Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning
CONTENTS
Today, President Suleyman Demirel and Premier Bulent Ecevit will
attend the opening ceremony at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport of its
new Foreign Terminal, building which cost 150 billion TL and has
the capacity to handle 14 million passengers per year. The
Terminal is the largest in Europe with a carpark for seven
thousand vehicles, runaway, and environmental planning. Only at
Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Frankfurt and Chicago Airports can be
seen a similar technological system. The giant facility was
completed in 22 months using the latest technological
developments. /Aksam/
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ismail Cem, stating that the
conflict in Chechnya affected the South Caucasus, said, "The most
important issue for us is that of the Caucasus in the year 2000".
Cem was a guest on a programme broadcast by TRT in which he
evaluated the changes in 1999. He was also elected 'Man of the
Year' by the audience and received his plate from the General
Director of TRT, Yucel Yener. During the programme, Cem also
spoke on the continuing conflict in Chechnya: "This issue is
having a negative impact on its neighbours such as Georgia.
However, Turkey will continue in solidarity with Georgia in every
way. Our government has a healthy approach towards the conflict
in Chechnya." /Turkiye/
In statements to the 'Sabah' newspaper the Chairman of the
Supreme Court of Appeals, Sami Selcuk, said, "We adopted the
rules of European laws of our own free will and, thus, we gave
out the message: 'Turkey is a country that considers the law as
supreme, no matter what happens'. If we have entered this
process, then we should leave behind our personal worries and
ideologies. We will surrender to objective laws. The verdicts of
the European Court of Human Rights will result in three points:
ECHR decisions interpret the articles of the European Agreement
on Human Rights and we are authorized to do so. Secondly, it will
ensure the payment of compensation to the victim and the third
and most important point is the obligation of all parties to obey
these verdicts. Turkey should adher to the ECHR's precautionary
measures. Turkey has seized the opportunity of proving that it is
a state that abides by the supremacy of the law and, therefore,
should make use of this opportunity and wait for ECHR's final
verdict." /Sabah/
With the new Millennium, Turkey's coalition government has to
deal with a number of controversial issues in Parliament.
Turkey's 57th coalition government, made up of the Democratic
Left Party (DSP), the Nationalist Action Party (MHP) and the
Motherland Party (ANAP), has run the country harmoniously for the
last seven months. Political circles are now wondering whether
this harmony will survive during debates of controversial issues.
The biggest of them are the Presidential Election, Ocalan's death
sentence, Constitutional amendments to bring Turkey in line with
the EU's criteria, the headscarf issue and various
investigations. /Turkish Daily News/
The National Education Ministry is planning to put three ventures
into effect in the year 2000 in order to attain EU standards in
education. The Ministry is targeting an increase in the quality
of the education it provides with its plans for 'Modernization of
the Professional Technical Educational Establishments` and
'Strengthening Professional Education in Turkey`, which will be
implemented thanks to a loan from the EU. With the 'Support for
Primary Education`venture, the education level of poor students
is aimed to be raised. The cost of the ventures is about 193.5
million EUROs. /Hurriyet/
The PKK, finished thanks to the determined work of Turkish
soldiers, has declared its end at its so-called 7th Congress in
Iran. Abdullah Ocalan's brother Osman Ocalan confessed, "The
Republic of Turkey came at us with tanks, planes and traitors
among us, detaining our leader. We have lost the armed struggle."
Stressing that morale had collapsed, Ocalan lashed out harshly at
Cemil Bayik and Duran Kalkan, concerning the laying-down of
weapons and said, "They say, 'let's roll it up`. Is there anyone
who believes that we can do this? How will they manage this when
they couldn't do it at the most suitable time?" Ocalan also
addressed the youngmen, who had been sent into the mountains and
fed vain fantasies for years: "One may go into the mountains and
continue to fight; we won't interfere with them." /Aksam/
Kuwait has not forgotten Turkey's support during the Gulf War and
has once again helped Turkey by loaning 20 million Kuwaiti Dinar
(65 million dollars) in order to ensure the implementation of the
Yesilcam System. This project aims to obtain large water supply
for Istanbul, 145 million cubic metres of drinking water. As part
of the project, two dams will be built near Istanbul thanks to
Kuwaiti loan. In addition, this agreement recently signed between
Kuwait and Turkey recently includes the construction of one water
channel pipeline and some necessary tunnels. The scheme's other
goals are the construction of an irrigation plant with a capacity
of almost 500,000 cubic metres. /Turkiye/
The Constitutional Court is to consider the opposition parties'
application for the abolition of 'the Social Security Law` which
was protested strongly against by the workers. The Virtue Party
and the True Path Party defended the view that the Law was
indirect violation of the principles of 'equality` and 'the
superiority of the law` as laid in the Constitution which
envisaged the age of retirement as being 58 for women and 60 for
men. /Aksam/
For the first time the Republican People's Party (CHP), has
attended a supper to break the day's fast with its Chairman, the
Central Executive Board and a delegation of the Party Assembly.
