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Turkish Press Review, 00-11-22
From: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>
22.11.00
Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning
CONTENTS
[01] YILMAZ: "IF EU CONTINUES TO ACT AGAINST OUR INTERESTS, TURKEY
WILL FOLLOW ITS OWN PATH"
[02] TURKISH GOVERNMENT TO PREVENT INCLUSION OF BORDER DISPUTES WITH
GREECE INTO THE DOCUMENT
[03] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...
[04] YILMAZ: "IF EU CONTINUES TO ACT AGAINST OUR INTERESTS, TURKEY
WILL FOLLOW ITS OWN PATH"
[05] BAHCELI'S STATEMENT ON TURKEY-EU RELATIONS
[06] FM CEM TO VISIT ISRAEL
[07] TURKISH GOVERNMENT TO PREVENT INCLUSION OF BORDER DISPUTES WITH
GREECE INTO THE DOCUMENT
[08] JOINT PARLIAMENTARY COMMISSION MEETING
[09] TERRORIST OCALAN TRIAL AT ECHR
[10] ROBERTSON TO VISIT ANKARA
[11] MIRZAOGLU HEADS FOR TURKMENISTAN
[12] HJELM-WALLEN'S STATEMENT ON CYPRUS
[13] KUCMA TO VISIT TURKEY
[14] IRAQ-TURKEY NATURAL GAS PIPELINE
[15] ORAL: "WE REACHED OUR TARGETS"
[16] HELICOPTER PURCHASE
[17] ENERGY AWARD FOR TURKEY
[18] WIND ENERGY INVESTMENT BY GERMAN COMPANIES
[19] ALTERNATIFBANK RECEIVES $35 MILLION CREDIT
[20] TURKEY TO BOOST BANKING LIQUIDITY IN JAN 2001
[21] CEYLAN RECEIVES GRAND PRIZE
[22] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...
[23] OTHER ALTERNATIVES BY SAMI KOHEN (MILLIYET)
[01] YILMAZ: "IF EU CONTINUES TO ACT AGAINST OUR INTERESTS, TURKEY
WILL FOLLOW ITS OWN PATH"
[02] TURKISH GOVERNMENT TO PREVENT INCLUSION OF BORDER DISPUTES WITH
GREECE INTO THE DOCUMENT
[03] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...
[04] YILMAZ: "IF EU CONTINUES TO ACT AGAINST OUR INTERESTS, TURKEY
WILL FOLLOW ITS OWN PATH"
Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz said, "We believe, a Turkey
within the EU, would not experience an ethnical separation or a
crisis in the regime due to the threats against secularism. We
want to go on with our westernization policy along with the
Western countries. The EU should avoid imposing conditions on
Turkey that can no way be accepted. However, if the EU continues
to put down conditions that are clearly contrary to our national
interests, we shall follow our own path. Turkey's full EU
membership is not optional. Rather, this membership is a
necessity due to historical, geographical and political facts.
The EU will accept Turkey as a full member by respecting our
territorial integrity, the rights of Turkish-Cypriots and by
leaving the Armenian issue to the historians. /Hurriyet/
[05] BAHCELI'S STATEMENT ON TURKEY-EU RELATIONS
Evaluating Turkey-EU relations, Deputy Prime Minister and
Chairman of Nationalist Action Party (MHP) Devlet Bahceli said,
"If we keep our determined stance on the path towards the EU, it
will be easier both domestic and foreign problems to solve."
Pointing out that the European Parliament began to accept the
demands of the terrorist organization which it previously
rejected, Mr. Bahceli said, "The EU approaches Turkey's
membership without taking historical facts into consideration or
plays an unfair game." /Cumhuriyet/
[06] FM CEM TO VISIT ISRAEL
Minister of Foreign Affairs Ismail Cem is going to Israel today.
Mr. Cem, who will meet his Israeli counterpart Solomo Ben Ami,
will convey ideas and views discussed during his meetings with
the Palestinian officials. It was stated Mr. Cem, who is expected
to be received by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, might travel
to Palestine after completing his meetings in Israel. It was
observed that Mr. Cem was pursuing a three-phase plan to help the
revival of the peace period in the Middle East. First, aiming to
solve the crisis stemming from lack of trust between Israel and
Palestine, he meets the both parties to find common point of
views. During the second phase, he aims to begin the peace talks.
