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Turkish Press Review, 01-01-05
From: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>
05.01.01
Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning
CONTENTS
[01] HENZE:"ARMENIA BENEFITS MORE FROM NORMALIZATION OF RELATIONS WITH
TURKEY"
[02] FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...
[03] HENZE:"ARMENIA BENEFITS MORE FROM NORMALIZATION OF RELATIONS WITH
TURKEY"
[04] SUB-COMMISSION FOR PRISONS ESTABLISHED
[05] ATATURK, MOST IMPORTANT FIGURE OF 2OTH CENTURY
[06] IRAN WARNS PKK
[07] KAVAK IS CHAIRMAN OF THE UIP TURKISH GROUP
[08] NO RETURN FROM BAKU-CEYHAN PROJECT
[09] NO TURKISH PERSONNEL EXPOSED TO RADIATION
[10] SECURITY FORCES ALLOW NO RESPITE FOR ILLEGAL MIGRANTS
[11] SUB-COMMISSION FOR PRISONS ESTABLISHED
[12] TURKISH NAVY TO EXERCISE WITH US AND ISRAELI FORCES
[13] COUNCIL OF MINISTERS' DECISION CONCERNING FOREIGN INVESTMENT
[14] TURKEY'S GOLD RESERVE: 6,000 TONS
[15] YUCAOGLU: "2001 INFLATION MAY BE 15 %"
[16] TURKSAT 2A TO BE LAUNCHED NEXT WEEK
[17] 135 MILLION EURO FROM THE EU
[18] IMF DELEGATION TO VISIT TURKEY
[19] ABN AMRO BANK RECOMMENDS TURKEY TO ITS INVESTORS
[20] STOCK EXCHANGE AFFECTED BY LOW INFLATION RATE
[21] NO TREASURY INTERVENTION IN INTEREST RATES
[22] SALOMON BARNEY: "DEVELOPMENTS ARE POSITIVE"
[23] ELECTRICITY MARKET BILL DISCUSSED
[24] ANADOLU GROUP TO INVEST IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES
[25] 'HURRIYET' DAILY BECOMES THE 19TH IN EUROPE
[26] SABANCI'S EXHIBITON TO BE OPENED IN BERLIN
[27] PLATINI PRAISES TURKEY
[28] FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...
[29] JUDICIAL REFORM BY YILMAZ OZFATURA (TURKIYE)
[01] HENZE:"ARMENIA BENEFITS MORE FROM NORMALIZATION OF RELATIONS WITH
TURKEY"
[02] FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...
[03] HENZE:"ARMENIA BENEFITS MORE FROM NORMALIZATION OF RELATIONS WITH
TURKEY"
CIA former Turkey chief Paul Henze gave an interview to the Orbis
magazine. He said Turkey's relations with the Caucasian states
has developed especially after the disintegration of the Soviet
Union due to the importance given by former presidents Turgut
Ozal and Suleyman Demirel. Henze said Turks and Armenians did not
have negative relations until 1960, but later Armenian Diaspora
provoked hatred against Turkey. Moscow also helped the Armenians
within the Union to destabilize Turkey and gave covered support
to Armenian terrorist organization ASALA. Henze said Armenia will
benefit the most from the normalization of relations with Turkey.
Henze said he regards Turkey as a model for Caucasian people and
states. He said Turkey will build strong relations with the
regional states, when the construction of the Baku-Ceyhan
pipeline is completed. /Hurriyet/
[04] SUB-COMMISSION FOR PRISONS ESTABLISHED
The parliamentary Human Rights Commission established a
sub-commission that will investigate both the prison raids and
the F-type prisons. Commission Chairman Huseyin Akgul of the
Nationalist Action Party (MHP) stated that the sub-commission
would conduct investigations on all claims about the prisons.
