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Turkish Press Review, 00-07-28
From: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>
28.07.00
Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning
CONTENTS
[01] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS
[02] SEZER APPROVES DECREE ON GOVERNORS
[03] SEZER TO ATTEND THE "MILLENIUM SUMMIT"
[04] SEZER TOURS THE CONGRESS AND CULTURAL CENTRE IN AYAZAGA
[05] SUPPORT FOR SEZER
[06] CEM RECEIVES KOSOVO DELEGATION
[07] YILMAZ RESPONSIBLE FOR COORDINATION WITH EU
[08] TALAY'S STATEMENT CONCERNING ZEUGMA
[09] JOINT STATEMENT CONCERNING THE CO-PRODUCTION OF AIRBUSES
[10] PARTNERS OF THE GOVERNMENT COALITION DISCUSS YOK
[11] VERHEUGEN: "TURKEY HAS NOT DONE HER HOMEWORK"
[12] SCHOLARSHIP FOR SUCCESSFUL STUDENTS
[13] STATE SUPPORT TO SUCCESSFUL STUDENTS
[14] TURKISH STUDENTS' SUCCESS IN MATHEMATICS
[15] NEW ECONOMIC PACKAGE FOR IMF
[16] ONAL: WE WILL SELL THE BANKS IN THE FUND AS A PACKAGE
[17] LOAN FROM THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION
[18] US PREPARES LOAN FUND FOR NINE COUNTRIES INCLUDING TURKEY
[19] EXPORT IN AUTOMOTIVE SECTOR GROWS FAST
[20] ERDEMIR COMPANY'S RECORD PROFIT: 63 TRILLION TL
[21] 1.9 MILLION DOLLARS ENTERED INTO TREASURY
[22] DECLINE IN INTERESTS
[23] TRADE FAIR IN KENYA: MADE IN TURKEY
[24] NARROW ESCAPE IN THE BOSPHORUS
[25] KOMMAGENE TO BE FILMED
[26] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS
[27] THE EUROPEAN UNION BY BULENT AKARCALI (MILLIYET)
[01] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS
[02] SEZER APPROVES DECREE ON GOVERNORS
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer approved the decree on the
appointment of 43 governors prepared by the Interior Affairs
Minister Sadettin Tantan. According to the decree Balikesir
governor Alaaddin Yuksel was appointed to Izmir Governorship,
Deputy Director General of the Public Security Turan Genc to
Elazig, Director of the Public Security in Istanbul Hasan Ozdemir
to Ardahan, Administrative Inspector general Muzaffer Dilek to
Sanliurfa. /Cumhuriyet/
[03] SEZER TO ATTEND THE "MILLENIUM SUMMIT"
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer will attend the "Millenium Summit"
which will be held on September 6-8 in New York. Sezer is
expected to meet with the US President Bill Clinton and other
world leaders. At the opening of the Summit, co-chairmen of the
Summit, Finnish President Tarja Halonen, Namibian President Sam
Nujoma and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan will deliver speeches.
President Sezer is also expected to address at the meeting.
/Turkiye/
[04] SEZER TOURS THE CONGRESS AND CULTURAL CENTRE IN AYAZAGA
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer held inspections at the Congress and
Cultural Centre in Ayazaga, which began to be built by the
Foundation of Culture and Arts in Istanbul, but could not be
completed. After being briefed by the officials concerning the
situation of the construction, Sezer gave instructions to the
State Inspection Council so that this issue can be examined.
/Milliyet/
[05] SUPPORT FOR SEZER
The speech of President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, carrying out his work
in Istanbul, was supported by politicians. While he received the
Zeugma Initiative Group yesterday in Huber Palace, Sezer said
that a civil constitution had to be prepared and non-governmental
organizations should also contribute to this formation. While
politicians from the Nationalist Action Party (MHP), the
Motherland Party (ANAP) and the True Path Party (DYP) claimed
that the non-govermental organizations views of which were taken,
should be selected carefully, Lutfu Esengun from the Virtue Party
(FP) called on to take the views of everybody. Esengun said, "We
fully heart support the ideas of the President on Constitutional
amendment. Turkey needs a modern Constitution. During its
preparation, non-governmental organizations should also be have a
say on the issue." /Turkiye/
[06] CEM RECEIVES KOSOVO DELEGATION
Foreign Minister Ismail Cem received the political
representatives of Kosovar Turks. After the meeting, Cem said
that Turkey and Kosovar Turks were not happy with the
administration of the United Nations in Kosovo. Cem emphasized if
the discrimination and exclusion politics continue, Turkey would
restrict its contribution to the system established in Kosovo.
