DEMIREL IN ALGERIA

President Suleyman Demirel went to Algeria yesterday for a two-day visit after receiving an invitation from his Algerian counterpart, Liamine Zeroual, the Anatolia news agency reports. Before departing from Ankara's Esenboga Airport, Demirel said that the strengthening of ties between the two countries is crucial to maintaining peace and stability in the region. Demirel added that Algeria is an important trade partner for Turkey, pointing out that natural gas imported from Algeria has helped the Republic meet its energy needs. After a face-to-face meeting with Zeroual on the first day of his visit, Demirel noted that the Algerian President's efforts to maintain secular democracy in his country are praiseworthy. During his visit, Demirel will explore various strategies to increase the trade volume between the two countries, currently at $1.3 billion, as well as potential areas for further cooperation. Demirel described his visit as a 'belated' one since there have been no Presidential visits between the two countries during the past 10 years.

ECEVIT: "DYP AND ANAP COULD HELP"

Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said that two important laws should be passed in the Turkish Parliament as soon as as possible and called for the assistance of the True Path Party (DYP) and the Motherland Party (ANAP). Ecevit wanted their deputies to participate in Assembly initiatives to enact the 1999 Budget Draft Law and the Banks Draft Law. /Hurriyet/

TEMIZEL: "IMF WILL PROVIDE FINANCIAL SUPPORT"

Zekeriya Temizel, the Minister of Finance, said that he presumes the IMF will provide financial support to Turkey. Reminding that Turkey and the IMF had signed a close watch agreement within the framework of the anti-inflation program put into effect by early 1998, Temizel said: "When we initiated the 3-year anti-inflation plan, the IMF was suspicuous about the feasibility of such a project. However, despite the global crisis, Turkey implemented this program as had been planned, and it achieved a quite remarkable result in 1998. Institutions like the IMF are not mere spectators. Admittedly, this program should have been financially supported." Temizel also noted that the fate of this support will be determined during the visit of the IMF council coming to Turkey tomorrow. /Milliyet/

TURKEY EXTENDS HER COOPERATION TO WASHINGTON OVER IRAQI AFFAIRS

Following a detailed discussion on Iraq with US Ambassador Mark Parris, Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit stated yesterday that Turkey is reviewing its approach towards Iraq. The hour-long meeting between Ambassador Parris and Ecevit, which also included officials from the US Embassy known to be experts on Iraq, mainly focused on the mutual exchange of both parties' views on Iraq. After the talks with Ecevit, which took place at the request of the Americans side, Parris said that the US sees Turkey as an important country to consult concerning the future of Iraq. Parris summarized the US objectives on Iraq as follows: 1. to contain Iraq's military threat to its neighbours; 2. to respond to the vital humanitarian needs of the Iraqi people by permitting imports into Iraq; 3. to seek a strategy which will help Iraq return to the international community. Ecevit said that efforts to organize Iraqi opposition abroad could hardly yield positive results. "Even the Kurds in Iraq have declared this view in the last few days" he added. /All papers/

RICCIARDONE: "NOTHING WILL BE DONE WITHOUT INFORMING TURKEY

Frank Ricciardone, the Undersecretary of the US Embassy in Ankara who was appointed head of the US efforts to overthrow Saddam three days ago, paid a visit to the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs to meet Turkish officials yesterday. Regarding his duties, Ricciardone said: "I am a special representative posted to reintegrate Iraq with the world. My brief is not to overthrow the Iraqui regime, as alleged, but to assure that Iraq can stand on its feet once again. From a long-term perspective, this is more stringent than a change in the political regime. The USA deems the removal of the existing regime a necessary development in favour of Iraq. I will do nothing which Turkey will be unaware of and I will fulfill my duties with special regard for her interests." /Sabah/

PARLIAMENT TO DISCUSS BUDGET ON FEBRUARY 3

The 1999 budget will be discussed during the General Session of the Turkish Parliament on Wednesday, February 3. Due to the establishment of the new government, the Planning and Budget Commission will be re-established. /Hurriyet/

PKK: OCALAN PASSED THROUGH RUSSIA

The PKK verified that Ocalan had gone to another country via Russia. Mahir Velad, the representative of the Kurdistan National Salvation Front, noted that Ocalan used a special air corridor with the plane provided for him, without mentioning when he had arrived in and left Russia. Velad argued that the Russian administration had not been of about these developments and Ocalan had received support solely from some `friends' and the `representatives of certain political parties'. /Milliyet/

ARMENIA: `DO NOT BOTHER US FOR OCALAN'

