RISE IN LEGAL AND ECONOMIC AWARENESS BY CETIN ALTAN (SABAH)
The seventh Turkish Speaking Countries Heads of State Summit
began at Ciragan Palace in Istanbul yesterday. The Summit, hosted
by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, was attended by the Heads of
State of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Krygztan, Turkmenistan and the
Uzbek Parliament Speaker. Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs
Ismail Cem also participated in the meeting. In his inauguration
speech, President Sezer said unfortunately peace and stability
has not been established in the region where Turkish Speaking
Countries are located. He added, to surmount the issues which
threaten these countries, bilateral, regional and international
cooperation should be strengthened. /Turkiye/
Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit received the former US Ambassador to
Ankara yesterday. Parris said the Turkish government's measures
taken after the crisis had positive repercussions abroad.
/Cumhuriyet/
Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit will pay an official visit to Spain
on May 3-4. It was reported Spanish reporters are expected to ask
biased questions to Ecevit about certain sensitive issues such as
Cyprus, Southeastern Anatolian region issue, current conditions
in Turkish prisons and education in Kurdish. Spanish Ambassador
to Turkey, Manuel de la Camara said Ecevit should prepare for
certain biased questions. Camara stated Turkey' accession period
to the EU, implementation of the National Programme and certain
regional issues like Cyprus were among the main topics to be
discussed during the meeting. /Cumhuriyet/
Foreign Minister Ismail Cem left for Moscow to attend the Foreign
Ministerial Council of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC).
Before his departure, while speaking to the press at Istanbul's
Ataturk Airport, he reminded them Turkey is assuming the term
presidency of the Foreign Ministerial Council. Cem will meet with
Igor Ivanov, Russian Foreign Minister, to discuss bilateral
issues. /Turkish Daily News/
State Minister for Economy, Kemal Dervis, announced an additional
$10 billion will be received from the IMF beside the $4.5 billion
loan, of which agreement was previously signed. The final
decision for the additional loan will be taken during the
executive directors meeting of the IMF two weeks later. Dervis
said the Banking Law and the Telekom Law are two important laws
to be enacted by Parliament before the meeting of the IMF
directors. /Milliyet/
International Monetary Fund (IMF) First Deputy Chairman Stanley
Fischer said Turkey would receive the international support which
she deserved after the Turkish government took determined steps
to recover the economy. Fischer gave support messages to Turkey
during the meeting held with the participation of Latin American
countries' Central Bank Governors and Ministers of Finance.
Stating the new economic program about which Turkey was
consulting with the IMF was about to complete, Fischer praised
Turkey's attempts to overcome the economic recession period by
calling them "determined". He added, "Minister of State Kemal
Dervis and other Turkish officials have proven their
determination towards pursuing economic stability with the reform
program initiated in 1999 and taking all the necessary steps.
These steps include certain measures in restructuring the banking
sector and some tough financial measures to reverse the current
debt accounts. Those measures are essential for sustaining
stability again and decreasing the inflation rate." Fischer's
statements are evaluated as the most concrete and clear support
message to Turkey after the crisis. /Cumhuriyet/
'Le Monde' daily wrote yesterday, "The former Deputy Chairman of
the World Bank, now the Turkish State Minister responsible for
Economy, is working hard in many fields'. Another article in 'Le
Monde' contained the Chairman of the World Bank, James
Wolfensohn's reply to the question "What can the World Bank do
for Turkey and Argentina concretely?' He said, "First of all, we
sent Kemal Dervis to Turkey. According to the agreement between
the World Bank and the International Monetary Organization (IMF),
the IMF deals with the macro economic problems and crises,
whereas we deal with the structural problems and the struggle
against poverty. Thus, the IMF has the leading role here. The
same situation is valid for Argentina. Our duty now is not to
extinguish the fire, but to do something in the middle or long
run to help with the structural reforms and the struggle against
poverty. /Hurriyet/
A delegation from the World Bank came to Turkey to investigate
the damage to the private sector due to the economic crisis. The
World Bank delegation will meet with the involved economic
institutions, including the Treasury, and the representatives of
the private sector. The delegation will scrutinize the sectors
that were most negatively affected by the crisis. The delegation
will prepare a report and the issue will be discussed in
Washington within the framework of the financial aid to be
extended to Turkey. The experts say that the manufacturing sector
is the one that was most affected by the crisis. In addition, the
energy sector experts delegation from the World Bank will also
arrive in Turkey soon. /Hurriyet/
Kemal Dervis has a busy schedule in his US trip. Dervis will meet
with US Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, the head of the World
Bank, James Wolfensohn, and the representatives of the G-7
countries. Dervis will speak with the head of the IMF, Horst
Koehler tomorrow. On Monday, Dervis will meet with the head of
the American Eximbank, James Harmon. /Sabah/
The Treasury's total domestic borrowing in April 2001 is expected
to reach TL 80 quadrillion. However, this amount is expected to
be reduced by the amount of external financial inflows.
