ECEVIT TO VISIT ALBANIA TODAY

Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit will arrive in Albania today to pay a two-day official visit. Ecevit will meet with Albanian President Recep Meydani, Parliament Chairman, Iskender Gjinushi, Prime Minister Ilir Meta and the political party leaders. He will also hold a joint press conference and meet businessmen. During this visit, which is the first one that has been paid for eight years on a Prime Ministerial level, possibile ways to improve relations between the two countries will be on the agenda. /Milliyet/

HIZBULLAH'S ANOTHER AMMUNITION STORE

During crackdowns in Diyarbakir and Mardin, security forces have uncovered another ammuniation store of the illegal Hizbullah organization in Mardin. After ballistic research on the weapons, it was stated that they were used in 36 murders and 36 woundings between 1992-95 in Diyarbakir. /Cumhuriyet/

TURKEY AND GREECE

One of the most important steps to improve relations between Turkey and Greece was taken at Darussafaka Facilities yesterday. The Turco-Greek Friendship evening was organized and hosted by the Executive Chairman of the ENKA Holding Company, Sarik Tara. It was attended by Turkish and Greek businessmen and high-ranking lecturers of the Athens University and Istanbul University. The Rector of Athens University, Prof. Dr. Konstantinos Dimopulos delivered a speech in which he said, "In the history books it has been written that Turkey and Greece are enemies. However, Turkish people are not enemies but our friends. The history books should be re-written." During the meeting it was decided that a 'Modern Greek Language and Literature' Department should be opened in Istanbul and a 'Turkish Language and Literature Department' should be opened in Athens. Common projects will also be developed in forensic medicine, fishing, earthquake and the traffic for the European Union and hostile expressions will be removed from course books. /Sabah/

GREEK FIRM PURCHASES MINE IN BIGA

The Greek Pasot firm purchased the Saba Perlit Mine in Biga, Canakkale and has started manufacturing. Turkish Director Sinan Boz, stated that they would manufacture perlit which has a wide usage area in agriculture, construction and industry, as a raw material and that it would be processed in Greece and exported to South African and European countries. /Turkiye/

GOKALP TO VISIT INDIA

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Prof. Dr. Husnu Yusuf Gokalp, will visit India tomorrow. Gokalp had to postpone the invitation from the Indian Minister of Agriculture for one day due to the sudden death from a heart attack of the General Director of Organization and Support, Husnu Turker. /Turkiye/

GREEK-CYPRIOT SUPPORT FOR HADEP

The AKEL Party in the Greek-Cypriot part of Cyprus wants the HADEP party mayors arrested on the ground of supporting the PKK, to be released. The General Secretary of AKEL, Dimitris Hristophias, sent letters to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, to the Chairman of the European Union Commission and to the European Union Council condemning the mayors' arrests. Hristophias requested that the United Nations and the European Union should use their influence to see these mayors are released immediately. /Milliyet/

RESTRICTION TO THE WEAPON PERMISSION

The law to change carrying 'Fire Arms, Knives and Other Weapons' was published in the Official Gazette and has been adopted. According to this new law, those who have been sentenced to prison for a term of more than one year and people dismissed from the Turkish Armed Forces will not be given permission to carry arms from now on. /Milliyet/

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS IN PARLIAMENT

Both proposals, one drafted by the coalition partners designed to allow the president to serve two five-year terms in office, known as 5+5 formula, and one for the president be directly elected by the people, as suggested by the opposition parties, will be debated at the Parliamentary Constitutional Commission during this week. /Cumhuriyet/

GAZI YASARGIL PROFESSORSHIP IN THE US

Arkansas University's neuro-surgery center has established a chair for the famous Turkish neuro-surgeon Dr. Gazi Yasargil, who was elected as 'man of the year` by the American 'Neurosurgery Magazine`. US President Bill Clinton, President Suleyman Demirel, Premier Bulent Ecevit, the Swiss Government and many other prominent names from the world of medicine sent congratulations to Yasargil, and these messages were read out at a ceremony held for him in Arkansas. /Hurriyet/

URAS RE-ELECTED

The second Congress of the Freedom and Democracy Party (ODP) has been concluded. Ufuk Aras, the sole candidate for the leadership of the party, was re-elected taking all the votes. Stating that Turkey was at a threshold of a new period while the ODP was at a turning point, Aras said, "We are determining the future of the left at this Congress". /Cumhuriyet/

COMPULSARY DISASTER INSURANCE

First steps regarding the development of a Natural Disaster Insurance within the scope of the Urgent Flood and Earthquake Project were taken by the Directorate General of Insurance dependent on the Treasury Undersecretariat. The infrastructure which came into being as a precaution against the natural disasters in the Marmara Region last year, will be set up by foreign companies. The Directorate General of Insurance received offers from five firms in the international bidding offer. The technical and financial offers from these will be evaluated with the approval of the World Bank and then the Directorate General of Insurance will sign the service agreement with bid winner. /Turkiye/

'TEMPORARY BUILDINGS WILL HAVE THREE FLOORS'

The Minister of Public Works and Settlement, Koray Aydin, stated that temporary houses would be built in the earthquake-hit region thanks to the loan by the World Bank and donations. Aydin said, "The construction of these houses will start in April and they will not look like disaster houses. They will have a maximum of three floors and also have wood construction." Aydin pointed out that 76,000 prefabricated houses were built up to now; 33,000 were from the Ministries, 40,000 from the private sector and 3,000 from the Turkish Armed Forces. Aydin further stated that they have been working very hard and carefully in choosing places to erect houses. /Turkiye/

TURCO-IRAQ JOINT ECONOMIC COUNCIL

The Turco-Iraq Joint Economic Council which will last for three days, has begun in Baghdad. During the first day, the presidents of the meeting, State Minister Edip Safter Gaydali and Iraq Petroleum Minister Amir El Resit stated the framework of the meeting and declared their countries demands. Pointing out that trade volumes between the two countries is decreasing year by year, Minister Gaydali said that the situation was caused by the restrictions of the United Nations. Iraqi Minister Resit also emphasized that besides the UN's restrictions, the reason for the decline in the trade volume was that Turkish firms have not worked sufficiently hard. /Hurriyet/

TURCO-GREEK BUSINESS COUNCIL

The Turco-Greek Business Council's two-day meeting has ended. A joint declaration issued after the meeting stated that the next meeting would be in Greece, in October. About 200-300 businessmen are expected to attend the meeting, which will be hold on board a ship in Aegean Sea. /Hurriyet/

DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF TRADESMEN AND ARTISANS TO BE ESTABLISHED

It was stated that the draft law concerning the establishment of the Directorate General of Tradesmen and Artisans attached to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, was adopted by the Industry and Trade Commission of the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TGNA). The Minister of Industry and Trade, A. Kenan Tanrikulu, stated that this draft law was prepared because services given to tradesmen and artisans were inadequate. /Aksam/

BAKU-CEYHAN PETROLUEM PIPELINE

Turkey's objective to be an 'energy terminal of the 21st century`, transfering the Caspian petroleum and natural gas through the Baku-Ceyhan and Trans-Caspian pipelines, is in danger due to disputes between Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkmenistan. Despite, the signing of the agreement by countries involved at the OSCE Summit on Nov. 16, no significant improvement has been reached up to yet. In order not to lose control over Central Asia, Russia has tried to prevent the construction of the lines from the very beginning and has been increasing pressure on those countries for alternative arrangements. /Cumhuriyet/

REVISION FOR RELIGIOUS HIGH SCHOOLS

The National Education Ministry, has prepared a scheme for a revision of Religious schools, recently criticized as 'their education is under reactionary influences`. The main target of the scheme is specified as 'to raise citizens respectful to the main principles of the Republican of Turkey`. /Hurriyet/

ERSUMER: "INDUSTRALIZATION TO BE WIDESPREAD IN ANATOLIA"

The Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Cumhur Ersumer, stated that industry was the locomotive of improvement and added, "Our aim is to spread industry to Anatolia and to increase the income of our citizens there. Organized Industrial Areas (OSB) has a very important function in spreading industry to Anatolia. If industry improves there, then the income and the welfare of citizens will increase, too." /Aksam/

FOREIGN FUND FROM AKBANK

Akbank will bring American Express investment funds to Turkey. Seven different investment funds in terms of dollar and euro have been offered at branches of Akbank and in Ak Investments. Amex investment funds, which had been offered at seven million dollars, will be able to be bought for a minimum of two thousand dollars or two thousand euros. Second time purchases will be in multiples of five hundred dollars or five hundred euros only. /Milliyet/

POSITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN THE INTERNAL DEBT STRUCTURE

The Treasury's structure of internal debt positively developed over the course of the last two years in terms of term and content. According to the data of the Treasury, the cash share in the internal debt stock increased when compared with the non cash sales and the average term structure was extended and increased to 16.3 months in 1999 from 13.4 months in 1998. /Sabah/

TRAVEL SUPPLEMENT ON TURKEY BY 'NEW YORK TIMES'

The 'New York Times' weekly 'travel' supplement published an article on both Turkey and Israel titled 'Turkey and Israel: The Romantic Couple'. The article stated that it was very difficult to find two other cities that had spent such a long time under the Greek, Roman and Ottoman Empires which brought life to the present and the future as much as Istanbul and Jerusalem. In this article in which Turkey was considered to be the 'centre of the world', it was pointed out that Turkey was the cradle of many religions and Saints John, Nicholas, Pierre and Paul had prayed in these lands. Also that two of the seven wonders of world are in Turkey and historical artefacts from old civilizations have been preserved perfectly in Ephesus. /Turkiye/

GLAXO WELCOME'S SUCCESS

The pharmacology company, Glaxo Welcome, which serves in 11 regions, is increasing its performance abroad. Glaxo Welcome became the first of one of the largest 200 companies in England in which its 'shares are the most profitable'. Glaxo Welcome has 55,000 workers worldwide and 530 in Turkey. /Star/

URFA TO BECOME 'GARDEN OF RELIGIONS'

The Ministry of Tourism has started to give more importance to faith tourism industry because of the 2000th anniversary of the birth of Jesus Christ. During the Ministry's visit to Sanliurfa last week, investment decisions taken on Sanliurfa have begun to be made concrete, one by one. The first of these decisions is to build a 'Garden of Religions' which will consist of mosques, churches and synagoges representing three religions. This project, undertaken by the Directorate General of Tourism Investments, attached to the Ministry of Tourism, aims to promote the religious value of Sanliurfa to tourists. The Ministry of Tourism is also aiming to open the 'Millen Han' to tourism and to restorate the mosques. /Milliyet/

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

US AND HADEP BY YASEMIN CONGAR (MILLIYET)

Columnist Yasemin Congar writes on US reaction concerning the arrest of the three HADEP mayors (People's Republican Party). A summary of her column is as follows: "Following the reaction from Europe, the US has also expressed views on the arrest of three HADEP mayors. The Deputy State Secretary Harold Hongju Koh expounded on two questions in two briefings. On the arrest of the Mayors, Koh stated that he had met with the Mayor of Diyarbakir, during his visit in August, and that members of the US Administration believed that the period when Ocalan was tried and sentenced, was the time when the Turkish Government should have been able to take up relations with its citizens of Kurdish origin under its national state structure. The US expressed opinions that the majority of Turkish citizens, of Kurdish descent, wanted to live in peace and the only thing they wanted was the recognition of their cultural rights. Now, there is an opportunity to dwell on these matters. Koh also stated that he did not have any specific information on the directed against these mayors, but added that he was impressed by their interest in entering a peaceful dialogue, and the taking up of problems such as political and economic development in the region. Therefore, he finds the latest actions of the Turkish Government surprising and disturbing. In answer to another question on the difference between political action and what he regarded as a violation of human rights, Koh answered that according to his information, the HADEP mayors were relieved of their duties without being tried. He believed this was against international justice standards and added that these Mayors came to office through elections and represented the people. These statements show that the arrest of the three Mayors and their being relieved of office created concern in Washington and whatever the accusations or the result of the trial this concern would not change. A diplomat in the US stated that these operations were directed against the politicization of PKK. They believed that pressure on HADEP would push both HADEP and the people living in Southeastern Turkey into the arms of the PKK. So long as HADEP's path is closed, the work of those who show terrorism as the only way out is facilitated. It is an accepted view in Turkey that the US has been supporting Turkey against PKK terrorism. However, the same US also believes that Turkey should not be afraid of politics with Kurdish identity and hopes that the struggle in Turkey will be won not by those supporting terrorism but those in favour of democratization."

STABILITY AND BRIBARY BY SEBAHATTIN ONKIBAR (TURKIYE)

Columnist Sebahattin Onkibar writes on the impending Presidential Election and the proposal for President Demirel's re-election. A summary of his column is as follows: "The addition of Article 69 and 86 to the proposal for Constitutional Amendment intended for the Presidential election, drew harsh reactions from those against Demirel. They believe that this is an attempt to re-elect Demirel by bribary. In fact, this is not so. With the amendment on Article 69, the closure of parties is made more difficult. This is an urgent necessity and an embarassment on the legislators as they have not done anything about this situation up to now. However, Chief Republican Prosecutor Vural Savas is against such a motion. Certainly this is another opinion. What is not normal is the protest against its timing and not the support it would receive. The second issue which draws protests is the amendment of Article 86 to arrange personnel affairs of the representatives. If this is done, the special Pension Law, which had been cancelled eight times by the Constitutional Court, will not be an issue anymore. The amendment will restore the prestige of Parliament damaged by these cancellations will bring a solution to this problem. These are all put in one package. However, this is not intended as a bribe but will serve toward the stability of the country as is President Demirel's re-election, the Article 69 is a "sine qua non" for stability. As, Article 69 is not changed the Virtue Party will probably close down and this is a threat to the VP. If the VP is closed, not only Turkey's prestige abroad will sink to bottom but also chaos will begin within the country. If some representatives of the Virtue Party lose their membership in Parliament, by-elections may be necessary in three months time. It is impossible to think of going into elections at a time when we have captured the climate of stability and the severe fight against inflation continues. How will the Government implement its programme against inflation or belt-tightening? If the struggle loses momentum would not all efforts be lost and hopes dashed? As a new Election would be suicide for Turkey, it is the duty of the Government to take measures. That is to say to put Article 69 into the package is a necessity for the country. The second aspect of the packaege is the pension law for Members of Parliament. This does not seem proper as it will lead to speculations as it concerns only members of parliament. However, it is believed that this arrangement is also necessary to protect the prestige of the TGNA. If the deputies are sentisive on the issue, they should make necessary arrangement and put them into effect for the next term. They would have made necessary amendments and would not have taken any bribes. A step back from this package proposal will in fact be a step back for the stability of Turkey and its future. "

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