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Turkish Press Review, 98-06-17Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>17.06.98Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morningCONTENTS
[01] OECD POSITIVE ABOUT TURKEYOECD Secretary-General Stephen Johnston, who sees developments in the Turkish economy as positive, said yesterday that the Turkish government had given the impression that it would not deviate from its programme and was determined to reduce the rate of inflation. Johnston and an accompanying delegation was received by President Suleyman Demirel at the Presidential Palace yesterday.OECD Countries' Director Stephen Potter said for his part that tax and social security reforms, and privatization were in progress and that he believed these developments would continue. /Sabah/ [02] IMF DELEGATION IN ANKARAAN IMF delegation led by Head of the IMF-Turkey Desk Martin Hardy arrived in Ankara yesterday evening to hold meetings regarding a special agreement likely to be signed with Turkey. The delegation will begin its contacts this morning by meeting high-level bureaucrats at the Treasury Undersecretariat. /Sabah/[03] ENCOURAGING DECISION FOR TURKEYDecisions taken during the Cardiff summit are regarded as "hope-inspiring" by Turkey. The decisions noted that Turkey would be evaluated using the same criteria accorded to 11 other nominee countries lined-up for full EU membership. Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem delivered a speech at the General Council of the Turkish Parliament yesterday and said: "My first impression is that Turkish-EU relations are on the way to a relative improvement. Furthermore, there is an intention to extend aid to Turkey which Greece could not block. These are all positive developments". Cem pointed out that the EU will prepare a report on each nominee country by the end of this year and it was expected that a report would also be prepared for Turkey within this framework.A "Cardiff document" included an arrangement of economic relations which constitute an important provision for Turkey from the EU. British Prime Minister Tony Blair called upon the EU Commission for the extension of financial aid to Turkey. The financial aid has long been vetoed by Greece. However after US President Bill Clinton phoned Greek Prime Minister Kostas Simitis, the EU countries are exerting efforts for the extension of financial aid to Turkey although Simitis rejected Clinton's proposals which included a more positive stance regarding Turkey. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who delivered a speech at the Appropriations Sub-Committee of the US Senate yesterday, said that they supported Turkey's wish to be a part of Europe. /Sabah/ [04] NATASHA-1 SET FREETurkish Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ambassador Necati Utkan said in a statement regarding the vessel 'Natasha-1', which was stopped by Turkey in the Dardanelles Straits, that the vessel was carrying a cargo different from the one declared. Utkan added: "If there is a cargo harmful to the environment, the vessel can be stopped". Utkan noted that the vessel had been stopped within the framework of the Montreux Agreement and notification systems. Utkan said: "Notification is a system established to provide security along the straits. The vessels should specify their cargo. In this case, there was a difference between the real cargo and the notified cargo. If a similar situation occurs in the future, the same regulations will be applied again".Meanwhile, the Russian Foreign Ministry has pointed out that there is no connection between the Natasha-1 cargo vessel and the contract made with the Greek Cypriot Administration for the delivery of Russian-made S-300 missiles. A Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesman stated that the vessel was registered in Malta and was carrying Ukrainians, and that the vessel had no connection with Russia. /Sabah/ [05] ONE YEAR IN PRISON FOR FRISULLOItalian Damiano Giovanni Frisullo, tried at the Diyarbakir State Security Court for his provocative actions against the indivisible integrity of the Turkish Republic during Nevruz celebrations in Diyarbakir, has been sentenced to one year in prison and a fine of TL 6.1 billion. The court has however postponed the decision for five years. /Sabah/[06] BOMB EXPLODES IN KARAKOY: 12 INJUREDA bomb exploded yesterday in the Karakoy district of Istanbul leaving 12 people injured. An anonymous person phoned the police and assumed the responsibility of the attack on behalf of the illegal fundamentalist and terrorist IBDA-C organization. /Sabah/[07] ALI COSKUN JOINS FPAli Coskun, who entered the Turkish Parliament as Istanbul Deputy for the Motherland Party (ANAP), but later resigned and went independent last year, joined the Virtue Party (FP) yesterday. Thus the number of FP deputies has risen to 145 and the number of independent deputies has decreased to 12. /Sabah/[08] PKK ATTACK IN VANMembers of the PKK terrorist organization attacked the Baskale district of Van yesterday. However when Turkish security forces retaliated, the terrorists fled. Another group of terrorists who went to nearby Cakirdogan village stopped a minibus and abducted 13 