Akgul added that the sub-commission would deal with the ongoing
death fasts too. /Turkish Daily News/
[05] ATATURK, MOST IMPORTANT FIGURE OF 2OTH CENTURY
Weekly Turkistan published in Kazakhstan has chosen the most
important seven figures of the 20th century. Mustafa Kemal
Ataturk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey, placed first in
the list. /Cumhuriyet/
[06] IRAN WARNS PKK
Iranian high-level security officials lately laid down certain
conditions in a list to the so-called leaders of the PKK, living
on its territory. The terrorist organization will lose great
power, in case they fulfill the Iranian requirements. Keeping
away from the Kurds in Iran, closing the camps along the Turkish
border, not demanding cultural rights from Turkey and not
carrying out armed attacks in Turkey were among the conditions
demanded by the Iranian authorities. /Turkiye/
[07] KAVAK IS CHAIRMAN OF THE UIP TURKISH GROUP
A parliamentary representative of the Motherland Party (ANAP)
from Istanbul, Cavit Kavak, was re-elected as the Chairman of the
Union of the Interparliaments (UIP)' Turkish Group unanimously
for a new three-year term. Before chairing the UIP's Turkish
Group for two years, Kavak has also chaired the Northern Atlantic
Assembly's Turkish Group for ten years. Additionally, a
Nationalist Action Party (MHP) Parliamentary Representative from
Igdir, Abbas Bozyel, assumed the post of the Deputy Chairmanship
of the UIP's Turkish Group. /Turkiye/
[08] NO RETURN FROM BAKU-CEYHAN PROJECT
The reports regarding the US intentions to prefer the Iranian
route rather than the Baku-Ceyhan project have been closely
followed by Ankara recently. After analyzing the reports prepared
by Carnegie Endowment and CATO Institute, the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs said that the mentality behind Bush-Cheney policy
foreseeing a rapprochement between Iran and the US is the desire
of the US companies to make use of new investment opportunities
in Southern Iran. The Foreign Ministry stated that those reports
are only certain circles' expression of their intention to draw
advantage from recent political gap due to presidential
elections. Stating that nonone from the Bush administration has
expressed his opposition to the Baku-Ceyhan project so far, the
Foreign Ministry said, the US administration comprehends how
detrimental the cancellation of the project would be to the
bilateral relations between the US and Turkey." Meanwhile
BP-Amoco, the most important partner of the project said, "We
have spent 3-4 years on the project. A new bargaining with Iran
would cost another 3-4 years. We think it`s too late for
bargaining with Iran as our petroleum will be ready to flow by
2004." Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Cumhur Ersumer
will travel to the US either at the end of next month or at the
beginning of March. /Cumhuriyet/
[09] NO TURKISH PERSONNEL EXPOSED TO RADIATION
Office of the Chief of the General Staff said that there was no
Turkish personnel exposed to radiation because of the ammunition
containing depleted uranium (DU) NATO used in Kosovo. It was
stated that ammunition containing DU were found and given to
Dutch units for investigation. "In Southern Kosovo where Turkish
forces were deployed, a small amount of ammunition containing DU
was used. There are 17 areas which were affected by the DU and
these areas were marked by the ammunition expert destruction
teams. Public and military personnel are not allowed to enter
these areas."said the statement. /Cumhuriyet/
[10] SECURITY FORCES ALLOW NO RESPITE FOR ILLEGAL MIGRANTS
Turkish police successfully combatted human smuggling in 2000,
one of the major problems in European countries and one which
usually ends rather tragically as in the recent example in
Antalya early this week. Illegal migrants numbering 2,799 were
captured in operations mounted by Turkish security forces last
year. According to information from the Police Directorate and a
report prepared by the Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crimes
Department, a total of 155 operations were mounted against the
smuggling ring leaders who chose Turkey as the route on to other
European countries. /Turkish Daily News/
[11] SUB-COMMISSION FOR PRISONS ESTABLISHED
The parliamentary Human Rights Commission established a
sub-commission that will investigate both the prison raids and
the F-type prisons. Commission Chairman Huseyin Akgul of the
Nationalist Action Party (MHP) stated that the sub-commission
would conduct investigations on all claims about the prisons.
