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Turkish Press Review, 00-08-21
From: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>
21.08.00
Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning
CONTENTS
[01] GENERAL ATES AT THE TAKE-OVER CEREMONY OF SECOND ARMY
COMMANDERSHIP
[02] "TURKISH DAY" AT EXPO-2000
[03] TURKEY TO ATTEND G-20 MEETING IN CANADA
[04] MINISTER KORAY AYDIN VISITS JAPAN
[05] GENERAL ATES AT THE TAKE-OVER CEREMONY OF SECOND ARMY
COMMANDERSHIP
[06] OGER'S STATEMENT ON TURKISH TOURISM
[07] GERMAN DOCTORS REFUSE TO OPERATE A TURKISH WOMAN
[08] TL 100 BILLION FOR ZEUGMA
[09] ITO ISSUES SOCIAL SECURITY GUIDEBOOK
[10] EXIMBANK SUPPORT EXPORTERS WITH SOFT LOAN
[11] ALIAGA AND MYTILINI TO HOST JOINT TURCO-GREEK FESTIVAL
[12] TURKEY PLACES FIRST IN ISPOLO WATER POLO TOURNAMENT
[01] GENERAL ATES AT THE TAKE-OVER CEREMONY OF SECOND ARMY
COMMANDERSHIP
[02] "TURKISH DAY" AT EXPO-2000
August 19 was celebrated as a "Turkish National Day" at Expo-2000
in Hannover, Germany, one of the world's largest trade fairs, by
a number of social and cultural activities. Turkish Deputy Prime
Minister and Chairman of the Motherland Party Mesut Yilmaz and
Minister of Tourism Erkan Mumcu attended the activities. During
the opening ceremony, Mr. Yilmaz said: "The European Union cannot
truly become itself without Turkey. Those people who draw the
borders of Europe without Turkey do not know geography and
history. Turkish people want to integrate into it and become a
member of the EU family. It is a fact that we do have some
problems that we should overcome in order to be a full member of
the EU, but we believe that the Turkish people have the capacity
to solve these."
[03] TURKEY TO ATTEND G-20 MEETING IN CANADA
A Turkish delegation will travel to Toronto, Canada, to attend
the the G-20 countries' Finance Ministers Summit in October. The
Turkish delegation comprises the Treasury Undersecretary Selcuk
Demiralp, Deputy Undersecretary Ferhat Emil, Deputy Governor of
the Central Bank Sukru Binay and the Special Advisor to the
Finance Minister and the Chairman of the Department of Foreign
Relations with the EU, Vedat Ozdan.
[04] MINISTER KORAY AYDIN VISITS JAPAN
Koray Aydin the Minister of Housing and Public Works left for
Japan to participate in quake studies. Mr. Aydin will meet
officials responsible for coordinating recovery work after
natural disasters. He will also visit the "Crisis Prevention
Center" at Tokyo Metropolitan Administrative Center.
[05] GENERAL ATES AT THE TAKE-OVER CEREMONY OF SECOND ARMY
COMMANDERSHIP
Ground Forces Commander General Atilla Ates said Turkish army is
the army of all people living within the territorial borders of
Turkish Republic, at the take-over ceremony of the Second Army
Forces, in Malatya. Gen. Ates said: "We, as the armed forces, do
not have any other duties apart from defending and protecting our
country." Gen. Ates said that the duty of the army is to protect
the lives and properties of Turkish citizens and to prevent
terrorist activities supported by external forces. General Edip
Baser has taken over the Commander of Second Army.
[06] OGER'S STATEMENT ON TURKISH TOURISM
One of the biggest tour operators in Germany, Oger Tour's
Chairman of the Executive Board Vural Oger stated that Turkey had
overcome the crisis which was experienced in tourism sector in
1999. Mr. Oger said: "There is a remarkable increase in the
number of tourists visiting Turkey. Almost 6.7 million tourists
from Germany are expected to visit Turkey this year. Turkey's
tourism revenues are expected to reach $25 billion in five or six
years."
[07] GERMAN DOCTORS REFUSE TO OPERATE A TURKISH WOMAN
Fatma Elaldi, a Turkish woman living in Germany was refused to
have a heart surgery by German doctors, just because she "can not
speak German." Associated Press (AP) was the first to report it
to the world at the weekend. Then German daily "Bild" reported
the event under the headline of "I can not speak German, I was
left to die for this reason only.". Also, "Frankfurter Rundschau"
and regional papers "Kolner Express" and "Münchener Abendzeitung"
gave coverage on the dramatic situation of Ms. Elaldi.
[08] TL 100 BILLION FOR ZEUGMA
The Ministry of Tourism earmarked TL 100 billion to be used for
the infrastructure of the Zeugma ancient city. Gaziantep Province
Tourism Director Mehmet Dogan said: "Tourism Minister Erkan Mumcu
attaches a great importance to the efforts to rescue the Zeugma
ancient city. The allocation was transfered to Gaziantep's
Special Provincial Department to be utilized on the
infrastructural projects that will be prepared by the Zeugma
Initiative Group."
[09] ITO ISSUES SOCIAL SECURITY GUIDEBOOK
The Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ITO) has issued a guidebook
entitled "The New Social Security System" for employers and
workers. Authored by Professor Murat Demircioglu, the book
provides information about amendments to social security
legislation and the content of new laws. The first section
describes notification procedures for social insurance. The
second part describes the beneficiaries of the unemployment
insurance program. The third section describing amendments of
Bag-Kur insurance fund members outlines procedures for
comprehensive and partial old-age payments.
[10] EXIMBANK SUPPORT EXPORTERS WITH SOFT LOAN
General Manager of Eximbank Ahmet Kilicoglu said that they would
not leave Turkish investors in financial difficulties with TL-
foreign exchanges parity. Mr.Kiliço?lu said that Eximbank
continued to be a pioneer among the banks in lowering interest
rates. This has forced the private banks to turn their credit
policy to the export financing. Kiliço?lu said: "Competition did
really increase. Because 96% of Turkey's exports consist of
consumption goods, raw materials and half finished products, the
Eximbank will continue to support the short term loans." While
the interests for the export credits were about 69% last year,
this year it declined to the level of 25-29%.
[11] ALIAGA AND MYTILINI TO HOST JOINT TURCO-GREEK FESTIVAL
In the interest of promoting permanent peaceful relations between
Turkey and Greece, a new step was recently taken by Izmir's
Aliaga district and Greece's Mytilini Island. Accordingly, the
11-year old Aliaga Labor Festival will now be held in conjuction
with Mytilini Municipality as the Aliaga Labor and Peace Festival
in order to cement the two society's friendship. The festival
will begin on August 28 this year in collaboration with Aliaga
Municipality and the Association for Communication and
Co-existence in the Aegean, a non-governmental organization
(NGO). The festival will begin in Mytilini and will continue
through August 30. On August 31, the festival will move to Aliaga
where it will continue until September 13.
[12] TURKEY PLACES FIRST IN ISPOLO WATER POLO TOURNAMENT
Turkey placed first in International Ispolo Water Polo
Tournament. In the final match held in Istanbul Atakoy Olympic
swimming pool, Turkey had a 4-4 draw with Romania. While Romania
placed second, Belarus took the third place.
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