ECEVIT IN DUZCE

Yesterday, Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit attended the ceremony in Duzce which was proclaimed as a province. He was accompanied by his wife, Rahsan Ecevit, Interior Minister Sadettin Tantan, the Minister of Public Works and Settlement, Koray Aydin, and the Education Minister, Metin Bostancioglu. During his speech, Ecevit said that for the development of the earthquake-hit zone, both State and citizens would strive and the region would be included in 'regions having the priority in development`. The Chairman of Duzce Crisis Center, Orhan Ozturk, handed over duty to the new Governor, Fikret Guven. Duzce Mayor Ruhi Kurnaz presented a gratitude certificate and a citizenship title to the Prime Minister. /Turkiye/

DSP AND DYP REACH AN AGREEMENT OVER THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

Democratic Left Party (DSP) and the True Path Party (DYP) reached an agreement over the Constitutional amendment on the election of the President according to the 5+5 formula. The Deputy Chairman of the DYP Group, Turhan Guven and the Deputy Chairman of the DSP Group, Aydin Tumen and the Deputy Chairman, Tayfun Icli held a meeting at the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TGNA) yesterday. Guven stated that they wanted the proposal concerning the election of the President by the people to be voted on at the TGNA first. Guven added, "However, a vote is still impossible as the necessary number of signature have not come from the Virtue Party (FP)." Guven requested a 'reasonable period of time' and considered this period to be a 'holiday for the TGNA'. He said, "If the FP cannot obtain 184 signatures up to that period of time, then there is no problem with the 5+5 formula for us. We can then discuss the issue when the TGNA is opened and implement this formula. Furthermore, during the meeting, the problem concerning the termanent article that determines the way to become a candidate, was solved. According to this, President Demirel should be nominated with the signatures of 110 Parliamentary representatives in order to enter the Presidential election. /Sabah/

BELBASI SEISMIC STATION

A statement issued by the Foreign Ministry yesterday said that initiatives to transfer the Belbasi Seismic Observatory Station based in the north of Ankara to the Kandilli Observatory and Earthquake Research Institute of the Bogazici University, as part of the defence cooperation between Turkey and the US, have been completed. Three US communications experts will work at the Belbasi Seismic Observatory Station which the US had transferred to Turkey following an agreement signed during US President Bill Clinton's visit to Turkey on November 14-19. /Cumhuriyet/

POLITICS BASED ON ISLAM AT CROSSROADS

After the Hizbullah brutality is revealed, some leading politicians of the religious section have begun to question the place of religion in politics. Writers of the religious section newspapers state that reactions against the Hizbullah terrorism should be clearly declared. The same view also emerged from the Virtue Party. Declaring that they were against a 'religious` or 'Islamic` party, Abdullah Gul, one of the leaders of the supporters of renovation said, "Because, the greatest damage is given to the religion by these kind of parties." He added, "The Virtue Party is not religious but one which has a high sensibility for religion." /Hurriyet/

RAID AT HIZBULLAH HOUSE

During a conflict in a raid at a house belonging to Hizbullah terrorists in the Ceylanpinar district of Sanliurfa, one member of the illegal Hizbullah organization was killed yesterday. A large amount of ammunition was seized in Batman and in the Hilvan district of Sanliurfa. Ten Hizbullah members were arrested in Konya and Diyarbakir yesterday. Four people were also arrested in Ankara suspected of connections with the Hizbullah terrorist organization. /Cumhuriyet/

AKBULUT DUE IN AZERBAIJAN

The Speaker of the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TGNA), Yildirim Akbulut went to Azerbaijan as a guest of the Speaker of the Azebaijani National Assembly Murtuz Aleskerov. Akbulut stated that the close relations between the parliaments of the two countries would also contribute to the development in relations on economics, culture and social areas. He will begin his official contacts today. /Turkiye/

JAPANESE VILLAGE ESTABLISHED

The Japanese Deputy Foreign Minister, Ichita Yamamoto, arrived in Turkey to participate in the opening of the 'Japanese Village'in Adapazari constructed in aid of the people affected by the earthquake. Today, Yamamato will be accepted by Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, Deputy Prime Minister Husamettin Ozkan and the Minister of Environment Fevzi Aytekin to have talks about the problems encountered during the reconstruction of the earthquake area. /Cumhuriyet/

THIRD ROUND OF PROXIMITY TALKS

It has been finalised that the third round of the proximity talks that were started to persuade the Turkish Cypriot President, Rauf Denktas and the Greek Cypriot Leader Glafkos Klerides, to start agreement talks will definitely be held. The third round of the talks conducted by Alvaro de Soto, Secretary General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan`s sepecial representative to Cyprus, will be held on 15th May 1999 in New York. It has been pointed out that while it is not expected for Denktas and Klerides to come together in the third round of the talks, like the previous round of talks, it will be possible for changes to be made in the schedule according to the developments of the meetings. The president of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Rauf Denktas, replied to a question on the possibility of him and Klerides coming together in the third round by saying, "that depends on the course of the talks". /Cumhuriyet/