And for the final phase, a period which will lead the parties to
a final solution is aimed. The second leg of Turkey's attempts
for peace in the Middle East is the fact- finding committee which
includes former President Suleyman Demirel. /Cumhuriyet/
[07] TURKISH GOVERNMENT TO PREVENT INCLUSION OF BORDER DISPUTES WITH
GREECE INTO THE DOCUMENT
Turkish officials will visit European capitals to exert
diplomatic pressure to be able to ensure a change in the final
version of the Accession Partnership Document before the meeting
of the EU General Affairs Commitee on Dec.4. The government is
uneasy about the probability of the inclusion of border disputes
with Greece in addition to the Cyprus issue as political criteria
to the document. Ankara wants to solve the problem during the
term-presidency of France. Foreign Minister Ismail Cem will
travel to Brussels on Nov.28. Foreign Ministry Undersecretary
Faruk Logoglu and Deputy Undersecretary responsible for EU
Affairs, Ambassador Akin Alptuna will visit other European
capitals. /Milliyet/
[08] JOINT PARLIAMENTARY COMMISSION MEETING
The 46th Joint Parliamentary Commission meeting began yesterday
in Antalya. On the first day of the meeting, Turkish
parliamentarians and members of the European Parliament mainly
discussed the addition of the Cyprus issue into the Accession
Partnership Document's short-term priorities. Addressing the
meeting, Turkish parliamentarians complained that Turkey could
not benefit from the financial possibilities of the EU and
critisized the EU for unequally treating the two sides on the
Cyprus issue. The meeting will end today. /Turkiye/
[09] TERRORIST OCALAN TRIAL AT ECHR
The hearing which takes up the appeal by terrorist Abdullah
Ocalan's lawyers, began yesterday at the European Court of Human
Rights (ECHR). During the three-hour hearing, both Turkey and
terrorist Ocalan expressed their views by means of their lawyers.
While 16 lawyers were defending Turkey, terrorist Ocalan was
defended by 10 lawyers, saying his capture and the trial in
Turkey was unjust. The court is expected to declare its decision
in 10 days. Meanwhile, 20 thousand Turks gathered in Strasbourg
to protest Ocalan and the PKK and support the relatives of the
people killed by the terrorist PKK members. /Turkiye/
[10] ROBERTSON TO VISIT ANKARA
NATO Secretary-General George Robertson will arrive in Turkey
tomorrow to discuss the European Security and Defense Identity
(ESDI) with the Turkish officials. As EU term president France's
studies on the ESDI has not satisfied Turkey, the situation
emerging after Turkey's discontent, will be discussed during Mr.
Robertson's meetings. Mr. Robertson is expected to suggest Ankara
to improve proposals via NATO instead of waiting for the EU's new
proposals. After attending a conference organized by Turkish
Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV) in Istanbul, Mr.
Robertson will travel to Ankara where he will be received by
Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit. Turkey wants to take part in the
decision-making mechanism of the military operations to be
carried out by NATO within the framework of the EU's new security
structure. However, the EU is not in favour of including
non-member countries into the decision-making mechanism.
/Cumhuriyet/
[11] MIRZAOGLU HEADS FOR TURKMENISTAN
Turkmen President Saparmurat Niyazov has asked Turkey to take up
a resolute stance on the issue of Turkmen natural gas, Turkish
State Minister Ramazan Mirzaoglu said yesterday. Mirzaoglu headed
for Turkmenistan yesterday to attend the 10th Executive Committee
meeting of the Association for International Standardization. He
was received by Niyazov on Tuesday morning before proceeding to
the meeting. Mirzaoglu said that the meeting with Niyazov was
meant to contribute to a further improvement of relations with
Turkmenistan. Some of the current problems are those concerning
visa requirements and the activities of Turkish businessmen.
/Turkish Daily News/
[12] HJELM-WALLEN'S STATEMENT ON CYPRUS
Swedish Deputy Prime Minister Lena Hjelm-Wallen said, "We have
great expectations from Turkey in the solution of the Cyprus
problem. In order to take a further step towards a solution on
Cyprus, Turkey should help to solve the problem of division on
the island." /Aksam/
[13] KUCMA TO VISIT TURKEY
Ukrainian President Leonid Kucma, who will pay an official visit
to Turkey, will meet TGNA Speaker Omer Izgi and then will address
the parliamentarians in the TGNA tomorrow. /Aksam/
[14] IRAQ-TURKEY NATURAL GAS PIPELINE
It was stated Iraq is holding contacts with Turkish, Italian ad
French companies for establishing a natural gas pipeline from
Iraq to Turkey. An agreement signed between the two countries in
1996 foresees Turkey to purchase 10 billion cubic meters of
natural gas from Iraq every year. It is planned to transfer the
natural gas through 1380 km-pipeline. /Cumhuriyet/
[15] ORAL: "WE REACHED OUR TARGETS"
Finance Minister Sumer Oral said, "Financial figures for October
show that the budget targets for 2000 will be reached, moreover,
they may go beyond." The budget expenditures for the 10 months of
the year amount to is 38.918 quadrillion TL. Compared with the
last year, 70.6%, 94.5% and 30% increases are observed in
expenditures, incomes and budget deficit, respectively. /Turkiye/
[16] HELICOPTER PURCHASE
The obstacle to transfer the eight military helicopters which
were planned to be sold to Turkey by the US, was removed after
Senator Joseph Biden withdrew his objection. Senator Biden, a
member of the Greek lobby, last week said that he will prevent
the sell of CH-53E helicopters to Turkey due to the Cyprus issue.