Meanwhile, the Treasury's total domestic borrowing repayments
will reach TL 60 quadrillion. Sources said on Thursday that the
domestic borrowing requirement was expected to be clarified
regarding the amount of external borrowing. The duty losses of
the banks that were transferred to the Savings Deposit Insurance
Fund (TMSF), and those of state banks, and the borrowing costs
stemming from overnight interest rates, were the main factors
which increased the Treasury's domestic borrowing burden.
/Turkish News/
Former State Minister Cavit Caglar, who was arrested in New York
on charges of corruption, is expected to be brought to Turkey
today. Caglar, who is currently being held at the New York
Manhattan Metropolitan Correctional Center, asked to be
extradited to Turkey after Judge Andrew Peck refused to release
him on bail. A team of three officers from the General
Directorate of Security arrived in New York yesterday. After
completing procedures, Caglar will be sent to Turkey on a Turkish
Airlines flight at 6 pm today. /Turkish Daily News/
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Rauf Denktas
has sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, complaining
about recent remarks made by Greek Cypriot leaders. In the
three-page document, which was published on April 10, and defined
as "UN Document," Denktas mentioned the offensive attitude of
Greek Cypriot politicians and church and military leaders, citing
excerpts from remarks published by the Greek Cypriot press.
Defining the remarks as provocative statements, which created
enmity towards Turkish Cypriots among the Greek Cypriot youth,
Denktas said the remarks displayed the hatred of the Greek
Cypriot leadership towards the Turkish Cypriots. Denktas said
that the main intention of Greek Cypriots wishing to become
members of the European Union was to realize the goal of "enosis"
with Greece. Denktas said that before restarting the talks, the
historical problem of the inequality between the Greek and
Turkish sides should be solved. /Turkish Daily News/
Patrick Cox, the head of the liberal group of the European
Parliament, continued his visits in Ankara on Thursday. Cox
visited Kamran Inan, the chairman of the Parliamentary Commission
on Foreign Affairs and Volkan Vural, Turkish Secretary General
for the European Union. Cox discussed Turkey's National
Programme, the Cyprus issue and the hunger strikes with Turkish
officials. /Turkish Daily News/
The EU Commissioner responsible for Enlargement, Gunter Verheugen
will come to Turkey at the end of this month to attend a seminar
entitled "Turkish-EU relations" organized by Mercedes Benz Turk.
The visit will be Verheugen's first since the announcement of
Turkey's National Programme. /Turkish Daily News/
The draft law, which foresees a change in the 16th Article of the
Anti-terror Law, provides the terror criminals with the right to
an open meeting. These people will be able to participate in the
social and cultural activities and education, sports,
professional education and work site activities without creating
danger. The convicted who have not taken disciplinary punishment
will be able to benefit from this right. However, those who were
denounced will not be able to make use of this right. /Hurriyet/
Former President Suleyman Demirel traveled to New York to join
the meetings of the commission formed to examine the reasons of
the conflict in the Middle East. The Commission, headed by former
US Senator George Mitchell, will meet today and tomorrow to
finalize the report to be given to US President George W. Bush.
Meanwhile, former US President George Bush sent a message to Mr.
Demirel wishing him success in his work on the commission,
through Turkish Consulate General in Houston. /Turkiye/
Gendarmerie Planning and Principles Director Maj.Gen. Ibrahim
Acikmese said yesterday that the future of Turkey depended on
people doing their share to protect and respect human rights. The
Gendarmerie General Command held a seminar on human rights in
Ankara. Acikmese said human rights are one of the pillars of
democracy and the main factor in citizen-state relations.
