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Turkish Press Review, 98-12-04
From: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>
04.12.98
Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning
CONTENTS
[01] PRESIDENT DEMIREL IN BUCHAREST
[02] ECEVIT BEGINS EFFORTS TO FORM A NEW GOVERNMENT
[03] MUBARAK TO VISIT ANKARA
[04] SUPREME MILITARY COUNCIL CONVENES TODAY
[05] ECEVIT: "A PROMISING DIALOGUE WITH ITALY HAS BEGUN"
[06] PKK PROHIBITON IN BELGIUM
[07] WORLD FOOD SUMMIT
[08] EUROPE LOOKING FOR A COUNTRY TO TRY OCALAN
[09] INVESTIGATION OVER FALSE PASSPORT
[10] TUSIAD CHAIRMAN IN VIENNA
[11] "NO INTENTION TO ENFORCE SEVRES TREATY"
[12] "TURKEY WANTS COOPERATION"
[13] STRAITS PROBLEM SOLVED
[14] BULGARIAN ADMINISTRATORS IN TURKEY
[15] GREEK CYPRIOTS GAINING TIME
[16] MILITARY VEHICLES OVER-TURNED
[17] RAID ON KAPLAN
[18] "PEACE WATER" IS READY TO OPEN
[19] TURKISH EFES: BIGGEST FOREIGN INVESTMENT IN ROMANIA
[20] SIX MEMBERS OF DHKP-C ARRESTED
[21] OPERATIONS IN AYDIN
[22] ISTANBUL MUSIC FESTIVAL
[23] BASU CONFERENCE IN KONYA
[01] PRESIDENT DEMIREL IN BUCHAREST
The Turkish President Suleyman Demirel arrived in the Romanian
capital of Bucharest on Thursday morning for a one-day goodwill
visit as the official guest of his Romanian counterpart, Emil
Constantinescue. After the meeting with the delegations,
Constantinescu and Demirel held a joint press conference at which
Demirel said perfect political cooperation exists between Turkey
and Romania, thus a strong basis for economic relations as well.
Demirel also had talks with the Romanian Prime Minister and the
Chairman of the Romanian Lower House of Parliament and the
Senate. Later, he attended the opening ceremony of the facilities
of the biggest Turkish investment in Romania. /All papers/
[02] ECEVIT BEGINS EFFORTS TO FORM A NEW GOVERNMENT
Bulent Ecevit, leader of the Democratic Left Party (DSP), began
efforts to form a new government. After accepting the task of
forming a government, Ecevit first called together the DSP
parliamentary group and then met the Party Assembly to exchange
ideas. Ecevit was given full authority on his part to form a
government. Ecevit is expected to begin talks with the True Path
Party (DYP) leader Tansu Ciller and with the Motherland Party
(ANAP) leader Mesut Yilmaz on Saturday.
[03] MUBARAK TO VISIT ANKARA
The Egyptian President, Husnu Mubarak, will arrive in Ankara on
Saturday as the official guest of his Turkish counterpart
Suleyman Demirel. According to a statement made by the Turkish
Foreign Ministry, during Mubarak's visit, bilateral relations,
regional and international issues will be discussed. The recent
situation in the Middle East peace process is also expected to be
debated, the Anatolia news agency reports.
[04] SUPREME MILITARY COUNCIL CONVENES TODAY
The Supreme Military Council (YAS) convenes on Friday and will be
chaired by Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz. Senior military
commanders will discuss the planned activities of the Turkish
Armed Forces (TSK) during the one-day meeting in Ankara. The YAS
convenes twice a year. /Cumhuriyet/
[05] ECEVIT: "A PROMISING DIALOGUE WITH ITALY HAS BEGUN"
After meeting Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz, Deputy Prime Minister
Bulent Ecevit reported that a promising dialogue had begun with
Italy. Ecevit said: "A cordial meeting was held between our
Minister of Justice and Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs and the
Italian Minister of Foreign Trade who had come to Istanbul for
the Galatasaray-Juventus match. This dialogue is quite a pleasant
development." Ecevit also said: "Apparently the Italian
government perceived that its approach towards Ocalan is
implausible for Turkey. Turkey's attitude in this matter has been
conducted to Italy by every means. This attitude is gradually
yielding results." /Hurriyet/
[06] PKK PROHIBITON IN BELGIUM
The Leuven University in Belgium prohibited a meeting to be held
by members of the PKK terrorist organization on Sunday. According
to a statement made by Belgian security forces, the Rector of the
University prohibited the meeting, the Anatolia news agency
reports. Following the prohibition, the Rector of the University
said that he was subject to many threats from PKK members.
