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Turkish Press Review, 01-03-12
From: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>
Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning
12.03.2001
CONTENTS
[01] LEADERS SUMMIT
[02] TGNA'S HEAVY SCHEDULE
[03] NEW PERIOD IN ECONOMY
[04] DERVIS TAKES OATH
[05] ACCESSION PARTNERSHIP DOCUMENT APPROVED BY EU COUNCIL
[06] VIRTUE PARTY CRITISIZES NEW ECONOMIC PROGRAM
[07] BAYKAL: "DISINFLATION PROGRAM SHOULD CONTINUE"
[08] FOREIGN MINISTER CEM CRITISIZES NATO AND EU POLICIES OVER BALKANS
[09] BAHCELI TO VISIT USA
[10] VIRTUE PARTY TO DEFEND ITSELF IN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT
[11] UNIVERSITIES PREPARE FOR EU
[12] AGREEMENT ON NATURAL GAS DELIVERY FROM AZERBAIJAN
[13] SYRIA-IRAN RAIL SERVICES RESUME VIA TURKEY
[14] STATE MINISTER GEMICI IN GERMANY
[15] HISTORICAL TURN FROM ATHENS
[16] SWISS NATIONAL ASSEMBLY TO DEBATE SO-CALLED ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
BILL TOMORROW
[17] ARMENIAN AND TURKISH HISTORIANS TO DISCUSS HISTORY
[18] MHP'S ECONOMY TEAM
[19] LAND TRANSPORTATION IN TURKEY DEVELOPS
[20] SECOND FOREIGN TRADE VISIT TO IRAQ
[21] TERRORIST ATTACK TO GENDARMERIE STATION IN TUNCELI
[22] STANDARDS TO PROFESSIONS
[23] JEWELRY DEVELOPS IN TURKEY
[24] 'ISTANBUL 2001 16TH INTERNATIONAL JEWELRY AND WATCH FAIR' TO BE
HELD
[25] SHIP TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT AND INFORMATION SYSTEM IN BOSPHORUS
[26] TOURIST RUSH TO DIYARBAKIR
[27] TURKISH CORRESPONDENT IN ACANU'S GENERAL COUNCIL
[28] CULTURE MINISTER AWARDS PROFESSOR
[29] TREASURY'S REPAYMENTS
[30] OGER TOUR TO ESTABLISH AIRLINE COMPANY
[31] TRUST AND SUPPORT BY FIKRET BILA (MILLIYET)
[01] LEADERS SUMMIT
Yesterday, the three government coalition partners held a
one-hour meeting to discuss the local resource topic.
Stressing they could find the resource in one or two days,
Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said he expected a positive movement in the
markets after the holiday. /Turkiye/
[02] TGNA'S HEAVY SCHEDULE
The Turkish Grand National Assembly (TGNA) will continue to
discuss bills and law proposals following the
Sacrifice Feast holiday. The agenda includes 203 law proposals.
Additionally, the National Program prepared to present the
European Union, is expected to be declared March 14th. /Turkiye/
[03] NEW PERIOD IN ECONOMY
The economic authorities formed a base for the new economic program
during the Sacrifice Feast holiday. The main targets of the new
program are state banks, internal debts and inflation. Accordingly,
three state banks will be brought under the roof of Ziraat Bank and
privatized in a year. The banks in the fund not to be sold are
expected to be closed. In the new economic program the
Banking Regulation and Supervision Board authority will
be increased. The Board will have the right to stop a bank's activity
or to ask for its bankruptcy. Enacting the law by the end of
this month, to sell a %51-bloc of Turk Telecom
was also included in the program. Meanwhile, appointments for the
Treasury Undersecretary and the Chairman of the Banking
Regulation and Supervison Board will be made this week. The
collective bargaining between Turk-Is and the government related to
500 thousand workers in the public sector is also expected to start.
