TOWARDS THE END OF A CRISIS BY YILMAZ OZTUNA
(TURKIYE)
The Democratic Left Party (DSP) Fifth Ordinary
Great Convention was held in Ankara yesterday. Bulent Ecevit was
re-elected to the leadership of the Party. During the convention 1,084
delegates attended the voting. Bulent Ecevit obtained 963 of the
current votes, while the other Party Leadership candidate, Sema
Piskinsut, a representative from Aydin, obtained 86 votes. President
Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Speaker of the Parliament, Omer Izgi,
congratulated Bulent Ecevit on his re-election to the DSP leadership.
/Turkiye/
Emphasizing that the wealth and potential of
Eurasia should be used in an effective manner to contribute to the
economic and social development of the region, President Ahmet Necdet
Sezer underlined that Turkey, as well as the Turkic Republics of
Central Asia and the Caucasus, continued to attach great importance to
an oil pipeline project that would carry Azeri and Kazakh oil to
Western markets through Turkey. He was speaking after the conclusion
of a two-day summit meeting bringing together the heads of state from
six Turkic-speaking countries. The so-called Baku-Ceyhan project is
set to transfer Azeri petroleum to western markets through Turkey's
Mediterranean port of Ceyhan. Turkey and Azerbaijan, as well as
Georgia, the transit country, have already concluded agreements and
started engineering work on the project. Efforts are underway to
convince Kazakhstan to take part in the project. The summit meeting,
the seventh of its kind since 1992, was meant to explore ways of
enhancing regional cooperation. The final declaration of the summit
was signed by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, Azerbaijan President
Haydar Aliyev, Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kyrgyz
President Askar Akayev, Turkmenistan President Saparmurat Niyazov and
Uzbekistan Parliament Speaker Erkin Halilov, attending the summit on
behalf of Uzbek President Islam Kerimov. /Turkish News/
Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit will leave for Spain
on May 3, to pay an official visit at the invitation of Spain Premier
Jose Maria Aznar. During the two-day visit, Mr. Ecevit will be
accompanied by Foreign Minister Ismail Cem and a delegation. He is
also scheduled to meet with Spanish Parliament Speaker, Luisa Fernanda
Rudi, and King Juan Carlos. /Turkiye/
The Parliament, debating seven of the 15 priority
bills presented by the government previously, is waiting for the other
eight bills to be presented. There are no new bills submitted by the
government to Parliament currently awaiting approval. Parliament will
probably be debating the Banking Bill, the Bill on Duty Losses of
Banks and the Turk Telekom Privatization Bill this week. /Turkiye/
The Minister of State Responsible for Economy Kemal
Dervis, currently in the US, is continuing his contacts with the
Ministers of Finance from the seven richest country of the world who
are in the US to attend the World Bank/IMF spring term meetings.
Dervis met with French Finance Minister, Laurent Fabius and US
Undersecretary of State, Alan Larsson yesterday. He is expected to
travel to New York today. He will hold a meeting with Wall Street
experts and finance circles to explain the new economic program of
Turkey. Tomorrow he will attend a meeting to be held by the Turkish
American Society. /Cumhuriyet/
Economic and commercial relations between Greece
and Turkey are continuing to improve rapidly. The decision to
establish a "Turco-Greek Trade Chamber" was made at the
Turco-Greek Business Council meeting held in Istanbul between April
26-27. A reception was held to celebrate the decision on Greek flagged
ship, Olympic Countess. Co-chairmen of the Turco-Greek Business
Council, Panayotis Kutsikos and Sarik Tara, Greek Minister of Culture
Evangelos Venizelos and Greek Consul General Panos Kalogeropulos were
among the figures attending the reception. Kalogeropulos voiced his
contentment with the recent commercial rapprochement between the the
two countries. /Cumhuriyet/
Minister of State and Deputy Prime Minister, Mesut
Yilmaz, met with German Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, Walter
Riester and Greek Minister of Culture, Evangelos Venizelos. Turkish
Secretary General of the European Union, Volkan Vural and German
Ambassador Rudolph Schmidt also attended the Yilmaz-Riester meeting.