[07] WORLD FOOD SUMMIT
Prof.Zeki Ertugay, the Erzurum deputy of the True Path Party
(DYP), and Irfan Koksalan, the Ankara deputy of the Motherland
Party (ANAP), who have been to Italy to attend the World Food
Summit, delivered speeches and put forth the real face of the
leader of the PKK terrorist organization Abdullah Ocalan. During
the summit held in Rome on November 29-December 2 and attended by
200 parliamentary members from 79 countries, Ertugay and Koksalan
talked about the massacres carried out by Ocalan and his
organization in Turkey.
Ertugay also noted that Turkey had invested the sum of $32
billion in the Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP) and two
million hectares of land have been irrigated. Ertugay pointed out
that the PKK terrorist organization was trying to prevent the
investments in the Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia regions.
/Turkiye/
[08] EUROPE LOOKING FOR A COUNTRY TO TRY OCALAN
Italian Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini said that Italy and
Germany were trying to determine in which country to try the PKK
leader Abdullah Ocalan. Dini pointed out that it was actually a
contradiction in terms to say that even though Germany has issued
a warrant for the arrest of Ocalan, Germany did not want his
extradition. Dini added: "However, we can understand Germany's
stance". Dini, who spoke during the Parliamentary Assembly of the
Western European Union (WEU), claimed that Turkey was acting
without examining the legal aspect of the issue.
Meanwhile, La Repubblica, one of the leading newspapers published
in Italy, commented on the speech of the Italian Prime Minister
Massimo D'Alema, who spoke at the Assembly two days ago, and
claimed that D'Alema said that Ocalan would be tried in Italy.
The newspaper stated that there was not enough time for Italy to
establish an international tribunal before December 22. The
newspaper described D'Alema's initiatives to find a country for
the trial of Ocalan as impossible. /Aksam/
[09] INVESTIGATION OVER FALSE PASSPORT
Italian prosecutor Giancarlo Capaldo started an investigation on
the leader of the PKK terrorist organization, Abdullah Ocalan
whom the Italian press is describing as a disturbing guest, with
charges of entering the country with a false passport. The role
of Communist deputy Roman Mantovani, who brought the terrorist
leader from Moscow to Italy, is also being considered in the
"false passport" investigation. /Milliyet/
[10] TUSIAD CHAIRMAN IN VIENNA
Muharrem Kayhan, Chairman of the Turkish Industrialists' and
Businessmen's Association (TUSIAD), went to Vienna to attend the
European Industrialists' and Employers' Confederation (UNICE)
meeting. In his speech at the meeting, Kayhan would explain
Turkey's sensitivity about Abdullah Ocalan issue and their
support.
Meanwhile, TUSIAD sent a letter to the 31 members of UNICE to
contribute to diplomatic initiatives in order to bring the
Abdullah Ocalan issue to the attention of European circles.
/Sabah/
[11] "NO INTENTION TO ENFORCE SEVRES TREATY"
The German Minister of Foreign Affairs, Joschka Fischer, said in
his speech at the Organization for Security and Coopereration
in Europe (OSCE) meeting yesterday in Oslo that Germany would not
like to bring Turkey's domestic issue into the international
arena. He added that they did not try to enforce the Sevres
Treaty.
Meanwhile, Turkey's permanent representative to the European
Union (EU), Ambassador Nihat Akyol asked the EU not to interfere
in Turkey's domestic issues nor to take any step to harm Turkey's
territorial integrity in his statement to the La Libre Belgique
newspaper. /Sabah/
[12] "TURKEY WANTS COOPERATION"
The Minister of State reponsible for Human Rights, Hikmet Sami
Turk, said in his speech at the panel on "The Extradition of
Criminals through International Law" in the Law Faculty of
Marmara University in Istanbul, that international cooperation
was of vital importance in human rights issues, however this
should not be used as a tool of foreign policy to interfere in
the domestic issues of other countries. Stressing that Turkey had
been struggling against terrorism for the last 15 years, Turk
noted that terrorism, which threats the whole world, required
international cooperation and solidarity. He claimed that
Turkey's expectations of international cooperation had never been
fulfilled. /Sabah/
[13] STRAITS PROBLEM SOLVED
The Russian Izvestiya newspaper claimed that the on-going problem
of the Bosphorus Straits between Turkey and Russia since 1994 has
been solved. An article in the newspaper recalled that Russian
Transport Minister Sergei Frank had said that Russia could
understand the Turkish nation's concern over the ecological
situation of the Straits. Earlier, Russian officials stated that
the ecological concerns were not real and Turkey was trying to
attach importance to the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline project. /Turkiye/
[14] BULGARIAN ADMINISTRATORS IN TURKEY
Administrators from the Kremikovtzi Iron and Steel Plants have
arrived in Turkey to inspect the Erdemir Coal and Steel Plants.
