SEZER MEETS NAZARBAYEV

President Ahmet Necdet Sezer visited Kazakhstan Head of State Nursultan Nazarbayev who is vacationing in Antalya. During the meeting, Sezer and Nazarbayev discussed bilateral relations and regional issues. According to the Presidential press office, Sezer emphasized the importance attached by Turkey to Turkish speaking countries of Central Asia. Oil, natural gas and related projects were also taken up at the meeting. /Turkiye/

"THE US ADMINISTRATION IS AGAINST THE ARMENIAN BILL"

Replying to a question regarding the so-called Armenian genocide bill, the spokesman of the Department of State Richard Boucher said: "The US Administration is against this bill and we are sorry for its approval at the subcommittee of the House of Representatives. History should be left to historians not to legislative organs." /Turkiye/

REACTIONS TO THE APPROVAL OF SO-CALLED ARMENIAN GENOCIDE BILL

Foreign Ministry and the General Command of the Chief of General Staff are continuing their preparations for the action plan that will be proposed to the National Security Council, which is to convene on Sept. 29, one day after the bill is discussed in the Foreign Relations Sub-Committee. The action plan, which is taken up politically by the Foreign Ministry and militarily by the General Command of the Chief of General Staff, will be evaluated in accordance with the latest developments in the US. It was reported that during this period Turkey tended to pursue harder and more dissuasive policies towards Armenia. In addition, it was also reported that the US Embassy to Turkey, which was uneasy over the latest developments in bilateral relations between Turkey and Armenia and desired the improvement of relations, was planning to organize a meeting for Turkish and Armenian businessmen in Istanbul. Diplomatic sources said that US Administration increased its pressures on the Foreign Relations Committee to prevent the bill from being passed. /Cumhuriyet/

MANGO ON THE SO-CALLED ARMENIAN GENOCIDE BILL

British historian Andrew Mango evaluated the approval of the so-called Armenian genocide bill as a negative development which had taken place stemming from the conditions prevalent in the pre-elections period in the US and added that if the bill was accepted in the General Council of the House of Representatives, the bilateral relations between the US and Turkey would be seriously damaged inspite of the wishes of the governments of both sides to the contrary. Speaking at a conference on `Mustafa Kemal Ataturk' he held at the Ataturk Society of America (ASA), Mr. Mango said that he hoped the so-called Armenain genocide bill could be stoped before it was brought to the agenda of the House of Representatives. During his speech, Mr. Mango gave certain examples from the history such as the mass murder of the Turkish people living on the island of Crete and said, "Noone tries to recall these incidents as `genocide'." Replying to a question concerning the Turkey's EU accession period, Mr. Mango said, "To insist threateningly on certain political issues for Turkey's accession to EU is both dangerous and nonsense. Since each country has its own inner dynamics, the implementation of certain structural reforms may take a long time. To demand persistently the accelaration of such reforms would have certain drawbacks." /Cumhuriyet/

TURKEY DECIDES TO SEND AMBASSADOR TO IRAQ

After the so-called Armenian genocide resolution was accepted at the subcomittee of the American House of Representatives, Ankara decided to follow a harsh policy towards Armenia and the issue of sending an Ambassador to Iraq was brought to the agenda of Ankara as a reaction against the US. Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs Ismail Cem confirmed the news that Turkey will send an Ambassador to Iraq but he did not give any information on the exact date. While answering the question of a journalist, who asked if it was a reaction against the acceptance of the so-called Armenian genocide bill, Cem said, "This appointment to Iraq was considered long before the passing of the bill." /Aksam/

YUCELEN : "THERE WILL BE NO HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATION IN 2001"

State Minister Rustu Kazim Yucelen attended the Human Rights Coordinator High Board's 78th Regional Meeting held in Tunceli. Stressing that human rights was among the most important topics of the world, Mr. Yucelen said: "Human rights should not be under the monopoly of a happy minority." He added that 2001 will be a mobilization year for the education on human rights in Turkey and he also asserted that there would be no human rights violation by the end of 2001. /Turkiye/