CONTRIBUTION TO THE PEACE IN THE AEGEAN

Turkish and Greek journalists have completed the first congresses in Athens and decided to 'take the necessary responsibility' in order that the positive atmosphere can be kept. The Press Council from Turkey completed its works at the First Turco-Greek Journalists' Congress, held between 5th and 6th February, as a result of the initiative of a group of journalists from Greece, by issuing a decleration of result. In the press declaration, which summarizes the results of the Congress, it was stated that the second Congress would be held in Istanbul in September 2000 and that the round table talks will be held on the Island of Rhodes next summer. /Sabah/

CAKMAKOGLU WANTS THE BIDS TO BE IN TURKISH

The Minister of National Defence, Sabahattin Cakmakoglu, instructed the correspondence and the agreements of the bids with regard to Turkey's purchase of quadrillions of weapon should be made in Turkish. Cakmakoglu sent an instruction to the Defence Industry Undersecretariat, which ensures the Turkish Armed Forces' (TSK) strategic needs, such as helicopters, tanks, armed vehicles, electronic battle systems and missiles by opening the international bidding, on 4th January 2000. In the instruction, it was written: "In the 3rd article of the Constitution of the Republic of Turkey, there is a decision saying 'Turkish State is a undivisible whole with its country and nation. Its language is Turkish'. As it can be clearly understood from this judgement, the official establishments must use Turkish in their operations. In some of the agreements between the foreign firms and the Defence Industry Undersecretariat, the correspondance is being made in English. Therefore, I request the correspondance and the agreements with the foreign firms to be made in Turkish and the arrangement of an English copy of the agreements if necessary." /Milliyet/

ILICAK RETURNED

Mehmet Ali Ilicak, the son of the Virtue Party's parliamentary representative, Nazli Ilicak and former owner of the 'Aksam' newspaper, was taken into custody yesterday, on his return from the US, at Ataturk Airport. Ilicak, who had a warrant of arrest in his absence, was released to be tried not under arrest, by the 7th and 9th Courts of First Instance in Sisli Court House. /Turkiye/

TURKISH-GREEK JOINT OPERATION

Three Nigerians, Akem Adewale Momoh, Gmerogie Ero Osaig Boro and Abdul Gazeey Davodu, who were caught with 4 kilos of heroin in Istanbul in the first joint operation carried out jointly by Turkish and Greek police forces against international drug smuggling, have been arrested by the State Security Court. The Nigerians arrested on the basis of ' carrying out organised drug trade' were sent to Bayrampasa prison. /Cumhuriyet/

ITALIAN AIRCRAFT TO LAND AT CORLU AIRPORT

The Transport Minister Enis Oksuz said that aircraft belonging to Italian Airways would no longer land at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport but at Corlu Airport. In a statement at Ataturk Airport, following his arrival from Israel to Turkey, Oksuz recalled that Italy only let the Turkish aircraft land at secondary airports and said that for this reason Italian aircraft would be directed to land at Corlu Airport from now on. Oksuz stated that Turkey had no problems concerning international transportation to date and said, "However, if other countries assume an unfair stance towards Turkey, we retaliate in the same way". Oksuz also furnished information about his contacts in Israel and remarked that he had discussed cooperation concerning transportation between Turkey and Israel. Oksuz pointed out that during his meeting with the Israeli Transport Minister, they had taken up the issue of a Ro-Ro vessel between Mersin-Hayfa and Iskenderiye. /Aksam/

HOME SALARY FOR THE RETIRED

A conclusion has been reached in the talks carried out between the Pension Fund and the General Post Office on the issue of paying the salaries and the tax returns to the retired at home. A protocol was signed between the two institutions which will enable the salaries of the retired, aged 60 and above, to be payed in their own residence. According to the protocol, this practice will initially be carried out temporarily in Ankara and Istanbul only. If the practice proves to be successful and efficient then it will be expanded to other provinces./Cumhuriyet/

SUMER ORAL: "THE PRIOR ISSUE OF THE AGENDA IS THE EARTHQUAKE"

Minister of Finance, Sumer Oral, stated that in spite of the negativenesses experienced during the last year, the Budget of 1999 was implemented in accordance with targets. Oral declared that the disaster of the century had been experienced last year and that the first issue on the Turkish agenda was the earthquke, and the removal of damage caused. Oral said, "The year 2000 is the first year of the three year financial and economic programme to be implemented very decisively by Turkey and which aims to reduce the high rate of inflation. This programme also aims to rapidly decrease the public and budget deficits and to decrease the rate of inflation to reasonable figures. Therefore the year 2000 will be of the utmost importance for Turkey. The first step of the programme is income tax and the second is the privatization. We are expecting an income of 5.7 billion dollars. From privatization an income of 2.6 quadrillion was targetted in the Budget. The third step is the size of expenditure. We should act within the expenditure targets indicated in the Budget. Otherwise, this programme would be hindered." /Sabah/

