Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning
CONTENTS
President Suleyman Demirel yesterday received both the Chairman
of Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's Foundation (TUSIAV),
Veli Saritoprak, and an accompanying delegation yesterday. During
the meeting a shield for his 50 years of service to the Republic
of Turkey was presented to President Suleyman Demirel by the
representatives of the associations, societies and foundations
forming TUSIAV. President Demirel, who also received Aegean
businessmen yesterday stated that the hardships suffered by the
economy were due to the crises in the Far East and Russia and had
been experienced only in the last four or five months. /Turkiye/
Independent Elazig Deputy Hasan Belhan and Adana Deputy Cevdet
Akcali, who remained independent following the closure of the
Welfare Party, and Bingol Deputy Kazim Ataoglu, who recently
resigned from the Virtue Party (FP), joined the True Path Party
(DYP). The number of seats the DYP holds in Parliament rose to a
hundred. In a statement, the DYP Chairman Tansu Ciller, said that
with the newcomers the party grew stronger and added: "They
deemed it proper to unite under the umbrella of a cause
representing the whole nation at the end of its fight for
democracy." /Turkiye/
Three deputies from the True Path Party (DYP) could find
themselves in court over a statement criticizing Public
Prosecutor Nuh Mete Yuksel of being biased. The Public
Prosecutor's office at Ankara State Security Court, also headed
by Yuksel, yesterday sent a memorandum to the Justice Ministry
calling for deputies Riza Akcali, Necati Cetinkaya and Nevzat
Ercan to have their immunity from prosecution lifted because they
had made Yuksel a target for terrorist attack. Before the DYP
deputies can face court, the Justice Ministry must first hand the
files over to Parliament Speaker Hikmet Cetin, who must then pass
them on to a Parliamentary Commission and then finally to a full
sitting of Parliament. /All papers/
Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit clearly stated that in case the US
continues to strike Iraq, Turkey would not permit the use of the
base in Incirlik. In answer to questions on a television
programme, Ecevit expressed his concern that the US would strike
Iraq again after the holy month of Ramadan was over and in such a
situation he did not consider permitting the use of Incirlik
base. Adding that he hoped the US would give birth to peaceful
solutions, Ecevit blamed the US Administration for having no
clear policy over the situation in Iraq and underlined the fact
that there was no change in the status which allowed only for the
flight of planes from the base to supervise the no-fly zone and
not for air strikes. During the air strikes, which took place
last month, Incirlik air base was not used; however US planes
taking off from Incirlik last week bombed three Iraqi radars in
Northern Iraq.
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Necati Utkan said the use of Incirlik
air base was determined by certain rules and regulations and to
use it for other purposes than for what it had been intended was
out of the question. He added that Turkey wanted a return to
normal conditions in the region, and whatever the consequences,
Iraqi territorial integrity and political unity should be
respected. /Turkiye/
Following the US fighters' attack on Iraqui missile facilities in
Nothern Iraq yesterday, the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs
declared that the Incirlik base cannot be used for any purpose
other than its primary function, citing US declarations of
self-defence as mere `claims'. Ambassador Necati Utkan, the
Spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, noted that the
frequent attacks on Iraqui targets by US fighters from the
Incirlik base in Adana have been anxiously followed by Turkey.
Utkan said: "The use of Incirlik within the guidelines of
Operation Northern Watch is lied down in detailed, strict rules.
The Operation is, as mentioned in the resolution of the Turkish
Grand National Assembly (TGNA),oriented towards observation, and
prevention when necessary, in compliance with the relevant UN
resolutions. It is not possible to use Incirlik for a purpose
other than the function I mentioned. It has never been devoted to
such a purpose, and it will never have such a purpose."
/Cumhuriyet/
New York Times journalist Stephen Kinzer said in his column
yesterday that Turkey had overcome the government crisis with
Bulent Ecevit. He described Ecevit as a powerful secular
politican. He added that Ecevit was the "powerful pillar of the
left" in Turkey.
