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Turkish Press Review, 98-01-20Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>20.01.98Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morningCONTENTS
[01] PARLIAMENT SPEAKER CETIN VISITS CROATIAParliament Speaker Hikmet Cetin will begin today a two-day official visit to Croatia at an official invitation of his Croatian counterpart Vlatko Pavlatic. Tomorrow Cetin is scheduled to meet Croatian Prime Minister Zlatko Matesa and Foreign Minister Mete Granic. Completing his contacts in Croatia, Cetin will pay a visit to Bosnia-Herzegovina. /Cumhuriyet/[02] DEFENSE MINISTER SEZGIN FLIES TO SPAINDeputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Ismet Sezgin flew to Madrid yesterday for a three-day working visit at the invitation of his Spanish counterpart, Eduardo Serra Rexach. Before his departure, Sezgin praised Turkey's current ties with Madrid, saying that Turkey and Spain are in close and friendly cooperation in many fields and in many international organizations.On Tuesday, Sezgin will meet with the Spanish foreign minister and visit an aircraft factory where CASA planes are being produced. Turkey and Spain signed an agreement in 1992 to jointly produce 52 medium-range CASA CN-235 aircaft for the Turkish Air Force. /All papers/ [03] DALEY IN ANKARAU.S. Secretary of Commerce William Daley said that they were interested in Turkey's energy and communication projects. He added that American companies attached great importance to Turkey. The first Turkish-U.S. Business Development Council was held yesterday. State Minister Isin Celebi said at the meeting that Turkish industrialists and government expected that America would totally lift textile quotas imposed on Turkey.Turkish and American delegations signed two agreements on that American Trade Development Agency will ensure $345,000 for the feasibility studies of the rail road system in Antalya and American Exim Bank will guarantee $17.7 million in credit for the Ankara and Ankara-Gerede belt construction. William Daley met yesterday with Foreign Minister Ismail Cem and State Minister Gunes Taner. /Milliyet-Sabah/ [04] KINKEL CALLS FOR COOPERATIONGerman Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel made a statament to German daily newspaper Rundschau and said that Turkey should re-evaulate the European Union (EU) decision taken in Luxembourg and accept it. Kinkel added that the basic problem in Turkey-EU relations was stemming from Turkish-Greek relations. /Sabah-Milliyet/[05] RUSSIA GUARANTEES NATURAL GAS TRANSPORTATIONRussia harsly criticized Bulgaria which threatened Turkey to decrease natural gas transportation and assured that there would not be any delay in the transportation to Ankara. Russian natural gas is transported over Bulgaria to Ankara, Greece and Macedonia.Spokesman of the Gasprom, Russian natural gas producer, said that although they did not expect that Bulgaria would decrease the natural gas transportation to Ankara because of the disagreement between Russia and Bulgaria, they were ready to take necessary measures. /Milliyet/ [06] PORTER PRAISES TURKEY'S HUMAN RIGHTS DEVELOPMENTSJohn Porter, an Ilinois Republican and a member of the US Congressional Human Rights Caucus, who is currently heading the delegation of US congressmen visiting Turkey, said yesterday that developments in the human rights field in Turkey are encouraging. Porter and delegation members met with State Minister Hikmet Sami Turk, who is responsible for human rights. Porter said that developments had made them hopeful, adding that they fully supported the improvements. State Minister Turk said that during the visit the Turkish side voiced his determination in further improving ties. The US delegation also met with Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem and Deputy Chief of General Staff Gen.Cevik Bir yesterday. /Sabah/[07] TURKISH DRUG TRAFFICKERS ARRESTED IN LONDONTurkey's name was associated with drug trafficking in Europe when authorities from Britain's Scotland Yard announced that they had raided a Turkish drug cartel operating in north London. The move was part of raids organized last week in which quantities of heroin and cocaine valued at 2.5 million pounds were recovered by police. The swoop was the result of an undercover investigation into Turkish drug traffickers, according to Scotland Yard. Detectives said thay are expecting more arrests in the coming days. /Sabah-Milliyet/[08] POLICE IN SOUTHEAST STRIKE A BLOW AGAINST DRUG TRADEVan police and gendarmerie narcotics teams struck a heavy blow against the drug trade in the past year, seizing more than 1,500 kilos of narcotics in 1997 and the first few days of 1998. The drugs