MOODY'S IS HOPEFUL FROM TURKEY

The world's one of the leading rating companies, Moody's, the centre of which is in the U.S.A., stated that Turkey, which aims to reduce the interest rates and the inflation, has made a good start. Moody's declared that if the reforms and economic policies are implemented in the way promised, they could increase Turkey's rating this year. They stated that Turkey's politics had improved in the right direction and that this development ensured the improvement of previous economic negativeness. Moody's further stated that within the three party coalition there is a constructive manner regarding decisions to be taken about the economy and that this makes it easier to solve the economic problems. In Moody's evaluation, it was reported that Turkey's desire to become a member of the EU was the catalist that speeded up the reforms, more than the stand-by agreement signed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). /Milliyet/

FOREIGN INTEREST IN THE EUROPEAN FREE TRADE ZONE

Foreign groups such as Goodyear, IBM, Nestle, Novartis, Du Pont and Mercedez-Benz are awaiting the first results of the government program to materialise their projects and to start investing in the European Free Trade Zone in Corlu. It has been stated by the General Director of the European Free Trade Zone, Bekir Kavruk, that foreign investments of 500 million dollars will be made within a period of 2-3 years. It was also pointed out that since the Free trade Zone began to function 18 months ago, 30 million dollars worth of foreign investment has been made and that the revenues have reached a sum of 22 million dollars. Furthermore the General Director said that the ultimate objective is to expand the Free Trade Zone to an area where one billion dollars worth of exports and 10 billion worth of trade is carried out every year and that one other target is to sell at least 40% of the European Free Trade Zone to foreign companies. /Star/

600 MILLION EURO IN EARTHQUAKE LOANS FROM EIB

A delegation from the European Investment Bank (EIB) visited Turkey to discuss a low-rate loan agreement to be extended to Turkey as a result of last year's earthquake disasters. The EIB delegation, which arrived in Turkey yesterday evening, is expected to make observations today in the earthquake-hit regions. The delegation will proceed to Ankara on Wednesday to sign the agreement with officials from the Turkish Treasury. /Aksam/

TREASURY TO ISSUE BONDS TODAY

The Treasury envisages a borrowing of a total of 2.4 quadrillion TL from the sales of the three-month and one-year term bonds today. The rate of interest for the three-month term bonds will be 42-44 % and while it will be 40 % for the one-year term bonds. /Star/

GREAT INTEREST IN TREASURY BONDS

The Treasury Undersecretariat increased the amount of bonds previously envisaged as 750 million Euro to 1 billion Euro, a statement issued by the Treasury Undersecretariat said. /Aksam/

FIVE-YEAR TERM BONDS FROM EXIMBANK

The Turkish Eximbank authorized the ABN Amro and Merrill Lynch to issue five-year term bonds worth $250 million. According to information obtained from Eximbank officials, the money from the bonds will be used to finance the exports and other projects. Officials said that the byonds would be probably issued on February 20 and added that the cost of the bonds has not been determined yet. Eximbank previously issued three-year term bonds worth $200 million last November. /Aksam/

DISFACTORING BECOMES A FULL MEMBER OF THE FACTORS CHAIN INTERNATIONAL

Disfactoring became the full member of the Factors Chain International (FCI) in the third year of its establishment. In order to be a full member of the FCI, which represents more than 150 factoring establishments in nearly 50 countries, it is necessary to make export and import amounting to minimum 20 million dollars annualy. General Director of Disbank, Necmi Bozanti, stated that a few factoring companies had been able to become a full member of the FCI and that Disfactoring was the 7th full member of this organization. /Milliyet/

EGS BANK ON INTERNET

The EGS Bank will be on Internet from now on. Its Website address is: "www.egsbank.com.tr" and will provide various banking transactions free of charge. The EGS General Director Kubilay Kirman stated that the users do not need to buy soft-ware programmes. /Aksam/

ISTANBUL CHAMBER OF TRADE'S FAIR TIMETABLE

The Istanbul Chamber of Trade (ITO) will attend fairs to be opened in 11 countries. According to the ITO's fair timetable, the first fair 'It Asia 2000' will be in New Delhi between 8th and 11th February. The 'Turkish Exportation Products Fair' will be held in the Ivory Coast between 16th and 19th February. ITO will attend the 'Hannover Industry Fair' in March in Germany and the 'International Consuming Goods Fair' in Bratislava, Slovakia. During the second half of the year, ITO will take its members to the U.S.A., Mexico, Vietnam, Tunus, Oman and England. The food fair is to be in Paris and the automative subordinate industry fair in Las Vegas in October next. /Sabah/

