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Turkish Press Review, 98-06-05Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>05.06.98Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morningCONTENTS
[01] DEMIREL WRITES TO WARN CHIRACTurkey is continuing with its efforts to halt the approval of a draft resolution about an alleged turn of the century Armenian massacre by Turks, which is being discussed in the French Senate following initial approval by the French Parliament. President Suleyman Demirel of Turkey yesterday sent a letter to his French counterpart, Jacques Chirac. Calling on him to use his influence on the senate, Demirel states, in this letter, that approval of the draft resolution will encourage ultra-nationalist Armenian terrorists who formerly executed many attacks on Turkish diplomats especially in France. With the intention of halting the draft, Turkish members of the Turco-French Friendship Group will go to France on Monday. Democratic Left Party deputy Mumtaz Soysal will lead the group. /Cumhuriyet/[02] TURKEY AWAITS DECISION OF FRENCH PARLIAMENTDefense Industry Undersecretary, Yalcin Burcak said if the draft bill about a so-called Armenian massacre was legalized by being approved by the French Parliament, French companies would be excluded from biding for Turkish defense industry projects. Burcak noted that the French GIAT company had already put in a bid for a tank project and that Aerospatiale was showing interest in a helicopter production project. But, he added, before announcing bid results they would wait for the final decision of the French Parliament. /Milliyet/[03] US: "WAIT AND SEE IN CYPRUS"US special representative to Cyprus, Richard Holbrooke and Cyprus coordinator for the Secretary of State, Tom Miller, yesterday gave a briefing to the members of the US Congress about recent developments in Cyprus. Holbrooke said that it would be difficult to reach a long lasting solution in the region if the sides did not have the will to do so. Holbrooke and Miller noted that at the moment there was no improvement in the direction of a federal solution and that they had to 'wait and see' what would happen. /Milliyet/[04] TURKISH INTERIOR MINISTER TAKES PART IN UN MEETING AGAINST DRUGSThe United Nations will organize a conference on the "struggle against drugs" between January 8-10. During the conference, where Interior Minister Murat Basesgioglu will represent Turkey, countries will be called on take the necessary measures in their banking systems to prevent drug smugglers from laundering dirty money. /Cumhuriyet/[05] WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY MARKED IN TURKEYThe second Bodrum Environmental Films Festival started in Bodrum yesterday when a foreign film, "Microcosmos" was screened. The festival has also organized a film contest in which ten full-length films will be shown. Shared in by some Turkish parliamentarians, a panel on "politics and the environment" will be held today. /Cumhuriyet/[06] YILMAZ-BAYKAL MEETING REDUCES UNCERTAINTYA key meeting between Turkish Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz and Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal has reduced uncertainty in the country's financial markets, ING Barings Turkey country manager said yesterday. Yilmaz said after Wednesday's meeting that he would step down at the end of this year, making way for an interim government to take the country to early elections in April 1999.Country manager John McCarthy told Reuters in an interview that the decline in the inflation rate was encouraging and would be a positive signal to foreign investors. ING Barings opened a branch in Istanbul in October after operating in Turkey for six years with only a representative office. /All papers/ [07] TURKEY AND GREECE TO IMPLEMENT SAFETY MEASURESTurkey and Greece have agreed to fully implement the Confidence-Building Measures (CBMs) agreed to in 1988, which aim at reducing tension between the two countries and avoiding dangerous accidents in the Aegean, NATO Secretary-General Javier Solana announced yesterday. A press release from NATO headquarters in Brussels said: "Both sides have informed (Solana) of their intention to implement fully the agreements reached in 1988 between the then foreign ministers Papoulas and Yilmaz. The NATO statement also said that the two sides have declared their willingness to continue talks with Solana in order to clarify and strengthen the CBM implementations. The secretary-general and the two countries intend to explore opportunities for greater mutual information exchange and coordination, offered by the emerging NATO air command and control system (ACCS), it added.Following Solana's announcement, Turkey expressed optimism that by implementing the CBMs, the incidents and obstructions in the Aegean would come to an end and that this step would create a positive atmosphere where all bilateral problems could be settled through peaceful means. "The upcoming military exercises in the Aegean will constitute an opportunity to measure to what extent the obligations will be accomplished" a Foreign Ministry statement said. /Milliyet/ [08] MEETING IN ISTANBULThe Foreign Ministry of Russia has stated that it has evaluated the "Third Meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Southeast European Countries" scheduled to take place in Istanbul on June 8-9 as a very useful forum for regional cooperation and stability, the Anatolia news agency reported.Valeri Nesterushkin, Deputy Spokesman of the Foreign Ministry of Russia, said that his country would continue to participate in this process upon an invitation from Foreign Minister Ismail Cem, adding that the Russian delegation would be led by Nikolay Afanasyevski, Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia. [09] FOURTH SUMMIT OF BSEC IN YALTAThe Fourth Summit of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) is taking place in Yalta, Ukraine, the Anatolia news agency reported yesterday. The Foreign Ministry said in a written statement that the main topic of the agenda was the signing of the "BSEC Provision", which will turn the BSEC into a regional economic organization.President Suleyman Demirel went to the Ukraine yesterday to attend the summit. The presidents and prime ministers of the 11 member states of the BSEC will join the summit. [10] PRESIDENT DEMIREL TO VISIT KAZAKHSTANPresident Suleyman Demirel will go to Kazakhstan to attend the Fifth Summit of the Presidents of the Turkish-Speaking Republics on June 8, the Anatolia news agency reported. The Foreign Ministry said in a written statement that the summit will be organized in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, on June 9 and will focus on the developments of the bilateral relations between the Turkish-Speaking States. Demirel will return to Turkey after he attends international ceremonies to promote Astana, the new capital of Kazakhstan, on June 10.