According to a statement issued by Erdemir, if Turkey wins a
tender put out by Kremikovtzi Iron and Steel Plants, it will have
an important place among foreign investors in Bulgaria. The
statement noted that Erdemir would become one of the leading iron
and steel institutions in Europe and throughout the world.
/Aksam/
[15] GREEK CYPRIOTS GAINING TIME
The President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC),
Rauf Denktas, evaluated an application made by the Greek Cypriot
Administration to the General Council of the United Nations (UN)
after 15 years. The Greek Cypriot Administration has wanted the
Cyprus problem to be discussed on the agenda of the UN General
Council. Denktas noted that they would use this application as a
reason not to deploy Russian-made S-300 missiles on the island.
Denktas said that Greek Cypriots were trying to gain time.
/Turkiye/
[16] MILITARY VEHICLES OVER-TURNED
When two military vehicles over-turned in the Catak district of
Van, two soldiers died and 10 were injured. The injured were
taken to the Van Military Hospital for treatment. /Turkiye/
[17] RAID ON KAPLAN
A mosque and some houses belonging to members of a group called
"Islamic Communities and the Union of Societies" led by Metin
Kaplan, who declared himself to be the caliph of the Islamic
world, were searched yesterday. During the search carried out
under the instructions of the Federal Chief Prosecutor, Kay Nehm,
in the state of Hessen, officials from the Federal Criminal
Department were also present. The officials from the Chief
Prosecutor's office stated that the propaganda material found
were taken as part of the investigation and the mosque, under the
guarantee of the constitution, was searched with the special
permission of the Supreme Court of Appeals. /Milliyet/
[18] "PEACE WATER" IS READY TO OPEN
"Manavgat River Water Provision Project", which will meet the
water needs of some Mediterranean countries and of certain
coastline cities of Turkey, will be opened by the Prime Minister
Mesut Yilmaz on December 8. In the framework of the project, a
daily amount of 500 thousand metres cubes of water is planned to
be conveyed from the Manavgat River to the shore, from where it
will then be distributed to countries like the Turkish Republic
of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), Greece, Israel, Malta and Tunisia by
tankers then. The plant which costed 116 million dollars will be
able to return a 300-million-dollar revenue per year. /Hurriyet/
[19] TURKISH EFES: BIGGEST FOREIGN INVESTMENT IN ROMANIA
The Turkish Anatolia Group achieved the biggest foreign
investment in Romania with the $ 64 million cost of the Efes
Pilsener Beer Factory. the Turkish President, Suleyman Demirel
and his Romanian counterpart, Emil Constantinescue, oficially
opened the factory. Speaking at the opening ceremony, the
Chairman of the executive board of the Anatolia Group, Tuncay
Ozilhan said that 300 people would be employed in the factory. He
added that they aimed at a nine percent market share in Romania
and also they targetted the export of beer to Moldovo and
Ukraine. /Sabah/
[20] SIX MEMBERS OF DHKP-C ARRESTED
Six members of the outlawed DHKP-C organization who were taken
into custody on the charge of planning murder attacks were
arrested in Istanbul. /Sabah/
[21] OPERATIONS IN AYDIN
During operations in Aydin, seven members of the illegal DHKP-C
organization were seized. The Chief of Aydin Security Ahmet Tekin
Akin said that they would never allow terrorist acitivites in
Aydin, the Anatolia news agency reports.
[22] ISTANBUL MUSIC FESTIVAL
The Istanbul Music Festival will be held on December 4-6. Within
the framework of the classical music programme of the festival,
five concerts of eight young Turkish composers will be held.
Meanwhile, the first International Cinema-History Meeting,
organized within the framework of celebrations for the 75th
anniversary of the foundation of the Republic of Turkey, will
start in Istanbul today and last until December 10. During the
festival, panels and seminars will also be held. /Cumhuriyet/
[23] BASU CONFERENCE IN KONYA
The Balkan Sports Writers' Union (BASU) conference started in
Konya yesterday. In addition to Turkey, nearly 50 sports writers
from Yugoslavia, Greece and Romania are attending the conference,
which aims to increase solidarity among sports writers in Balkan
countries. /Hurriyet/
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