TURKEY AND THE ESDP BY HASAN CEMAL (MILLIYET)
The Banking Regulation and Supervision Board (BDDK) seized five private banks and closed two investment banks. The move was interpreted as a response to a demand by the IMF for swift action. While the Tarisbank, EGS Bank, Kentbank are the banks which were seized, Okan Investment Bank's and Atlas Investment Bank's licenses for banking were abolished and banking activities stopped. BDDK Chairman Engin Akcakoca said the decision to seize the banks was taken as a result of the IMF's demand. Akcakoca said although they agreed with the World Bank on the rehabilitation of the banks rather than seizing them, the IMF did not accept to do so. He added, "From now on, I expect a dramatic acceleration in the processes of merging, taking over, and establishing foreign partnerships in the banking sector." He also said that the sales of the Demirbank and Sumerbank would be completed within a week. In response to the IMF demand to reduce the interest rates in the market, the BDDK seized the banks since they kept deposit and interbank lending rates high. The decision was interpreted as a warning to other banks obliging them to raise their capital adequacy ratio to 8 percent. Meanwhile, the number of banks seized and transferred to the Savings Insurance Fund has reached 18. The Fund is now controlling 30 % of the 61 commercial banks. After the BDK decision, the IMF is expected to approve the loan to be delivered to Turkey. Consequently, the World Bank is also expected to approve the delivering of the $1.7 billion loan to Turkey. /Milliyet/
After the decision to change the Telekom Management taken at the leaders' summit, the Telekom Management held an extraordinary meeting. The Ministry of Industry approved the "revision bill" at the meeting. The number of Executive Council members increased from seven to nine. In the second session of the meeting, Levent Neset Tanridag, a high-level authority in the Aydin Software, and Murat Yilmaz, an expert in the electronic communications, were appointed as the members of the Council. After the appointments, the Council met in the Telekom Directorate General building again. After Hakki Alpturk's resignation, Yilmaz was elected as the Chairman of the Executive Council. /Milliyet/
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer approved the bill on Amending the Electrical Power Market foreseeing to extend the take-over process of the management rights of the electricity production and distribution ,which belong to public, until September 31st, 2001. Sezer also approved the bill on Preparation and Implementation of the Technical Regulations Concerning the Products. The bills were sent to the Office of the Prime Minister to be published. /Cumhuriyet/
Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz said the solution of the problems between Turkey and Armenia depend on the settlement on the Karabakh issue. During the meeting with the Azerbaijan Parliamentary Speaker Murtuz Aleskerov and accompanying delegation, Yilmaz said Turkish-Azeri relations is of a special meaning in his political career. He recalled he was the Prime Minister of the 49th government which recognized the independence of Azerbaijan first in the world, he paid his first official visit to this country during his second Prime Ministry period and he signed the Baku-Ceyhan agreement when he was Prime Minister for the third time. During the meeting, Aleskerov informed Yilmaz about the recent developments in Azerbaijan. /Milliyet/
The Minister of Interior, Rustu Kazim Yucelen, and the Security Forces Chief, Kemal Onal, attended a meeting in Tokat where regional security and economical issues were discussed. Yucelen responded to reporters' questions. He said, "We all know that ideological terror is trying to settle down here. We will not allow them or this." While the meeting was going on, security forces informed the Minister that a TKP-ML TIKKO terrorist was killed in Turhal. /Cumhuriyet/
Turkey and Israel are taking further steps to improve their relations towards a strategic partnership. After Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Binyamin Ben Eliezer's visit to Turkey two days ago, Israeli Chief of the General Staff, Shaul Mofaz, is also expected to visit Turkey on July 26th. It was stated the two countries agreed to develop an "Arrow" anti-ballistic missile system and that they were trying to obtain the US's approval, which is also trying to develop its own missile defense. /Cumhuriyet/
Reportedly, during the visit of the Israeli Minister of Defense Binyamin Ben Eliezer to Ankara, Turkish authorities accepted his proposal to form a joint-missile defense umbrella. The Jerusalem Post Newspaper issued an article saying, "Turkish defense authorities accepted Israeli proposal of forming a joint missile defense system against Iran's missile threat." /Turkiye/
Ajay Chhibber, the World Bank Country Director for Turkey, said Turkey's economic program was fast and correct. He said that they expected Turkey to recover her economy very rapidly. He evaluated the steps taken so far as impressive and successful. He said, "Turkey should be more careful in the decision-making process. The state banks and companies should be directed as commercial institutions. By giving our support to Turkey, it does not mean that we will be more interventionist in the future." /Milliyet/
