ECEVIT OPTIMISTIC OVER MUMCU CASE

Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said that there is a chance the murderers of Ugur Mumcu will be exposed. In his address to the Democratic Left Party (DSP) Parliamentary Group, Ecevit congratulated the police and said that Interior Minister Saadettin Tantan's leadership had ensured Turkey great successes against terrorism over the last few months. Ecevit said another result of the police efforts was an increase in the public's confidence in the state. Ecevit also stated that Suleyman Demirel's term as President was going to end on May 16 and pointed to his contributions. Ecevit added that he believed President-elect Ahmet Necdet Sezer would prove to be very successful too. Ecevit pointed out that efforts need to be made in attaining new targets and said that while steps towards EU membership were being taken, other preparations had to be finalized as a matter of urgency. /All papers/

MUMCU FILE AT NSC

At a meeting which will be held on May 30, the National Security Council (NSC) will evalute the claims and documents to clarify the Iran's role in the Ugur Mumcu assasination. If Iran's support becomes definite, measures which may be taken against Iran will be discussed such as the closing of the borders, visa application and embargo. /Aksam/

TURKEY'S DILEMMA WITH IRAN

As the Ministry of Foreign Affairs maintains its cautious stance vis-a-vis Tehran over the allegations of Iranian involvement in the Mumcu murder and many other cases, Turkey has been waiting for Iran's response to the claims. Although the Ministry of Foreign Affiars has repeatedly stressed that it has no concrete evidence of Iranian involvement, diplomatic sources say Iran's attitude will be very important regarding the relations with Iran. Meanwhile, as part of the on-going investigations into the assasination of the writer-journalist Ugur Mumcu on January 24, 1993, the suspects detained during the police Operation Hope (Umut), yesterday carried out a re-enactment of the bombing, the Anatolia News Agency reports.The suspects, Yusuf Karakus and Abdulhamit Celik, were brought to the scene of the bombing under heavy police guard in an armoured car.

'INTERNATIONAL TERROR'S ADDRESS: IRAN'

International researches reveal that Iran, which views Turkey's secular and democratic system as a threat against its regime and which wants to turn the regional power balances in its own favour, has at least 23 terrorist organizations it established, developed or directed with its support. In the report prepared by the Eurasian Research Centre, which contributes to the formation of the Turkish policy, 'Terrorism's place in Iran's foreign policy' was searched. In this report, it was stated that Iran helps the fundamentalists and separatist groups in Turkey by providing them weapons and money. According to this report, Iran gives all kinds of support to the fundamentalist terrorist groups particularly in the Middle East and the neighbouring countries. Iran has been training thousands of people from the Middle East, Africa, Turkey and the US so that they can engage in terrorist actions. For this purpose, nearly 17,000 people from 30 countries arrive in Iran. A special group, chosen from among these people receive military training at the camps in various cities and then are sent to their own countries. /Cumhuriyet/

TURKEY REQUESTS IRANIAN SUPPORT

Turkey requested the support of Iran for the election of the General Secretary of the Organization for Islamic Conference (OIC). Ambassador Yasar Yakis went to Tehran as the special representative of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ismail Cem and met the Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kemal Harrazi, two days ago. During this meeting, Yakis called Iran to support Turkey concerning the candidacy to the OIC General Secretariat. /Cumhuriyet/

ECEVIT AT THE RUSSIAN RECEPTION

Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit attended a reception, which was held by the Russian Federation's Ambassador, Alexander Lebedev, to celebrate the victory of Russia against Germany during the World War II. Ecevit also met Lebedev and discussed the relations between the two countries. Second Chief of the General Staff, General Edip Baser and the retired General Ismail Hakki Karadayi also attended this reception. /Cumhuriyet/

