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Turkish Press Review, 98-08-25
From: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>
25.08.98
Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning
CONTENTS
[01] TURKISH-SLOVAKIAN JEC PROTOCOL
[02] 11 PKK TERRORISTS KILLED
[03] ECEVIT MEETS WITH LAVASANI
[04] MEDITERRANEAN COASTAL INSTITUTE
[05] TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS: 53 DEAD
[06] UN SUPPORT FOR DEVREK WALKING STICKS
[07] 67TH IZMIR INTERNATIONAL FAIR
[08] STATE MINISTER TANER IN RUSSIA
[09] NSC MEETING
[10] EXPORT FIGURES FOR MAY ANNOUNCED
[11] DEPOSITS, LOANS INCREASE
[12] FOREIGN MINISTER TO VISIT TEHRAN
[13] BELGIUM WANTS CAKICI
[14] DEUTSCHE BANK, 'STORY OF TWO COUNTRIES'
[15] 'SAVING HASANKEYF'
[16] INTERNATIONAL TENDER FROM DSI
[01] TURKISH-SLOVAKIAN JEC PROTOCOL
Turkish Housing and Public Works Minister Yasar Topcu noted over
the weekend that intensive relations had been established between
Turkey and Slovakia within a short time and said: "Now, we
continue these relations at the level of public works ministers.
We will coooperate in the contracting sector". A protocol
regarding meetings of the Turkish-Slovakian First Term Joint
Economic Commission (JEC) was signed in Ankara yesterday.
Slovakian Contracting and Public Works Minister Jan Mraz, who is
currently visiting Turkey, pointed out that Turkey was a very
important country for Slovakia. He added that cooperation
potential between Turkey and Slovakia should certainly be
evaluated, the Anatolia news agency reports.
[02] 11 PKK TERRORISTS KILLED
During operations carried out by Turkish security forces in the
Kozluk district of Batman, 11 members of the PKK terrorist
organization have been killed. The Governor of the Emergency Rule
Region noted that security operations in the region are
continuing. /Cumhuriyet/
[03] ECEVIT MEETS WITH LAVASANI
Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit received Iranian Ambassador
to Turkey Huseyin Lavasani yesterday. In a statement following
the meeting, Lavasani noted that they talked about the issue of
the taking prisoner of 11 Iranian diplomats by Afghanistan.
/Cumhuriyet/
[04] MEDITERRANEAN COASTAL INSTITUTE
The "Fourth International Mediterranean Coastal Institute"
organized by the Middle East Technical University (METU)
Mediterranean Coasts Department will start today. 25 people
chosen from Mediterranean and Black Sea countries will enjoy
seminars at the Mediterranean Coastal Institute '98, which will
last until 11 September. Lecturers from Turkey, the US, Britain,
Holland, France, Italy, Croatia and Malta will speak at the
institute. /Cumhuriyet/
[05] TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS: 53 DEAD
During various traffic accidents throughout Turkey, 53 people
died and 68 people were injured over the weekend. The accidents
happened in Istanbul, on the Canakkale-Bursa highway, in
Balikesir, Erzincan, Izmir, Kayseri, Adana, Bolu, Mus, Gaziantep,
Kocaeli, Samsun, Giresun, Kutahya, Corum, Tokat, Zonguldak and
Aksaray. /Cumhuriyet/
[06] UN SUPPORT FOR DEVREK WALKING STICKS
The United Nations (UN) has granted $25,000 to the makers of
"Devrek Walking Sticks", noted walking sticks produced in the
Devrek district of Zonguldak. Deputy Chairman of the 67 member
Devrek Walking Stick Producers' Association, Murvet Okur, said
that initiatives were continuing for the development of the
production of walking sticks. /Cumhuriyet/
[07] 67TH IZMIR INTERNATIONAL FAIR
The International Izmir Fair will be opened for the 67th time
tomorrow. It is reported that the international part of the fair
will last until 3 September while the national part will last
until 10 September. A total of 1,607 firms including 432 foreign
firms from 44 countries will participate in the fair. Izmir Mayor
Burhan Ozfatura recalled yesterday that the contribution of the
fair to Turkey's economy was TL 6 trillion last year and noted
that they were expecting TL 10 trillion in income this year.
