Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning
CONTENTS
The Modern Life Centre, which was built by the Istanbul Aid Group
(IYG) and the Association of Supporting Modern Life (CYDD) and
consists of 192 prefabricated houses in Yalova, was opened with a
ceremony attended by President Suleyman Demirel. During the
opening ceremony, Demirel stated that in the year 2000 all the
buildings that collapsed will be reconstructed and life would
turn out to be normal again. Demirel said, "We will not forget
the pains of those who have lost their loved ones. However, life
still goes on. We are determined to remove all the effects of the
earthquake. Turkey faced a huge disaster on 17th August and again
on 12th November. Now, people are trying to bear the brunt of
this disaster but the after shocks and fears are still going on.
However, people around Turkey, totalling 87 countries came their
aid which showed Turkey's unity, solidarity and prestige abroad."
In addition, the Minister of Health, Osman Durmus, the Minister
of Labour, Yasar Okuyan and the Minister of Finance Sumer Oral
attended the ceremony. /Aksam/
SakoSA Industrial Polyster Cord and the Cord Establishment, a 50%
partnership between the Sabanci Holding Company in Izmit and
Kosa/America, was opened in the Izmit CarefourSa Trade Centre
with a ceremony attended by President Suleyman Demirel yesterday.
Demirel made a speech at the ceremony during which he said, "We
opened this establishment in order to point out that life goes on
since the earthquake disasters. This establishment, which puts
the Turkish consumers to the level of modern countries, has been
completed in eight months, which is very pleasing. In addition,
the Sabanci family's establishments are giving food and work to
Turkish citizens." In addition, the Chairman of the Executive
Board of Sabanci Holding Company, Sakip Sabanci, delivered a
speech saying, "We are trying very hard and are going to build
two more establishments and a factory in this region within a few
months. We have always believed that this earthquake-hit region
would develop." /Turkiye/
Turkey will hold the first meeting after the Constitutional and
legal changes, which made the international arbitration possible,
on 27th January in Davos. 160 people will attend the dinner,
which will be organized by the Central Bank of the Republic of
Turkey at Seehof Hotel. The guest of honor attended mostly by
foreign investors, will be Prime Minister, Bulent Ecevit. In
addition, many businessmen from Turkey will attend this dinner.
It is expected that Ecevit will speak during which he is expected
to say that all the necessary background was ensured so as to
enable foreign investors to invest safely. /Sabah/
The Deputy State Secretary of the U.S.A., Mark Grossman, stated
that Turkey and Greece should solve the problems between
themselves through a common dialogue mechanism by making use of
the positive atmosphere between them. Grossman gave a statement
to the 'Kathimerini' newspaper and said, "Washington supports the
reactivization of the 'wise men' delegations of the two
countries and the starting of a dialogue for the solution of the
problems that will be determined. In addition, the possibilities
of applying an international court for the issues in which
disagreements to these solutions might be made will be reviewed.
The U.S.A. is for the continuation of the positive developments
that occurred after the agreements signed in Ankara by the
Foreign Ministers of Turkey and Greece." /Cumhuriyet/
The President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Rauf
Denktas, will visit Berlin as the guest of Germany's Minister of
Foreing Affairs, Joschka Fischer, after indirect meetings in
Genova. This visit is important in terms of Denktas' being
invited by a foreign Minister after 15 years. Denktas was invited
by the U.S.A.'s Minister of Foreign Affairs, James Baker in 1986
to Washington. The invitation concerning the visit in the first
half of February, was delivered to Denktas by the Geman
Ambassador to Nicosia. /Milliyet/
Azeri people living in Izmir reproached the Russians' massacre
made 10 years ago. The members of the Azerbaijani Cultural
Association stated that the Turkish people living in South
Azerbaijan are being tortured by Iran. The Chairman of this
Association, Namik Kemal Babaeker defended the incident in which
138,000,000 people were killed and many were injured by the
Russians. Babaeker further said, "This country is now performing
massacres against Chechnya. Today, the issue that makes us deeply
sad is the problem of South Azerbaijan. In South Azerbaijan, the
policies against the Azeri Turks, which come from the Persian
reaction and aim at making everyone forget the Azerbaijani
identity here." /Aksam/
Police discovered six more bodies in the southern township of
Tarsus on Sunday as the death toll from the Hizbullah nationwide
massacre campaign reached 31. Security officials had already
discovered eight more bodies in the central Anatolian city of
Konya in an overnight raid, pushing Saturday's death toll to 25.