21 DHKP/C MEMBERS DETAINED

21 DHKP/C members, who organized bomb attacks to public institutions, high-ranking people and police-stations, were detained. Istanbul's Director of Security, Hasan Ozdemir, in a statement to the press, said, "Two weapons, chargers, empty and loaded fireworks, two kilos of dynamites, 200 grams of cyanide, six pins, seven fog bombs, 14 equipment for making fog bombs, six mechanisms located in six batteries, two pins with cables, materials for making explosives, one lap-top computer, nine floppy disks, a lot of identity cards and the medical material, the documents including the information on the police-stations and the public institutions, printed documents for training, four cellular phones and the organizational publications were seized during the investigations of these people and the places that they indicated." /Cumhuriyet/

CALL FOR PRESSURE FROM YEREVAN

The Armenian Minister of Foreign Affairs Vardan Oskanyan asked the European Union (EU) to pressurize Turkey to abolish the embargo it carried out towards Armenia. During a meeting in Yerevan with the European Parliament Representative, Ursula Schleicher, Oskanyan stressed that Armenian efforts for 10 years to normalize the relations with Turkey yielded no results. Turkey, one of the first countries recognizing the independence of Armenia, has bounded its diplomatic relations with this country to the solution of the Karabakh issue. /Milliyet/

FULL MEMBERSHIP MESSAGE

The Chief of General Staff, Gen.Huseyin Kivrikoglu, stated that Turkey was a European country and that the expectations in Turkey were focused on the EU membership. Gen.Kivrikoglu in a statement to the 'Defence and Aviation Magazine' said that Turkey should not be excluded from the new security system in Europe. Gen.Kivrikoglu added that with the capture of the head of the PKK terrorist organization, Abdullah Ocalan, the PKK entered an impasse and the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) would continue to fight against the PKK terrorist organization. /Hurriyet/

OFFICE OF THE GENERAL STAFF IS READY FOR COOPERATION

It is reported that the Office of General Staff attaches great importance to Turkey's harmonization process with the EU and it is ready to cooperate with all the related units of the State concerning this issue. The second meeting of the Human Rights Coordinator Supreme Council was held at the Prime Ministry building yesterday. During the meeting, a 'package of reforms' was discussed. /Hurriyet/

ABN AMRO: "TURKEY'S GRADE IS GOOD"

The ABN Amro stated that the economic programme being implemented in Turkey was in progress and said, "Turkey's grade is good from the standpoints of public finance, monetary and foreign exchange policies and privatization". A report presented during a seminar in London by the ABN Amro has observed the macro-economic developments in the Turkish economy. /Hurriyet/

DELEGATION TO SOLVE THE CRISIS BETWEEN TURKEY AND LIBYA

It has been decided that a crisis-solving delegation will be formed to decrease the effects of the speeches delivered by the Libyan Leader Muammer Kaddafi who has previously caused tension between Turkey and libya. A delegation from the Foreign Ministry visited Tripoli last week. The proposal made by the Turkish side has been welcomed by the Libyan officials. /Hurriyet/

IRANIAN TEAM TO GUARD BAYIK

It is reported that a special team consisting of nine people has been formed by Iran to guard Cemil Bayik, a PKK member. It is also determined that Iran has been sheltering a total of 1,800 members of the PKK terrorist organization on its territories. /Hurriyet/

UN-SPONSORED CYPRUS TALKS POSTPONED

Un-sponsored talks on the status of Cyprus have been postponed to give Greek-Cypriot Leader Glafkos Klerides time to recover from surgery he had last week, both sides said yesterday. Klerides is still in the hospital but is expected to be discharged in the next few days. The Greek-Cypriots said a new date had yet to be fixed. /All papers/

GUL HOLDS A PRESS CONFERENCE

Prospective candidate for Virtue Party (FP) leadership and Kayseri Deputy Abdullah Gul has voiced his opinions over the party's first convention, which will convene on May 14, at a press conference at the party's provincial headquarters in Ankara. Gul was joined by FP Deputy Leaders Bulent Arinc and Abdullatif Sener, 20 other party deputies and other provincial branch chairmen and former deputies. /All papers/

COURT PROCEDURES BEGIN IN HIZBULLAH CASE

Court procedures have begun against 32 people who were arrested in police operations launched against the Hizbullah terrorist organization a few months ago, the Anatolia News Agency reports. Those 32 suspects face the accusation that they 'attempted to subvert the constitutional order' and that they are terrorist Hizbullah members.