/Cumhuriyet/
[08] STATE MINISTER TANER IN RUSSIA
Turkish State Minister Gunes Taner, who is responsible for the
economy, flew to Moscow yesterday accompanied by Central Bank
President Gazi Ercel and Treasury Deputy Undersecretary Cuneyt
Sel. Speaking to reporters before departing from Ankara Airport,
Taner said that the aim of his visit would be to explore ways of
contributing to the revival of Russia's economy.
"Turkey and Russia enjoy very close economic relations. These
relations should be further strengthened. We will examine the
situation first-hand and seek to outline how Turkey is able to
contribute to the reconstruction of the Russian economy within
the scope of its opportunities" Taner said. /All papers/
[09] NSC MEETING
The National Security Council (NSC) discussed ways to fight
organized crime in its Monday meeting. After a briefing by
security officials on organized crime and recent developments
concerning this issue, the NSC recommended that the intensive
fight against organized crime should continue. Recent foreign
political developments were also evaluated in the meeting, and
developments in northern Iraq were broadly discussed. /All
papers/
[10] EXPORT FIGURES FOR MAY ANNOUNCED
Turkey's exports, measured by quantity, increased by 22.4 % in
May compared to April, while imports rose by 18.1 %. According to
the State Institute of Statistics (SIS), the value of Turkey's
exports and imports fell by 0.9 and 3.5 %, respectively in the
same period, the Anatolia news agency reported yesterday.
[11] DEPOSITS, LOANS INCREASE
In Turkey, deposits in bank accounts and bank loans increased
greatly over the first seven months of 1998. The volume of both
deposits and loans increased by 23.7 in real terms. Bank deposits
accounts, which brought in a more stable income when compared to
other instruments, reached 8 quadrillion and 256.1 trillion
Turkish Liras, increasing by 60.3 %. /Hurriyet/
[12] FOREIGN MINISTER TO VISIT TEHRAN
According to a statement issued yesterday by Iranian Ambassador
to Ankara, Huseyin Lavasani, Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem
will be in Tehran on September 14-15 to pay an official visit.
/Hurriyet/
[13] BELGIUM WANTS CAKICI
Belgian officials have requested France to hand over Alaattin
Cakici, the head of a large criminal organization, to Belgium
where he is accused of being involved in a murder. Belgium will
also issue a "red bulletin" to apprehend Alper Gozelli, who
killed Osman Nuri Van on December 25, 1997 in Liege at the order
of Cakici. /Hurriyet/
[14] DEUTSCHE BANK, 'STORY OF TWO COUNTRIES'
One of the world's leading investment banks, Deutsche Bank has
completed a study on comparing the Russian and Turkish economies
within the framework of the Asian economic crisis. The study,
called "Story of Two Countries", says that foreign investors
evaluated Turkey and Russia according to the same investment
areas and notes that both countries have same economic
characteristics. However, the report says that after June 1998,
Turkey and Russia applied different economic measures to avoid
the negative effects of the Asian crisis. "Turkey followed an
economic policy in line with market conditions that protected the
stable structure of the Turkish lira. However, the Russian ruble
lost value because of the negative effects of the Asian crisis.
Although Russia and Turkey have similar economic characteristics,
there are differences in the application of economic measures.
Russia could not prevent its economy from entering into a serious
crisis, whereas Turkey successfully continued on its way," says
the study. /Milliyet/
[15] 'SAVING HASANKEYF'
Hasankeyf, located on the historical route that linked
Mesopotamia to the southeast, will be under water in two years
time after the Ilisu and Karkamis dams are completed within the
framework of the Southeast Anatolia Project (GAP). The Ministry
of Culture has decided to exhibit movable artifacts in museums
and document the areas which will be inundated. The Ministry was
signed a protocol for "Rescuing the Cultural Heritage of
Hasankeyf" with the Middle East Technical University (METU) and
the State Water Works. The Minister of Culture, Istemihan Talay
said that excavations to map the archeological structure, and
document the cultural heritage of the region started last week
and would end on 15 September. /Sabah/
[16] INTERNATIONAL TENDER FROM DSI
The Board of the Potable Water and Sewerage Department of the
General Directorate of the State Water Works (DSI), put out
Monday international tenders for the construction of a sewerage
system using the "pre-selection method", the Anatolia news agency
reports.
An announcement related to the tender has been published in the
Official Gazette. It says that the majority of the project will
be financed by a loan obtained from the Japanese Overseas
Economic Cooperation Fund (OECF). Implementation projects will be
prepared by the Consultant Melen Engineering and Counselling
Services Joint Initiative Group and the tender will be opened
according to these implementation projects.
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