Meanwhile, police disclosed the number of suspected Hizbullah
militants taken into custody in 18 provinces as 136. A total of
10 militants are being questioned in Ankara, the Security
Department disclosed. /Turkish Daily News/
The State Minister responsible for Human Rights, Mehmet Ali
Irtemcelik, gave an interview to "Sabah" newspapper in which he
issued some signals on the Ocalan case, capital punishment, human
rights and democratization. Expressing his view that Turkey was a
member of the European family, Irtemcelik stated that the country
will purify its legal system of capital punishment. The Minister
also stated that it was wrong to discuss the matter every day and
criticized those who would tie the abolition of capital
punishment to the Ocalan case. /Sabah/
The world-wide famous 'Economist' magazine predicted that the
biggest improvement in economy will be by Turkey after Chile. The
credit rating of the Turkish economy decreased last year but
increases day by day due to the three year stability programme.
'The Economist' complimented the performance of the Turkish
economy in its last issue. Predicted three months ago that the
Turkish economy would grow by an average of 3.7% but now has
predicted an increase of 4%. This 4% is the same increase average
of Greece, an EU member country. /Star/
The 24th January decisions, which taken during harder times, are
20 years old today. The decisions of today and the decisions
taken 20 year ago have many similaritites including the economy
open to abroad. Today, just like 20 years ago, it was decided to
add a supplement to government officials' wages. Discussions were
being held for the stand-by agreement with the IMF at that time
but today decisions are taken according to the results of the
stand-by agreement. An 100% devaluation was made to the TL twenty
years ago, whereas the increase of 20% in the foreign exchange is
envisaged today. The burden of the interest was growing 20 years
ago but today the interest is trying to be removed. In addition,
supplements were imposed 20 years ago, whereas today the prices
are hoped to be stable. /Star/
The Chairman of the Oger-Turk Tour and the Oger Tours Group,
Vural Oger, stated that after the negative effects of 1999, they
are hopeful for the year 2000 on. Oger said, "Since the early
days of the new year, reservations have reached 2,500-3,000
people daily, which comes from the political relaxation in
Turkey. Also, ticket sales in Germany improved. In the year 2000,
we are going to reach the numbers we had in 1998. We deal with
nearly 50% of Turkish charter flights. Our summer programme is
very rich. Turkish tourism is very dynamic and young and we are
expecting a boom in tourism this year." /Turkiye/
The Chairman of the Koc Holding Company, Rahmi Koc, is hopeful
because of the developments in the economy over the last month.
The 'Hurriyet' newspaper interviewed him and he said, "Turkey has
caught a wave and we should act very carefully and make good use
of the advantages at the peak of this wave, as the State and as
the government. We should regain the time that we have lost. In
order to succeed in this, we have to speed up privatization, the
State should shrink and the politics should be reconstructed. The
decisions that taken removed obstacles before us and we entered a
very important turning point. In addition, the government should
practice the decisions taken and we should make good use of our
possibilities and opportunities." /Sabah/
Turkish Education Foundation (TEV), which made the biggest
donation campaign for the earthquake victims, collected a
donation of 3 trillion 1 billion TL. If the promise of aid of 1.1
trillion given to the Foundation is kept, the total amount of
donations will reach 4 trillion TL. TEV, which is one of the
biggest non-governmental organization in the field of education,
rewarded those who have contributed to the aid campaign with a
shield during the evening organized to celebrate the fifth
anniversary of the Foundation. /Cumhuriyet/
The third 'Conference of the Solution to Turkey's Problems' will
start tomorrow. During the conference, organized by 48
establishments of the European Community Research and
Implementation Centre at Ankara University's campus in Cebeci,
'Turkey in the 21st century' will be discussed. /Cumhuriyet/
It was stated that Turkey is the 4th country to purchase the most
weapons in the world. The 'Le Monde' newspaper, published in
France stated that in the Stockholm Institute of International
Peace Researches's numbers printed in 1998 stated that Taiwan was
the first country in the weapon purchase sector and it was
followed by Saudi Arabia, Greece and Turkey respectively.