The Novi Izvestiya Russian newspaper said that Bulent Ecevit had
a very positive image in Turkish politics, adding that the
"father of the social democracy in Turkey" had never abondoned
ideology. /Sabah/
Salim Uslu, the Chairman of the Confederation of Turkish Labour
Unions (Turk-Is), said in a written statement yesterday that he
is happy to see the issue of social security on the priority list
of the 56th government, despite its agenda being crammed with
preparations for the upcoming April 18 elections. /All papers/
The budget for the upcoming elections to be held on April 18 has
been determined by the Finance Ministry, the Anatolia news agency
reports. The Supreme Election Board (YSK) has been allocated TL
19.6 trillion for election expenditure.
An IMF delegation headed by Chief of the Turkish Desk, Martin
Hardy, will arrive in Turkey on January 27, the Anatolia news
agency reports. According to a statement made by the Treasury
Undersecretariat, the delegation will visit Turkey within the
guidelines of a Staff Monitoring Agreement signed between Turkey
and the IMF. The delegation will hold meetings in Ankara and
Istanbul between January 27 and February 8, 1999.
Kemal Isik, the former General Director of TUPRAS (Turkish Oil
Rafineries Corp.), found a heavy fine imposed on him for being
liable for losses during his term of office in 1993. It was
revealed in a Prime Ministry Inspectorate examination that Isik
had invested 27 million dollars of TUPRAS in Impexbank and
Marmara Bank in order to obtain high repo revenues and thereby
had been responsible for losses on the part of the corporation
upon the bankruptcy of these banks in the 1994 crisis. The court
decided that Kemal Isik would repay that 27 million dollars to
the corporation and imposed on him an additional fine of $70
thousand. It is reported that this decision constitutes one of
the largest fines ever imposed on a bureaucrat in Turkey.
/Hurriyet/
Mesrob Mutafyan, the Armenian Patriarch of Turkey, held a Ramadan
dinner for his friends before his first journey abroad following
his election as Patriach. Noting that he would be in Jerusalem
during the Ramadan Festival to pay a visit to the patriarchs and
rabbis there, Mutafyan said: "Therefore I will not be able to be
in Istanbul during the Holiday. I wanted to celebrate your
Festival with this dinner". /Hurriyet/
A memorandum accord regarding the first-term meetings of the
Joint Economic Commission (JEC) between Turkey and Spain was
approved by the Council of Ministers and published in the
Official Gazette yesterday. According to the accord, the two
sides agreed that they will exert efforts to further develop and
diversify commercial relations. The accord also pointed out the
importance of mutual visits by commercial delegations and of
participation in fairs and exhibitions in Spain and Turkey, the
Anatolia news agency reports.
A fire which occurred in a dry-cargo vessel off the Zeytinburnu
Ahirkapi coast of Istanbul has been extinguished with the support
of tugs and fire-tender vessels. The Sao Tome-flagged vessel was
on its way from Venice and was to go to Venezuela. The 13-member
crew including seven Turks and six Azerbaijanis were brought to
Karakoy Port by boats, the Anatolia news agency reports. Great
material damage has occurred in the vessel.
The PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan is trying to frighten the members
of the PKK terrorist organization. Ocalan, who has received
senior PKK party members in Rome, said that he would take them to
his next destination if they fail to help him gain asylum there.
It is reported that Ocalan's threats have created a moral decay
in the organization and some PKK members are supporting the
opposition front led by journalist Cemil Gundogan, which is
attempting to establish itself against Ocalan. /Cumhuriyet/
The La Repubblica newspaper published in Italy issued an article
under the headline 'D'Alema and Turks are fighting for Ocalan'
and said that if the leader of the PKK terrorist organization
does not leave Italy he will be tried in that country.
The Corriera della Serra newspaper recalled that D'Alema had said
that the PKK leader could be tried under the rules of
international reconciliation against terrorism of 1977.
/Cumhuriyet/
Italy will put Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the PKK terrorist
organization, on trial for terrorism if he does not find some
other place to live, Italian Prime Minister Massimo D'Alema has
warned, according to press reports yesterday. Italy would use the
European Convention Against Terrorism as the legal basis for
charges against Ocalan. "If he stays here, he will have to expect
that he will be put on trial" said D'Alema.
