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Turkish Press Review, 97-05-12Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>CONTENTS
TURKISH PRESS REVIEWMAY 12, 1997Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning.[01] CILLER GOES TO PARIS FOR WEU MEETINGTurkish Foreign Minister Tansu Ciller traveled yesterday to Paris to participate in a meeting of the Western European Union (WEU). Turkey recently gained the right to participate in the WEU decision making process At this meeting, Turkey will press for full WEU membership.Ciller is expected to have a bilateral meeting with her Greek counterpart Theodoros Pangalos who will also participate in the WEU gathering. Ciller and Pangalos recently had talks also at the Turkey-EU Association Council meeting in Luxembourg and the Black Sea Economic Cooperation summit in Istanbul. /Cumhuriyet/ [02] DEMIREL ATTENDS ECO SUMMITPresident Demirel will fly to Turkmenistan today to attend the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) summit scheduled for May 13-14. Issues on the agenda of discussions include the transportation of Turkmen natural gas to Europe, the telecommunications infrastructure in Eurasia, and transportation projects. Top level representatives of Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turmenistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan will also take part in the summit.Demirel returned to Turkey on Friday from a three-day visit to Poland where he had contacts with his Polish counterpart Aleksander Kwasnievski and other top level Polish officials. /Cumhuriyet/ [03] IRAQ, TURKEY SIGN GAS PIPELINE DEALIraq and Turkey signed over the weekend a preliminary deal for the construction of a pipeline to carry Iraqi natural gas to the Mediterranean port of Ceyhan. The accord was signed by Turkish Energy Minister Recai Kutan, who is visiting Iraq and Iraqi Oil Minister Amir Muhammad Rasheed. The pipeline will be 1,300-km-long and will have the capacity to carry 10 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year.Iraq has been banned from exporting oil under UN sanctions imposed after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990. While some observers evaluate the agreement as a breach of the UN embargo on Iraq, Turkish Energy Ministry officials claim that the embargo will certainly be lifted before the pipeline project is completed. /Hurriyet/ [04] TERRORISTS KILL AT IRAQI BORDERTurkish troops massed at the Iraqi border penetrated yesterday night into Iraqi territory in a move to eradicate the separatist PKK organization threatening Turkish domestic security with its bloody attacks on innocent citizens. Operations in southeastern Anatolian provinces also continue. In clashes between PKK separatists and Turkish security forces, 26 terrorists were killed in Van and Hakkari over the weekend. /Cumhuriyet/[05] TURCO-MACEDONIAN MILITARY EXERCISESA special team of 70 Turkish troops went yesterday to Macedonia for joint military exercises. This is the first initiative organized within the framework of Turco-Macedonian military cooperation after an 85-year break. /Hurriyet/[06] US-TURKEY-ISRAELI AXIS WORRIES ARABSLebanon and Iraq expressed displeasure over the planned tripartite naval war games Turkey, Israel and the US are planning to stage in the Mediterranean later this summer. Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri said no military maneuvres would stop Lebanon from seeking the return of its territory occupied by Israel, and Iraqi Foreign Minister Mohammad Saeed al-Sahaf condemned the proposed exercises as a provocative act against the Arab nation. /Anatolia news agency/[07] GERMANY CLAIMS THAT PKK IS BACKING ATTACKS ON TURKSCornelia Schmalz-Jacobsen from the German Bureau for Foreigners said that they had obtained evidence that the PKK terrorist organization was behind the recent attacks against Turks in Germany, the Anatolia news agency reported. Jacobsen pledged that the German police will exert efforts to ensure the security of Turks living in Germany.[08] TURKEY: GERMAN COURT CLAIM ON CILLER "BASELESS"In a written statement on Friday the Turkish Foreign Ministry reacted to the explanation for an earlier decision by a Frankfurt court which made allegations of links between Foreign Minister Tansu Ciller and drug traffickers. "Turkey requested documents and information about the claims but until now no proof has been presented. Turkey is evaluating whether or not to take legal action. All this aside, it is hoped that this sort of development will not harm Turco-German relations," the statement said. /All papers/[09] BERGAMA CITIZENS ASK GOVERNMENT TO CLOSE DOWN EUROGOLD MINEState Minister Teoman Riza Guneri held a five-and-a-half hour meeting with 2,000 citizens from the Bergama region on Saturday, the Anatolia news agency reported. Minister Guneri said the government was investigating the reports and licensing documents of Eurogold, the multinational company authorized to use the controversial cyanide leaching process in its mining operations in Bergama. Bergama provincial chairman, headmen of the region's villages and villagers asked the government to close down the gold mine. Guneri, however, said that not much could be done about the public's demand. He promissed that he will press for re-investigation of a CED report given to the company and will ask the Ministries of Health, Forestry and Environment to check again Eurogold permissions. He vowed that he would not let the mine continue if the lives of villagers were threatened. Nevertheless, Guneri pointed out that time was needed to reverse the decision permitting Eurogold operations in the region.END Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |