Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning
CONTENTS
The National Security Council (NSC) will hold its monthly meeting
chaired by President Suleyman Demirel on April 28 at the
Preidential Palace. It will be Demirel's 83rd and the last NSC
meeting chaired by him before his term expires as President on
May 16. NSC meetings are held in the last week of every month.
/All papers/
Turkey and People's Republic of China (PRC) have started a new
economic period with the visit of the Chinese Head of State,
Jiang Zemin. The two countries will cooperate in various areas;
from tourism to defense industry, from energy to transportation
and from the joint investments to security. Seeing that every
year 120 million Chinese travel abroad, Turkish authorities
expect to benefit from the Chinese tourist potential. During the
meetings, Turkey agreed to buy 100 locomotives from the PRC. The
delegations decided to cooperate in many areas such as, power
stations, Kars-Tbilisi Railway Venture and irrigation. While
Turkey asking Chinese businessmen to invest in GAP, Zemin invited
Turkish investors to participate in the comprehensive ventures in
East Turkistan. Meanwhile, Turkey's 47-million dollar export to
the PRC, was envisaged as rising to 300 million dollars in the
first stage. /Hurriyet/
Following Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit's statement that he has
two names in his mind concerning the Presidential candidacy, True
Path Pary (DYP) Leader Tansu Ciller visited Ecevit at his office
in the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TGNA) with her staff but
did not receive any information regarding these names. After the
meeting, Ciller said that a point could not be reached concerning
the Presidential election. While answering the question of a
journalist, Ciller stated that she would not be a candidate for
the Presidency. /Turkiye/
Premier Bulent Ecevit said that Turkey would be succesful in
fighting inflation as it was during the War of Independence,
since there was whole nation's support behind this effort.
Yesterday, during the Democratic Left Party (DSP)'s group
meeting, a campaign named "Turkey Beats Inflation", which was
organized by the Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchange
and Turkish Exporters' Assembly, was presented. Expressing his
gratitude, Ecevit emphasized that in economics it was not
realistic to expect everything from the government. He also
stated that the inflation rate could be decreased only if
cooperation between employees and employers was ensured.
/Hurriyet/
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ismail Cem, met Iceland's Minister
of Foreign Affairs, Halldor Asgrimsson. After this meeting, which
was held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Palace between the
delegations of the two countries, the 'Agreement of the
Establishment of Political Consultation Mechanism' was signed
between the two countries. /Cumhuriyet/
While answering the question of a journalist during a press
conference, The Deputy Spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, Sermet Atacanli, mentioned that the new process between
Turkey and Greece had started during the PASOK government amd
that the fact that PASOK Party won the elections in Greece was a
very promising development in terms of developing this process of
dialogue between Turkey and Greece. Atacanli added, "I hope our
sensitivity will be reciprocated by Greece during the term of the
new government." /Cumhuriyet/
The Prime Minister of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
(TRNC), Dervis Eroglu, stated that he would not participate in
the presidential elections in the TRNC on 22 April. Thus, the
competition between Rauf Denktas and Dervis Eroglu is over.
Election Law's 63rd Article in the TRNC states that if one of the
presidential canditates, who rises to the second round abandons,
then other candidate who received the highest number of votes in
the first round is declared President automatically. Denktas
stated that he respected Eroglu's decision. /Turkiye/
National Sovereignity and Children's Festival, which was
presented to the children by the founder of the Republic of
Turkey, the great Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, began to be celebrated
today. Hundreds of children, who arrived in Turkey from different
corners of the world, met in Ankara and visited Ataturk's
Mausoleum. Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit also received the
children from 41 countries, at the new building of the Prime
Ministry and stated that Turkey was the only country which
adopted the Children's Festival. Ecevit added, "Ataturk showed
his love for children by giving the opening day of the Turkish
Grand National Assembly (TGNA) to the children as a present.
Ecevit further stated he was glad to welcome the world's children
to Turkey. In addition, Ankara Municipality organized a huge
activity in honor of the National Sovereignity and Children's
Day. Ankara Metropolitan Municipality's Mayor, Melih Gokcek,
organized a press conference and explained these activities.
/Star/
Denmark's Chief of the General Staff, General Christian Hvidt,
who is in Turkey as the official guest of the Turkish Chief of
the General Staff, General Huseyin Kivrikoglu, visited the
historical and touristic sites of Cappadocia with his wife.
General Christian Hvidt arrived in Nevsehir-Cappadocia with a
plane belonging to the Turkish Air Forces and he and the
accompanying military delegation were welcomed by Nevsehir's
Governor, Mehmet Yilmaz, Province's Gendarmerie Commander,
Gendarmerie Senior Colonel Ekrem Karaaslan, Sub-Governor of Gulsehir,
Alper Orkun and Nevsehir's Director of Security, Kemal Bayrak.
/Turkiye/
Minister of the Interior, Saadettin Tantan, received his Belgian
counterpart, Antonie Duquesne, and his Dutch counterpart, Klaas
G. De Vries, in order to work together to ensure security for the
European Football that will be organized in Belgium and Holland
in June. Tantan stated that they had already started low-level
work to ensure a secure environment in Holland and Belgium as
part of EURO 2000. Tantan added that Turkey would support both of
these countries in their security efforts. /Turkiye/
In Uzbekistan, the last stop of her visit to the Middle East, the
American Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, stated that the
former Soviet republics' unity of land and independence should
certainly be protected. Albright added that the security of the
region would be of immense benefit both to the US and Russia.
Albright, who previously visited Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, gave
very important messages, on subjects ranging from nuclear
material smuggling to economic reforms. Albright also visited
Vladimir Putin just after he came into power, which revealed how
important region is for the US. Albright also stated that the US
and Kazakhstan shared very important benefits with regards to the
energy sector and the fact that Kazakhstan's Administration was
giving priority to the transportation of petroleum through
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan was very pleasing. /Milliyet/
Interior Minister of the Northern Rhine-Westphalia State, Fritz
Behrens, stated that although there were some indications that
the PKK terrorist organization would give up the armed struggle,
PKK was still dangerous. Behrens repeated a quote from the report
of the Organization for Protecting the Constitution: "It is
difficult to guess how nearly 2,000 followers of the PKK in the
Northern Rhine-Westphalia State will react if Abdullah Ocalan is
executed." Meanwhile, Behrens stated that the crimes due to
enmity for foreigners had decreased by 16% in the last year.
However, violent actions against foreigners had increased by 1/3
and reached 68%. /Milliyet/
An operation was organized against the house in Batman in which
members of the PKK were staying. A terrorist was killed and four
terrorists, two of whom are women, were taken into custody. The
interrogation concerning the incident is continuing. /Star/
In a statement issued by Istanbul's Directorate of Narcotics
Branch, 21 kg 500 gr heroin and 300,000 drug pills were seized in
two different drug operations in Istanbul. It was revealed that
these pills belonged to Ali Yaprak, who is the brother of Mehmet
Ali Yaprak, the ex-owner of the Yaprak TV channel that was
closed. Four people, one of whom is foreign, were taken into
custody concerning the incident. /Milliyet/
Turkish and Greek Foreign Ministers, Ismail Cem and George
Papandreu will be awarded the "Statesman Award 2000" by their
American counterpart Madeleine Albright. Albright will present
the awards to the two Ministers for their contributions to the
development of the Turco-Greek relations. In the meantime,
Turkish Search and Rescue Team AKUT and Greek EMAK will take the
"Humanity Award", and Turkish Enka and American Bechtel Companies
will be presented the "Leadership Award" during an evening ball.
/Sabah/
The commanders of the countries along the coasts of the Black Sea
convened in Istanbul yesterday. The meeting was organized by the
Turkish Naval Forces' Command. The Turkish Naval Forces Commander
Vice-Admiral Ilhami Erdil said, "Turkey attaches great importance
to the development of cooperation among the countries with coasts
along the Black Sea". The first meeting was held in Romania while
the second one was held in Bulgaria. /Aksam/
Dr.Robert T.Ballard from the US who has previously found the
ruins of the Titanic is now trying to find Noah's Ark in the
Black Sea. He will survey the Black Sea this summer using a
sub-marine equipped with a remote-control. /Aksam/
Nineteen Turkish policemen will join an international police
force in East Timor established by the UN. A ceremony was held on
Tuesday at the Security General Directorate building for the
policemen before they departed for East Timor. /Turkish Daily
News/
A project to develop an artificial organ which will function as a
liver will be financed by the Eureka Fund of the EU. This project
has been jointly organized by the Eczacibasi Medicine and the
Marmara Research Centre of the Scientific and Technical Research
Council of Turkey (TUBITAK). Italian scientists will also take
part in one area of the project which will cost nearly $1
million. The project results are expected within three years.
/Aksam/
Chairman of Alarko Group of Companies, Uzeyir Garih, stated that
they were planning to establish an agricultural techno-park
between Urfa and Diyarbakir on an area of 20 million square
meters, which will be an agricultural information development
centre. Garih added, "This project amounts to 4 billion dollars
and will be completed in 10 or 12 years. We are working in
cooperation with the Americans. This project, which aims at
developing technology and education, will be in the Southeastern
Anatolia Project (GAP) region. Alarko has undertaken very
important projects in Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. We
are preparing for new projects and have presented our proposals
and now we are waiting for their results." /Cumhuriyet/
Recep Onal, State Minister responsible for the economy, indicated
that an IMF tendency to stop funding countries with a per capita
income above $4,000 has become all the more apparent during
IMF-World Bank spring meetings in Washington. "Such trends might
produce undesired consequences for Turkey," Onal told reporters
in New York, where he attended the UN Economic and Social Council
following the Washington meetings.
Onal added that the IMF and the World Bank have pledged to Turkey
a total of $9.25 biilion in loans, which will be provided at the
London Interbank Operating rate (LIBOR) level. Meanwhile, as part
of a private sector anti-inflation campaign, President Suleyman
Demirel will seal a memorandum of understanding on Friday
entitled "Turkey Beats Inflation." Onal noted that international
rating agencies such as Moody's and Standard and Poor's would
m[Aost likely upgrade Turkey's rating this summer. "In fact,
Turkey's rating has already gone up" Onal added, pointing to the
country's improved borrowing capability and falling lending
rates. /All papers/
It is reported that Turk Telecom will pay $3 billion to the
Treasury for the GSM 1800 license following the consortium of Is
Bank-Telecom Italia which will also pay $3 billion for the GSM
1800 lincense bidding. The General Director of the Turk Telecom,
Ibrahim Hakki Alpturk, stated that Turk Telecom has been
transferring a certain amount of its turn-over to the Treasury
since 1996 and this rate increased from 10 % to 15 % last year.
The fourth GSM 1800 network will be extended to Turk Telecom
without a bidding. /Aksam/
Pedro Solbes Mira, the Economic and Financial Affairs
Commissioner of the EU, said that Turkey was from an economic
standpoint one of the strongest countries among the EU candidate
countries. Mira, who arrived in Washington to attend the
spring-term meetings of the IMF-World Bank, stated that if Turkey
implements the macro-economic measures in a determined way, it
will receive the financial assistance offered by the IMF. /Aksam/
Energy and Natural Resources Minister Cumhur Ersumer spoke to
journalists after talks with Georgian Energy and Fuel Minister
David Mrtskhulava yesterday and announced that the Baku-Ceyhan
oil pipeline was proceeding as planned, the Anatolia News Agency
Areports. Ersumer said, "The inter-governmental agreement has to
be ratified in Parliament. Our legal proposals for the pipeline
are being evaluated by the Environment Commission and will
subsequently be passed on to the Energy Commission. The signed
agreement is currently being translated at the Foreign Ministry
and will soon be presented to Parliament."
Ersumer stated that Georgia wanted to build a gas-fired power
station in Batum and sell the energy it generates to Turkey. He
also said that Georgia had advanced proposals to add more
electricity from another line and make sales agreements valid for
a longer time period. He said he would take the proposals under
consideration. Furthermore, an agreement signed yesterday clears
the way for a $4 million grant from Turkey to modernize a
Georgian combat unit and fund other military operations. The
agreement was signed by Georgian Deputy Defence Minister Grigol
Katamadze and Turkish Lt.Gen.Serafettin Telyazan during a
ceremony at the Ministry of Defence, officials said.
Bonds issued with a nominal value of 600 million Euros by the
Treasury Undersecretariat began to be traded in the Istanbul
Stock Exchange (IMKB) yesterday. These bonds have a term of five
years with an annual 7.75 % interest. /Aksam/
The Commercial Bank of Greece, the second biggest bank in Greece,
has been a partner with the Isiklar Packaging Industry Joint
Stock Company, one of the institutions of the Isiklar Holding.
The Commercial Bank of Greece has purchased 12.5 % of the shares
of the Isiklar Packaging while the Gryphon Emerging Markets, a
British Financial Institution, purchased 0.6 % in return for a
total of $10.5 million. The Head of the Executive Board of the
Isiklar Holding, Riza Kutluisik, delivered a speech held on the
occasion and said that they were happy since they had made an
important contribution to the economic cooperation between Turkey
and Greece. Kutluisik remarked that the money received from the
partnership would be used at the Paper Bag Factory of the Isiklar
Packaging in Bulgaria which will begin to operate in May. /Aksam/
The International Monetary Fund (IMF)'s Chief of Turkey's Desk,
Carlo Cottarelli, stated that Turkey had made a good start with
its economic programme toward stabilizing its economics and
decreasing its inflation rate. Cottarelli evaluated Turkish
economics in a response to a correspondant from "Sabah"
newspaper. Stressing that a significant decrease in inflation
rate was expected in the second half of the year, Cottarelli also
emphasized that the performance in the privatization programme
was quite successful. /Sabah/
The Head of State of People's Republic of China, Jiang Zemin,
will visit Beko Electronics' Plant in Istanbul today. The General
Director of the Beko Electronics, Aydin Cubukcu, will give a
brief to Zemin and President Suleyman Demirel about the companies
of Koc Group and Beko Electronics and their trade relations with
China. Before the visit, Cubukcu stated, "Arcelik, one of the
largest producers of durable goods in Europe, is continuing
negotiations to produce refrigerators in China and then market
them in Turkey and Europe". He also said that they laid the
foundation of trade relations with China in 1995 with the
establishment of the Ram Pacific Company in Hong Kong. /Sabah/
Authorities stated that the bidding for establishing a Nuclear
Power Station in Akkuyu might be further extended beyond the date
originally envisaged, April 21st. /Sabah/
Turkey exported $558 million worth of hazelnuts -161,200 tons- in
the 1999-2000 export season that opened on September 1, according
to the Black Sea Hazelnut Exporters' Union. EU countries bought
145,500 tons of Turkey's hazelnut exports. Over the same period
last year Turkey raised $592.8 million from 144,500 tons of
hazelnut exports. /Turkish Daily News/
Largest Turkish lender Is Bank has sold a 25 % stake in General
Elektrik T.A.S. to parent company General Electronic Co. for $2.5
million in cash, the bank announced yesterday. The bank said it
has collected the amount, recording a profit of 1.4 trillion TL
from the sale. /All papers/
Telecommunications equipment producer Alcatel Teletas has given
the best bid, $9.8 million, for Turk Telecom contract, Alcatel
said. The company has been invited to negotiate the contract
which entails the provision of 20,000 public phones with smart
cards, booths and related software and hardware. Alcatel Teletas
exports card phones to various countries including China,
Palestine and Columbia, the company added. /Turkish Daily News/
President Suleyman Demirel approved the decision of the Council
of Ministers concerning the implementation of a loan agreement
and the additional letter, which amount to 100 million US dollars
and which was signed in Ankara within the framework of the
Economic Cooperation Protocol between the Republic of Turkey and
the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). /Cumhuriyet/
Viking Paper Company, one of the companies of Yasar Group of
Companies, is continuing discussions to develop cooperation with
the SCA Group. These discussions were started so that the SCA
Group, which has many foreign groups of companies abroad, will
make new investments in Viking Paper Company, develop its
technology and undertake activities together. The companies
belonging to the Yasar Group has a share of 66.89% in the capital
of Viking Paper Company. /Milliyet/
Galatasaray left for Britain yesterday from Istanbul's Ataturk
Airport, where they were met with applause and affection.
Galatasaray Coach Fatih Terim said, "We are going to play
football. It is just a match." He added that he wanted the
players to keep their mind on the game. Meanwhile, the man chosen
to referee the second-leg Leeds United-Galatasaray match to be
played today, is Slovakian Lubos Michel.
At the same time, the Turkish Foreign Ministry has said that it
is in constant contact with Leeds United Football Club and is
keeping a close eye on developments. The Ministry added that one
of the primary duties of the Foreign Ministry was to ensure the
safety of Turks living abroad and their property, and that
extended to Turkish football teams playing abroad as well. It has
been noted that up to 70 deputies from the Turkish Parliament are
looking for tickets for the match as they do not want Galatasaray
to play unsupported. True Path Party (DYP) Giresun Deputy Rasim
Zaimoglu has stated that he has been in contact with Leeds United
authorities for extra tickets but is still waiting for a reply.
Meanwhile, diplomatic efforts have been continuing unabated to
get Leeds United Football Club to reverse their decision not to
allow Galatasaray fans into the Elland Road Stadium for the
second-leg match today. /All papers/
Columnist Hadi Uluengin writes on the Chinese-Turkish relations.
A summary of his column is as follows:
"China is following a pragmatic policy. Chinese Head of State
Jiang Zemin, who came to Ankara yesterday, is considered a
centrist, despite his reformist policies. Before coming to Turkey
Zemin visited Israel, which the Republic of China had considered
a great enemy once. The US even had to warn Tel Aviv that it was
going too far. The change of policy in China may lead to an
improvement of relations between Turkey and itself. The
improvement of relations is in the interests of both states. Even
if we view arguments that the 21st century will be the "Chinese
Age" cautiously, we have to admit that the country is a potential
power.
It has a great economic importance for Turkey both with regards
to its giant import market, as well as being a source of cheap
labour. We hope and expect the improvement of relations to gain
momentum with Zemin's visit.
However, the fact that our kinsmen in East Turkistan are living
under the threat of racism creates a sour situation. Ankara has
to follow a 'fine tuned' policy, one which is neither provocative
nor in neglect of the situation our kinsmen are coping with.
Turkey has to act as pragmatically as modern China, which remains
loyal to the principles of Confucius such as obedience,
industriousness and flexibility, while at the same time
motivating its people with a "get rich" slogan.
We must remember our kinsmen in Eastern Turkistan, while with
friendly sentiments, we host the Head of State of the People's
Republic of China".
Columnist Sami Kohen writes on a situation which has created
concern in foreign policy. A summary of his column is as follows:
"A cause for concern has risen in Turkish foreign policy
recently. Ankara is having difficulty expressing her interest in
societies mainly of Turkish and Moslem origin living in countries
with whom it wants to improve its relations. An example of this
may be seen with the Chechnya problem in Russia and Eastern
Turkistan with China.