Countries coming after Turkey are as follows: Japan, United Arab
Emiretes, Southern Corea, Pakistan, India and Egypt. /Cumhuriyet/
The increase in the individual credit interests is continuing.
Banks are decreasing credit interests and beginning to extend
credit periods. Those who wish to use consumer credit will be
able to be liable to have credit for up to 36 months. The banking
service has been indexed to the happiness of customers and
customers are also turning towards the credit with lower interest
and long-termed facilities. The banks profit margin are
decreasing the rates of interests and extended terms. /Hurriyet/
The strategic cooperation and the big rapproachment in
Turco-Israeli relations that has been going on for the last four
years, has also reflected to the banking sector. After the Free
Trade Agreement signed with Israel on foreign trade, the Turkish
Vakiflar Bank will be the first Turkish bank to open a branch in
Tel Aviv, in February. Vakifbank officials had also previously
opened a branch in Austria named Vakifbank International AG, at
the end of 1999. /Hurriyet/
During the 'Ottoman Works of Art and Painting' Auction, 262 works
of art were sold in four and a half hours, for 345 billion 755
million TL. During the auction, a record was broken with the sale
of a 'Selim the 3rd' painting for 115 billion TL. In addition,
during the auction, organized by the Portakal Art and Cultural
House at the Conrad Hotel, yesterday, two pieces were sold for
the benefit of earthquake victims. /Milliyet/
The Ministry of Tourism decided to issue a web page named
'Turkeycome' on the Internet as part of a promotional campaign to
increase tourism in the year 2000. Information will be given on
the richness of products and summaries on 'sea-sun, cultural
values and mystisism'. The Minister of Tourism, Erkan Mumcu,
stated that an intensive promotional campaign would start from
1st February. /Milliyet/
Former Ambassador Sukru Elekdag writes on the dialogue process
with Greece. A summary of his column is as follows:
"The visit paid by Greek Foreign Minister, George Papandreu to
Ankara not only displayed the positive atmosphere in Turco-Greek
relations but also gave us hope in a solution of the problems
between the two countries. There are many questions in the minds
of the public some of which are listed below:
For years Turkey has extended the hand of friendship to Greece
and offered to solve problems through dialogue. Athens, has
always rejected Ankara's offer until now, and seems to be ready
for cooperation and friendship. What lies at the basis of
Athens' change of policy?
The dialogue with Greece has been going on for six months.
However, none of the major issues which created the real problems
have been dealt with. Is not it an exaggeration to praise the
present situation? The Greek Foreign Minister Papandreu, evaded
the question of the students at the Middle East Technical
University on whether Greece would lift its veto on the financial
aid to Turkey. What is more, Greek Minister Simitis did not
respond clearly to Prime Minister Ecevit's invitation. Are these
not indications that Greece is not sincere in its stand?
The change in Greek policy towards Turkey stems from the
simultaneous impact of many factors on Athens. The leading issue
among them is the scandal concerning the Ocalan case. His
capture in the Greek embassy in Kenya, showed Greece as a country
that supports terrorism, committing a crime against humanity and
one who lost all credibility. Athens believes that she can
regain the credibility and respect only by improving her
relations with Turkey, decided therefore to take steps in that
direction.
Another factor stems from Athens wanting the Greek-Cypriot
Administration to become an EU member as soon as possible.
Germany, France, Holland and Italy were opposing the start of
full-membersihp negotiations between the Greek-Cypriot
Adminstration and the EU before solving the problems with Turkey.