passengers, but later setting eleven of them free. /Sabah/[09] HIGH MILITARY COUNCIL EXPELS 162 OFFICERSThe High Military Council, chaired by Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz and attended by Defence Minister Ismet Sezgin and high level officers and admirals, convened yesterday to discuss ways of halting the growth of Islamic fundamentalism. The Council decided to expel 162 officers from the Turkish Army including those who are involved in radical Islamic movements. /Hurriyet/[10] 2 MILLION ECU FOR TOURISM EDUCATIONThe European Union (EU) will give 2 million ECU for the construction of a tourism center in Antalya-Kemer. Tourism Ministry will hold 'Professional Training Projects in Tourism' in line with the financial agreement signed between Turkey and the EU. Within the project framework it is aimed to establish an international tourism training center in Kemer. It is estimated that the project will cost 2,445,000 ECU. The EU will provide 2 million ECU and the remainder will be met by the Turkish government. /Milliyet/[11] EARLY ELECTION PROTOCOLAccording to the protocol signed by Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz and Chairman of the Republican Peoples' Party (CHP), Deniz Baykal, early elections will be held on 18 or 25 April 1999; approval by Parliament will be given before the summer recess; Yilmaz and Baykal cooperate in the establishment of a new government but they will not take part in the new government. Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz will resign by the end of 1998. /Milliyet/[12] GREEK F-16S LAND IN GREEK CYPRUSFour Greek F-16 fighter planes and a cargo plane landed at Baf airbase in Greek Cyprus yesterday. This is the first time that military aircraft belonging to Greece have used Baf Airbase. Greek Cyprus Administration Defense Ministry spokesman, Andreas Harides, said that the aircraft were using the airbase in line with the joint defense doctrine between Greece and the Greek Cyprus Administration. He added that they had checked whether the base was available prior to landing.Turkey has since protested about the use of the base. In a statement of from the Turkish Foreign Ministry yesterday, the landing were described as a "provocative development" damaging security and stability on the island. It was added that Turkey would take the necessary measures in line with developments as a guarantor state. /Milliyet/Cumhuriyet/ [13] LETTER FROM CLINTON TO DEMIRELForeign Ministry spokesman Necati Utkan said yesterday that US president Bill Clinton had sent a reply to President Suleyman Demirel's letter sent in late May about Turkey's support for the Middle East peace process. In his reply, Clinton asked for Turkey's support on the Cyprus issue. Saying that they shared Turkey's anxieties about the Middle East issue, Clinton added in connection with the Cyprus issue that his administartion hoped both sides would meet their responsibilities and that Turkey would take steps towards solving the Cyprus issue.It was reported that the letter also mentioned Turkish-American relations, the peace process between the Arab world and Israel, and human rights issues. /Milliyet/ Cumhuriyet/ [14] STATE MINISTER TURK IN WASHINGTONState Minister responsible for human rights, Hikmet Sami Turk will meet with Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright and Justice Minister, Janet Reno tomorrow in Washington. Within the framework of the visit, Turk yesterday met consultant of the US Civil Rights Organization, Steve Block, and US Deputy Secretary of State, John Shattuck. /Cumhuriyet/[15] TOURISM AWARD FOR TURKEYA poster of Cappadocia, the photographs for which were taken by Mehmet Hengirmen and prepared by the Turkish Tourism Ministry, has won a first prize in Austria. Undersecretary of the Turkish Embassy in Austria, Husnu Gumus was presented with the award during a ceremony at which leading media representatives and travelling agencies were presented. /Cumhuriyet/[16] GERMAN PAPER CRITICIZES GERMAN POLICY TOWARD TURKEYAn editorial in "Suddeutsche Zeitung", a German daily, criticizes Germany's policy towards Turkey by stating that Germany assumes a hypocritical stance over human rights issues. Finding fault with German Chancellor Helmut Kohl the paper claims he tries to block Turkey's full EU membership on grounds of human rights violations simply because his government cannot openly utter its fears that there would be a mass exodus of Turkish people to Germany if Turkey becomes full member in the European Union. /Hurriyet/[17] FRENCH, GREEK MP's RAISE ALLEGED GENOCIDE ISSUE IN EURO-PARLIAMENTA draft resolution about a so-called genocide of Armenians by Turks, similar to a draft resolution recently presented to that of the French Parliament, was submitted by Greek and French parliamentarians yesterday to the General Assembly of the European Parliament. The MP's proposed that the draft should be included on the agenda of "urgent issues" but a Turkish diplomat's efforts persuaded the chairman to refuse the proposal. The parliamentarians then demanded a vote for its inclusion in today's agenda. /Hurriyet/Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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