/Turkiye/
[04] DERVIS TAKES OATH
State Minister, Responsible for the Economy, Kemal Dervis, returned
from the US. He had gone to complete his resignation
procedures from the World Bank, and conduct his first contacts
with American authorities. Mr. Dervis will take his oath in the
TGNA tomorrow, then address the Parliament and
provide explanations on the new economic program. /Turkiye/
[05] ACCESSION PARTNERSHIP DOCUMENT APPROVED BY EU COUNCIL
The European Union Council approved the Accession Partnership
Document. The EU Commissioner responsible for enlargement, Gunter
Verheugen, said the approval was an important step and a signal
to Turkey from the EU. Verheugen said the approval should be
interpreted as a support for political and economic reforms in
Turkey. The EU Commission also stated they expected the National
Program to be endorsed by the Ankara government and sent to
Brussels as soon as possible. The EU Council had approved the
Framework Regulation Agreement that provides the legal base of
the document at the end of last month. The approval was made
public in the Official Gazette. /Turkish Daily News/
[06] VIRTUE PARTY CRITISIZES NEW ECONOMIC PROGRAM
Chairman of the Virtue Party (FP) Recai Kutan said the new
economic program to be prepared by Minister of State responsible
for Economy, Kemal Dervis, would not be successful. Kutan stated
the program would not receive mass support from the public.
/Cumhuriyet/
[07] BAYKAL: "DISINFLATION PROGRAM SHOULD CONTINUE"
The leader of the Republican People's Party (CHP), Deniz Baykal
announced the conclusions drawn from the party's meeting with
economy experts. Baykal said the disinflation program should
continue, otherwise hyperinflation and stagflation may arise. If
the government aims to have a 40 % inflation target this year,
and if this figure bears a deviation of 50 %, the actual
inflation will be 60 %. Baykal claimed the results of the crisis
should be announced to the public in an official report. People
should know what kind of costs they will bear as the result of
this crisis. Baykal said, "The government should prepare a new
budget. The current budget has no meaning as it was prepared in
line with a 30 % interest rate." /Hurriyet/
[08] FOREIGN MINISTER CEM CRITISIZES NATO AND EU POLICIES OVER BALKANS
Speaking on a TV program, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ismail Cem
evaluated the recent developments in Turkish foreign policy. Cem
mentioned five points during his speech: First, he critisized
NATO and EU policies over the Balkans. He added, "The way the
Western countries handle the Balkan issue is wrong. Countries
which are not even in the Balkans, and know nothing about the
Balkans are engaged in formulating Balkan policies. This is
totally wrong." Second, Cem stated Turkey had no problems with
Azerbaijan saying Baku-Ceyhan pipeline project was going well. He
said, "Discussions over the price of the natural gas are
continuing." The third issue Cem mentioned during his speech was
the US policy over Cyprus. Stating he found the US policy over
Cyprus inefficient, Cem said the US stance must be more
objective. Fourth, referring to the genocide monument erected in
Sevres, Cem said, "It is totally unjust and inconsiderate.
Turkey's stance on the so-called Armenian genocide was correct."
Cem stated Greece had no place in the political balances
concerning the Caucasus. He said Greek, Armenian and Iranian
authorities' meeting in Athens was not a significant incident.
The last issue was Turco-EU relations. Cem stated relations were
going well, adding that certain problems were inevitable as
Turkey was a different country from the general European
character. He added, "These differences make Turkey unique."
/Cumhuriyet/
[09] BAHCELI TO VISIT USA
Deputy Prime Minister Devlet Bahceli will visit the United States
in response to invitations by various institutions. Last month
Bahceli made his first foreign visit to Turkmenistan. /Sabah/
[10] VIRTUE PARTY TO DEFEND ITSELF IN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT
The Virtue Party leader Recai Kutan said they completed the
defense preparations for the Constitutional Court hearing. The
defense text will be submitted to the Court by four o'clock.
