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Turkish Press Review, 00-10-27
From: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>
27.10.00
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] ECEVIT'S STATEMENT
[03] FM CEM'S VISIT TO GEORGIA
[04] YILMAZ'S STATEMENT
[05] YILMAZ TO VISIT GREECE
[06] GREECE PUTS PRESSURE ON EU COMMISSION
[07] PAPAENDREU WANTS POSTPONEMENT OF THE AWARD
[08] SCANDAL NEWS IN NATO
[09] HASTERT STEPS BACK
[10] ITALY: "LET ALL ARCHIVES BE OPENED"
[11] CONSTITUTIONAL COURT ABOLISHES THE DECREES ONE BY ONE
[12] CHINA WANTS COOPERATION ON ENERGY
[13] PRAISE TO TURKEY IN G-20 MEETING
[14] IRAQ CALLS FOR IMPROVED RELATIONS WITH TURKEY
[15] ADVERTISING CONFERENCES FOR THE ADJUSTMENT TO THE EU
[16] RUSSIA'S PROPOSAL CONCERNING HELICOPTER BIDDING
[17] FINAL SESSION OF COMCED MEETING
[18] FINANCING BOND EXPORT FROM GARANTI BANK TO THE US
[19] FINANCIAL CRIMES SUMMIT IN PARIS
[20] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...
[21] FOREIGN RELATIONS BY YILMAZ OZTUNA (TURKIYE)
[01] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...
[02] ECEVIT'S STATEMENT
Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit expressed his opinion about foreign
and internal issues on the agenda to the 'Milliyet' daily and
said, "I have had the opportunity to meet the leaders of the
Balkan countries in Skopje. I also spoke to Mr. Simitis and our
meeting was friendly, but negative. Greece has always defended
the idea that the Aegean is not the problem, but is one of the
continental shelf and the solution to this is found at the Court
of Justice at The Hague. We invite them to dialogue. However,
Greece does not want a dialogue although it is our ally. Turkey
is looking for a consensus but Greece escapes from it." Ecevit
also expressed his opinion on the European Union (EU)
negotiations and said, "I think we acquire momentum on the
process of becoming an EU member. The Turkish Grand National
Assembly (TGNA) enacted 203 law in 11 months, most of which are
reforms. In addition, the economy is improving. We have also
taken the necessary steps concerning human rights and democracy.
The removal of the death sentence might create a problem for the
Nationalist Action Party (MHP). However, MHP supports Turkish
membership in the EU and, thus, it can be more flexible
concerning the issue. It is impossible to defend the death
sentence while being willing to be a EU member." /Milliyet/
[03] FM CEM'S VISIT TO GEORGIA
Foreign Minister Ismail Cem traveled to Tbilisi, the capital of
Georgia, yesterday on an official invitation from his Georgian
counterpart Irakli Menagarisvili. Their meeting was closed to the
press. During the meeting Mr. Cem and Mr. Menagarisvili discussed
bilateral relations between Turkey and Georgia. Mr. Cem was also
recevied by the Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, Zurab
Jvaniya. Speaking to the press after the meeting, Mr. Cem said
that "The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline is a project which would
change not just the two countries' but also the entire region's
economic and political situtation." Mr. Cem emphasized the
importance of the Erzurum-Kars-Tbilisi railways for Turkey.
Speaking about the Trans-Khazar Project which will transfer
Turkmen natural gas to Turkey via Azerbaijan, Georgia and the
Caspian Sea, Mr. Cem said they had not reached a solution in the
project phase yet, adding that Turkmenistan was waiting for
certain financial and economic conditions to take place.