The Kosovar Turkish Representatives also visited Premier Bulent
Ecevit and discussed the issues of Kosovar Turks. /Turkiye/
[07] YILMAZ RESPONSIBLE FOR COORDINATION WITH EU
EU Internal Economical and Technical Coordination Board will be
chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz. Prime Minister
Bulent Ecevit met with Minister of Foreign Affairs Ismail Cem and
said that he delegated his duties regarding internal affairs of
EU to Mesut Yilmaz. /Hurriyet/
[08] TALAY'S STATEMENT CONCERNING ZEUGMA
Minister of Culture, Istemihan Talay, stated that 90
archeologists and 150 workers was working very hard to save the
ancient Zeugma city, which will be inundated. Talan met 12
members of the Zeugma Initiative Group, which consists of a total
of 38 people from the business, press and university circles,
yesterday. Talay added, "Rescue excavations aim at taking the
historical artefacts to a proper place as fast as possible".
/Aksam/
[09] JOINT STATEMENT CONCERNING THE CO-PRODUCTION OF AIRBUSES
Minister of National Defence, Sabahattin Cakmakoglu, participated
in a meeting in Farnborough during which an official statement
was announced concerning the A-400 Airbus heavy transportation
plane that will be jointly produced by seven countries.
Cakmakoglu held a meeting with the Defence Ministers of France,
Italy, England, Germany, Spain and Belgium, which are the
partners of the project, and then organized a press conference
with his six colleagues. Cakmakoglu said, "This project proves
that Turkey is ready and willing to participate in big defence
industry projects". /Aksam/
[10] PARTNERS OF THE GOVERNMENT COALITION DISCUSS YOK
After President Ahmet Necdet Sezer's veto on the rectors list of
Higher Education Board (YOK), the partners of the government
coalition also started to discuss YOK. Motherland Party (ANAP)
prepared a proposal on limiting YOK's authorities. Nationalist
Movement Party (MHP) Istanbul deputy Bozkurt Yasar Ozturk stated
that ANAP's proposal brought minor changes which were not enough
and added that certain radical changes should be made about YOK.
Both Ozturk and Democratic Leftist Party (DSP) Istanbul deputy
Masum Turker argued that YOK should be turned into a coordination
council. It is expected that when the TGNA opens, the discussions
on YOK's restructuring will begin and different views on the
issue among the coalition partners will lead to new debates.
/Cumhuriyet/
[11] VERHEUGEN: "TURKEY HAS NOT DONE HER HOMEWORK"
The EU Commissioner Responsible for Enlargement Gunther Verheugen
said that Turkey's EU full-membership was not a probability in
the near future. Verheugen made a statement to German "Allgemeine
Zeitung" and said that Turkey had overcome many bilateral issues
with EU, however, there was no important changes in Turkey.