Akgul added that the sub-commission would deal with the ongoing
death fasts too. /Turkish Daily News/
[12] TURKISH NAVY TO EXERCISE WITH US AND ISRAELI FORCES
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Thursday they would hold
search-and-rescue manoeuvres with the US and Turkish navies in
the Mediterranean sea, off the coast of Israel on January 17. It
said the Reliant Mermaid exercises had nothing to do with any
type of combat activities. "The only aim is to practice emergency
procedures for search-and-rescue of people in distress in the
ocean, the army said. It said ships, helicopters and planes from
the three navies would participate in the exercise. /Turkish
Daily News/
[13] COUNCIL OF MINISTERS' DECISION CONCERNING FOREIGN INVESTMENT
The government is taking a series of radical measures to remove
the obstacles before the foreign investors. The bill concerning
the Industrial Regions was discussed during the meeting of the
Council of Ministers yesterday. It was adopted that the concerned
Ministers will express their opinion concerning the bill and the
law will be enacted immediately. In brief, the bill is as
follows: the permission to foreign investors will be given by the
Directorate General of Foreign Investment (YSGM); the
transactions such as approval and licence will be completed
within 15 days, the demands that were not answered within this
period of time will be considered to be approved; Council of
Encouraging Investors, Coordination and Advisory will be
established; the incentive measures that were envisaged for the
investments in the Emergency State Region will be applied to the
industrial regions as well; institutions with foreign
investments, which fulfilled the conditions for permission, will
deposit 1% of the amount that will be invested in an account of
Ziraat Bank; all kinds of applications made by the YSGM on behalf
of the investor institutions will be resulted within a maximum of
10 work days by the concerned public institutions. During the
meeting of the Council of Ministers yesterday, it was decided to
determine the place for the industrial regions that will be
planned in order to faciliate the investment for the foreign
investors. /Aksam/
[14] TURKEY'S GOLD RESERVE: 6,000 TONS
Deputy Undersecretary of the Prime Ministry, Fusun Koroglu, who
gave a briefing concerning the gold mine reserves in Turkey
during the meeting of the Council of Ministers yesterday, said
that Turkey's gold reserves amounted to 6,000 tons. Koroglu
suggested that exports totalling 180 million dollars could be
reached with an investment of 250 million US dollars. In
Koroglu's report, it was written, "The value of 6,500 tons of
gold totals 70 billion dollars. An additional value amounting to
300 billion dollars can be received if this gold mine is
processed. If the gold is processed, 6,500 people directly and
105,000 people will be indirectly employed." /Hurriyet/
[15] YUCAOGLU: "2001 INFLATION MAY BE 15 %"
The chairman of the Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's
Association (TUSIAD), Erkut Yucaoglu, said in order to decrease
the inflation rate in 2001, a healthy economic growth should be
sustained especially in the second quarter of the year. Mr.
Yucaoglu said the inflation decreased by a considerable rate in
the first year of the disinflation program. He said recent fiscal
crisis stopped the growth in the real sector. Yucaoglu said, "The
growth rate in first three months will be zero or negative
causing the inflation rate to decline". "A healthy growth rate
around 4 % is required, therefore, the inflow of foreign capital
and the decrease in the interest rates should be obtained. The
support for exports is a must, because exports will consolidate
the economic growth. Second precaution should be to lift the
obstacles for the foreign investments in Turkey," said Yucaoglu.
/Sabah/
[16] TURKSAT 2A TO BE LAUNCHED NEXT WEEK
Turkey's third communication satellite Turksat 2A will be
launched on Jan.8. The launching has been previously postponed
three times due to technical reasons. /Milliyet/
[17] 135 MILLION EURO FROM THE EU
The European Union Council of Ministers has ratified a donation
of 135 million Euro to Turkey. According to the Representative of
the EU Commission to Turkey, the donation will be granted between
2001 and 2003 to which support Turkey's economic and social
developments. /Turkiye/
[18] IMF DELEGATION TO VISIT TURKEY
An IMF delegation headed by Carlo Cottarelli will pay its first
visit to Turkey in 2001 on Jan. 12. The delegation will hold a
series of meetings with Turkish authorities for a week and mainly
discuss the developments on banking sector. /Turkiye/
[19] ABN AMRO BANK RECOMMENDS TURKEY TO ITS INVESTORS
Netherland-based ABN Amro Bank has prepared a report for its
customers. The report said Turkey has nothing to do apart from
implementing the conditions it stated in the letter of intent
given to the IMF. Therefore the bank recommends its customers to
invest in Turkish bonds. The report said the probability of a
devaluation is rather low and a foreign exchange outflow as
occurred in December is very unlikely in the next period. /Sabah/
[20] STOCK EXCHANGE AFFECTED BY LOW INFLATION RATE
The stock exchange was positively affected by the low inflation
rate of December announced lower than expected and as the banks'
continuous selling of foreign exchange. The Istanbul Stock
Exchange (IMKB) index increased by 11.61 % yesterday.
/Cumhuriyet/
[21] NO TREASURY INTERVENTION IN INTEREST RATES
The Treasury Undersecretariat stated it would not intervene in
the interest rates at the meeting it held with prominent banks.