MILITARY DETERMINED TO ENSURE PEACE IN AEGEAN SEA

The positive developments that started between Turkey and Greece after the earthquake that occurred on 17 August, began to affect the military area as well. It was revealed that the Turkish Commander of the Naval Forces, Salim Dervisoglu, and the Greek Commander of the Naval Forces, Y. Yuannidis, met for 10 times during the secret or open meetings between the naval forces of the two countries since 1998. The positive results of the informal meetings between the armed forces officials of the two countries were reflected in every field, particularly in the Aegean Sea. It was stated that the minesweeping vessels belonging to the Turkish Naval Forces, which arrived in the Crete Island for the exchange of duty that was performed as part of the NATO two days ago, attracted great interest at Hania Harbour. According to news published in the Greek press concerning this issue, the high-ranking officers of the two countries, who met in the city of Suda, had very positive contacts. In addition, Dervisoglu will arrive in Greece once more to attend the NATO meetings in Athens on Monday and to meet his Greek counterpart for the 11th time. /Cumhuriyet/

BATTALION MISSION FORCE 2000 MANOEUVRES

The Battalion Mission Force 2000 Manoeuvres, one of the planned training activities of the Turkish Armed Forces, were held at the 95th Armoured Brigade Command. 2nd Army-corps Commander, Lieutentant-General Ibrahim Tulu, seven generals and 17 officers from Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Slovenia, Algeria, Senegal, Mali, Burkina-Faso, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Kuwait and Nigeria were invited to these manoeuvres as observers and in addition to a total of 711 personnel, 330 vehicles, 10 helicopters and four F-16 planes. /Turkiye/

CAKMAKOGLU PRAISES THE DEFENCE INDUSTRY

Minister of National Defence, Sabahattin Cakmakoglu, visited the facilities of the FMC Nurol Defence Industry Joint Stock Company (FNSS) in Golbasi, which is Turkey's only tracked and armoured vehicle producer. Cakmakoglu delivered a speech here, saying, "You are reaching one of the targets of the Republic of Turkey in terms of the national defence and national defence industry." Cakmakoglu was briefed by the General Director of the FNSS, Huseyin Esenergul, who said, "Our weapon system was first exported to the United Arab Emirates, amounting to 75 milllion dollars with 133 vehicles. In addition, we made an agreement in principle with Malaysia to export 211 vehicles amounting to 300 million dollars." /Turkiye/

BLACK SEA IS MORE SECURE FROM NOW ON

'Coastal Guard Commanders of the Countries Bordering the Black Sea' meeting was hosted by Turkey and held at Harbiye Military Cultural Site. During this meeting, which was attended by the Coastal Guard Commanders of Turkey, Russia, Georgia, Romania, Bulgaria and the Ukraine, the precautions to be taken in terms of the security of the Black Sea were discussed. Turkish Coastal Guard Commander, Vice Admiral Yalcin Ertuna, stated that this meeting was of the utmost importance in terms of the solidarity, security, cooperation and coordination of the Black Sea. /Turkiye/

RELIGIOUS LEADERS SIGN TARSUS DECLARATION

The 'Religions in the 2000 Age of Faith Tolerance' meeting, being held in Tarsus and attended by religious leaders from many Christian and Muslim branches, has ended with the Tarsus Declaration being signed, the Anatolia News Agency reports. The declaration, signed by the Head of the Religious Affairs Directorate, Mehmet Nuri Yilmaz, calls for all opposing religious groups in Turkey to work together in peace and tolerance.