The CHP's meal was organized in Bolu on December 31st and
announced in a press relese for the first time. The Party
authorities declared that the CHP have always been respectful of
religions and remain so today. /Hurriyet/
The Minister of National Defence, Sabahattin Cakmakoglu, stated
that Turkey would purchase four AWACS planes during this year
which will cost Turkey 1.5 million dollars. AWACS are known as
for their early warning systems which pinpoint the exact position
of enemy missile and rocket emplacements. Moreover, if these
rockets attempt to lock in on any planes, then AWACS can warn the
pilots of these planes. /Sabah/
Tomorrow, the Central Bank will begin to enforce the new rate of
foreign exchange and monetary policies that it drew up in
accordance with the stand-by agreement with the IMF. In parallel
with these policies, the new arrangements for the operation of
the markets within the Central Bank will be implemented as from
today. In addition, how foreign exchange is set will be changed
as from today. During the new period, the Central Bank's dollar
and Euro foreign exchange purchase rates valid at 16:00 will be
the official purchase rate for foreign exchange. /Cumhuriyet/
Conditions for a loan amounting to 3 billion dollars that the
World Bank is planning to give to Turkey will be determined
during negotiations to be held in January. A series of
discussions will be held between officials from the World Bank
and the government concerning the 'economic reform' and
'harmonization within the financial sector' loans. Then,
according to the results of these discussions, the loan
applications will be sent to the Executive Board of the World
Bank for approval. Economic reform loans will be used for
Turkey's structural reforms in the agriculture, retirement,
privatization, energy and communication sectors. /Cumhuriyet/
The selection stage has been reached for the Istanbul Tube
Crossing venture, which is an alternative to a third bridge and
is planned to be implemented using a Japanese loan, and the
construction of the Gebze-Haydarpasa-Sirkeci-Halkali commuter
railway line. Feasibility studies by three firms have been sent
to the Japanese Overseas Loan Establishment (OECF) for approval.
After the OECF's selection, engineering and counsellor services
will begin very quickly. The ventures are expected to be
implemented at the latest in the year 2005. /Aksam/
31 refugees, including 27 Chinese and 7 Armenian people fell
overboard due to the bad weather conditions yesterday while
trying to reach Italy by boat. It was stated that a Turkish ship,
the 'Ilisoy 4', which had left Istanbul and was on its way to
Trieste Harbour, noticed the refugees in the water and notified
Italian Coastal Guard officials. Because of this, 28 refugees
were rescued but sadly 3 of them lost their lives. /Turkiye/
Turkish Airlines (THY) took yet another step towards Europe
before entering the year 2000 by becoming a member of the
European Airline Maintenance Organization. This organization
ensures integration between the big European airlines' in-flight
customer care departments. Thus, THY has improved its present
situation and this will help our country to be amongst the best
in customer care. /Turkiye/
The dividing line between Lake Terkos, which is Istanbul's main
source of water, and the Black Sea has become very thin. The
thickness of the land between them was 300 metres but this has
been eroded to less than 100 metres in some parts. If this
boundary disappears, then salt water will penetrate into the lake
and Istanbul will lack drinking water. There are those who remove
sand illegally from places 50 metres from the coast. As long as
the sand is transported, landslides will occur at the bottom of
the sea and, thus, this results in erosion of the sandy part of
the land. A fine of 30 million TL handed down to the smugglers is
not enough of a deterrent. /Milliyet/
It was stated that Turkey has the largest number of female
professors among the Western countries. The Chairman of Osmangazi
University's Technological Research Centre, Prof. Dr. Muammer
Kaya, stated that although the number of educated women was less
than that in Western countries, the ratio of female professors in
Turkish universities is above Western standards. "In addition,
the ratio of associate professors and lecturers is 42%, which is
a high amount compared to that of Western countries", said Kaya.
/Milliyet/
The Ramadan 'Night of Power` is going to be celebrated tonight.
The Chairman of the Religious Affairs Directorate, M. Nuri
Yilmaz, issued a message to mark the 27th day of Ramadan, when
the Quran was revealed to the Prophet Mohammed, and emphasized
that tonight should be accepted as the beginning of a new life.