Authorities stated the rates regarding domestic borrowings are
expected to be high during February. However, they are expected
to decrease after GSM revenues and foreign exchange influx to the
economy. /Cumhuriyet/
[22] SALOMON BARNEY: "DEVELOPMENTS ARE POSITIVE"
One of the international investment consultancy institutions,
Schroder Salomon Smith Barney (SSSB), declared that recent
developments in Turkey on inflation and international reserves
were positive. Pointing out the announced inflation rates for the
year 2000- 32.7% for whole sale prices and 39% for consumer
prices- the SSSB's analysis said the inflation is showing a
downward trend. /Turkiye/
[23] ELECTRICITY MARKET BILL DISCUSSED
Electricity Market Bill is discussed by the Turkish National
Grand Assembly's (TGNA) Commission of Industry. Minister of
Energy, Cumhur Ersumer, said, "The legal period of the transfer
of the right to manage electricity distribution biddings and the
transfer of the right to manage thermic power stations biddings
will come to an end by 31 March. /Aksam/
[24] ANADOLU GROUP TO INVEST IN VARIOUS COUNTRIES
Anadolu Efes Group has factories in Russia, Romania and
Kazakhstan. Beer producing company will invest in Ukraine and in
the region stretching from the Adriatic Sea to China. The group
will open a new factory in Bulgaria in 2001. /Hurriyet/
[25] 'HURRIYET' DAILY BECOMES THE 19TH IN EUROPE
'Hurriyet' daily became the 19th among all the newspapers in
Europe and the 9th in its own category. As a result of a survey
carried out among 1,133 newspapers published in Europe, the
biggest 100 newspapers in terms of the number of circulation and
readers were determined. According to these results, the German
'Bild-Zeitung' became the first, the British 'The Sun' became the
second and the British 'Daily Mail' third. 10 newspapers from
Turkey took place among the best 100 newspapers in Europe.
/Hurriyet/
[26] SABANCI'S EXHIBITON TO BE OPENED IN BERLIN
Chairman of the Executive Board of Sabanci Holding Company, Sakip
Sabanci, went to Berlin, Germany to attend the signing ceremony
of the protocol concerning the exhibition including the works
belonging to the Sabanci Calligraphy and Painting Collection that
will be opened in Berlin Guggenheim Museum on 2 February 2001.
Sabanci paid a visit of courtesy to the Prime Minister of Berlin
State, Eberhard Diepgen, and said, "We will build a bridge of
culture between Turkey and Berlin through this visit and
exhibition." Sabanci invited Diepgen to the opening of the
exhibition and said that the fourth of this exhibition would be
displayed in Berlin. /Hurriyet/
[27] PLATINI PRAISES TURKEY
Visiting Turkey to attend the "Sports Journalism in the New
Millennium" seminar organized by the Turkish Sports Writers'
Association in Antalya, a legendary name from the French
football, Micheal Platini said that Turkey was the country which
improved most regarding football in Europe. Mr. Platini said,
"When we look at the successes of Galatasaray and the scores of
the Turkish National Team, the improvement of the Turkish
football is clearly observed." /Cumhuriyet/
[28] FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...
[29] JUDICIAL REFORM BY YILMAZ OZFATURA (TURKIYE)
Columnist Yilmaz Ozfatura comments on the need for a judicial
reform. A summary of his column is as follows:
"The report presented on prisons to the Justice Ministry by Ugur
Ibrahimhakkioglu, Secretary General of Higher Court of Appeals
while he was the public prosecutor in Eskisehir in 1989, has been
published by the press. According to the report, even at that
time the prisons were ruled by terror and organized crime gangs.
The prisons served as training centers for these organizations.
The ward system will be completely abolished. However this is
not enough. The inmates have to work. They have to receive
training and gain skills while in prison. However, this requires
financial support. The budgets of the Justice and Culture
Ministries are far from satisfactory. The salaries of judges and
prosecutors are not sufficient. Those working in the prisons have
to be paid handsomely in order to elevate their standards and to
avoid their becoming captive in the hands of the inmates.
Otherwise networks of corruption will be formed within the F-type
prisons in no time.
Certainly a new criminal law is necessary. Turkish criminal laws
were either taken from France during the Reformation Period, or
from Italy during the Republican era. Many ordinary and
non-violent crimes get prison terms. They should be commuted to
fines. The amount of the fines in Turkey incites others to commit
crimes. It should be avoided to sentence writers,politicians and
intellectuals to prison terms. To impose monetary fines and
restraints on them is a more modern method.
Judiciary police system should be installed. Handcuffing while
the media is present is against the dignity of legal system.
Capital sentence should be commuted to severe prison terms and
solitary confinement. Amnesty should not be granted unless there
are exceptional, personal situations. Turkish Grand National
Assembly should relinquish its authority on the issue. Whatever
the politicians may say, the recent 'Release on Parole' law has
no other aim than vacating the prisons.
The promises made by the Justice Minister on judicial reform are
of utmost importance. What is more such a reform is a must for a
European State. We have begun the week hopeful of the future as
the rate of inflation has fallen, the Government seems to have
understood the importance of economy, and as there is a rise in
the Stock Exchange index.
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