Acikmese said, "Respecting and guarding human rights is a sine
qua non, a universal value of the civilized world. The Republic
of Turkey is a secular and social state of law founded on
democracy and human rights. Turkey's future depends on people
doing their share to protect and respect human rights." He
explained that last year over 4,500 gendarmerie personnel
attended human rights seminars at 11 headquarters, and nine human
rights conferences were held to raise awareness of human rights
within the Gendarmerie General Command. /Turkish News/
Arriving in Turkey on April 23 at the invitation of the Chief of
the General Staff, Gen. Huseyin Kivrikoglu, Australian Chief of
General Staff, Admiral Chris Barrie, met with his Turkish
counterpart yesterday. During the meeting military relations
between the two countries were taken up. /Turkiye/
Democratic Left Party (DSP) Representative from Aydin, Sema
Piskinsut said she will announce her candidacy for the DSP
leadership during the DSP Ordinary Congress at a press conference
today. /Turkiye/
Agriculture and Rural Affairs Minister Husnu Yusuf Gokalp will
travel to Lithuania to pay an official visit, and attend a
symposium on "The Effect of EU Enlargement on Candidates'
Agriculture Sectors." The Agriculture and Rural Affairs Ministry
said on Thursday that Gokalp would leave for Lithuania's capital,
Vilnius, on April 29. Agriculture ministers from EU countries and
candidate countries will participate in the symposium. /Turkish
News/
Four terrorists were killed during an operation in a rural area
of the southeastern province of Hakkari. A statement issued by
the Emergency Rule(OHAL) Governorship said "on Thursday clashes
erupted between the security forces and a group of terrorists
after the latter opened fire on a regular patrol." /Turkish News/
Nezih Ozture, Belgium's Honorary Consul in the western province
of Izmir, said on Thursday that Turkey should improve relations
with Belgium. Ozture told reporters that Belgium was one of the
most important countries in Europe, hub of economic activity, and
the Center of the European Union is Brussels. "Approximately 200
Belgians are living around Izmir". /Turkish News/
The Council of Europe's(COE) European Association of Historical
Towns will hold a meeting in the central Nevsehir province April
28-29. Nevsehir governor Yusuf Erbay told reporters on Thursday
that the association, which was founded in 1975, has launched
initiatives to preserve the joint cultural heritage of those
European countries that are members of the COE. Erbay said that
Turkey had fulfilled the requirements related to the European
Association of Historical Towns. "Interior Minister Sadettin
Tantan will present the official participation document to the
representative of the association at the meeting for Turkey to
become a member of the association. We expect Turkey to be
accepted," Erbay also stated. /Turkish News/
Yener Yyldyrym, a deputy from Ordu province, resigned from the
True Path Party(DYP) on Thursday. Following Yener's resignation,
the DYP's seats in Parliament decreased to 83, while the number
of independent deputies rose to 8. The latest distribution of
seats in Parliament is as follows: Democratic Left
Party(DSP):134, Nationalist Action Party(MHP):126, Virtue
Party(FP):102, Motherland Party(ANAP):89, True Path
Party(DYP):83, Independent:8, Vacant:8. /Turkish News/
The Iraqi Turkoman Front(ITC)Turkey Office, the major
representative of the Turkish community in northern Iraq, marked
on Tuesday night, the sixth anniversary of the front's
foundation. Iraqi Turks, better known as Turkmen, experienced many
dark days in the pre-Gulf War period under the Saddam Hussein
Administration's assimilation and relocation policies. Also now,
ITC complains about the pressure it is consistently under from
the local Kurdish administration, the Kurdistan Democratic
Party(KDP) of Messoud Barzani. /Turkish News/
According to the report of the IMF on the global economy, Turkey
will have a 48.4% inflation rate of consumer prices, but
inflation will decline to 28.4% in 2002. The report said Turkey
experienced the economic crisis due to the increasing foreign
deficit and the problems in the banking sector. The import-export
imbalance, the delay of reforms, political uncertainty, and the
decrease in confidence resulted in letting the exchange rates
float. However, according to the report, Turkey's imports will
decline and following the devaluation, Turkish goods became more
competitive, leading to an increase in their market share.
/Sabah/
Istanbul Stock Exchange index rose by 7.6% yesterday. Foreign
buys extensively affected this increase. The Stock Exchange
reached the largest transaction volume since January 10.
/Milliyet/
Chairman of the London Golden Stock Exchanges (LBMA), which is
considered the center of the world's gold stock exchanges, Martin
Stokes, stated that Turkey is a very dynamic country in terms of
economy and added, "I believe Turkey will overcome this crisis
thanks to the mechanisms within its valuable mining sector. At
LMBA, we will organize the second of our international
conferences in Istanbul, which shows our confidence in Turkey."
Stokes came to Turkey to give information on the 'Second Valuable
Mines Conference' that will be held on 21-22 May by the LMBA. He
stated that Turkish jewelery cannot be surpassed by many
countries due to its quality and style. /Hurriyet/
Many companies in the durable consumer goods sector are planning
to increase their investments. It was stated Beko, Vestel and
Arcelik will make new investments to increase their production.