Volkan Vural, the Secretary General for EU Affairs, once again warned the EU on Tuesday that the Greek Cypriot administration's EU membership would make the dispute over Cyprus more complicated. Speaking at a conference given by the Antalya Trade and Industry Chamber entitled "Turkish-EU Relations after the National Program," Vural said Turkey definitely was against the EU membership of the Greek Cypriot side. "A political solution has not been settled on the island yet. Turkey's objection against the Greek side's membership is still continuing, but the EU will make a decision on Cyprus' membership. If the Greek side becomes an EU member, the dispute will be more complicated," he said. /Turkish Daily News/
The Foreign Minister of Belgium, the EU Term-President, Louis Michel, stated that the "Screening Process" prior to the full EU membership negotiations with Turkey might not begin in autumn as expected. During the "Screening Process", inadequacies for the harmonization with the EU acquis communataire will be determined. Michel said that with the beginning of this process, all legal implementations would be compared with the EU acquis communataire and
added that Turkey should comply with all the criteria. /Hurriyet/
The US President George W.Bush said that he supported Turkey's efforts to improve its economic reform plan with the IMF and the World Bank. Bush who replied to a letter written by the Head of the American-Turkish Associations' Assembly (ATAA) Orhan Kaymakcalan last month and said that Turkey's political leaders should work together to guarantee the complete implementation of the economic reforms in the country. He added: "Our relations with Turkey are more important now than those in the past". /Sabah/
Azerbaijan's Parliament Speaker Murtuz Aleskerov and a delegation of parliamentarians started talks with senior Turkish officials yesterday with the framework of a five-day visit to Turkey. The delegation arrived in Ankara late on Monday and met with the Parliament Speaker Omer Izgi at a dinner reception in the Parliament. Aleskerov later met with Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit and Deputy Prime Ministers Mesut Yilmaz and Devlet Bahceli. /All papers/
For the first time after many years, Turks and Armenians will come together to take up so-called genocide allegations and also create a base to handle with projects to help the rapprochment of both nations. With the initiatives of five Turkish and Armenian volunteers, a commission including former diplomats, historians, jurists and psychologists was formed. The members of the commission convened in Geneva yesterday, for the third time, to discuss new projects to establish a dialogue between the two countries. /Milliyet/
Turkey has chosen a peaceful way by accepting to pay the indemnities concerning 19 cases at the European Court of Human Rights. Turkey will pay about TL 725 billion for all cases. /Cumhuriyet/
The European Court of Human Rights will declare its final decision on the Welfare Party (RP) closure case on July 31. The court appointed the secretariat of the court for the preparation of the text decison including the reasons. On the appeal by the RP administrators, Necmettin Erbakan, Sevket Kazan and Ahmet Tekdal, the court decided to examine the case on Oct. 3, 2000. /Turkiye/
Turkish Energy Minister Zeki Cakan met with the British Ambassador Sir David Logan and his delegation yesterday in Ankara. According to a statement released by the Energy Ministry, Cakan and Logan discussed bilateral relations between the two countries particularly on energy issues. They also agreed to look for new cooperation fields between Turkey and Great Britain. /Turkish Daily News/
The Ministry of Energy declared that Iraq began to re-pump oil from the pipeline between Turkey and Iraq in the scope of the UN's permission. With the opening of the pipeline, which was closed on June 3, five thousand metersquares of oil has begun to be pumped to Turkey. /Turkiye/
The Education Ministry has established an "E-Library", called an "Information Access Center" (BEM), which includes books, magazines, photographs, vidoes, audios, movies, slides, CDs, CD-ROMs, VCDs and DVDs, the Anatolia News Agency reported yesterday. The Education Minister Metin Bostancioglu said in a speech at the opening ceremony that teachers were trained for information technologies and added: "Now the walls between classes and school gardens are collapsing". /Turkish News/
A Parliamentary Representative from the Democratic Left Party (DSP) Ahmet Tan was elected to be the Deputy Chairman of the Organization of the Security and Cooperation for Europe (OSCE) Parliamentarians Assembly. During the four-day meeting of the OSCE, a delegation of eight parliamentarians headed by Ahmet Tan represented Turkey. /Turkiye/