/Star/
[11] UNIVERSITIES PREPARE FOR EU
The Higher Education Board (YOK) is to hold a meeting March 15 to
brief universities on two practices used within the EU to
facilitate student transfer and the recognition of studies. The
work on the "Diploma Supplement" and "European Credit Transfer
System", which has been written into the National Program, was
due to start in January this year but had to be postponed when
the process of making appointments to YOK was prolonged. At the
meeting YOK will brief all attending universities on the
requirements. Both new practices are expected to go into effect
this year. /Turkish Daily News/
[12] AGREEMENT ON NATURAL GAS DELIVERY FROM AZERBAIJAN
Azerbaijan's President Haydar Aliyev and President Ahmet Necdet
Sezer will sign the agreement protocol for the sale of natural
gas from Azerbaijan. According to the agreement, Turkey will
receive gas beginning in 2004. The agreement will be valid for 15
years. Energy and Natural Resources Minister Cumhur Ersumer said
Azeri gas is the cheapest agreement signed so far. Azerbaijan
will build the pipelines to the Turkish borders and Turkey will
pay the cost of construction of the 250 km. portion reaching
Khorasan. Ersumer said, "This part will be constructed parallel
to the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline." /Milliyet/
[13] SYRIA-IRAN RAIL SERVICES RESUME VIA TURKEY
Syria is planning to expend its railway network to the rest of
the world, Transportation Minister Makram Obeid said at the
inauguration of the first direct train link between Syria and
Iran via Turkey. The Minister said Syria planned to improve and
expand its rail services, building on last year's reopening of
links with neighboring Turkey, Iraq and Jordan. /Turkish Daily
News/
[14] STATE MINISTER GEMICI IN GERMANY
State Minister Hasan Gemici went to the German town of Herne to
attend a meeting held by the Association for the Assistance of
Disabled Turks. During his visit Gemici will also hold talks with
the Association for European Turkish Businessmen and
Industrialists. /Turkish Daily News/
[15] HISTORICAL TURN FROM ATHENS
Athens stated she has given up her dream of a 'Greater Greece'.
Greece, which has been dreaming of establishing sovereignity over
the Balkans, took a step back for the first time. While
discussing the crisis on the Macedonian border, the Greek
Minister of Foreign Affairs, George Papandroeu, said, "All sorts
of 'Megalo Idea's in the Balkans should be given up and a
different kind of relationship, which slowly decreases the
importance of borders, should be established.' He added the
Balkan crisis was brought to the NATO's Council of Ministers by
Turkey and Greece cooperatively, and that Athens was in
complete harmony and cooperation with Ankara. Meanwhile, Turkish
Minister of Foreign Affairs Ismail Cem pointed out the groups
established to find solutions for the problems in the Balkans,
consisted of countries lacking special information and
sensitivity, and that countries such as Turkey and Greece should
take their place in the solution mechanism. /Aksam/
[16] SWISS NATIONAL ASSEMBLY TO DEBATE SO-CALLED ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
BILL TOMORROW
The Swiss National Assembly will debate two separate so-called
Armenian genocide bills tomorrow. The bills prepared separately
by a socialist deputy, of Greek origin, Josef Ziyadis, and the
Anti-Genocide Association from Germany, will be debated tomorrow
in the ongoing parliamentary sessions in Lugano. Turkey's Bern
Embassy conveyed its views and expects the bills not to be
approved. Meanwhile, the Swiss Government kept out of the debate
as Switzerland is determined to continue her economic cooperation
with Turkey. /Cumhuriyet/
[17] ARMENIAN AND TURKISH HISTORIANS TO DISCUSS HISTORY
The Turkish academicians increased their activities to disprove
the so-called Armenian genocide claims. For this purpose, Turkish
and Armenian historians will attend a conference in Germany 23-25
March, on the so-called genocide. A similar conference will be organized in
Istanbul and will be attended by 60 academicians from various
countries including Turkish and Armenian historians. During the
conference, the so-called Armenian genocide claims will be
discussed. Thus, the Armenians, who have continuously brought the
genocide claims to political agendas and have had them accepted
in the assemblies of the countries, will discuss the history with
Turkish historians for the first time. The conference entitled
'The Heavy Burden of History' will be organized by Muelheim_Ruhr
Protestant Academy, German-Armenian Community and the
Turco-German Association of Social Sciences and Humanity. /Aksam/
[18] MHP'S ECONOMY TEAM
Following the economic crisis in Turkey, Nationalist Action Party
(MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli began to follow the economy closely
and wanted economic indicators delivered to him minute by minute.