As Beko and Vestel received an encouragement document from
Treasury, Arcelik is preparing to enter a new model of
refrigerator into the market. /Cumhuriyet/
The Automotive sector managed to overcome the negative effects of
the recent economic crisis by increasing exports. The export rate
in the automotive sector during April increased by 42.5 %
compared to the same period last year. The sector also increased
the number of its markets. The automotive sector attracted
attention after the crisis since it did not see downsizing as an
exit from the bottleneck created by the financial crisis and the
dramatic decrease in domestic demand. /Cumhuriyet/
In the third day of the European Weightlifting Championship in
Trencin, Slovakia, the golden medals found their owners. Reyhan
Arabacioglu, won the golden medal in Snatch and Ekrem Celil was
fourth in this field. Celil also won the gold medal in the Clean
and Jerk. Turkey won a total of 8 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze
medals in the Championship. Turkey is first in terms of medals
awarded. /Hurriyet/
In the Russian Travel Awards Competition, Turkey's Moscow
Promotion Counsellor of Ministry of Tourism was awarded with "The
most successful and best national tourism office" as a result of
a survey, conducted by ITE Firm and the Russian daily TTG,
polling its 12 thousand readers. The award was presented to
Turkish Tourism Ministry Counsellor to Moscow, Sezai Cetiner, in
a ceremony. /Turkiye/
A local working group was established in Mugla to protect the
Caretta Caretta Sea Turtles, one of the most endangered species
in the world. Officials initiated such an attempt as four of the
17 nesting habitats of caretta carettas are in Mugla. The Mugla
Environment Provincial Directorate organized a meeting to discuss
possible ways to protect the nesting habitat of these sea
turtles. Representatives from related NGOs and institutions
attended the meeting. /Cumhuriyet/
Hakkari, a southeastern city largely affected by terrorism, is
hosting a tourist group first time in 15 years. The chairman of
the Turkish-American Foundation, Nesrin Uranmavita, organized the
trip to Hakkari. /Milliyet/
"Spring 2001 Turkish-Japanese Culture Activities" start today
with cooperation between the Japanese Embassy and the
Turkish-Japanese Culture Foundation Center. According to a
statement from the Japanese Embassy the program will start with
the "Second Japanese Animation Days" and as part of the
activities the "Japanese Space Dance " show will be staged. On
May 4-6 "Kakusho and Okiraku Comedy Theater" will perform and on
May 6 a play will be staged at the Turkish-Japanese village in
Adapazari, which was constructed for earthquake victims after the
Marmara Earthquake. /Turkish News/
Columnist Cetin Altan comments on the rise in legal and economic
awareness among the public. A summary of his column is as
follows:
"Those who have the ambition to rule as sultans over masses who
have not been able to overcome their rural culture want to
prevent the growth of three awarenesses in the public. One of
them is an awareness of the economic situation, such as knowing
that the share %20 of the population receive from the national
income is 1400 times greater than the rest. Secondly comes the
legal awareness and a third is an awareness of history.
Those who want to rule the masses like sultans are against the
creation of an open climate which would lead to an awareness of
the people. At present, Turkey is entering a period of breaking
her old habits and becoming aware of what is going on within a
transparency spread by the globalization process. Three
principles frequently mentioned by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer
are opening the doors of a new era. One of these three principles
President Sezer mentions is the supremacy of law, that the laws
are valid not only for the ruled but also for the rulers. He also
advocates transparency.
The statements made by the Chairman of the Constitutional Court
on the 39th Anniversary of its foundation clearly reveal that the
present Constitution has certain shortcomings in view of the
Constitutional Law. The Chairman of the Constitutional Court
Mustafa Bumin stated that the present Constitution must be
changed, and expressed the necessity of international agreements'
overriding national laws. On creating a legal awareness, the
efforts of the High Court of Appeals Chairman Sami Selcuk cannot
be denied. This shows that today high-ranking jurists led by
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer are coming to the fore.
With the economic crisis, all leading economists are appearing on
the screen, this time led by State Minister Kemal Dervis. The
proponents of transparency are concerned over allegations of
corruption. The headlines in yesterday's newspapers were
describing the problems laid on the Ecevit Government by these
allegations. Politicians were not able to act quickly and amend
neither the Constitution nor the Political Parties law. The
Cabinet was stumbling while forcing politics to take its hand off
the economy. It is being wondered by all if the Government will
be able to disperse the clouds around it."
