20.01.98
Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning
CONTENT
PARLIAMENT SPEAKER CETIN VISITS CROATIA
DEFENSE MINISTER SEZGIN FLIES TO SPAIN
DALEY IN ANKARA
KINKEL CALLS FOR COOPERATION
RUSSIA GUARANTEES NATURAL GAS TRANSPORTATION
PORTER PRAISES TURKEY'S HUMAN RIGHTS DEVELOPMENTS
TURKISH DRUG TRAFFICKERS ARRESTED IN LONDON
POLICE IN SOUTHEAST STRIKE A BLOW AGAINST DRUG TRADE
ANKARA SLAMS GREECE'S DECISION
IMF BEGINS TALKS WITH TURKEY
KRUGER IN ANKARA
COUNCIL OF MINISTERS PASSES TAX DRAFT LAW
BOSNIAN OFFICIALS IN ANKARA
SUSURLUK REPORT
ANKARA STATE THEATRE GOES TO ATHENS
Parliament Speaker Hikmet Cetin will begin today a two-day
official visit to Croatia at an official invitation of his Croatian
counterpart Vlatko Pavlatic. Tomorrow Cetin is scheduled to meet
Croatian Prime Minister Zlatko Matesa and Foreign Minister Mete
Granic. Completing his contacts in Croatia, Cetin will pay a visit to
Bosnia-Herzegovina. /Cumhuriyet/
Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Ismet Sezgin flew to
Madrid yesterday for a three-day working visit at the invitation of
his Spanish counterpart, Eduardo Serra Rexach. Before his departure,
Sezgin praised Turkey's current ties with Madrid, saying that Turkey
and Spain are in close and friendly cooperation in many fields and in
many international organizations.
On Tuesday, Sezgin will meet with the Spanish foreign minister
and visit an aircraft factory where CASA planes are being produced.
Turkey and Spain signed an agreement in 1992 to jointly produce 52
medium-range CASA CN-235 aircaft for the Turkish Air Force. /All
papers/
U.S. Secretary of Commerce William Daley said that they were
interested in Turkey's energy and communication projects. He added
that American companies attached great importance to Turkey. The
first Turkish-U.S. Business Development Council was held yesterday.
State Minister Isin Celebi said at the meeting that Turkish
industrialists and government expected that America would totally lift
textile quotas imposed on Turkey.
Turkish and American delegations signed two agreements on that
American Trade Development Agency will ensure $345,000 for the
feasibility studies of the rail road system in Antalya and American
Exim Bank will guarantee $17.7 million in credit for the Ankara and
Ankara-Gerede belt construction.
William Daley met yesterday with Foreign Minister Ismail Cem and
State Minister Gunes Taner. /Milliyet-Sabah/
German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel made a statament to German
daily newspaper Rundschau and said that Turkey should re-evaulate the
European Union (EU) decision taken in Luxembourg and accept it.
Kinkel added that the basic problem in Turkey-EU relations was
stemming from Turkish-Greek relations. /Sabah-Milliyet/
Russia harsly criticized Bulgaria which threatened Turkey to
decrease natural gas transportation and assured that there would not
be any delay in the transportation to Ankara. Russian natural gas is
transported over Bulgaria to Ankara, Greece and Macedonia.
Spokesman of the Gasprom, Russian natural gas producer, said that
although they did not expect that Bulgaria would decrease the natural
gas transportation to Ankara because of the disagreement between
Russia and Bulgaria, they were ready to take necessary measures.
/Milliyet/
John Porter, an Ilinois Republican and a member of the US
Congressional Human Rights Caucus, who is currently heading the
delegation of US congressmen visiting Turkey, said yesterday that
developments in the human rights field in Turkey are encouraging.
