a number of issues ranging from the Cyprus question to human rights in Turkey.Ciller, who is in Italy, recalled that Turkey's expectation from the EU was full membership. While Ciller wanted Europe not to impose double standards, Italian officials supported Turkey's inclusion in the EU expansion process. Foreign Minister Ciller was received by Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi yesterday evening. Ciller pointed out that Turkey should have a place in the list comprising countries to be included in the EU expansion process which will be determined at the end of an EU inter-governmental conference to be held in June in Amsterdam. Ciller added that it was impossible for Turkey to accept a special status which did not include full EU membership. Ciller later delivered a speech regarding Turkey's foreign policy and Turco-European relations at the International Relations Institute. Ciller said: "When Turkey is included in the EU, a north-south balance will be established in Europe and tension in the eastern Mediterranean will be overcome. If Turkey is not included, it will be a huge fault and it will be Europe's loss". /Cumhuriyet-Sabah/ [02] D-8 DIPLOMACYPrime Minister Necmettin Erbakan met with Indonesian Technology Minister Dr.Habibi yesterday. They discussed issues regarding joint production and cooperation in the establishment of the D-8 group of eight developing Islamic countries. In a statement to reporters, Erbakan noted that Habibi proposed some projects in the fields of defence industry, aerospace, helicopters, automobiles and communications. Erbakan said that a D-8 summit would be realized within the first six months of this year. /Cumhuriyet/[03] BRITAIN AVOIDS DRUG CRISIS ISSUEBritish Deputy Interior Minister Tom Sackville has moderated his former statements claiming Turkey was involved in drug smuggling. To avoid a crisis between Ankara and London, Britain has issued a statement saying "We do not accuse the Turkish government. We believe in the determination of the Turkish security forces to struggle against drug smuggling." /Hurriyet/[04] "EU IS PREJUDICED AGAINST TURKEY"The American Defence News magazine claims that the European Union is prejudiced against a Muslim country's membership. The magazine reported that Turkish officials had declared that they would block the extension of NATO if Turkey was not given guarantees on full membership in the EU. It was stated at the report that although the Greek veto was an obstacle hindering Turkey's membership; the prejudice of EU member countries against the membership of a Muslim country was also a serious obstacle.On the other hand, the magazine wrote that the missile crisis in Cyprus would be solved by the U.S. /Sabah/ [05] UN SECRETARY GENERAL WILL STRIVE TO RESOLVE CYPRUS ISSUEWorried over the escalation of tensions between the two communities in Cyprus, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said he would exert every effort to invite the leaders of the two communities to the table for negotiations and find a solution to the Cyprus issue by the end of 1997. Upon the instructions of Annan, UN Cyprus Special Representative Prof. Han Sung-Joo left yesterday for Cyprus where he will meet with Northern Cypriot President Rauf Denktas and the leader of the Greek Cypriot community Glafkos Klerides. Following his contacts on the island, Sung-Joo is expected to visit also Ankara and Athens. /Hurriyet/[06] TURKISH SPEAKING UN DEPUTY SECRETARY GENERALBritish Ambassador to Turkey Sir Walter Kieran has been appointed UN Deputy Secretary General. Kieran learned Turkish at the Istanbul University in 1964, and served in Ankara also in the 1965-67 period. Later, in 1969-72, Kieran was appointed to Cyprus as second secretary. /Hurriyet/[07] TURCO-GREEK "SUMMIT" IN STRASBOURGAfter a European Council Parliamentary Assembly meeting, Turkish and Greek parliamentarians had dinner together yesterday evening in Strasbourg. During the dinner, the parliamentarians discussed issues of regional importance. The Turkish and Greek parliamentarians agreed that armament was harmful for the economies of the both countries and reached an accord to continue bilateral dialogue. /Hurriyet/[08] RUSSIAN DELEGATION IN ANKARAA delegation from the Russian Foreign Ministry arrived in Ankara late on Monday to try and calm recent tensions that have sprung up between Turkey and Russia. The tensions are directly related to the Russian government's decision to go ahead with the sale of S-300 missiles to southern Cyprus. The missiles have a range of 150 kilometers and the deal has brought negative reaction from not only Turkey but also the US and European countries. /All papers/[09] POLICE CHIEF ATTENDS SWEDISH HUMAN RIGHTS SEMINARAlaaddin Yuksel, chief of the Turkish Police Force, said yesterday that the biggest problem in the development and exercise of human rights is terrorism and added that those who support democracy, human rights and the rule of law should clearly state their attitude on terrorism.Speaking at the opening of a Human Rights Seminar organized by the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Lund University in Sweden, Yuksel noted that the concept of human rights carries grave importance for the Turkish police, and that the Turkish police force took many important steps in 1996 which would be developed in 1997. Yuksel announced that a research center had been established by the Anti-terrorism Department to investigate "disappearances". Noting that the center would provide service 24 hours a day, Yuksel said that the police force had purchased a fully-equipped vehicle to investigate claims of disappearances at the site of the crime. /All papers/ [10] GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS MEET WITH KDP OVER ATRUSH QUESTIONMembers of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) from the northern Iraqi town of Duhok met officials from the intelligence unit of the Turkish Foreign Ministry and the Turkish Armed Forces yesterday to discuss the latest developments at the Atrush refugee camp. The meeting was held in the Gendarmerie Headquarters in the town of Silopi, near Diyarbakir, by the Turkish Foreign Ministry. Atrush was one of the subjects discussed at the Monday meeting of the National Security Council (MGK). The General Staff told the meeting that approximately only 300 of the refugees at the camp had joined the PKK terrorist organization, much less than the 1,000-1,500 estimated by UN sources. /All papers/[11] SEVEN YEAR TURKISH 500 MILLION MARK EUROBONDTurkey's expected 500 million mark Eurobond was likely to have a seven-year maturity and be launched this week, syndicate managers said yesterday. Commerzbank was tipped as one of two lead brokers on the deal. Turkey last tapped the mark sector in November 1996 with a 750 million mark five-year bond. Priced to yield 280 basis points over Bunds, the deal tightened by around 20 b.p. Commerzbank and Deutsche Morgan Grenfell were joint leaders on the issue. Also in the pipeline is a 500 billion Italian lire five-year bond for Turkey, due in late February or early March, via Chase. /All papers/[12] TURKISH-GEORGIAN JEC MEETING IN TBILISIA Turkish-Georgian Joint Economic Committee (JEC) first term meeting started in Tbilisi yesterday. Foreign Trade Undersecretariat officials said the JEC meeting will last for two days. Turkish State Minister Demircan is heading the Turkish delegation, and Agriculture and Food Minister Bakur Gulua is heading the Georgian side. The sides will review trade relations between Turkey and Georgia and discuss facilities to increase trade volume. The sides will also take up issues to improve economic and technical cooperation in areas including industry, transportation, agriculture, banking, construction and the Turkish-Georgian Natural Gas and Crude Oil Pipelines, and will also review the Kars-Tbilisi railway construction project. Demircan is expected to return to Turkey on February 2, 1997. /All papers/[13] TOURISM TARGET REACHEDIn 1996, Turkey reached her tourism targets. 8.5 million tourists visited Turkey during the year. Germany sent the most tourists to Turkey, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) came second with 1.6 million tourists and Britain came third with 800,000 tourists. There was a 60 percent increase in the number of tourists visiting Turkey in 1996 over 1995. /Hurriyet/END Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |