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Turkish Press Review, 98-07-06
From: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>
06.07.98
Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning
CONTENTS
[01] 10 TURKISH COMPANIES AMONG WORLD'S GIANTS
[02] GERMAN MINISTER PRAISES TURKISH BUSINESSMEN
[03] CHIRAC REACTS AGAINST GENOCIDE CLAIMS
[04] TURKISH F-5 TO MACEDONIA
[05] ATHENS PROPOSAL FOR CYPRUS
[06] KARADAYI SAYS THE FINAL WORD
[07] FOREIGN MINISTER CEM TO VISIT ISRAEL
[08] FIRE SPREADS ON CYPRUS
[09] TURKEY'S STRUGGLE AGAINST BLACK MONEY APPROVED BY OECD
[10] TPAO AND AMOCO SET UP JOINT VENTURE IN KAZAKHSTAN
[11] MILD TREMORS HIT SOUTH TURKEY AGAIN
[12] GREECE-GREEK CYPRIOT ADMINISTRATION MILITARY COOPERATION
[13] DEFENCE INDUSTRY GROWING
[14] NATO NOT TO INTERVENE IN CYPRUS OR THE AEGEAN
[15] TURKEY WANTS FULL-MEMBERSHIP IN THE EU
[16] CAGAN IN NAKHICHEVAN
[17] TREASURES OF CROESUS IN TURKEY
[18] STATE MINISTER CELEBI: "WE ARE DETERMINED TO BEAT INFLATION"
[19] CHAIRMAN OF US INTERNATIONAL EXPORTERS' UNION IN ISTANBUL
[20] EGE: "EXPORTS WILL GO UP"
[21] INTERNATIONAL ANTALYA JAZZ FESTIVAL
[01] 10 TURKISH COMPANIES AMONG WORLD'S GIANTS
According to a recent issue of BusinessWeek, one of the leading
world economic publications, 10 Turkish companies are among the
biggest companies of the emerging markets. Turkish Is Bank ranks 43rd
among 200 companies with a $5.261 billion market value, while Tupras
ranks 64th and Akbank 75th. The other seven companies include the
Sabanci Conglomorate (91), the Koc Conglomorate (92), Turkish Airlines
(101), Yapi and Kredi Bank (146), Petkim (173), Petrol Ofisi (180) and
Garanti Bank (186). /Hurriyet/
[02] GERMAN MINISTER PRAISES TURKISH BUSINESSMEN
German Economy Minister Guther Rexrodt said over the weekend that
Turkish companies, which contributed DM 45 billion prior to taxation
to the Gross National Product (GNP), were an indispensable part of the
German economy. Rexrodt noted that he wished the number of Turkish
companies, which is currently at 45,000, would further increase.
Rexrodt delivered a speech at a meeting on "Economic policy at the
threshold of the 21st century and the role of Turkish companies in
Germany" organized by the Turkish-German Businessmen's Union (TDU) in
Berlin. TDU Chairman Ahmet Basbug also delivered a speech and said
that Turks regarded Germany as their homeland. /Hurriyet/
[03] CHIRAC REACTS AGAINST GENOCIDE CLAIMS
French President Jacques Chirac has reacted against the draft
bill to recognize the so-called Armenian genocide by Turks which was
approved by the French National Assembly, and has cancelled a visit to
Armenia planned for September.
French President Chirac later made a statement in support of
Turkey to a correspondent of Hurriyet daily newspaper and said: "I
wholeheartedly support Turkey's inclusion in the European Union (EU)
as soon as possible". Chirac pointed out that Turkish Cypriots should
also participate in the negotiations between Greek Cypriots and the
EU. /Hurriyet/
[04] TURKISH F-5 TO MACEDONIA
Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz, who will pay a visit to Macedonia
today, will mainly take up an agreement for the delivery of 20 F-5 war
planes to that country. An agreement for the delivery of the planes
was initialled during preliminary meetings between the delegations of
the two countries. Yilmaz will meet with Macedonian Prime Minister
Branko Crvenkovski and will finalize the agreement. /Hurriyet/
[05] ATHENS PROPOSAL FOR CYPRUS
According to To Vima, a weekly newspaper published in Athens,
Greece has sent a special document to the permanent members of the UN
Security Council proposing that meetings at military level should be
initiated between Turkey and the Greek Cypriot Administration to
decrease the tension stemming from the Cyprus problem. The special
document notes that a very sensitive point, which endangers stability
and peace in the region, had been reached. /Hurriyet/
[06] KARADAYI SAYS THE FINAL WORD
The Turkish Armed Forces will continue considering the fight
against both 'internal' and 'external' threats as their 'prime duty'
and in so doing they are attaching great importance to remaining
outside of party politics and within legitimacy, Turkey's top officer
said. Gen.Ismail Hakki Karadayi, in a written statement, stressed
that it was not the duty of the government alone to combat
fundamentalism, but the army was responsible as well. "It is an
obligation imposed on us by the law to protect with the same
sensitivity the existing constitutional system, to which we feel
absolutely attached. We consider this obligation of ours to be in
parallel to the activities in the same direction of the governments of
the Republic" Karadayi said.
The statement of the top commander of the country came only a day
after Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz told a news conference that it was
primarily the duty of the government to deal with fundamentalism and
urged the armed forces to stay away from party politics. He said the
fight against fundamentalism was the responsibility of the whole
state, not just the military, and ultimately the government must
decide how it was conducted. Yesterday, however, the prime minister,
when asked to comment on Karadayi's statement, said: "I could sign
it". Karadayi said it was a fact acknowledged by the Parliament, the
government, civic organizations and society in general that there was
a threat to the constitutional secular order of the country and that
it was the prime responsibility of the armed forces to fight any
threat directed at the constitutional order of the country. /All
papers/
[07] FOREIGN MINISTER CEM TO VISIT ISRAEL
Foreign Minister Ismail Cem begins a four-day long trip to Israel
on Monday in an attempt to increase Turkey's role in the Middle East
Peace Process. Cem, who was invited to Israel by Prime Minister and
acting Foreign Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, will spend two days of his
four-day visit in official meetings with Israeli and Palestinian
officials. /All papers/
[08] FIRE SPREADS ON CYPRUS
The fire that broke out on Saturday in the Greek part of the
island of Cyprus passed the demarcation zone, reaching the towns of
Yesilirmak and the Bademlikoy in the Turkish part. The fire has so
far caused a lot of damage, although no deaths have been reported.
The flames were brought under control early on Sunday morning but
strong winds made the work of fire fighters more difficult, the
Anatolia news agency report.
Late on Sunday afternoon fire fighters were still battling the
fire in cooperation with police, soldiers, the Cyprus Turkish Forces
and locals. In addition to two helicopters sent from Antalya and
helicopters from the United Nations Peace Keeping Forces that have
joined the effort, more aid has been asked for from Turkey.
[09] TURKEY'S STRUGGLE AGAINST BLACK MONEY APPROVED BY OECD
A report prepared by the Financial Actions Group of the OECD
indicates that the struggle demonstrated by the Turkish government
against black money has been officially recognized, the Anatolia news
agency reports. It was also reported that the Financial Crimes
Investigation Committeee is in the process of developing a
computerized system, supported by a strong team of specialists, to
combat black money operations.
[10] TPAO AND AMOCO SET UP JOINT VENTURE IN KAZAKHSTAN
The Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO)'s international branch,
TPOC, and the American-financed international petroleum company AMOCO
have set up a joint venture in Kazakhstan to search for oil and
natural gas, the Anatolia news agency reports. The new company,
called TEPCO LLC, is based in Aktubinsk, Kazakhstan and will carry out
oil and natural gas explorations in northern Kazakhstan.
[11] MILD TREMORS HIT SOUTH TURKEY AGAIN
Mild tremors shook southern Turkey yesterday in the latest
aftershocks of a powerful earthquake that struck the area a week ago,
officials said. "There were three tremors measuring around 3.0 on the
Richter scale this morning" an official of the earthquake monitoring
centre in Istanbul said. An official at the local governor's office
in the southern province of Adana said there were no reports of
injuries from the latest quakes. /All papers/
[12] GREECE-GREEK CYPRIOT ADMINISTRATION MILITARY COOPERATION
According to "Fileleftheros", a newspaper published in the Greek
Cypriot administration of Cyprus, during his visit to the Greek
Cypriot administration on July 20, the date of the 24th anniversary of
the 1974 Peace Operation by the Turkish Army, Greek Defence Minister
Akis Cohacopulos will seek ways to cooperate in a project to build a
naval base worth 30 trillion Turkish Liras. The report also says that
Greece will partially finance the project. /Cumhuriyet/
[13] DEFENCE INDUSTRY GROWING
The Defence industry has showed rapid development over the last
15 years and has assumed an important place in the Turkish economy.
Apart from military facilities, 14 private sector companies also work
in this sector and total investments are running at $ 5 billion 59
million. The sector, established to meet the needs of the Turkish
Armed Forces, is now exporting to countries like Belgium, Germany and
the US. /Sabah/
[14] NATO NOT TO INTERVENE IN CYPRUS OR THE AEGEAN
NATO, which served as the military shield of the Western bloc
during the Cold War years is redefining its role on the threshold of
the 21st century. NATO sources believe that presently there is no
imminent danger but potential threats to the security and stability of
the area and point out the need to cooperate in averting these
potential dangers such as terrorism, narcotics trafficking, large
waves of immigrants and possible use of mass destruction weapons.
Therefore within the new NATO security strategy the Aegean problem and
Cyprus problems between Turkey and Greece are not on NATO's agenda.
NATO believes that the two neighbouring countries should solve these
problems between themselves. /Sabah/
[15] TURKEY WANTS FULL-MEMBERSHIP IN THE EU
Foreign Minister Ismail Cem attending the "International
Bertelsmann Forum " held in Berlin, yesterday answered questions put
to him by members of the press. Noting German Foreign Minister
Kinkel's words that the EU had prepared a "special status" for Turkey,
Cem said that Turkey wanted a general status for full-membership not a
special one. Commenting that Kinkel's approach towards Turkey was
constructive in general, Ismail Cem stated that the Bertelsmann
meeting had also been beneficial to Turkey. /Sabah/
[16] CAGAN IN NAKHICHEVAN
Nami Cagan, Minister of Labour and Social Security, said on
Saturday that the relations between Turkey and Nakhichevan Autonomous
Republic will further improve, stressing: "We have always supported
you". Cagan and the accompanying degelation were received by Vasif
Talipov, Speaker of the Upper Chamber of Nakhichevan, the Anatolia
news agency reported.
[17] TREASURES OF CROESUS IN TURKEY
The Treasures of Croesus sold abroad illegally during the years
1965, 1966 and 1967 has been returned to Turkey through the efforts of
the Turkish Culture Ministry from the Metropolitan Museum in the US,
and are being displayed in the Usak Museum, near Izmir. Culture
Minister Istemihan Talay, who officially opened the Treasures of
Croesus exhibition and also attended the groundbreaking ceremonies for
a new Usak Cultural Centre, stated that every piece of work in
Anatolia was Turkish property. Talay added that after the Treasures
of Croesus success, they were trying to bring back the "Elmali coins"
smuggled abroad from Antalya. /Sabah/
[18] STATE MINISTER CELEBI: "WE ARE DETERMINED TO BEAT INFLATION"
State Minister responsible for the economy, Isin Celebi said that
they were determined to fully apply economic programmes in the
struggle against inflation. He added that the results of the first
six months of the year and new the agreements signed with the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) were programme successes. Celebi
noted that they had already taken necessary precautions against a
possible increase in inflation in September or October.
Celebi continued: "Turkey's exports have increased seven percent
whereas there has been a three percent decrease worldwide. The
economy stability programme will carry us to our target in the second
six months of the year." /Milliyet/
[19] CHAIRMAN OF US INTERNATIONAL EXPORTERS' UNION IN ISTANBUL
Chairman of the US International Exporters' Union, Dr. Philip
Byrd has called on Turkish exporters to make a move before the quotas
are lifted in 2005. Byrd, who will hold a conference tomorrow in
Istanbul, said that America is an alternative export market for
Turkey. In the conference Byrd will discuss current Turco-American
trade relations, views on future trade relations, ways to export more
Turkish goods to America, reaching world markets through the Internet
and promoting the Turkish market. /Milliyet/
[20] EGE: "EXPORTS WILL GO UP"
Foreign Trade Undersecretary Yavuz Ege said yesterday that single
money (EURO) applications in 11 European Union member countries will
have a positive effect on Turkish foreign trade, and added that the
Euro monetary unit would increase Turkish exports to Europe. Ege
noted that the Euro would be an advantage for Turkish firms when
determining their prices. /Milliyet/
[21] INTERNATIONAL ANTALYA JAZZ FESTIVAL
The first International Antalya Jazz Festival will begin tomorrow
and last until July 11 . Many foreign and Turkish musicians will
participate in the festival. /Hurriyet/
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