TURKISH DELEGATION'S CONTACTS IN PRAGUE

While IMF-World Bank annual meetings are continuing in Prague, Turkish delegation is also carrying on its contacts. Treasury Undersecretary Selcuk Demiralp stated that the IMF and World Bank had positive impressions concerning Turkey's current economic program and added, "Here, everybody expects Turkish government to show its determination until the end of the economic program. This is also what we have emphasized here." State Minister Recep Onal met the Deputy Chairman of the World Bank Johannes Linn yesterday. Turkish delegation also held talks with the officials from the banks with which Turkey has worked. Mr. Demiralp stated that during the meeting with Johannes Linn the credits which Turkey will receive and the current economic program were discussed. Stating that he will meet IMF's Europe Director Micheal Deppler, Mr. Demiralp said that State Minister Onal will hold talks with the Chairman of the World Bank James Wolfenshon on Wednesday. /Cumhuriyet/

DISPUTE ON CONSTITUTION IN CYPRUS

The fourth round of the Proximity Talks between the Turkish and the Greek-Cypriots under the aegis of the United Nations is to end today. The talks had started with the UN Secretary Kofi Annan's statement that parties were politically equal and each represented their own side, but is ending with the dispute on the constitution according to the Greek-Cypriot sources. Turkish-Cypriot sources say that all through the talks Greek side leaked information about the documents, but at this stage they did not talk about on a specific document or plan, but rather they explained the argument on "the recognition of Turkish sovereignty on the island and a new formation on the basis of a confederation". According to Greek-Cypriot newspapers, the unofficial document presented to the Greek-Cypriot leader Glafkos Clerides will also be discussed in the fifth round of the talks and foresees "two founder states which will have their own constitutions, flags and independent security arrangements." There are two more documents that were presented to Mr. Clerides. One is a map foreseeing that 28 percent of the island will be under Turkish-Cypriot sovereignty, the other is a plan foreseeing the withdrawal of Turkish armed forces from the island. The Leader of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Rauf Denktas said no such documents were presented to them. /Milliyet/

TURCO-GREEK EUROPEAN UNION COMMITTEE CONVENED

Turco-Greek European Union (EU) subcommittee's fourth Meeting was held in Athens. During the meeting, Turkish delegation will be chaired by the Foreign Ministry's Deputy Undersecretary, Ambassador Akin Alptuna and the Greek delegation will be chaired by the Foreign Ministry's Secretary-General Responsible for European Affairs, Ilias Plaskovitis. It was stated that during the meeting, the works that have been carried out up to now would be evaluated and a new working group would be formed for the new period. In addition, during the meeting the Greek and Turkish Finance and Customs experts also organized some seminars. /Aksam/

DEVELOPMENTS IN TURKISH ECONOMY

According to a report, entitled "The Quality of Development", published by the World Bank, in the last twenty years income distribution in Turkey has improved. In the report, the countries were divided into four groups according to their fiscal transparency and Turkey was in the fairly transparent group. Within the report, according to a research made to enumerate the countries in terms of the capital markets' reactions to the foreign capital, Turkey was put in the second category of "fairly stable" countries. It was stressed that Europe and Central Asian region, which includes Turkey, was considered to have been experiencing the most unstable conditions in terms of economic growth rate in the last ten years. /Milliyet/

TURKEY TO BUY GENERATORS

The Energy Ministry plans to operate new mobile and floating generators to avoid an imminent energy shortage. The Turkish Electrical Generation and Transmission Corporation (TEAS) will hold a tender on Oct. 12 for five new mobile generators, each with an installed capacity 100 megaWatts (mW). TEAS plans to hire the generators for a period of five years plus an installation period of nine months. The plants should generate more than one billion kiloWatt/hours (kWh) of electricity in a year and are to be located in Kirikkale, Antalya's Finike district, Kastamonu's Cide district and Batman. Besides mobile generators, TEAS plans to hire two floating generators which will be installed at the Port of Trabzon and Akkuyu in the southern province of Mersin. /Turkish Daily News/

SPANISH GENERATOR PRODUCER BUILDS FACTORY IN ANKARA

Turkey's largest reinforced concrete generator factory is to be set up in Ankara by the Spanish company Ormazabal. The factory, which will produce above-ground monobloc concrete transformers and distribution centers to be used above and below ground, will be opened on Oct. 6. Ormazabal President Javier Ormazabal said that he was very happy to see Ormazabal's first overseas investment in Turkey and added that investments in Turkey would continue. /Turkish Daily News/