Therefore, Athens did not veto the candidacy status of Turkey. In
return, Ankara helped create the necessary conditions for the
start of negotiations between the EU and the Greek-Cypriot
Administration. Denktas accepted proximity talks with the
suggestion of Turkey and negotiations between the Greek-Cypriot
and Turkish-Cypriot sides began.
Another reason for the change of policy in Greece is the
strengthening of the support for Turkey, after the change of
power in Germany and that she has understood she could not resist
the wind of change. Under these conditions, it would be more
proper to accept Turkey's candidacy status and solve the problems
within the framework of the EU.
However, this does not mean that Greece has changed her views
concerning Cyprus or the Aegean and will not use the veto card in
hand in Turkey's best interests.
In answer to the second question we can say that the major issues
have not been discussed yet but the atmosphere of the talks has
changed. In fact, it is not possible to take up these issues
without creating a positive atmosphere and therefore it would
indeed be unfair not to give them their due importance.
It is believed that only after the two elections in Greece, a
negotiation mechanism will be established and the major issues
will be taken up. In February there is the Presidential election
and in October there is the general election. However, there is
a possibility that Prime Minister Simitis will ask for an early
election at the end of June. However, the concern for elections
should not affect the establishment and working of a "Turco-Greek
Security Committee."
Columnist Sedat Sertoglu comments on the recent reactionary
terrorism. A summary of his column is as follows:
"It was said that there was no danger of reactionary terrorism in
Turkey and that to talk of reactionary terrorism was to be
paranoiac. We wonder what would be said today.
We spoke with two officials in the middle of the Hizbullah
investigation. They believed that Hizbullah was more dangerous
than the PKK and they have been thought this all along and they
intend to go as far as the investigation takes them.
You will see that relations between the Hizbullah and politicians
will be discovered and the general public will be made aware of
who these politicians are. The recent incidents we have been
following as a nation, in horror, is a slap to the face of those
who looked at these terrorists through the spectacles of
"tolerance".
Another striking point is that, there has been no news in the
Arab press about the Hizbullah operations in Turkey. No lines
appeared in the Iranian newspapers. What is the reason, we
wonder? The European press is almost trying to ignore the great
success of the Turkish Security Directorate General and the
National Intelligence Organization. Only a few newspapers
commented.
The Turkish nation will never forget those who tried to use
religion for political purposes after it has seen the terror
caused on TV screens."
FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...
DEMIREL: "EARTHQUAKE'S EFFECTS WILL DISSAPEAR COMPLETELY"
DEMIREL ATTENDED THE OPENING CEREMONY OF THE CARREFOURSA
ECEVIT TO VISIT DAVOS
NEW SUGGESTION FROM THE U.S.A. ABOUT THE TURCO-GREEK DIALOGUE
FISHER INVITES DENKTAS
A REPROACH TO THE MASSACRE
HIZBULLAH MASSACRE TOLL REACHES 31
STATE MINISTER IRTEMCELIK'S INTERVIEW FOR SABAH
TURKEY'S CREDIT RATE INCREASES DAY BY DAY
THE 24TH JANUARY DECISIONS ARE 20 YEARS OLD
THE SIGNAL OF THE BOOM IN TOURISM
KOC'S HOPEFUL STATEMENTS ABOUT THE TURKISH ECONOMY
TURKISH EDUCATION FOUNDATION GIVES SHIELD TO THE VOLUNTEERS
'TURKEY IN THE 21ST CENTURY'
TURKEY IS THE 4TH POSITION IN WEAPON SALES
DECREASE IN THE RATE OF BANK INTERESTS
THE FIRST TURKISH BANK IN ISRAEL
'OTTOMAN WORKS OF ART' AUCTION BROKE RECORD
PROMOTION CAMPAIGN IN TOURISM ON THE INTERNET
FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...
DIALOGUE PROCESS WITH GREECE BY SUKRU ELEKDAG (MILLIYET)
WHAT DID YOU SAY? BY SEDAT SERTOGLU (SABAH)