GIANT STEP IN TOURISM

The greatest tourism agency of the world, German TUI, bought the 75% of the Gulet Tourism which belongs to Cem Kinay, the manager of the Magic Life's. TUI has become the first giant to enter the tourism sector in Turkey. The agency, which took 6,043 million tourists to various countries last year, will give priority in the year 2000 and 2001 to Turkey and prepare promotion programmes and brochures try to persuade Europeans to travel to Turkey. /Hurriyet/

FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS... FROM THE COLUMNS...

TWO MEETINGS, TWO PICTURES BY ILTER TURKMEN (HURRIYET)

Former Ambassador, Ilter Turkmen, analyzes the relations between Turkey and Greece and the Turkish and Greek-Cypriots. A summary of his column is as follows: "When Turkish Foreign Minister was paid a visit to Greece last week, TRNC President Denktas and Greek-Cypriot Administration leader Klerides participated in proximity talks in Geneva conducted under the auspices of the UN Secretary-General. The pictures reflected from this could not be more of a contrast. In Athens, the Foreign Ministers, without denying the difficulties they are faced with, created a warm, constructive and optimistic atmosphere. However, in Geneva the leaders of both sides, still under the influence of the past, and the on-going cold war, were making sour statements and were avoiding meeting. How can one harmonize the cold war in Cyprus and peace between Turkey and Greece? As Greek Foreign Minister stated on Cem's visit it is true that the shadow of Cyprus still hangs over relations between the two countries. Unless the Aegean problem is solved both Turkey and Greece have to take a potential armed conflict into consideration. However, this inevitably does not permit an agreement being reached as the one between Germany and France. How many NATO member states have been on the brink of war besides Turkey and Greece, recently? When the Athens visit is viewed realistically, it is hard to be as optimistic as the Turkish newspapers. The Greek press seems more cautious and reserved. Another striking point is that when Papandreu came to Turkey, he addressed students at the Middle East Technical University, and was received warmly. Cem was not given the same opportunity in Athens. If an invitation had been extended to him from a Universtiy he probably would not have missed the chance to explain Turkish views directly to students. Whatever the developments, in the next 4-5 months no improvement can be expected concerning the Cyprus question. There are the presidential election in TRNC, a general election in Greece and a presidential election Turkey. In Turkey the election will take shape in accordance with the dynamics of internal policy and foreign policy will not have any infuence over it. According to Papandreu, during the general election in Greece, Turco-Greek relations will not be stressed and the economy and the participation in the "Euro" region will play an important role. This could be true, Simitis has convinced the Greek public that he has won a great victory in Helsinki regarding the entrance of the Greek Cypriot Administration on the EU and Cyprus issues. In the TRNC, the situation is completely the opposite. Denktas will try to win votes by defending his policy. Turkey has to use this period of delay due to the elections. We have to determine our priorities well and make our choices in line with them. Furthermore, we have to find new solution models. Time is merciless. If we lose opportunities it has provided we can do nothing other than complaining."

THE LOGIC OF FRIENDSHIP BY SAMI KOHEN (MILLIYET)

Columnist Sami Kohen comments on the relationship between Turkey and Greece. A summary of his column is as follows: "It is an interesting coincidence that Greek Prime Minister Kostas Simitis has announced the date of genereal election just before his appointment with Foreign Minister Ismail Cem. Greeks were waiting for the governmental decision over the general election. The announcement by Simitis stated that they would take place on April 9th gave an end to the political uncertainty in Athens. According to the timetable before the Greeks, there is a presidential election today. It is believed that Kostas Stephanopoulos will be re-elected for certain, as president. A general election will follow the presidential election. There are some factors which are instrumental in Simitis' decision. In fact, recently the PASOK party which is in power had made some striking successes. Rapprochement with Turkey is one of them. Athens has better relations with its other neighbours such as Albania and Macedonia. However, the real reason is "Simitis' vision". Simitis wants Greece to be completely integrated with Europe. Therefore, the next step towards this end is to be included in the European monetary Union. Only then will Greece be able to complete its economic and financial integration with the EU and take the most radical step forward in recent years. It has to comply with with certain criteria and stardards to reach the goal of the EMU. Therefore, it is making every effort towards this end and is succeeding. The vision of Simitis is to see Greece integrated with the EU, and to raise the standard of living. According to a Greek diplomat, Simitis is arranging the foreign policy in line with these goals with the help of Simitis. In order to realize these goals Greece needs peace and calm. This can only be achieved through good-neighbourly relations with Turkey."

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