/Hurriyet/
Former Ambassador Sukru Elekdag writes on whhat we expect from
the 21st century. A summary of his column is as follows:
"Turkey is entering the new century with optimism and heightened
morale. Notwithstanding the damage of the earthquake disasters,
she can look to the future with hope and enthusiasm. Turkey has
great dreams for the future. This optimism stems from the fact
that terrorism has been defeated almost to the point of
nullification, in addition to the promising and successful
developments seen in recent months.
Certainly, the most promising development concerns the EU
candidacy status which has now been granted to Turkey. This will
open the roads to integration, modernization and prosperity.
Secondly, the stand-by agreement made with the IMF to beat
inflation is also important. Finally, the petrol and gas pipeline
agreements not only make Anatolia a crossroads for fuel lines but
also leads to geo-strategic results of global significance. With
the implementation of these ventures, a belt of Western
orientated states, from Anatolia to China, will emerge integrated
into the world's economy. This will bring a new dimension to
Turkey's strategic value and influence.
It can be said that the most important factor in Turkey's
admittance into the EU was the reflection of a stable and
credible Government in Turkey abroad to which the EU was not
accustomed. The striking characteristic of this Government is the
importance it attaches to reforms and the continual workings of
Parliament.
Gunther Verheugen, the EU Commissioner responsible for
Enlargement, stated that the green light given at Helsinki will
tear down a metaphorical dam in Turkey and the reforms trapped
behind this wall would tumble out. He thus pointed out that
membership negotiations between Turkey and the EU could start
soon.
Prime Minister Ecevit has announced 2004 as the target date for
the start of the negotiations. Certainly this has a sine qua non
condition and that is compliance with the Copenhagen criteria.
The basic problem facing the leaders of the Coalition lies in
achieving a lasting peace in the country and eliminating
terrorism once and for all. If the Coalition Government can bring
a permanent solution to this problem, taking the unitary
structure of the State and the territorial integrity of the
country into consideration, this will be the first sign for
Turkey that she will in fact be a member of the EU.
Such a solution would enable Turkey to take over her historic
responsibility and, in President Clinton's words, "play a vital
role in shaping the 21st century." The road to creating a strong
Turkey and enabling her to hold her head high passes starts with
internal peace."
Columnist Gungor Mengi comments on the words of President
Suleyman Demirel concerning the death sentence passed on Ocalan.
A summary of his column is as follows:
"President Suleyman Demirel made a serious and just warning on
the carrying-out of the death sentence passed on Ocalan. He
stated that Turkey had to wait for the verdict of the European
Court of Human Rights. The President stated that the Government
had to calculate the results of what would happen if we did not
wait for the ECHR and not be influenced by the mothers of the
fallen. No-one can know better than the President that the
number of politicans who are thinking of the next election is far
greater than those who are thinking of the next generation.
However, we are concerned that the discussion over Ocalan will be
reduced to obsessive revenge against one person.
The important point is the search for ways to immortalize a
victory achieved through the death of thousands to ensure the
territorial integrity of the country. If the feeling is reduced
to revenge on Ocalan, it will bring back a new hell demanding
the lives of others; this would only mean disrespect to the ones
fallen and would award an udeserved recognition to the murderer
of babies. Turkey will learn some lessons from the mistakes of
her past and achieve peace.
To deserve the future we demand, the worst punishment we can give
to a blood-shedding terrorist should be to keep him in a cell for
the rest of his life and make him wish for death every day. We
have to persuade the mothers of the fallen that this is real
revenge! We have to take such a decision not as a concession to
the EU but as a compromise to protect the territorial integrity
of the country. No-one has the right to spend a victory dear to
Turkey in a hastily taken decision!"
DAY OF PRAISE
CEM: "THE MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE IS THE CAUCASUS"
SELCUK: "LAST WORD ON OCALAN BELONGS TO EUROPE"
TIME FOR CRITICAL DECISIONS
NATIONAL EDUCATION MINISTRY'S VENTURES
OSMAN OCALAN'S CONFESSION
BIG GESTURE FROM KUWAIT
AGE OF RETIREMENT CONSIDERED AT CONSTITUTIONAL COURT
RAMADAN SUPPER ORGANIZED BY CHP
TURKEY TO PURCHASE AWACS PLANES
NEW PERIOD IN MONEY
LOAN DISCUSSIONS WITH THE WORLD BANK
VENTURES FOR ISTANBUL
TURKISH SHIP SAVES LIFE
TURKISH AIRLINES JOINS EUROPEAN AIRLINE MAINTENANCE ORGANISATION
BLACK SEA MAY SWALLOW LAKE TERKOS
MORE FEMALE PROFESSORS IN TURKEY
'NIGHT OF POWER`
FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...
A STRONG TURKEY BY SUKRU ELEKDAG (MILLIYET)
FOR THE FUTURE.... BY GUNGOR MENGI (SABAH)