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Turkish Press Review, 98-05-22
From: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>
22.05.98
Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning
CONTENTS
[01] DEMIREL IN UKRAINE
[02] FLOOD CATASTROPHE: 11 DEAD
[03] MILLER TO VISIT CYPRUS
[04] TURKEY ATTENDS EXPO'98 TRADE FAIR IN LISBON
[05] BAKU-CEYHAN CONFERENCE IN US ANKARA EMBASSY
[06] MENZIR TO VISIT DENMARK
[07] INTERNATIONAL INTEREST IN GAP
[08] FOREIGN EXCHANGE RESERVES REACH $25.8 BILLION
[09] KARADAYI IS OPTIMISTIC ABOUT VISIT TO RUSSIA
[10] OPERATIONS AGAINST TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS
[01] DEMIREL IN UKRAINE
President Suleyman Demirel went to the Ukraine yesterday for a
three-day official visit. Foreign Minister Ismail Cem, State Minister
Ahad Andican, Tourism Minister Ibrahim Gurdal and many bureaucrats,
businessmen and journalists are accompanying Demirel.
President Demirel and his accompanying delegation were welcomed by
Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchman in Kiev. Later Demirel and Kuchman
held a joint press conference and said that they would mainly discuss
cooperation in energy and oil. /Milliyet/
[02] FLOOD CATASTROPHE: 11 DEAD
The flood in the Bartin, Devrek and Caycuma districts of Zonguldak,
and in the Yenice district of Karabuk in the Western Black Sea Region
has caused massive damage. In response to the catastrophe caused by the
flood, a crisis desk has been formed under the chairmanship of Deputy
Prime Minister and State Minister Bulent Ecevit who said: "We are
facing a flood catastrophe, the likes of which, hasn't been seen to
date". As a result of the flood in Hatay, Bartin, Sakarya, Zonguldak,
Bolu and Sivas, 11 people have died and four are missing. The
"Barbaros" frigate and three speed-boats have evacuated 300 people from
the coastal regions. Military helicopters and commandos are also
supporting the resque teams. Red Crescent (Kizilay) assistance vehicles
have gone to the disaster region.
President Suleyman Demirel, who is currently in the Ukraine,
expressed his concern over the flood. Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz said
that there was no shortage of equipment, however bad weather conditions
are preventing quick access to the victims and some areas cannot be
reached at all. "Our aim for the moment is to make sure that the number
of deaths doesn't increase" Yilmaz said. /All papers/
[03] MILLER TO VISIT CYPRUS
US special Cyprus coordinator Thomas Miller, will go to Cyprus next
Sunday. Miller will first attend a conference on the economy of the
Greek Cypriot Administration, later he will go to the Turkish Republic
of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). It is expected that Miller will meet with
President Rauf Denktas. /Cumhuriyet/
[04] TURKEY ATTENDS EXPO'98 TRADE FAIR IN LISBON
State Minister Refaiddin Sahin and Burhan Kara went yesterday to
Lisbon, Portugal, in order to attend the world's biggest trade
fair-Expo'98. Before leaving, Kara said that Turkey would exhibit its
developments in the shipping and yachting industries. State Ministers
Kara and Sahin will also meet with their Portuguese counterparts and
senior officials to develop bilateral relations. /Hurriyet/
[05] BAKU-CEYHAN CONFERENCE IN US ANKARA EMBASSY
US Secretary for Energy, Jan Kalicki and Director of the US Trade
and Development Agency, Joseph Grandmaison held a teleconference
yesterday at the US Embassy in Ankara and answered questions from
journalists on the Baku-Ceyhan project. Kalicki said that the Turkish
government should take measures to make the projected Baku-Ceyhan
pipeline more attractive to investors. An Energy Conference will be
organized next week in Istanbul. /Hurriyet/
[06] MENZIR TO VISIT DENMARK
Minister of Communications and Transportation Necdet Menzir will go
to Copenhagen, Denmark, for a European Conference for Ministers of
Transportation (ECMT) to be held on 26-27 May. During the conference,
cooperation between European countries and new policies regarding
transportation will be discussed. /Milliyet/
[07] INTERNATIONAL INTEREST IN GAP
State Minister Salih Yildirim, who is currently holding contacts in
the US for the promotion of the Southeastern Anatolian Project (GAP),
said that all US institutions with which he has held talks were
interested in the GAP project. Yildirim noted that the basic difficulty
confronting the project was financial and added that his visit was aimed
at stimulating the participation of American institutions in the
project. /Milliyet/
[08] FOREIGN EXCHANGE RESERVES REACH $25.8 BILLION
Central Bank foreign exchange reserves have reached $25.8 billion.
According to the Central Bank, foreign exchange reserves, which amounted
to $25.131 billion on May 8, increased by $640 million, and reached
$25.771 billion on May 15. Meanwhile, Turkey's international reserves
rose to $33.971 billion according to data dated May 1. /Milliyet/
[09] KARADAYI IS OPTIMISTIC ABOUT VISIT TO RUSSIA
Chief of General Staff Gen.Ismail Hakki Karadayi said he had been
positively impressed by his visit to Russia this week. Karadayi made
this comment while speaking to Turkish journalists in Moscow before his
departure to St.Petersburg where he stressed that his visit would be the
beginning of a new era in Turco-Russian relations. Karadayi said that
Turkey and Russia should cooperate together rather than compete against
each other. Karadayi will return to Turkey today. /All papers/
TURKEY'S EU BID TAKES CRITICAL turn
Turkey-European Union (EU) relations took a drastic turn for the
worse as Turkey announced yesterday that it was angrily boycotting a key
meeting with the EU, planned for Monday due to the EU's political
impositions and its inability to keep its promise of economic
cooperation with Turkey. "We do not have confidence in the EU" a senior
official said, complaining that the EU had tried to impose political
conditions on Turkey over the Cyprus conflict, over rows with Greece and
on human rights, for the convening of the meeting that was to take place
in Brussels. Turkey ruled out political discussions with the 15-member
bloc and said that the negotiations should continue only in economic
areas with the Union. /All papers/
[10] OPERATIONS AGAINST TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS
During operations carried out for some time, teams from the
Istanbul Security Administration's department for the Struggle Against
Terrorism have apprehended eight militants of an illegal organization,
the Revolutionary Communists' Union of Turkey (TÝKB), including a
leading terrorist, Tamer Tuncer. Many guns and ammunition were also
seized in the operations.
Further, in rural areas around Tunceli three PKK terrorists were
killed and two were wounded in a struggle the previous night between the
the Turkish Security Forces and PKK terrorists who had kidnapped three
villagers three days ago. In another confrontationtwo PKK terrorist
were killed while one soldier died previous night. /Hurriyet/
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