Issues related to Turkey's accession period to the EU were discussed
during the meeting. After his meeting with the German Minister, Yilmaz
received the Greek delegation chaired by Greek Culture Minister
Evangelos Venizelos, currently in Istanbul as the guest of the
Turco-Greek Business Council. Stating rapprochement between the two
countries was continuing, not just in economic sphere, but also in
culture and sports, Yilmaz said, "We, as the Turkish Government,
thank Greece for her productive stance about Turkey's full EU
membership." /Cumhuriyet/
It was claimed that UN Secretary General Kofi
Annan's Special Envoy to Cyprus, Alvaro de Soto, prepared a draft for
a new formula to begin the proximity talks again. According to Greek
radio, the formula was presented to Britain, the US, Brussels and
Moscow and it was accepted. Meanwhile, it was reported that any
reduction in Greek military purchases would not affect the Greek
Cypriot Administration's armament policy. The radio claimed Greek
Chief of General Staff, General Manusos Parayudakis, who recently
visited the Greek Cypriot Administration, gave a guarantee on the
issue. /Cumhuriyet/
The Black Sea Economic Cooperation
Organization's(BSEC) fourth Foreign Ministerial Council meeting was
held in Moscow on Friday. Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem took
over the six-month presidency from his Russian counterpart, Igor
Ivanov. However, a key point on the agenda was the strained
Turkish-Russian relations due to the seizure of a luxury hotel in
Istanbul by Chechen sympathizers; Minister Cem held a bilateral
meeting with Ivanov aimed at reducing the recent tension between the
two countries. Following the terrorist action, Russia reacted toughly
and Ivanov said that Turkish-Russian relations would have deteriorated
had Turkey not taken the necessary precautions to prevent terrorist
actions after that. After the meeting Cem told the reporters the
meeting with Ivanov had been very productive. Cem said during the
meeting that Turkey sees unacceptable any terrorist action and joint
cooperation is very important in combatting terrorism. /Turkish Daily
News/
Agriculture and Rural Affairs Minister Husnu Yusuf
Gokalp went to Lithuania for an official visit. Gokalp will attend a
symposium called "The Effects of the EU Enlargement on the
Agriculture Sector of the Candidate Countries." Gokalp will also
meet with Lithuanian Agriculture Minister Kostutis Kristinatis in
Vilnius. /Turkish Daily News/
Following the $10 billion loan to be received from
the IMF, State Minister for the Economy, Kemal Dervis will try to
obtain private financial support. Dervis met with Finance and Treasury
Ministers of the US, Britain, Germany, Japan, Italy and France in
Washington. Dervis requested these Ministers to encourage foreign
investments in Turkey. Dervis will visit G-7 countries in the company
of the IMF officials. Meanwhile, the statement of Finance Ministers of
G-7 said, "The G-7 is content with the economic reform program,
which is the base of Turkish agreement with the IMF. This program
deserves the support of both public and private sectors of the
international community." The statement said all precautions
should be taken in implementing this program. The IMF director Horst
Koehler said the new program entails strong elements which will
prevent further ensuing economic crises. Koehler said,"We have
full support for the program. But, the program is Turkish and the sole
responsibility is with Turkey." /Milliyet/
Former US Ambassador to Turkey, Mark Parris, said
the fight against corruption in Turkey is carefully observed by the
international community and the resignation of the Energy and Natural
Resources Minister, Cumhur Ersumer, is the right decision at the
moment. Responding to the questions of reporters, Parris said,
"The world had to see a step taken for the fight against
corruption in Turkey, persons and names are unimportant. This will
lead foreign capital to come to Turkey." Parris has no official
post related to Turkey, but works as a foreign relations advisor with
an American Law Firm. /Milliyet/
A Chinese delegation chaired by Chairman of the
Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Li Ruihuan,
visited Istanbul's historical and touristic sites. Turkish Parliament
Speaker, Omer Izgi, had invited the delegation. /Cumhuriyet/
Leading names of the Turkish business world are
meeting in Istanbul today to discuss the recent economic situation.
The meeting , to be hosted by Mehmet Emin Karaahmet, will be attended
by TUSIAD Chairman, Tuncay Ozilhan, Rahmi Koc, Sakip Sabanci, ISO
Chairman, Husamettin Kavi and TISK Chairman, Refik Baydur, and others.
The businessmen previously met both in February and March. /Turkiye/
Businessmen Sakip Sabanci supported State Minister
for Economics Kemal Dervis's efforts to put the econmy on track.
Referring to Dervis as the captain of the economy, Sabanci said,
"The captain knows his duty well. He gained support of both
Turkish people and foreigners." Stressing he thinks about the
future 5-10 years in advance as an industralist, Sabanci said it is
not enough to save the day only. He added, "That's why I support
his plans over structural changes for long term." /Turkiye/
On the first week of May, the Treasury will repay
$230 million in debts. The Treasury will have paid $3.3 billion
starting from the beginning of the year. /Milliyet/
Beside the "Reliable Mermaid"
humanitarian search and rescue operation held annually since 1998 with
the participation of the US and Israeli forces, Turkish and Israeli
forces organized another dual search and rescue operation this year.
The operations started yesterday and will continue until May 4.