Verheugen said, "There is no change especially in human rights
issue." /Turkiye/
[12] SCHOLARSHIP FOR SUCCESSFUL STUDENTS
Turkey Education Foundation (TEV) which is one of the oldest
education foundations of Turkey will pay a million dollars worth
scholarship for the students it will send to foreign countries
for education. The students who will start a graduate program in
the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany or Denmark were
introduced to the press yesterday. The authorities from the
foundation said that they will continue to pay the scholarship as
long as the students are successful. United Kingdom Istanbul
Consul-general Peter Hunt stated that they are planning to
increase the number of those receiving scholarships. /Hurriyet/
[13] STATE SUPPORT TO SUCCESSFUL STUDENTS
The educations of the students who have extraordinary talents and
great success in fine arts, science and technology will be
financed by the state. According to the draft submitted to TGNA,
the students who will receive state support in fine arts will be
determined by the councils to be established by the Ministries of
Culture and National Education and the ones successful in science
and technology by the councils to be founded by TUBITAK and again
National Education Ministry. /Hurriyet/
[14] TURKISH STUDENTS' SUCCESS IN MATHEMATICS
Turkish students, trained by TUBITAK, won three silver and one
bronze medals and one mansion during the 41st International
Mathematics Olympics which was held on July 13-25 in Taejon,
South Korea. /Turkiye/
[15] NEW ECONOMIC PACKAGE FOR IMF
It has been definitely understood that there will be deviation in
the first year's objectives of the economic program which was
carried out in coordination with the International Monetary Fund
in Turkey. The Turkish Government is planning to implement a more
strict economic program to reach the objectives on inflation,
foreign trade and current deficit. According to the new economic
package it is expected that the investments, salaries and the
expenditures on education, infrastructure and health will be more
restricted. The privatization of the State Economic Enterprises
which means a decrease in the number of people working in state
institutions is also in the package. According to Treasury
Undersecretary Selcuk Demiralp's statement certain state
institutions which suffered losses will be closed. /Cumhuriyet/
[16] ONAL: WE WILL SELL THE BANKS IN THE FUND AS A PACKAGE
Minister of State Recep Onal said that the banks under the
protection of the Deposit Accounts Insurance Fund, whose
structures resemble each other, would be united and then sold.
Onal added that McKinsey Consulting firm has prepared a report on
these banks. " We will discuss the report with the
Undersecretariat of Treasury and Central Bank and put forward an
offer to the Council of Ministers. There is an inclination to
unite one or two banks with similar structures", said Onal.
/Hurriyet/
[17] LOAN FROM THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION
European Commission decided to give a loan amounting to 450
million euros to Turkey in order to strengthen ties with the
Customs Union. The loan offer will be presented to the approval
of the European Parliament and of the European Council by the end
of this year. This loan will replace the loan, which was
suggested to be given, but not approved in 1995. /Milliyet/
[18] US PREPARES LOAN FUND FOR NINE COUNTRIES INCLUDING TURKEY
A loan fund amounting to 150 million US dollars was established
by the cooperation of the US government and the international
financer George Soros for nine Southeastern European countries,
including Turkey. The money in the fund will be used in the
investments in Turkey, Albania, Bosna-Herzegovina, Bulgaria,
Croatia, Macedonia, Romania, Slovenia and Yugoslavia. It is
expected that Turkey will be able to use 10 million US dollars of
this amount. /Star/
[19] EXPORT IN AUTOMOTIVE SECTOR GROWS FAST
According to the research `500 BIG' prepared by Istanbul Chamber
of Industry (ICO) Turkey's automotive sector made a fast attack
in exports compared to the other sectors in 1999. While exports
of other sectors fell by %1.7 in the year 1999, automotive
industry increased its exports by %66 in the same year earning
$1.629 billion. Oyak Renault is placed first with its $612.227
million in the category of automotive./Turkiye/
[20] ERDEMIR COMPANY'S RECORD PROFIT: 63 TRILLION TL
Turkey's fifth biggest industrial company, Erdemir, improved its
situation this year and stated that its net profit was 63
trillion TL during the first half of the year 2000. The fact that
the metal-steel industry experienced its golden age and that the
investments were completed to a great extent caused Erdemir
Company to achieve such a great success. /Sabah/
[21] 1.9 MILLION DOLLARS ENTERED INTO TREASURY
Administration of Privatization Board sent (OIB) the profit of
privatization amounting to 825 million US dollars to the
Treasury. Thus, the amount sent to the Treasury since the
beginning of this year reached 1 billion 888 million dollars. OIB
issued a written statement and announced that it paid 694 million
US dollars, which had to be paid in the third quarter of the year
2000 as part of the stand by agreement that was signed with the
International Monetary Fund (IMF), to the Treasury. It was added
that OIB also paid 131 million US dollars of 580 million dollars,
which was envisaged to be paid in the fourth quarter, to the
Treasury. /Cumhuriyet/
[22] DECLINE IN INTERESTS
The interest rates declined below 30 percent level for the first
time since 24 January 1980, when new economic decisions were
taken including export promoting measures. Ziraat Bank and
Emlakbank lowered interest rates for deposit accounts to 28
percent. Other important Banks, such as Isbank and Akbank also
lowered interest rates to 31 percent and 30 percent,
respectively. The Treasury, on the other hand, sold bonds for
31.96 percent, the lowest cost for borrowing for 16 years. These
are considered as positive signs for the improvement of the
Turkish economy. /Hurriyet/
[23] TRADE FAIR IN KENYA: MADE IN TURKEY
Nowadays, the capital city of Kenya, Nairobi, has become a
headquarters of Turkish businessmen. The "Made in Turkey Fair"
has been opened today and will last 7 weeks. During the fair, one
production is exhibited every week. As Nairobi is visited by
hundreds of businessmen, Turkey and Turkish products began to be
talked about everywhere. Kenya, which has a population of 30
million is at the same time a passage to the COMESA which is
known as the Union of Africa consisting of 22 countries. Total
population of COMESA member countries is more than 300 millions.