Certainly, establishing close ties with these states in various
fields is in Turkey's own interests and a requirement of the role
it wants to play in the region. Turkish diplomacy is expending
great efforts to add momentum to relations with Russia and China.
However, there is one difficulty facing this process: the Turkish
community is sensitive toincidents taking place both in Chechnya
and Eastern Turkistan. Certainly Turks cannot remain indifferent
to the ethnic cleansing Russia engaged in against the Chechen
people. The official policy of Ankara cannot disguise the
sympathy and closeness Turkish people feel for the Chechens. A
similar situation has been seen during Chinese Head of State
Jiang Zemin's visit to Turkey. The assimilation policy and
pressure used by the Chinese administration against Uigurs is
been watched with concern in Turkey.
The main difficulty for Ankara is to reach a compromise between
the tendencies and feelings of the people and the official
policies followed towards these states. Another difficulty stems
from Turkish political and social structure. No one wants Turkey
to be accused by these states or the international community of
being in a similar situation. Therefore, Turkish diplomats find
it necessary to base the "official policy" on some principles
and standards. Turkey defends the sovereignty and territorial
integrity of states and takes a stand against ethnic terrorism.
The Turkish State also stresses that ethnic and regional problems
should be solved without resorting to violence, but rather
through negotiations.
During the process of forming close ties with countries like
Russia and China , Turkey should express its opinions and
expectations more clearly. The visit of the Chinese leader to
Ankara provides an opportunity to do so."
FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS
DEMIREL CHAIRS NSC MEETING FOR THE LAST TIME
JIANG ZEMIN'S VISIT TO TURKEY
CILLER MEETS ECEVIT
"TURKEY BEATS INFLATION"
CEM MEETS ASGRIMSSON
ATACANLI: "RESULT IS PROMISING"
DENKTAS RE-ELECTED PRESIDENT
HUNDREDS OF CHILDREN FROM 41 COUNTRIES ARRIVE IN TURKEY
DENMARK'S CHIEF OF GENERAL STAFF IN CAPPADOCIA
TANTAN'S SUPPORT FOR BELGIUM AND HOLLAND
ALBRIGHT VISITS TURKISH-SPEAKING REPUBLICS
GERMANY: "PKK IS STILL DANGEROUS"
OPERATION AGAINST PKK
HEROIN SEIZED IN ISTANBUL
AWARDS FOR TURKISH AND GREEK FOREIGN MINISTERS
NAVAL COMMANDERS IN ISTANBUL
NOAH'S ARK TO BE SEARCHED FOR IN THE BLACK SEA
TURKISH POLICE GO TO EAST TIMOR
'ARTIFICIAL LIVER' PROJECT BY TURKISH SCIENTISTS
SOUTHEASTERN ANATOLIA PROJECT
ONAL: "INTERNATIONAL RATING AGENCIES WILL UPGRADE TURKEY'S
RATING"
$3 BILLION FROM TELECOM TO TREASURY
EU PRAISES TURKEY
ERSUMER: "BAKU-CEYHAN PIPELINE PROCEEDING AS PLANNED"
EURO BONDS IN IMKB
GREEK PARTNER OF ISIKLAR
COTTARELLI IS HOPEFUL
ARCELIK TO PRODUCE IN CHINA
EXTENSION IN NUCLEAR POWER STATION BIDDING
TURKEY'S HAZELNUT EXPORTS REACH $558 MILLION
IS BANK SELLS PARTICIPATION STAKE
ALCATEL BEST BIDDER FOR TELECOM CONTRACT
100 MILLION DOLLARS TO THE TRNC
VIKING PAPER'S FOREIGN PARTNER
GALATASARAY-LEEDS UNITED MATCH TODAY
FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS
ZEMIN IN ANKARA BY HADI ULUENGIN (HURRIYET)
AN OPEN EXPRESSION BY SAMI KOHEN (MILLIYET)