/Cumhuriyet/
[04] YILMAZ'S STATEMENT
Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said Turkey was doing its
best concerning becoming member of the European Union (EU). He
added, "Now it's EU's turn to sacrifice. It is not realistic to
expect Turkey to solve the Cyprus problem and the Aegean problem
alone so that Turkey can be a member of the EU. The issues we
will and will not accept have been clearly explained by our
delegations. Thus, arguments such as 'we could not guess if
Turkey would react to this issue' are invalid." /Turkiye/
[05] YILMAZ TO VISIT GREECE
Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz responsible for EU Affairs
will visit Greece next week and is scheduled to meet with Greek
Prime Minister Costas Simitis. It was reported that Mr. Yilmaz
would travel to Athens to attend a Greek-Turkish business
conference. /Turkeish Daily News/
[06] GREECE PUTS PRESSURE ON EU COMMISSION
The effects of the recent tension between Turkey and Greece can
be seen in the discussions about the accession partnership
document necessary for Turkey's full EU membership. Greece is
trying to force the EU Commission to use its terms in the
accession partnership document and to have the "minorities" issue
included in the document. During the last 45 days, Greece
increased its pressure on the EU Commision via the socialist wing
of the European Parliament and nongovernmental organizations.
Among Greece's demands are the inclusion of terms, it wants used
regarding the Aegean and Cyprus issues, into the document. The
Foreign Minister Ismail Cem has said before that the term
"minority" would not be included in the accession partnership
document. Meanwhile, The Deputy Prime Minister responsible for EU
Affairs Mesut Yilmaz said the minorities in Turkey were based on
religion not ethnicity, adding that the rights of religious
minorities were protected by the Lausanne Agreement. Mr. Yilmaz
said, "Turkey has always respected the rights of these
minorities. If they want to bring a new concept of minority into
the agenda, we won't accept it." Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit
said, "Recent developments show that Greece is not in favour of
establishing a peaceful dialogue with Turkey. However, Turkey
does desire to solve the problems through dialogue." /Cumhuriyet/
[07] PAPAENDREU WANTS POSTPONEMENT OF THE AWARD
Sending a letter to the Chairman of the Union of the North
Atlantic Agreement, Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreu asked
that presentation of the award to be presented jointly to Turkish
Foreign Minister Ismail Cem and himself for their contributions
to peace, be delayed. According to Greek sources, the request was
due to the recent developments between Greece and Turkey,
specifically those related to the NATO exercise "Destined
Glory-2000." However, it was stated that Papendreou will
participate in the Union of the North Atlantic Agreement's 46th
meeting to be held on Oct. 31st. /Turkiye/
[08] SCANDAL NEWS IN NATO
Although the 'Destined Glory 2000' manoeuvre, organized by NATO
on the Aegean has ended, its effects are ongoing. A document
prepared by the 'Law Affairs Department', the military wing of
NATO created distress. A high-ranking NATO official described the
contents of the document, which states that legal obstacle exists
to military flights over the islands. The document considers the
Lausanne Treaty as ineffective. The official said, "This is an
internal document and does not reflect the official opinion of
NATO." Turkey's Permanent Representative to NATO, Onur Oymen,
said there might be some circles who want relations between
Turkey and Greece to be spoiled and added, "They became in a very
hard situation. Now they are looking for support and use this
document for this purpose. We will investigate the issue."
/Milliyet/
[09] HASTERT STEPS BACK
It is revealed that US House of Representatives' Speaker Dennis
Hastert was in doubt concerning the content of the resolution
about the so-called Armenian genocide. Hastert said that if the
Turkish and Armenian governments cannot find a satisfactory way
to reach the truth of those years, the House of Representatives
will resume evaluation of the case. He added, "Those are the
duties of diplomats and historians. The Representative from
California, James Rogan, and I, are asking the US Secretary of
State to call for cooperation between the Turkish and Armenian
governments and begin a complete and fair investigation for the
truth. Recalling his attemp to pass the bill on the House floor,
Hastert said, "However, when President Bill Clinton asked me to
withdraw the bill, I had no choice." Meanwhile, Hastert's
withdrawal of the bill has made Armenian lobby in the US angry. A
statement by the Armenians National Commmitee of America (ANCA)
said, "The resolution was withdrawn from the House floor through
the treason of Dennis Hastert." /Aksam/
[10] ITALY: "LET ALL ARCHIVES BE OPENED"
The bill requesting access to all archives related to the
so-called Armenian genocide submitted by Italian National
Alliance Party's(AN) deputy Sandra Fei, was discussed in the
general assembly of the Italian Parliament yesterday. During the
session, Marco Pezzoni from the Democratic Left Party (DS)
submitted a supplementary proposal claiming they should take
Turkey's strategic position in the Caucasus into consideration.