Bahceli also wanted his aides, particularly Deputy Group Chairman
of MHP, Oktay Vural and the Group Chairman of Research and
Development (AR-GE), Prof. Emin Carikci, to follow the economic
developments closely. Thus, a group was formed and this
group began to follow the stock exchange, banks, Treasury,
Central Bank and the interest rates closely and present daily
reports to Bahceli. Economic aides of the MHP also follow the
imports and exports closely. /Aksam/
[19] LAND TRANSPORTATION IN TURKEY DEVELOPS
According to an investigation by the International Association of
Transportation, the flow of foreign currency into Turkey, which
was 1 billion 360 million US dollars in 1999, increased to 1
billion 468 million US dollars last year due to the transit
transportation between Turkey and Europe, Iran, Iraq, Middle
East, CIS and the petroleum exports to Iraq. The lion's share of
the foreign currency is brought in by the transportation business
with Europe. /Aksam/
[20] SECOND FOREIGN TRADE VISIT TO IRAQ
The Second foreign trade visit to Iraq coordinated by the
Undersecretariat of Foreign Trade begins today. A number of
businessmen from various sectors are attending the visit headed
by Undersecretary of the Foreign Trade, Kursad Tuzmen. The visit
aims at improving the trade potential with neighbouring countries.
/Turkiye/
[21] TERRORIST ATTACK TO GENDARMERIE STATION IN TUNCELI
Terrorists attacked the Gendarmerie Station in Gokcek Village,
Tunceli the day before yesterday. It was stated that a group
separated from the PKK terrorist organization carried out the
attack which wounded a gendarme officer. Widespread
investigations have begun over the incident. /Cumhuriyet/
[22] STANDARDS TO PROFESSIONS
The Ministry of Labour and Social Security prepared a bill to
standardize professions. The bill envisages preparing standards for
about 250 professions and the formation of an
"Institution for National Professions' Standards" as well as
working requirements for each profession. /Turkiye/
[23] JEWELRY DEVELOPS IN TURKEY
The thousands year old Anatolian jewelry heritage now reaches
people on six continents, bringing hundreds of thousands of US
dollars to Turkey. Sermin Cipa and Ida Gurel, the owners of
Rotaforte Promotion Company, who contribute to the development of
jewelry sector, said, "Turkey could compete with Italy, the world
leader in jewelry, and she produces goods at a lower price than
Italy. /Aksam/
[24] 'ISTANBUL 2001 16TH INTERNATIONAL JEWELRY AND WATCH FAIR' TO BE
HELD
'Istanbul 2001 16th International Jewelry and Watch Fair', will
be held at the World Trade Center March 15-18 on an area of
20,000 square meters. 490 companies will be attending, 52 of
which are from 18 foreign countries. Gold, platinum and silver
jewelry, gold jewelry with syntethic stones, pearl and ruby will
be exhibited at the fair. In addition, watch and silver pavilions
will be present at the fair. /Aksam/
[25] SHIP TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT AND INFORMATION SYSTEM IN BOSPHORUS
Minister of State Ramazan Mirzaoglu said the Ship Traffic
Management and Information System should begin running by October
or December of this year. Mirzaoglu stated the project was a
significant step toward maintaining security in the Bosphorus. He
added, "The project will also contribute to the protection of our
historical and cultural heritage as well as environment." The
project bid was completed and construction on the infrastructure
began last month. Electronic and technological parts of the
system were produced by the American firm Lockheed Martin
Overseas. Mirzaoglu stated phases of the project were being
closely followed. /Cumhuriyet/
[26] TOURIST RUSH TO DIYARBAKIR
The number of tourists visiting Diyarbakir increased by 100 %
after peace and stability were regained in the Southeastern
Anatolia Region. The number for the last 10 years was 1,39858.