[11] BULGARIAN-TURKISH BUSINESS COUNCILA Turkish-Bulgarian Joint Business Council Meeting started yesterday in Istanbul with the participation of State Minister Isin Celebi and Bulgarian Tourism Minister Valentin Vassilev. The Ministry of State said in a written statement yesterday that the talks will focus on trade and economic relations between the two countries, adding that these meetings will help to facilitate the flow of trade information and create new fields of cooperation. /Milliyet/[12] UN AWARD FOR TURKISH PROFESSORPresident of the Forestry Faculty of Istanbul University, Prof.Melih Boydak has been presented with the UN Global 500 Environment Award and will receive his award during a ceremony to be held in Moscow today. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Russian Head of State Boris Yeltsin will also attend the ceremony. /Hurriyet/[13] ISTANBUL STOCK EXCHANGE TRADING UPAs a result of an agreement reached between Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz and Republican People's Party (CHP) Chairman Deniz Baykal yesterday, shares in the Istanbul Stock Exchange increased by 6.3 %. In line with this increase, the rate of inflation and and interest is decreasing. The index in the stock exchange totalled over 4,000 points while the transaction volume reached TL 150 trillion. /Hurriyet/[14] COMMUNICATIONS CONFERENCE IN ISTANBULA World Radiocommunications Conference during which the World Telecommunications' Union will determine the communications infrastructure of the 21st century will be held in Istanbul in 2000. During the conference, which will last for five weeks, Turkey will find the opportunity to market Turksat satellites and technical criteria for the best services in communications will be determined. /Hurriyet/[15] DTP DEPUTY ISIK JOINS DYPDemocratic Turkey Party (DTP) Istanbul Deputy Metin Isik joined the True Path Party (DYP) yesterday. The DYP seats increased to 93 with the addition of Isik, while the number of DTP seats dropped to 21. /All papers/[16] EUROPEAN AWARD FOR TURKISH HUMAN RIGHTS FOUNDATIONThe seventh European Human Rights Award is to be given to the Human Rights Foundation (IHV) in Turkey. The Ministers Committee of the Council of Europe released a written statement yesterday saying that this year the award will be given to the IHV and to Clara Lubich, who is the founder of the Focolare Movement in Italy, as well as to the Committee for the Administration of Justice in Northern Ireland. The statement said the IHV deserved the award because of its prominent efforts for the protection of human rights. /All papers/[17] EURO-MED SUMMITA summit of foreign ministers from the European-Mediterranean countries in Palermo, Italy, turned out to be a futile effort for Turkey and all the other participants, Foreign Ministry Deputy Undersecretary Ambassador Uluc Ozulker, who represented Turkey at the gathering, said yesterday.Ozulker emphasized that, in accordance with the spirit of the Euro-Med Partnership Conference, the meeting was supposed to focus on developing a regional free trade and security zone by the year 2010, but it had become an Arab-Israeli summit, the Anatolia news agency reported. He also stated that no issue closely relating to Turkey had been discussed on Wednesday, the first day of the two-day summit, and no bilateral meetings had taken place between the delegations. [18] ECEVIT CALLS FOR CLOSER RELATIONS WITH CHINATurkish investors should not miss the huge economic opportunities in China, a country which is becoming an economic giant, Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said yesterday at the end of his six-day official visit to China. Visiting Shanghai, Ecevit underlined that Turkey should enter into close cooperation with China on economic and trade relations, in which fields the country is becoming a major power player, he said. /All papers/[19] OPERATIONS AGAINST PKKEight PKK terrorists were killed yesterday in operations carried out within the state of emergency region, while five village guards were injured in a rocket attack by PKK terrorists. The security forces also found yesterday two German tourists who had been kidnapped by PKK terrorists near Agri. Meanwhile many alleged militants of illegal organizations were apprehended yesterday during operations by anti-terrorist forces in various parts of the country. /Sabah/[20] JEC MEETING BETWEEN TURKEY AND IRANTurkish-Iranian Joint Economic Commission (JEC) meetings will be held on June 8-12 in Tehran, with the participation of State Minister Rifat Serdaroglu. It is expected that a memorandum of understanding will be signed during the meeting. /All papers/[21] OPENING OF NEW CONCERT HALL IN ANKARABuilt on the Middle East Technical University (METU) campus, a new concert hall will be opened in Ankara tonight when the Presidential Symphony Orchestra will stage the first concert conducted by Gurer Aykal, the Anatolia news agency reported yesterday. Artists from the Bolshoi Opera will join the orchestra as soloists. According to a statement by the university, the concert hall, embodied in the Culture and Convention Centre on the campus, can host 850 persons and is also suitable for theatre, opera and ballet productions.[22] OPERATIONS AGAINST HIZBULLAHSecurity forces continue their operations against Hizbullah members in the Batman region in Central Anatolia. During recent operations arms and bombs belonging to the organization have been seized. Military sources have announced that the organization, which aims to establish a state system based on religious law, was responsible for recent seriels of killings in the region. The Hizbullah organization has been conducting illegal activies in Turkey's southeast region since 1980. /Milliyet/Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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