The assembly decided to discuss both proposals together Nov.7.
Sandra Fei said, "I have faced accusations since I submitted this
bill to the parliament. The Armenians in Italy have threatened me
on the assumption that I support the Turks." /Hurriyet/
[11] CONSTITUTIONAL COURT ABOLISHES THE DECREES ONE BY ONE
Constitutional Court is abrogating one by one the decrees with
the power of law (KHK) prepared by the government depending on
the Authority Act. The Court abolished five other KHK yesterday.
The Virtue Party (FP) has appealed 19 of the 21 KHKs
abolishments. /Aksam/
[12] CHINA WANTS COOPERATION ON ENERGY
A meeting was held in the Marmara Yelken Club to discuss ways to
improve commercial relations between Turkey and China. Chinese
Ambassador Kuangyi Yao attended the meeting. Mr. Yao said it was
necessary to increase the diversity of exports in order to fill
the commercial gap between Turkey and China. Stating that the
Chinese economy has significantly improvered in recent years, Mr.
Yao said it would be beneficial for both sides to make
investments in each other's countries. /Sabah/
[13] PRAISE TO TURKEY IN G-20 MEETING
Members of the G-7 group consisting of industrialized countries
and developing countries like Turkey attended the second G-20
meeting which ended yesterday in Montreal, Canada. Minister of
Finance Sumer Oral, Governor of Central Bank Gazi Ercel, Treasury
Undersecretary Selcuk Demiralp and a delegation were on hand to
represent Turkey. Speaking after the last meeting, Mr. Demiralp
stated Turkey was a focus of attention during the meetings as the
success and determination of the Turkish government in
implementing the economic program were appreciated by other
countries. /Sabah/
[14] IRAQ CALLS FOR IMPROVED RELATIONS WITH TURKEY
Iraqi Vice President Taha Yasin Ramazan stated that Turkey and
Iraq need to turn over a new leaf in their relations. Mr. Ramazan
said it was important for the oil pipeline between Iraq and
Turkey to begin functioning and pointed out that since the UN
embargo was not going to be lifted officially, attempts were
being made to lift it locally. /Turkish Daily News/
[15] ADVERTISING CONFERENCES FOR THE ADJUSTMENT TO THE EU
The Advertising Foundation and the Advertisers Association have
organized a series of conferences to discuss the required
transformation of the Communication sector in the process of
Turkey's full EU membership. The conferences are being held to
exchange information and experiences by members of the
communication sector in EU member countries. Specialists and
representatives from the EU member countries will attend the
conferences and give information regarding the topic questions
such as, "Can we talk about a common advertising code in
Europe?", "What to be done for achieving harmony with the laws of
the EU?" What kind of difficulties were faced by EU member
countries in the integration process?" and "What kind of
structural changes did the advertising companies go through?". EU
Secretary Generale Volkan Vural will deliver the opening speech
Nov.6 and prominent persons from the communication sector such
as, String Carlson, David Hanger, Jacques Billes, Dr. Luigi
Vianello, will participate in the conferences. /Hurriyet/
[16] RUSSIA'S PROPOSAL CONCERNING HELICOPTER BIDDING
Russia stated they were ready to decrease the bid price given to
the Turkish Armed Forces' for the attack helicopter by two
billion US dollars. Chairman of the Russian weapon company,
Roosvorujeniye, Aleksey Ogaryov, said the Russian Prime Minister
Mihail Kasyanov delivered Moscow's new proposal to the Turkish
side during his contacts in Turkey. Ogaryov said, "Contrary to
the American Bell Company which came first in the bidding, we are
ready to give the necessary licence and permission to sell the
helicopter to third countries so that Turkey can produce the
Erdogan helicopter." Meanwhile, Russian Deputy Prime Minister
Aleksandr Avdayev said, "We shall continue to fight even if our
chance of winning this bid in Turkey is 5%." /Milliyet/
[17] FINAL SESSION OF COMCED MEETING
The final session of the 16th Organization of Islamic
Conference(OIC) Economic and Commercial Cooperation Permanent
Committee (COMCED) was held with the participation of the Deputy
Prime Minister, Devlet Bahceli. Mr. Bahceli said Islamic
countries should help each other and cooperate in the economic
realm. Islamic Development Bank provided a $1 billion fund to
develop commercial relations between member countries. Mr.