Armenians have become angry over allegations that the PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan might be in Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenian Foreign Ministry officials pointed out that Ocalan was neither in Armenia nor in Nagorno-Karabakh. Armenian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Agop Arabasyan said: "Ocalan is neither here nor in Nagorno-Karabakh. When Ocalan's location has been determined, Turkish officials will understand this reality. Please do not bother us on this issue anymore. The application by Turkish officials to visit Armenia may be allowed following the normal procedures". /Hurriyet/

THE SO-CALLED KURDISH PARLIAMENT IN EXILE

Turkish Ambassador to Madrid, Gun Gur, reported that the decision concerning the so-called 'Kurdish parliament in exile' which wanted to meet in the Basque region of Spain, had been postponed for a month to enable the Basque parliamentary bureau to gather more information on the subject. In an article published in one of the leading Spanish newspapers, 'El Pais' it was stated that Spain was afraid of initiating a crisis with Turkey if the so-called Kurdish parliament met in Vittoria. The article also wrote that Turkish-Spanish relations depended on the decision taken by the Basque parliament. /Cumhuriyet/

DENIAL FROM KUWAIT

The Kuwaiti Ambassador to Ankara, El Murad, in a statement to the Anatolian Agency, said that he had read the news about Ocalan being in Kuwait with great surprise. He added that this news was not true and such a situation would not coincide with Kuwaiti foreign policy. /Cumhuriyet/

D-8 DIPLOMATS IN ISTANBUL

The sixth meeting of the "Cooperation in Development Conference" is beginning today in Istanbul with the participation of those countries known as the D-8. The conference will be chaired by Deputy Undersecretary For the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mithat Balkan. The Foreign Ministers of Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria and Pakistan will attend the conference. Foreign Minister Ismail Cem will host a luncheon in honour of those participating, at which he will deliver a speech. /Cumhuriyet/

TOWARDS THE UPCOMING POLLS

The order in which political parties will be listed on ballot papers for the upcoming parliamentary and local elections has been determined by a visual aid drawn up by the Supreme Electoral Board (YSK). According to the visual aid, the Freedom and Solidarity Party (ODP) will appear first on ballot papers and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) will be last. Elections will be held on April 18 with 21 political parties participating. /All papers/

DYP: NO ALLIANCE WITH FP

The True Path Party (DYP) issued a declaration denying claims that it will enter into an alliance with the Virtue Party (FP) concerning metropolitan Mayors in the forthcoming elections. It is stated in the declaration that the DYP formulated its election strategy to achieve power on its own and, therefore, any attempt to show the DYP in alliance with any other party would be day-dreaming. /Turkiye/

RECENT DISASTER JUSTIFIES TURKISH WORRIES OVER STRAITS

Although the fire that broke out on the Turkish oil tanker 'Marmara' three days ago has been extinguished and the cooling down process has begun, the risk of another explosion remains high enough to prevent anyone boarding the vessel, the Anatolia news agency reports. A Foreign Ministry statement emphasized that the recent incident justified Turkey's sensitivity on the issue of oil transportation via the Straits. The Turkish Straits and the Marmara Sea must not be allowed to become an oil pipeline, the statement stressed.

COUNCIL OF MINISTERS RATIFIES MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING

The Council of Ministers ratified yesterday the memorandum of understanding prepared during the third period meetings of the Turkey-Belgium-Luxembourg Joint Economic Commission. The memorandum of understanding issued in yesterday's Official Gazette pointed out the opportunities to improving the present economic cooperation and trading relations between Turkey and Belgium, the Anatolia news agency reports.

XANTER CALLS FOR DIALOGUE

The Chairman of the Commission of the European Union (EU), Jacques Xanter, said that they wanted to revive dialogue with Turkey. Xanter delivered a speech at a meeting of the EU Council and pointed out the importance of achieving reforms within the EU, the expansion process, the preparation of candidates and the pre-membership period. Xanter noted that the Turkish Strategy, approved and supported during the Cardiff and Vienna Summits should be implemented by the current German Term-Presidency and said that important steps should be taken to reach this goal. /Hurriyet/

SHEVARDNADZE: "BAKU-CEYHAN HAS NO ALTERNATIVE"

The Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze recalled that Baku-Ceyhan Pipeline had no alternative. Shevardnadze noted that a decision on the route of the oil pipeline to transport oil to world markets would be taken within this year. Stating that he would not participate in a meeting of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) to be held in Moscow today, Shevardnadze said that he would visit Turkey on February 26 as they had earlier discussed with the Turkish President Suleyman Demirel, the Anatolia news agency reports.