Porter and delegation members met with State Minister Hikmet Sami
Turk, who is responsible for human rights. Porter said that
developments had made them hopeful, adding that they fully supported
the improvements. State Minister Turk said that during the visit the
Turkish side voiced his determination in further improving ties. The
US delegation also met with Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem and
Deputy Chief of General Staff Gen.Cevik Bir yesterday. /Sabah/
Turkey's name was associated with drug trafficking in Europe when
authorities from Britain's Scotland Yard announced that they had
raided a Turkish drug cartel operating in north London. The move was
part of raids organized last week in which quantities of heroin and
cocaine valued at 2.5 million pounds were recovered by police. The
swoop was the result of an undercover investigation into Turkish drug
traffickers, according to Scotland Yard. Detectives said thay are
expecting more arrests in the coming days. /Sabah-Milliyet/
Van police and gendarmerie narcotics teams struck a heavy blow
against the drug trade in the past year, seizing more than 1,500 kilos
of narcotics in 1997 and the first few days of 1998. The drugs come
from Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran and are transferred to Europe and
the US through Yuksekova, Baskale and Van. So far, 35 people have
been arrested in connection with drug trafficking and 12 more are
being sought.
The fight against the drug trade in the Southeast is being
carried out alongside the struggle against the PKK terrorist
organization. Officials say the PKK is responsible for the most of
the drug trade. The commercial value of the narcotics seized is
reported to be TL 2.5 trillion in Turkey and TL 8 trillion in foreign
markets. /All papers/
Turkey yesterday criticized Greece for its decision to issue
documents "conferring" stateless status on ethnic Turks in Western
Thrace who have been stripped of Greek citizenship under the
provisions of Greece's own citizenship law. "Greece's attitude is
thoroughly unacceptable. It tries to create an impression that is
doing a favor for the stateless citizens. But Greece itself has
stripped them of citizenship under the 19th article of its citizenship
law" Foreign Ministery Spokesman Necati Utkan told reporters at a
press conference yesterday.
"Greece is the only country in the world that has based
citizenship on ethnic background. We expect that Greece will amend
its legislation and introduce new rules with no discrimination based
on ethnic origin" Utkan said. /All papers/
An International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation of six directors
headed by Martin Hardy began two weeks of negotiations with
high-ranking Turkish officials yesterday. A Turkish delegation is
scheduled to fly to Washington in February for further talks. In
March, the IMF delegation will return to Turkey to evaluate the
ongoing economic situation. The IMF delegation began its visit with a
meeting with Treasury Undersecretary Yener Dincmen.
Dincmen told reporters that the two sides would set the agenda
and the schedule for the two weeks of talks. He also pointed out that
representatives of the World Bank were also on hand for the
discussions. "We will hold joint negotiations. We are supposed to
discuss the 1997 and 1998 budgets, financial measures, the balance of
payments, structural reforms involving tax reform, financial markets
reform and agriculture reform. These issues will be discussed with
the IMF and World Bank delegations" Dincmen said. "The Turkish
government announced its budget targets for 1998. It intends to lower
inflation. I am positive that the upcoming meetings will play a key
role in this program" Hardy said. /All papers/
Deputy General Secretary of the Council of Europe, Christian
Kruger, arrived yesterday in Ankara. Kruger had a meeting with
Foreign Ministry Undersecretary, Ambassador Korkmaz Haktanir. No
official statement concerning the meeting has been made. /Cumhuriyet/
Finance Minister Zekeriya Temizel announced that at yesterday's
meeting the Council of Ministers accepted a draft law envisaging
amendments in tax regulations. The draft will be sent to the
Parliament for discussions within one week, Temizel said. /Hurriyet/
The three co-chairmen of Bosnia-Herzegovina Council of Ministers
Haris Sladzic, Boro Bosic and Neven Tomic arrive today in Ankara at an
official invitation of Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz. This is the first
visit of Bosnian officials at prime ministerial level in the aftermath
of the Dayton Peace Accord. /Hurriyet/
Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz yesterday announced that a report by
the Prime Ministry Inspection Board confirms the presence of "illegal
activities" which allegedly involved state officials in the aftermath
of the controversial November 3, 1996 car crash in the western
Anatolian town of Susurluk. "It has been made clear that there is a
need to start an inquiry on some of the (illegal) incidents, and a
comprehensive investigation will be launched as soon as possible"
Yilmaz said after meeting with his governing coalition partners to
discuss the report on the Susurluk incident which was completed last
week. /Sabah/
Ankara State Theatre will perform plays in Athens. Athenians
will be watching dramas acted by Turkish players beginning from
January 21. The General Director of Greek National Theatre and the
General Director of Turkish State Theatre respectively Nikos Kurkolos
and Bozkurt Kuruc held a joint press conference in which they stated
that these activities should continue. /Milliyet/
END