Bahceli said, "This fund will contribute immensely to the
commercial activities of member countries. The new action plan
for economic and commercial cooperation approved in 1994 meeting
of ISEDAK could not be implemented as required. Therefore,
establishing a group of experts to investigate the difficulties
in implementing the action plan was an effective move. /Turkiye/
[18] FINANCING BOND EXPORT FROM GARANTI BANK TO THE US
Garanti Bank renewed for one year its loan related to financing
bond exports, which entered the American stock exchange in 1996.
25 banks from 12 different countries participated in the
borrowing, was organized by Bank of America and to finance a bond
that will be sold to institutional investors in the US. The
amount of this borrowing was 220 million US dollars last year but
this amount was increased to 225 million US dollars. /Milliyet/
[19] FINANCIAL CRIMES SUMMIT IN PARIS
A meeting titled "Justice and Banking Institutions in Coping with
Financial Crimes" began in the French Senate Building in Paris.
State Minister Faruk Bal is attending the meeting and will
explain Turkey's efforts to prevent financial crimes and money
laundering as well as possible measures to effectively cope with
these types of crimes. /Hurriyet/
[20] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...
[21] FOREIGN RELATIONS BY YILMAZ OZTUNA (TURKIYE)
Columnist Yilmaz Oztuna comments on Turkey's foreign relations. A
summary of his column is as follows:
"The visit by Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Mikhail
Kasianov was important in many respects. For example, Turkey is
cooperating with Russia on energy issues and wants to improve its
relations. The Russians are in an advantageous situation. They
would like to further improve their profit margin by selling us
fighter-helicopters. Development in foreign relations at the same
pace would benefit both countries and is essential for peace in a
restless region.
It is apparent that Greece has reneged on its word. It is the
traditional policy of Athens to keep the 'Turkish threat' alive.
It uses this policy both at home and abroad. It is jealous of
Turkey's approaching the European Union.
Moreover, the withdrawal of the Armenian resolution from the US
House of Representatives has lead to great disappointment in
Greece. American citizens of Greek-Cypriot descent
enthusiastically supported Armenian claims. However, Jews have
the strongest lobby in the US and they have worked silently and
diligently for the withdrawal of the Armenian Resolution from the
agenda. The lobby will expect aid for Israel from Turkey in
return. In foreign relations one has to balance the cost of the
things he receives.
Israel has acted impulsively, made a few great mistakes and
turned the world community against it. Israel would like to
overcome the Palestinian issue by bringing Turkey, the region's
greatest military power and important state to its side. The
Summit held in Skopje is mainly directed at drawing Yugoslavia
into a peaceful atmosphere. All of these relations should be
closely followed. Nevertheless, the important issue for Turkey is
the European Union. We must not make another mistake regarding
the subject. The greatest mistake of all is acting slowly and
losing time."
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