"This is a paradoxical situation" D"Alema said, adding: "Ocalan
is a free man whom we cannot give political asylum because of the
terrorist crimes he is accused of but whom we cannot deport
because we don't know where to send him to". /All papers/
Shares on the Istanbul Stock Exchange (IMKB) plunged 8.26 %
yesterday over investor's fears that the global economic crisis
could hit Brazil and spread to the US, brokers said. The IMKB-100
Index fell 220 points to 2,447 points. Brazil, the biggest
economy in Latin America, has been in turmoil since the beginning
of the year, when one of the country's most wealthy regions
announced a moratorium on debts to the central government. /All
papers/
As a result of a cave-in a coalmine in the Koroglu village of
Zonguldak yesterday, two people, Serdar Kuku aged 26 and Adem
Kuku aged 19, lost their lives. /Cumhuriyet/
A three-expert delegation from the World Nuclear Energy
Institution arrived in Istanbul yesterday to observe 15 people
injured during a radiation accident in the Ikitelli district of
Istanbul. Prof.Christopher Sharp noted that the treatment of the
injured was in progress and and said: "We have made some
recommendations". /Cumhuriyet/
Armenia has reacted against the 'Azerbaijani-Turkish Military
Pact' voiced by the Azerbaijani Foreign Political Advisor to the
Presidency, Vefa Gulizade. Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan
Oskanyan said that such a pact would cause polarization in the
region. Oskanyan noted that military cooperation between Armenia
and Russia was not aimed at a third party and said that the
reaction of Azerbaijan against this cooperation stemmed from its
likely negative effect on the solution of the Karabakh problem.
/Cumhuriyet/
It is reported that there has been no official reply to a
proposal made by the Greek Cypriot Administration for an
amendment to the agreement regarding the Russian-made S-300
missiles. According to Greek Cypriot radio, the Greek Cypriot
Administration and Greece have agreed upon the deployment of the
missiles on Crete. However some amendments should be made to the
agreement concerning the deployment of the missiles on Crete
instead of southern Cyprus. /Cumhuriyet/
Greece in its attempts to militarize the Aegean has come to the
last stages of an agreement wth the US Defence company Roytheon
Co. concerning the order for patriot missiles. The officials of
Roytheon Co. who noted that meetings had been held throughout
1998 to sell Patriot missiles worth $ 1.1 billion, noted that the
delivery of the Patriots to Greece would start in the near
future. In another development, Greece signed a new contract for
1999 worth $ 150 million for the defence system called HAWK 11,
again with the Roytheon Co. The company began to become known as
a producer of Patriot missiles following the Gulf War. The
General Director of the Company, William H. Swanson, said that
they would sign a contract with Greece amounting to $ 18 billion
until the end of the year. Greece which aims to deploy these
missiles in the Aegean region and Cyprus will strengthen its
defence system. /Turkiye/
The President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC),
Rauf Denktas, and the Deputy Special Envoy of the UN
Secretary-General, Ann Hercus, held a meeting yesterday. No
statement was made regarding the meeting held as part of the
shuttle diplomacy being carried out by Hercus between the two
sides in Cyprus. Hercus left Cyprus yesterday in order to meet
the UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan. /Cumhuriyet/
Two days after he formed the 56th government, Prime Minister
Bulent Ecevit made one of his first visits as the new Prime
Minister to Ankara's Security Department. The goal of the visit
was to raise his level of awareness with regard to the current
traffic problems in Turkey. Most of the discussion, however,
concerned Haluk Kirci, the man accused of the murders of six
Workers' Party (IP) members, an incident which became known as
the Bahcelievler massacre.
Responding to a question regarding whether the mysterious gaps in
information surrounding the incident could be filled in by
information that Haluk Kirci may provide, Ecevit said it would be
possible if Kirci were to actually 'provide information'. The
Head of the Security Department, Necati Bilican, stressed that
Kirci had once again declined to say anything when he was
questioned yesterday. /All papers/
According to a survey carried out in Germany, one out of every
two German citizens is against the implementation of dual
citizenship. While furnishing information regarding the new draft
law, German Interior Minister Otto Schilly said that the PKK
terrorists and Metin Kaplan would not be made German citizens.