WEU FOREIGN AND DEFENCE MINISTERS TO MEET IN PORTUGAL

Western European Union (WEU) countries' foreign and defence ministers will hold their spring meetings in Porto, Portugal, on May 15-16. According to information from the Foreign Ministry, the Turkish delegation to go to the defence ministers' meeting will be headed by Defence Minister Sabahattin Cakmakoglu. The Turkish delegation to the foreign ministers' meeting will be headed by Turkey's WEU Representative, Temel Iskit. /Turkish Daily News/

TURKEY SEEKS US NAVAL FRIGATE

Turkey has asked to buy another surplus frigate from the US Navy for $60 million as part of its naval modernization programme, the US Defence Department said on Wednesday. The surplus Perry Class frigate would be the seventh such American frigate sold to Turkey, considered by the US to be a key NATO ally. "Turkey needs Athese frigates to continue its naval modernization programme and enhance its anti-submaribe warfare capability" the Pentagon said in a statement informing the US Congress of the planned sale. /All papers/

53 PKK TERRORISTS KILLED

Turkish troops have killed 53 members of the PKK terrorist organization in a cross-border drive into northern Iraq, military officials said. A military official said some 10,000 troops, backed by aircraft, pulled out of the region on Wednesday after launching the offensive four days ago. /All papers/

ASLITURK'S TRIAL POSTPONED

The hearing of the case for the extradition of former Sisli Mayor Gulay Asliturk to Turkey was heard yesterday morning at London's Bow Street Magistrates' Court, although Asliturk and her lawyers did not attend the hearing. British Judge Nicholas Evans decided that the case should be discussed in three all-day hearings on September 18, 19 and 20. Asliturk has the right to appeal the case to the House of Lords if it is decided in September that she should be returned to Turkey. The final decision about her return, however, rests with the Home Secretary. /All papers/

NATIONAL EDUCATION MINISTRY'S PROMOTION

The National Education Ministry (MEB) is promoting its works to the public. In the scope of the activities beginning today and lasting until 13 May, all departments of the Ministry will promote their projects at different stands. President Suleyman Demirel and Premier Bulent Ecevit are expected to attend the opening today. The activities will also include concerts, panels, folk dance and fashion shows. /Milliyet/

TURKISH EXPORTERS SIGN CONTRACTS IN SYRIA

State Minister for the economy, Recep Onal, said yesterday that the Syrians had showed great interest in the 'Made in Turkey 2000' fair in Damascus at which Turkish companies in attendance signed export contracts worth more than $400 million. He added that Turkish firms that joined the international construction materials fair in Damascus also received positive results. Onal and the accompanying Turkish economic and business delegation returned from Syria yesterday after signing an agreement protocol for improving economic relations between the two countries. /All papers/

GARANTI BANK IS THE BEST

Garanti Bank has been chosen as the best bank in Turkey in Central and East European Banks category by the American monthly "Global Finance " magazine. In the evaluation of the "developing countries' best banks", the Magazine stated that despite hard banking conditions in Turkey, Garanti Bank increased its 1999 actives 21% in real base, without any concession from its service quality. Last year, Garanti Bank was also elected as the best bank in Turkey in the category of the Europe, Africa and Middle East Banks by the Global Finance Magazine. /Milliyet/

4.5-BILLION DOLLAR DEFENCE TENDER

The final decision to purchase planes and attack helicopters, in the scope of the Warning from Air and Control System (AWACS) for the Turkish Armed Forces will be taken on June 2. The Executive Committee of Defence Industry, comprising Premier Bulent Ecevit, Gen.Huseyin Kivrikoglu and National Defence Minister Sabahattin Cakmakoglu, will convene on June 2 at the Undersecretariat of Defence Industry to designate the winner company. American Bell-Textron, Italian Augusta and Israeli-Russian consortium's Kamov are competing in the 4.5-billion dollar attack helicopter tender. /Sabah/