The members of the Turkish Research Center (TAM) headquarters in Essen, Germany, plan to visit Turkey soon with a committee, which consists of German industralists, bankers and representatives of holding companies. The committee will meet government officials , directors of trade and industry unions, senior bureaucrats and businessmen in Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir on July 15-19 to discuss the economic situation and opportunities for partnership in investment and trade in Turkey. /Turkish Daily News/
The Chairman of the Ankara Chamber of Trade, Sinan Aygun said Turkey has the required resources within herself. Recalling that Turkey is one of the most fortunate countries in the world regarding possesion of metals, Aygun said if this source is used effectively, the country will soon overcome the difficulties. Stressing that the boron and gold reserves are about $2 trillion , he said, "As we do not use the richness under the ground we suffer from poverty above the ground." /Turkiye/
The Treasury Undersecretariat realized a borrowing worth 710 trillion TL with an interest rate of 95 percent during the eight-month bond tender yesterday. Together with the sale made to the public, the total net borrowing amounted to 769 trillion TL. /Hurriyet/
The Privatization Administration Board (OIB) plans a third public offering for oil refinery TUPRAS in late September or early October, OIB Head Ugur Bayar told reporters yesterday. Bayar stated that the sale aimed to reduce the state's share in the refinery to less than 5 percent from around 65 percent. /All papers/
The workshop studies organized within the scope of the "Biological Variety and Natural Resource" have started in Ankara, the Anatolia News Agency reported yesterday. The Forestry Ministry National Parks and Hunting-Wild Life General Director Husrev Ozkara delivered a speech during the opening ceremony and said: "The variety of species in Turkey is as large as a continent. For instance, 10,000 out of 13,000 plants and 454 out of 500 birds species of Europe are in Turkey". He indicated that Turkey could use its biological wealth to gain economic power. The workshop will end on Thursday. /Turkish News/
The countdown for signing an agreement on cooperation on earthquake between Turkey and Greece has begun. A group of Turkish, Greek, Italian and American scientists, will meet in Salonica between July 30th-August 1st to evaluate the risks and results of possible earthquakes that might occur in the Northern Aegean. The Marmara Research Center affiliated with TUBITAK (Turkish Association for Scientific and Technical Research) will represent Turkey at the meeting. /Cumhuriyet/
The restoration work for the Zeugma Ancient City's mosaics are being carried out by an Italian team. The world's most important mosaics, from the Zeugma Ancient City's inundated by the Euphrates, were carried to the garden of the Gaziantep Museum. Italian conservator Chara Lizola said the restoration work is expected to be completed in June 2002 and added, after that Gaziantep will be the largest mosaic museum of the world. /Turkiye/
The Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs Speaker Panayotis Beglitis said that they started the implementation of giving Schengen visas for a limited period to Turkish citizens who want to make a daily visit to the five Greek islands. The implementation includes Kos, Hios, Rhodos, Samos and Lesvos Islands. /Cumhuriyet/
A historical mansion along the borders of the Kure Mountains, which was declared a National Park and is being protected by the Ministry of Forestry and Protection of the Natural Life Association, will be prompted by a festival to be organized between August 4-5. /Cumhuriyet/
Sedef Turak, a primary school student in Samsun, won the category she participated in the "Eight World Children's Painting Contest" organized in Japan. Turak received a golden medal and Best Painting Award with her work called "Happiness". /Cumhuriyet/
'Turkish delight' placed in the first four among 1600 within the "candies" category in New York Food Fair. Turkish delight produced by "The Istanbul Inc." Company was placed among the finalists for its flavor and offering. /Cumhuriyet/
Columnist Sami Kohen writes on improving relations with France. A summary of his column is as follows:
"When a storm breaks we enter a state of panic and do not know what to do next. When the storm passes, we forget everything and do not take the necessary precautions for a future storm. From quake to economy and to foreign relations, this is the stance we take in all problems, including the Armenian problem, which occupied the headlines until a few months ago. We just have to recall the days at the beginning of the year when the French National Assembly approved the law on Armenian allegations. There were harsh reactions to the passing of this law. Nowadays, we are trying to normalize relations with France. This is the correct stance. We should not allow either the Armenian problem or other issues to obstruct our relationships with other countries. However, we must not forget that the 'Armenian factor' has not vanished, even though the storm has calmed down a new crisis may erupt any moment and therefore the necessary precautions must be taken.