Authorities from the Provincial Tourism Directorate said, "People
living in developed countries prefer faith and culture tourism
instead of sea and sun. Therefore, soon after security was
restored to the region, they rushed to Diyarbakir." /Cumhuriyet/
[27] TURKISH CORRESPONDENT IN ACANU'S GENERAL COUNCIL
A Turkish correspondent in Geneva, Emine Karakitapoglu, has been
selected to the United Nations Correspondents Association's
(ACANU) General Council. ACANU is an association working to
protect the rights of the reporters. It organizes meetings and
activities in which UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and chairmen
of other UN organs participate and contributes to NGOs
suffering from difficulties to voice their concerns. /Cumhuriyet/
[28] CULTURE MINISTER AWARDS PROFESSOR
The Ministry of Culture has invited Prof. Andreas Tietze from
Vienna University to receive an award for his contributions to
the research and the promotion of Turkish traditional culture. Prof.
Tietze and Prof. Ilhan Basgoz worked together on a study of
Turkish Folklore. /Turkish Daily News/
[29] TREASURY'S REPAYMENTS
The Treasury will face two big tests this week and on March 21.
As it changed February domestic debts program due to the recent
crisis, Treasury's debt repayment program during March also
changed. Treasury will also repay $ 351.2 million foreign debt
this week. /Cumhuriyet/
[30] OGER TOUR TO ESTABLISH AIRLINE COMPANY
Oger Tour will establish an airline company. The company will
begin functioning June 1. Oger Holding Chief Advisor, Huseyin
Baraner said this year they place great importance on tourism in
Turkey and they are planning to bring around 600,000 Turks living abroad
and a million foreign tourists to Turkey. /Hurriyet/
FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS
[31] TRUST AND SUPPORT BY FIKRET BILA (MILLIYET)
Columnist Fikret Bila comments on the recent economic crisis and
State Minister responsible for economic Affairs, Kemal Dervis'
recent contacts in the US. A summary of his column is as follows:
"The new stabilization program will be announced in a few days.
The results of Kemal Dervis's contacts in the US will be seen
following the program's announcement. The Government and the
public expect full support from the US after the announcement.
This support should be shown by a flow of sources from
international organizations such as the IMF, the World Bank and
others.
In order to overcome the bottleneck in the financial sector and
reduce her expensive public borrowing, Turkey needs both cheap
foreign sources and structural reforms within the country. To
base borrowing on cheap foreign sources and carry out structural
reforms, foreign support in great amounts is necessary. However,
the most important issue facing us today is to provide domestic
support for the program. If the public is not convinced of a
new program, the climate of no confidence will continue and the
public will not grant the economic, social, and political credit
requested by the government. The success of the new program will
be determined by local rather than by foreign support.
The trust in the incomplete program and, therefore in the
Government, has increased with the downward trend seen in
inflation. People endured all the hardships with the hope that
the positive results of the program would be seen soon. However,
the change in exchange rates when expectations had reached their peak
caused great distrust in the public. It will not be easy to
convince the people of the new program. It is very hard for the
masses to support a second program both economically and
financially. The change in exchange rates will be reflected in
consumption goods and services and this, in turn, will place a
new burden on the living standards of the masses. However, this
is not true for all sectors. There are those who have lost
nothing, and in fact, gained a lot by the exchange rates changes.
The second program has to take this fact into consideration. The
new program should place no new burdens on those who will suffer
because of it, but on those who have profitted from it.
Otherwise, it will be very hard to provide the local trust and
support needed for the success of this program.
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