TURKISH AND RUSSIAN OFFICIALS HOLD TALKS

Turkish and Russian military and diplomatic officials came together yesterday in Ankara to discuss adapting the Conventional Forces in Europe treaty (CFE) to changing security dynamics. The visiting delegation reportedly includes the Russian General Staff's First Deputy Head and the Head of the Disarmament Branch. Turkey and Russia are expected to finalize their CFE negotiations later this year on November 18-19 when an Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) conference is scheduled to be held in Istanbul. /All papers/

TURKISH AND ITALIAN DEPUTIES CLASH

Diplomatic crisis which had erupted because of the chief of the terrorist PKK organization was also on the agenda of the Council of Europe yesterday. During the discussion of the report on Turkey, prepared following the guidelines of the committee responsible for monitoring the responsibilities and obligations of the countries within the Council of Europe Parlimantery Assembly, Italian deputy Mario Brunetti criticised Turkish policy and claimed that Ankara was trying to pressurize the Italian government unjustly. Turkish Deputy Lale Aytaman, who took the stand after Brunetti, stated that thousands of civilans had been killed in Turkey on the instructions of the terrorist's chief and accused the Italian deputy of misunderstanding the facts or distorting them. /Cumhuriyet/

AZERIS WANT JOINT U.S. AND TURKISH BASES

Oil-rich Azerbaijan wants the US and Turkey to establish military bases on its territory to counter what it says are Russian threats to its independence, its top foreign policy official said yesterday. Vafa Guluzade, adviser to President Haydar Aliyev, accused Moscow of arming Azerbaijan's arch-enermy Armenia, with which it is locked in a bloody struggle over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh. /All papers/

TURKISH AIR FORCE IN NATO MILITARY FORCE FOR KOSOVO

It is reported that the Turkish Air Force will participate in the NATO Military Force, established to deal with the incidents in Kosovo, with a total of 11 F-16 aircraft. According to a written statement by the General Secretariat of the Office of General Staff, the Turkish Air Force would take part in the military force to stop brutality in Kosovo, the Anatolia news agency reports.

CALL FOR PEACE IN THE AEGEAN

The Turkish General Staff warned that an unintentional conflict could flare up in the Aegean if the problems with Greece are not solved. The General Staff called on Greece to cooperate in a spirit of understandingto make the Aegean "a sea of peace". The Turkish Armed Forces had asked for a dialogue between the two countries to bring stability and security to the region, and warned that if friction between the two countries continued 'unintentional conflicts'could flare up. In the report issued by the General Staff it was stressed that if a 'radicalchange' was seen in Greek policies, Turkey would reciprocate. In the report prepared by the General staff entitled "The Aegean-Turkey-Greece-Cyprus", the problems between Turkey and Greece were examined. The main problems examined were the violation of territorial rights (discussing the extent of territorial waters), the exploitation of the islands by Greece (explaining how Greece was militarizing the islands against the provisions of the agreements which left the islands in her hands), the ownership of many islets and rocks in the Aegean, the violation of air space over the Aegean by Greece, as well as a possible solution to the Cyprus problem by proposing the establishment of a confederation on the island. /Cumhuriyet/

SYRIAN DEFENCE MINISTER DUE IN RUSSIA

A Syrian military delegation led by their Defence Minister, Mustapha Tlass, will visit Russia in early February as part of Damascus' efforts to modernize its army with Russian weaponry, the Anatolia news agency reported from Moscow. Anatolia quoted the Russian news agency Interfax as saying that Tlass' visit will take place between February 3-13 and will focus on the purchase of surface-to-air S-300 missiles from Russia.

TURKEY SHRUGS OFF BORROWING CONCERNS

The Turkish State Minister responsible for the economy, Hikmet Ulugbay, told Reuters that debt servicing in the first four months of 1998 would total $24 billion, including $1.8 billion of foreign debt. "There is no problem with domestic debt. It will be paid as it has in the past without any difficulty" he said in a joint interview with Treasury Undersecretary Yener Dincmen. /All papers/

DINCMEN: "S&P WILL NOT EFFECT BORROWING"

Yener Dıncmen, the Undersecretary of the Treasury, said that the meetings concerning credits from the World Bank, in order to increase the exports and find solutions to the problems of the real sector, are in progress. Dıncmen noted that Standard & Poors' lowering of Turkey's grade from positive to stable last week will not have a negative effect on foreign loans, mainly because the major determinant of foreign borrowing is Turkey's own performance which has shown itself to be positive for 1998. Dıncmen said: "Our warranty is the government's statements and decisiveness in not applying election economics, and its commitment to necessary reforms and the continuity of financial discipline in 1999 as in 1998." /Milliyet/