At the fair, food, chemicals, aotomotive, construction, furniture
and textile productions are being presented./Turkiye/
[24] NARROW ESCAPE IN THE BOSPHORUS
While passing through the Bosphorus Strait, a failure in its
engines caused a tanker, which was loaded with crude oil, to stop
and it blocked the traffic for two hours. Since it had taken
precautions by demanding a guiding captain and support of a
tugboat no accident occured. The tanker named Iris Star sailing
under the flag of Malta was carrying 136.000 ton crude oil from
Russia to Greece. The engines of Iris Star broke down off Istinye
and it was towed by a tug. In the meantime, the strait was closed
to traffic for two hours. /Hurriyet/
[25] KOMMAGENE TO BE FILMED
A film about the Kommagene Empire, which is one of the Anatolian
civilizations, will be shot under the title of 'Nemrut; Throne of
the Gods' and introduced to the world. The movie, which will be
made with the support of the Ministry of Culture and with the
contribution of the Turkish Is Bank and Istanbul Stock Exchanges
(IMKB), will start in 20 August and continue for 20 days. The
film will be marketed abroad via US. /Cumhuriyet/
[26] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS
[27] THE EUROPEAN UNION BY BULENT AKARCALI (MILLIYET)
Istanbul deputy Bulent Akarcali comments on the views concerning
Turkey's membership to the EU. A summary of his column is as
follows:
"We have worked hard and long, conducted negotiations, fought to
have our views accepted and finally, in Helsinki achieved to have
the decision we have dreamt of accepted. We were never so close
to turning this dream into reality. However, instead of trying to
find ways which would start full-membership negotiations we seem
to impede our own progress.
We asked to be a member of the EU, we tried hard for it, no one
forced us to do so. We were aware of the EU criteria when we set
out to be admitted into the EU. What I cannot understand today is
that today certain circles are behaving as if they have seen
these criteria for the first time in their lives and reacting to
them.
We have to know that this is no joking matter. Either Turkey
takes the necessary steps until 2003 and becomes ready for
full-membership or we shall never be a member of the EU. This is
a calendar implemented by the EU on every country and we have to
adhere to it. If not, there is no chance of seizing the
opportunity we have missed in the future as the EU will not be
enlarged any more. This is the last train to catch. We should not
miss this train we have missed twice, once at the beginning of
the 70s due to the understanding, 'they are partners, we are the
market' and at the end of 70s as Erbakan did not let Demirel and
the Justice Party to apply for full-membership.
I believe that membership to the EU is in harmony with Mustafa
Kemal's aims. Atatürk's ideals of reaching modern civilization,
to uphold high standards and live accordingly can be found in
full-membership to the EU. Adapting ourselves to the Copenhagen
criteria will not provide any opportunity for separatists or
fundamentalists. On the contrary, Turkey as a member of the EU,
will be supported by the EU in the fight against these
organizations if they still exist. The EU is democratic,
respects human rights but is against fundamentalists, fascists
and terrorists.
What is more, as a full-member, Turkey will have the chance to
express itself better and influence the decision-making
mechanisms. In the 700 member EU Parliament Turkey will form the
most dynamic group with 62 deputies. With the EU membership
Turkey will realize its long-sought dreams. If Ataturk had been
alive today, he would have put the membership as a goal in front
of us."
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