According to a survey carried out by Forsa Research Institute for
the weekly 'Stern' magazine, 39 % of 1,000 people who
participated in the survey supported dual citizenship rights for
foreigners. /Cumhuriyet/
Turkish firms are highly interested in privatization in Bulgaria.
They have been successful in purchasing most of the
establishments in the chemical, iron and steel, food, textile and
tourism sectors. It is expected that Turkish investment in its
neighbour will reach $ 1 billion by the end of this year. Some of
the Turkish firms investing in Bulgaria are as follows: Sise Cam,
Isiklar Corp., Sudi Ozkan Company, Erdermir, Garipoglu Corpo.,
and Ceylan Corp. /Aksam/
The General Directorate of Economic Research and Evaluation of
the Foreign Trade Undersecretariat of the (DTM) announced that
competition would increase in Europe in line with the Euro and
that Turkish firms should seek partnership with European firms.
According to a report issued by DTM, it was recalled that 50
percent of Turkey's foreign trade was with the European Union
(EU); therefore, the Euro is of great importance for Turkey.
Also, it was added, almost 45 percent of foreign debts were in
European currency. Pointing out that the share of the EU
countries in foreign investment during the last five years in
Turkey was 70 percent, the report noted that there were three
million Turkish citizens living in EU countries, who had a total
of DM 21 billion savings in the Central Bank. /Aksam/
The Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association
(TUSIAD) issued a report about Turkey's picture in 2023. The
report discussed Turkey's soci-economic situation and made
predictions concerning population, urbanization and employment in
2023 in Turkey. According to the report there will be a
significant decrease in population, there will be more working
women, unemployment will be decreased step by step, urbanization
will increase, new economic centres will be established and the
Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP) will play a vital role in
Turkish economy in 2023.
The report announced six suggestions to grasp business
opportunities; the economic system should be re-organized to
harmonize with the global market economy, the local
administrative system should be supported, educational reform
should be sustained, social policies should be improved to the
benefit of social flexibility in working conditions should become
widespread and burdens such as income taxes on employing should
be decreased. /Milliyet/
The US Converse company decided to produce its textile goods
entirely in Turkey. The Chairman of Converse, Willy Umland and
the African and Middle East Director, Tony Keen came to Turkey to
discuss the issue with the Chairman of the Executive Board of
Converse in Turkey, Kerim Gozalan. Umland announced that they
wanted to start production as soon as possible. /Sabah/
Turkish pop singer Tarkan signed an agreement with Polygram last
summer. Since then, reported Sabah journalist Nurdan Bernard,
Tarkan has been rising in popularity in European music markets.
Bernard reminded her readers that all the tickets for the concert
that Tarkan would give on 27 January in Olympia, Paris had
already been sold out. She added: "Tarkan has been invited onto
almost every entertainment programme on television channels since
last September. As a result of his successful promotion by
Polygram, his CD are among the top five best-selling CDs. There
is great competition among French magazines to interview Tarkan.
/Sabah/
Milliyet columnist Sami Kohen evaluated the recent developments
in his article today. Kohen said that the first development in
the region had been the meeting between the two Kurdish leaders
in Northern Iraq. He noted that at the end of the meeting a
decision was taken to put an end to the presence of the PKK in
the region. Kohen said: "It is known that the leader of the
Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), Mesut Barzani, does not allow
the activities of the PKK within the region under his control and
gives support to the operations of the Turkish Armed Forces in
the region. At the meeting it was understood that the leader of
the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), Celal Talabani, had
decided to ban the activities of the PKK." Kohen evaluated the
results of the meeting as follows: "If Barzani and Talabani are
acting together against the PKK and cooperate with Turkey, the
terrorist organization will lose its effect in the region after
Syria."