In his new statement, Biden said he is still not sure about
Turkey's intentions on Cyprus, however, he changed his stance
after being assured by the Department of State. Now, Clinton
administration is expected to apply to the Congress for an
official permission. According to the agreement, the helicopters
are planned to be dispatched to Turkey in 2003. /Turkiye/
[17] ENERGY AWARD FOR TURKEY
European Co-generation Association elected Turkey the most
succesful country in 2000 for the implementations of
co-generation. The Chairman of the Association Ton Van Der Does
presented the award to Energy and Natural Resources Minister,
Cumhur Ersumer. /Turkiye/
[18] WIND ENERGY INVESTMENT BY GERMAN COMPANIES
German P and T Technology and Jacops companies signed a joint
agreement with Kardemir Joint Company regarding wind energy
production investment in Turkey. According to the agreement, the
factory to produce machines for wind energy will be constructed
in Duzce in 2001. /Turkiye/
[19] ALTERNATIFBANK RECEIVES $35 MILLION CREDIT
Alternatifbank has obtained $35 million in syndication credit
from foreign financial markets to finance exporting companies.
Bayerische Hypo Vereinsbank guaranteed the one-year credit with
libor+0.9 interest rate. /Milliyet/
[20] TURKEY TO BOOST BANKING LIQUIDITY IN JAN 2001
Turkey's Central Bank will lower its reserve requirement ratios
for banks to four percent from six percent on January 12, 2001 to
improve sectoral liquidity, Central Bank Governor Gazi Ercel
said. "The following week we will inject the amount into the
banking sector, which should be in the region of TL 500
trillion.", Ercel said. The sum had previously been held by the
Central Bank at no interest. Reform of the banking system is one
of the conditions laid down by the IMF and World Bank in loan
agreements backing the government's reform programme. /Turkish
Daily News/
[21] CEYLAN RECEIVES GRAND PRIZE
A film titled "Clouds of May" directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan
received Grand Prize in the Brussels Mediterranean Films
Festival. Meanwhile, it was also awarded with Don Quichotte Award
in Forum de Cinema Europeen Festival in France. /Cumhuriyet/
[22] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...
[23] OTHER ALTERNATIVES BY SAMI KOHEN (MILLIYET)
Columnist Sami Kohen comments on Turco-European relations. A
summary of his column is as follows:
"The recent negative developments in Turco-European relations,
have brought the issue of 'other alternatives' before Turkey into
the agenda again. The statements by high-level Turkish officials
say that if the EU does not delete the conditions on Cyprus and
the Aegean issues mentioned in the Accession Partnership
Document, Ankara will review its relations with the Union and
even break off political dialogue and, if needed withdraw its
application for EU membership.
It is not certain whether or not the EU circles take these
warnings seriously. The climate in Brussels is blurred. It seems
that there is an uncertainty over the issue. That is why the
Council of Europe has postponed a decision on the issue to
December 4. At this point, the EU is squeezed between Turkey's
warning and Athens' pressure and is looking for a middle path.
European diplomats are saying that the EU cannot dare to lose
Turkey. However, among them there are those who do not favour
Turkey's membership, and even oppose it openly. Nevertheless, the
EU policy is not to exclude Turkey without admitting it into the
Union. Therefore, it is not desired for the APD to bring the
relations to a breaking point by those shaping its policies. We
hope that warnings by Ankara will lead to a satisfying result in
the meeting to be held at the beginning of December in Nice.
However, if this does not happen, is Turkey determined to sever
the ties with the EU and turn towards 'other alternatives'?
Certainly there are other choices Turkey can make in foreign
policy. Its geostrategic location is amply suited for this
purpose. As President Ahmet Necdet Sezer has said, the world does
not consist only of Europe. However, Europe has an important
place in the world and Turkey's both domestic and foreign
policies. It would be highly beneficial to improve ties with
Asian, African and Latin American countries. No matter how much
they are improved, these relations are bound to be weak when
compared to those with Europe in political, economic,
technological, commercial, military, cultural and social areas.
These relations are of importance when they are added to those we
have with the EU, not as an alternative to them.
Before taking a turn in the opposite direction in foreign policy
as a result of the offense suffered because of the EU, the
relations with the US should be reviewed as well. An integration
with the EU provides Turkey the opportunity to balance its
relations with the US and have a wider space for manoeuvres.
Severing ties with the EU increases dependence on the US. In
fact, the criticisms coming from Europe are occasionally
mentioned in the US as well. A divided US Congress and a weak
Administration following the elections gives the impression that
a difficult period is awaiting us in the relations with the US."
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