OPIC CREATING $150 MLN FOR EQUITY INVESTMENT IN TURKEY

The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) in a press release issued yesterday announced that it is in the process of creating a $150 million privately managed investment fund that will make equity investments in the nations of southeastern Europe and Turkey. OPIB Executive Vice-President Kirk Robertson told a gathering of regional energy executives that Turkey plays a pivotal role for OPIC in the region encompassing the Caspian Sea and the eastern Mediterranean. He said that US-Turkey relations had entered a new era of economic cooperation and that as a result Turkey was poised to enter a period of sustained economic growth. /All papers/

WB PLEASED WITH DISTRIBUTION OF POST-QUAKE ASSISTANCE

World Bank Chief Economist James Parks is pleased with the distribution of the bank loans following last year's devastating Marmara earthquake. He said that the World Bank would lend $500 million for the house construction and $267 million for infrastructure improvements. Parks visited State Minister Hasan Gemici in his office and expressed his pleasure at the timely distribution of $252 million World Bank assistance loans to quake survivors, the Anatolia News Agency reports.

BROKER ALFA ALLIES WITH FOREIGN FUND

Turkish brokerage house Alfa Securities and International Fund Safron Corporation have teamed up, Alfa Securities said yesterday. According to a statement sent to the Istanbul Stock Exchange (IMKB), the Fund will decide how much of the company's stock it is going to buy within 21 days. Safron could buy 9.69 % for $5 million, 11.41 % for $6 million or 13.06 % for $7 million, once Alfa raises its capital from TL 2.3 trillion to TL 2.8 trillion. /All papers/

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION TO HELP EARTHQUAKE VICTIMS

Turkey and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) will help the farmers affected by the earthquake that occurred in the Marmara Region. As part of this project, totally amounting to 829,000 dollars FAO will contribute 340,000 dollars to these farmers in their personnel services, technical advising services, general management expenses, equipment and materials, agricultural equipment and the direct management expenses. /Cumhuriyet/

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

THE ARMENIAN FRONT BY SEMIH IDIZ (STAR)

Columnist Semih Idiz writes on the recent developments concerning the so-called Armenian Massacres. A summary of his column is as follows: "In the past storms would have broken out in Turkey, diplomatic notes would have been given if these developments had taken place. The 85th anniversary of the so-called Armenian Genocide and the activities within this framework passed quietly this year. A development such as the approval of Armenian massacres by the Swedish Parliament was not covered by the Turkish press. The real excitement on the issue can be seen among the Turks living in the US. They are showing harsh reactions as they are in the forefront. For years Armenians had tried to take a place in the Jewish Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. They were not successful in achieving their aim but they continued their efforts in opening an "Armenian Genocide Museum." For this purpose, a society called Armenian Assembly bought a building and with the efforts of the Armenian community's leader it is being restored by spending millions of dollars. There is nothing much Turkey can do here, as this is a non-governmental initiative. As American laws do not allow the obstruction of an "Indian Genocide Museum' the same goes for this one too. It is certain that with the opening of this museum, rights and wrongs would be all mixed up and this is the saddening part of the development. In the past, some incidents have happened under certain conditions and both sides have suffered greatly. However, as the subject is lost within daily politics neither the Armenians nor the Turks can understand what has happened. The information on the issue is full of wrong and prejudiced judgements. The reactions of the American citizens of Turkish origin can be understood as they are living in an atmosphere of action-reaction. The Armenians in the US are locked to history. For them the matter is as clear as black and white. Turks are guilty! They do not want to know the details. For example, the number of Turks and Moslems murdered living in Anatolia outnumber that of the Armenians manifold. When famous historian Justin Mc Carthy stated during a conference that the number of Turks killed were many times more than that of the Armenians, one of them had replied that "Many Turks may have died. But they deserved it. Who is crying for the Germans and the Japanese who died during the Second World War?" Faced with such an attitude, it is natural for US citizens of Turkish descent to defend themselves. It may be natural, but where will it end? We are not aware of the fact, but the international Armenian lobby believes that it has achieved great political successes this year. They are trying to achieve more and for this purpose they are working steadily. However, during these studies historical facts are clouded. "

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