come from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran and are transferred to Europe and the US through Yuksekova, Baskale and Van. So far, 35 people have been arrested in connection with drug trafficking and 12 more are being sought.The fight against the drug trade in the Southeast is being carried out alongside the struggle against the PKK terrorist organization. Officials say the PKK is responsible for the most of the drug trade. The commercial value of the narcotics seized is reported to be TL 2.5 trillion in Turkey and TL 8 trillion in foreign markets. /All papers/ [09] ANKARA SLAMS GREECE'S DECISIONTurkey yesterday criticized Greece for its decision to issue documents "conferring" stateless status on ethnic Turks in Western Thrace who have been stripped of Greek citizenship under the provisions of Greece's own citizenship law. "Greece's attitude is thoroughly unacceptable. It tries to create an impression that is doing a favor for the stateless citizens. But Greece itself has stripped them of citizenship under the 19th article of its citizenship law" Foreign Ministery Spokesman Necati Utkan told reporters at a press conference yesterday."Greece is the only country in the world that has based citizenship on ethnic background. We expect that Greece will amend its legislation and introduce new rules with no discrimination based on ethnic origin" Utkan said. /All papers/ [10] IMF BEGINS TALKS WITH TURKEYAn International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation of six directors headed by Martin Hardy began two weeks of negotiations with high-ranking Turkish officials yesterday. A Turkish delegation is scheduled to fly to Washington in February for further talks. In March, the IMF delegation will return to Turkey to evaluate the ongoing economic situation. The IMF delegation began its visit with a meeting with Treasury Undersecretary Yener Dincmen.Dincmen told reporters that the two sides would set the agenda and the schedule for the two weeks of talks. He also pointed out that representatives of the World Bank were also on hand for the discussions. "We will hold joint negotiations. We are supposed to discuss the 1997 and 1998 budgets, financial measures, the balance of payments, structural reforms involving tax reform, financial markets reform and agriculture reform. These issues will be discussed with the IMF and World Bank delegations" Dincmen said. "The Turkish government announced its budget targets for 1998. It intends to lower inflation. I am positive that the upcoming meetings will play a key role in this program" Hardy said. /All papers/ [11] KRUGER IN ANKARADeputy General Secretary of the Council of Europe, Christian Kruger, arrived yesterday in Ankara. Kruger had a meeting with Foreign Ministry Undersecretary, Ambassador Korkmaz Haktanir. No official statement concerning the meeting has been made. /Cumhuriyet/[12] COUNCIL OF MINISTERS PASSES TAX DRAFT LAWFinance Minister Zekeriya Temizel announced that at yesterday's meeting the Council of Ministers accepted a draft law envisaging amendments in tax regulations. The draft will be sent to the Parliament for discussions within one week, Temizel said. /Hurriyet/[13] BOSNIAN OFFICIALS IN ANKARAThe three co-chairmen of Bosnia-Herzegovina Council of Ministers Haris Sladzic, Boro Bosic and Neven Tomic arrive today in Ankara at an official invitation of Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz. This is the first visit of Bosnian officials at prime ministerial level in the aftermath of the Dayton Peace Accord. /Hurriyet/[14] SUSURLUK REPORTPrime Minister Mesut Yilmaz yesterday announced that a report by the Prime Ministry Inspection Board confirms the presence of "illegal activities" which allegedly involved state officials in the aftermath of the controversial November 3, 1996 car crash in the western Anatolian town of Susurluk. "It has been made clear that there is a need to start an inquiry on some of the (illegal) incidents, and a comprehensive investigation will be launched as soon as possible" Yilmaz said after meeting with his governing coalition partners to discuss the report on the Susurluk incident which was completed last week. /Sabah/[15] ANKARA STATE THEATRE GOES TO ATHENSAnkara State Theatre will perform plays in Athens. Athenians will be watching dramas acted by Turkish players beginning from January 21. The General Director of Greek National Theatre and the General Director of Turkish State Theatre respectively Nikos Kurkolos and Bozkurt Kuruc held a joint press conference in which they stated that these activities should continue. /Milliyet/END Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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