TURKSAT 2A TO BE LAUNCHED ON NOVEMBER

Turkey's third satellite, Turksat 2A will be launched on November. This satellite, which was planned to be launched at the beginning of October and whose mechanical and electronic tests are completed, will be sent off to the space on November because the launching device in French Guyaba has not been tested yet and there are some more satellites waiting to be launched. In addition, the weather conditions should be suitable for the launching of the satellite. /Aksam/

TWO AWARDS FOR ERCEL

Central Bank Governor Gazi Ercel, who is currently in Prague to attend the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank meetings, received two awards. Global Finance gave the 'A/Outstanding' Award within the framework of 'Central Bank Governors of the Year' and Euromoney gave the Award of the 'Central Bank Governor of the Year' to Ercel. Ercel delivered a speech during the award ceremony and said that the interest instrument will be directed by the Central Bank as of July, 2001. /Aksam/

TURCO-GREEK MEDIA CONFERENCE

The "Second Turco-Greek Media Conference" organized by the Press Council and Press Council Support and Development Foundation will be held on 7 and 8 October in Istanbul. At the conference which will be held in Hyatt Regency Hotel and where 50 Greek journalists will attend, the issue on how to improve Turco-Greek relations will be discussed. /Cumhuriyet/

ANOTHER PICASSO PAINTING WAS FOUND IN MARDIN

Another painting by the world-famous Spanish painter, Pablo Picasso, was found in Mardin after his three other paintings had been found in Izmir and Sanliurfa previously. It was stated that the painting that was found in Mardin was worth near 3.5 million US dollars. /Aksam/

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

REACTION AGAINST THE ARMENIAN RESOLUTION BY ALI SIRMEN (CUMHURIYET)

Columnist Ali Sirmen writes on the legitimate reaction of Ankara against the approval of the so-called Armenian Genocide Resolution in the House of Representatives subcommittee and its passing on to the International Relations Committee to be discussed on the day after tomorrow. If the Resolution is also accepted there, it is highly probable that it will come to the floor of the House of Representatives before the recess on 15 October and will be accepted there. Everyone is aware that the US Administration does not want this Resolution to be passed. However, everyone also knows that the White House, as before, is reacting hesitantly and stating that there is no change in Administration's attitude towards Turkey, and this should not be regarded seriously. Although there may be fair points in this argument, it is not valid anymore. In fact, even though the resolution may have limited impact with no power of sanctions, it cannot be ignored and would constitute a base for new claims. Relations are conducted between states not between the organs of the states. Therefore, Turkey should be able to say to the US Administration that it understands the situation, but a resolution is a resolution. If the Turkish Grand National Assembly had taken a decision to close the Incirlik base despite the Government, what would their answer be to the statement 'We are against this, but the TGNA.....?' However, we should be careful on one point. Politics is conducted to get results not to scold others. Turkey should not turn the issue into a show of power but finding solutions. While showing its reaction to the US, Ankara should not shake the foundation of the relations between the two countries but has to confront the problem. The reason behind the rehashing of the so-called 'Armenian Genocide' claims in the last 25 years, was the concern of reviving the Armenian identity by certain Armenian institutions in diaspora and the Armenian Orthodox Church which believe its being lost. This time it is different. Erevan is behind the scenes now. The rational policy of Ter Petrosyan which sought friendship with Turkey has been substituted by Kocharian's chauvinistic and vindictive policies stemming from internal economic difficulties. Turkey has to direct its reaction against Armenia. Ankara should change the policy it began to follow during Ter Petrosyan's term in power, close the air corridor it has opened to enable the humanitarian aid reach the country as soon as possible, and prevent the flow of foodstuffs to Armenia worth $100 million. Only then the present Armenian Administration which has lost 1/3 of its population by migration to foreign lands and where the rate of unemployment runs very high can feel the need to review its policy towards Turkey. It is a correct decision to take up the matter at the National Security Council, the next day it is discussed at the International Relations Committeee of the House of Representatives."

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