Sami Kohen noted that the other development in Iraq was the
tension between the regime of Saddam Hussein and the US
administration. Kohen claimed that if an American aircraft was
hit by Iraqi powers, there would be serious repercussions in the
region. Kohen added, "The US aircraft are based in Incirlik
Airbase. Thus, recent incidents in Northern Iraq area cause of
anxiety among Turkish diplomatic and military circles. However,
the real anxiety is that the US forces will bomb the region again
immediately after the Festival at the end of the Muslim religious
month of Ramadan. Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said that
although the US administration had not asked to use the Incirlik
base, such a request would harm Turkey's relations with Iraq and
would damage the ongoing cooperation atmosphere towards America."
Kohen concluded his article saying that it was a pity that the
chance for diplomatic solution was less than the possibility of
clashes. /Milliyet/
Cuneyt Arcayurek, a columnist from the daily 'Cumhuriyet'
newspaper, says the following in his article today: "The Chairman
of the Motherland Party (ANAP), Mesut Yilmaz, who delivered a
speech to his party group yesterday said that the 56th minority
government, headed by Ecevit, would continue on the
'understanding of governmental activities' similar to those of
the 55th governnment. This statement clarifies that the minority
government will definitely be the successor of the Yilmaz
government. Actually, the programme of the Ecevit government
proves this reality. Ecevit has devoted wide coverage to the
achievements of the Yilmaz government in his programme.
However, maybe because of the brief government agenda, some
sensitive issues are not mentioned. For instance, the decisions
regarding the distribution of the network of electricity power
plants implemented just before the fall of the Yilmaz government
are not mentioned. The former Eenergy Minister, Cumhur Ersumer,
transferred the 14 electricity distribution networks and eight
electricity power plants to big conglomorates on January 7-8. An
interesting point is that on January 8 Ecevit was given the
mandate to form the new government. While the Democratic Left
Party (DSP) leader was seeking ways to form the government, ANAP
was distributing the power plants. The 55th government did not
permit the Ecevit government to deal with the distribution of the
power plants and did not postpone the decision for even two days.
This hurry raises some questions in our minds". /Cumhuriyet/
SHIELD FOR 50 YEARS OF SERVICE
THREE INDEPENDENTS JOIN DYP
PROSECUTOR CALLS FOR LIFTING OF IMMUNITY OF THREE DYP DEPUTIES
ECEVIT PROTESTING THE AGAINST USE OF INCIRLIK
US OPERATIONS FROM INCIRLIK BASE IRK ANKARA
ECEVIT IN FOREIGN PRESS
NEW GOVERNMENT TARGETS SOCIAL SECURITY
YSK TO RECEIVE TL 19 TRILLION FOR ELECTION EXPENDITURE
IMF DELEGATION TO VISIT TURKEY
RECORD FINE TO THE FORMER DIRECTOR OF TUPRAS
RAMADAN DINNER GIVEN BY PATRIARCH
TURCO-SPANISH RELATIONS
FIRE IN A VESSEL OFF AHIRKAPI
OCALAN TRIES TO FRIGHTEN PKK MEMBERS
ITALIAN PRESS ON OCALAN
ITALY LIKELY TO TRY OCALAN
TURKISH STOCKS PLUNGE 8.26 % OVER BRAZILIAN WOES
COLLAPSE IN COALMINE
THREE EXPERTS IN ISTANBUL
REACTION AGAINST TURKISH-AZERBAIJANI PACT
S-300 MISSILES TO CRETE
GRRECE BUYING PATRIOT MISSILES
DENKTAS-HERCUS MEETING
KIRCI REMAINS SILENT
DUAL CITIZENSIP RESEARCH
TURKISH INVESTORS SETTLE IN BULGARIA
EURO REQUIRES EUROPEAN PARTNERS
TURKEY'S PICTURE IN 2023
TURKEY'S PRIDE
TARKAN IN FRANCE
"GOOD AND BAD NEWS FROM IRAQ" -BY SAMI KOHEN (MILLIYET)
POWER PLANT-BANK-MEDIA -BY CUNEYT ARCAYUREK (CUMHURIYET)