This fact leads us to the necessity of determining a policy to be followed against the Armenian activities in France, the US, Canada and Australia. The Istanbul representative Bulent Akarcali who is closely concerned with the issue and has planned a comprehensive action plan on the subject stated that even after all that has occurred, Turkey, still does not have clear strategy regarding the problem. He added that there was not even an effort towards the future as a state. What has been done following the decision of the French National Assembly? According to an experienced observer in Paris, 'not a thing'. There was no dynamic initiative, which could influence the French public.
However, yesterday we found out that a group consisting of Turkish and Armenian non-governmental organization members established a commission called 'Resolution for Peace' through their personal efforts on July 10. Gunduz Aktan, Ustun Erguder; Sadi Erguvenc, Ozdem Sanberk, Ilter Turkmen are participating in the commission from the Turkish side, and A. Arzoumian, D. Hovhanissian, from Armenia, Van Z. Kirkorian, Vamik Volkan from the US and A. Migranian from Russia. The aim of the Commission is to develop a common understanding and good will between the Turks and the Armenians and encourage the improvement of relations between Turkey and Armenia. The Commission aims to launch a series of initiatives, including the establishment of a dialogue between Turkish and Armenian non-governmental organizations. We view this effort, extended at a time when the storm in the Armenian issue has somewhat subsided, as timely and in the right direction."
Turkish views on the European Security and Defense Policy that will be the core of the military force of the EU, has been mentioned time and time again. A Foreign Ministry official has said on the issue that Turkey was right in her stance. However, if she did not budge an inch the organization will begin to bypass her towards the end of the year. We are also right on the Cyprus issue. However, they have already begun to bypass us. No one can stand like a wall. The Cold War is over. In those days, they requested Turkey to stay in their camp no matter what she did. Those days are long gone.
I had stated in a prior article that it is not enough to be right. The power politics, and real policy should be calculated well. There should be a vision of the day and the future. Therefore a compromise is necessary. However, to reach a compromise is seen as a weakness in Turkey. A high-ranking Foreign Ministry official defined the point reached with the EU on ESDP as a 'Gordion's knot'. The views and sensitivities of the Chief of General Staff's Office were expressed in a letter. In the letter it was stated that it was unfair to suggest that the tangled web in relations with the EU stemmed from Turkey's aim to take her place within the new military structure of Europe on her own conditions and her reluctance to take a step back. Furthermore, in the letter it was mentioned that Turkey did not put forth her own conditions. She only wanted the decisions taken at the Washington Summit of 24 April 1999 to be carried out. Although this decision was signed by 19 countries 11 of which are EU members, it was accepted as null and void by the EU Nice Summit. Therefore, it is unfair and groundless to try and show Turkey as the country vetoing the ESDI. It is also unfair to suggest that Turkey is reluctant to reach a compromise or that she sees a compromise as a weakness. Certainly, a compromise is necessary. However, we have to clearly distinguish the limits between a compromise and a concession.
Like the Office of the Chief of General Staff, I believe that to be excluded from the new defense power taking shape or the European army is against Turkey's interests. "