/Milliyet/
The Turkish Defense Ministry will grant its
Georgian counterpart $2.5 million to cover operating expenses and some
of their costs of peacekeeping , officials from the two countries
announced in Tbilisi. /Turkish Daily News/
A Netherlands delegation will arrive Ankara to
introduce the Matra and PSO Pre-accession Programmes for Turkey for
the years 2001 and 2002, the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Ankara said
in a written statement. The visit will be a follow-up to the signing
of the Memorandum of Understanding by Foreign Minister Ismail Cem and
Dick Benshop, State Secretary for Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands
on October 30, 2000, during the official visit of the Prime Minister
of the Netherlands, Wim Kok, to Turkey. The PSO Pre-Accession
Programme aims to support Turkey enabling it to comply with the
economic criteria for the membership of the EU, while the Matra
Programme will focus on the creation of the necessary conditions for
the implementation of the 'acquis communautaire'. /Turkish Daily News/
Turkish State Railways (TCDD) Director Orhan
Yildirim announced on Friday that the TCDD would organize a
Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP) tour on June 1-7. Yildirim said
the train would depart from Izmir and would visit Afyon, Konya, Adana,
Gaziantep, Sanliurfa and Mardin. /Turkish News/
Four Turkish citizens have been awarded a royal
honor in the Netherlands for their extraordinary services to the
community. Dutch Turkish Workers' Association Chairman Mustafa Ayranci
and Turkish Islam Culture Association Chairman Mustafa Dokudur in
Amsterdam, Nilgun Tatoglu from Zwijndrecht and banker Bulent Turker
were given their awards at a ceremony on Friday. /Turkish News/
The Turkish American Association Federation (TADF)
and the American Turkish Association Assembly (ATAA) cooperated in a
conference on the subject of "leadership" that was held at
the Turkish House in New York. TADF Chairman Egemen Bagis and ATAA
Chairman Orhan Kaymakcalan said that the conference aimed to train
leaders for the Turkish community in the US and to draw attention to
the problems of Turks overseas. /Turkish News/
Turkey's first Civil Aviation Symposium will be
held in Istanbul on May 23-24 to discuss civil aviation issues in
Turkey. Civil Avation General Director, Topa Bilgetin Toker, said that
at the symposium several topics would be discussed such as ,
aviation's effect on tourism, new guidelines regarding flight safety,
the current state of Turkish civil aviation and governmental support
for those airline companies that have services in Turkey. /Turkish
News/
Turkish State Railways (TCDD) will commence
autoberth journeys so as to allow passengers to travel by train with
their cars from May 2. This service will feature five departures and
five arrivals per day between the Austrian city of Villach and the
Turkish city of Edirne. /Turkish News/
Europe Thermal Springs Union Executive Board member
Huseyin Baraner said that Turkey was not sufficiently benefitting from
Europe's 70 billion Deutche mark health and beauty tourism. He said
that new investments were made in Turkey to target health and beauty
tourism, and that Turkey aimed at achieving $1 billion in income from
this sector over the next five years. He stated that first such
projects would be carried out in Balikesir Gonen, Pamukkale, Cesme and
Afyon. Many of these resorts will feature 4,000 bed capacity. /Turkish
News/
An article by the BBC reporter Chris Morris,
appeared on the website of the channel, relaying his impressions about
Istanbul. Morris said, "This is one of the safest big cities I
have Iived in so far." Morris gave information about daily life
and cultural endowments in Istanbul. /Milliyet/
The Culture Ministry State Dance Group displayed
examples from world dances on the occasion of the April 29 "World
Dance Day." During the two-hour performance, Russian, Mexican,
Chinese, Egyptian and Irish, as well as Turkish dances were staged.
/Turkiye/
It has become obvious that we will overcome this
crisis so long as we do not stumble or deliberately err on the way to
recovery. The balance sheet of the crisis will be discussed later. In
fact, the real balance sheet will be evaluated by historians looking
back on the events. However, it is not enough just to overcome the
crisis without damaging the system, in other words without getting
away from liberalism or democracy for the long or even medium term. We
may be vulnerable to a new crisis. In fact, economic crises can erupt
even in rich countries and they affect poor countries more severely.
The reason that lies behind the crisis is our inability to carry out a
State Reform. This reform should have been carried out 200 hundred
years ago. What is a State Reform? It is the arrangement of the
conditions prevalent in a society the State represents according to
the most advanced conditions of the times. As the conditions in the
world are changing constantly, administrations and nations who fail to
follow these high standards and who are not able to foresee what the
future will bring, or simply do not heed these factors, are bound to
be left behind and cannot catch up with the times. Therefore, behind
every political, social or economic crisis lie the incapabilities and
mistakes of the administration, internal policies and those who lead
these policies. The US, who has taken on the role of extending the
credit stated that Turkey will not be able to borrow any money from
anywhere if she spends this loan carelessly. Wise men have felt the
offending harshness of the warning. However, those who have led Turkey
into such a situation should be the ones embarrassed by these remarks.
This responsibility lies on the shoulders of those who do not believe
in a State Reform, lack courage and initiative or are narrow minded.
These people are entering the week with the belief that they have
saved their skin this time too and should enjoy themselves. They will
brag about saving the day and will not think about the future."