ALEWITES SEEK LEFT-WING ALLY

On the eve of the elections, Alewite-Bektasi communities have decided to unite their associations, foundations and federations, both in Turkey and in Europe, and to form a common platform for discussion in order to express their identities and their demands of the government. It was stated in a press release issued by the Haci Bektasi Veli Anatolian Culture Foundation that the Alewite-Bektasi communities wanted a left-wing ally for the coming elections. /All papers/

THE FIRST STEP FOR TURKISH TELECOM

The first steps are being taken to release the shares of Turkish Telecom, which will most possibly generate the largest revenue among the privatizations to be carried out this year. The Office of Privatization Administration (OIB) will soon begin to receive applications for preparing investors' portfolio concerning the release of the Telecom. According to the schedule of the OIB, 20% of the shares will be privatized en masse, while 14% of them will be released by means of national and foreign public tenders. /Turkiye/

GARIPOGLU BUYS REFINERY IN ROMANIA

Akmaya, one of the corporations owned by Hayyam Garipoglu, bought 65% of the Petromedia Refinery on the Black Sea coast of Romania for $725 million. Meanwhile, Radu Sarbu, the Chief of the Romanian Privatization Administration (FPS), declared that this $725 million also includes improvement investments and the clearing of corporation debts. /Milliyet/

REACTION TO CHINA

The Federation of Eurasia Turkish Associations sharply reacted to the decision by the Chinese Administration to move military units and security forces to Sincan, Uigur Autonomous Region (Eastern Turkistan) with the aim of preventing possible demonstrations. The Chairman of the Federation Ismail Cengiz stated that taking military action against innocent people with the excuse of claiming that they were preparing for an uprising , could not be condoned in any way. /Cumhuriyet/

TURKISH BUSINESSMEN TO VISIT RUSSIA

A 100-man Turkish business delegation will visit Russia on February 8-11. It is reported that information will be received from the Moscow Regional Foreign Economic Relations Minister, Nikolay Svistunov, and high-level officials concerning the situation of the Russian economy. /Aksam/

DRUG OPERATION IN BIRECIK

During an operation in the Birecik district of Sanliurfa yesterday, 5.3 kilos of hashish were seized. Two people were taken into custody regarding the incident, the Anatolia news agency reports.

RECORD PRODUCTION IN GAP DAMS

The dams in the Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP) Region experienced a 'Golden Year' as far as electricity production in 1998 was concerned. From the dams of Keban, Ataturk and Karakaya, 25.9 billion kilowatt/hours of electricity were produced last year. Officials noted that in 1997 24.2 billion kilowatt/hours of electricity were produced from these three dams and added: "The construction of the planned dams, thermal power plants and other energy investments should be completed as soon as possible". /Hurriyet/

A MESSAGE FROM PRESIDENT DEMIREL CONCERNING ENERGY SAVING WEEK

President Suleyman Demirel issued a statement oconcerning the Energy Saving Week and said that the establishment of nuclear power stations should be accelerated. He added that the system should be renewed to reduce the loss of energy within the national electricity distribution network and added that renewable energy sources such as wind, sun and hydrothermal power should be utilized. President Demirel said that Turkey had used its existing energy in the best way, but with the increase of energy requirements a bottleneck was being experienced. /Cumhuriyet/

`TL 50 TRILLION OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS IN GAP'

Dogan Altinbilek, the Director General of the State Water Works (DSI), said yesterday that agricultural products which accounted for TL 50 trillion were realized in the irrigated fields of the Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP) Region in 1998, the Anatolia news agency reports. Stating that only 47,000 hectares of fields in Sanliurfa and Harran plains can be irrigated since 1995, Altinbilek said that they increased the amount of field which can be irrigated to 100,000 hectares in 1998.

14,500 ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS FROM 43 DIFFERENT COUNTRIES

A total of 14,500 illegal immigrants from 43 different countries who entered Turkey illegally were captured in northwestern Edirne city last year, the Anatolia news agency reports.

US TV CHANNEL PRAISES TURKISH CUISINE

The CLTV channel braodcasting in the Central and Western regions of the US has promoted Istanbul cuisine in a long programme on Ottoman and Turkish cuisine. During the programme, broadcast on the TV channel owned by the Chicago Tribune Newspaper, it was noted that Turkish cuisine also affected the Middle East and Europe. /Hurriyet/

RECORD LEVEL OF PRODUCTION IN YATAGAN

Yatagan Thermal Power Station, with an installed capacity of 3x210 megawatts, ranked first among thermal power stations in Turkey with a record production of energy. The power station generated approximately four billion kwh of energy. /Cumhuriyet/

FROM THE COLUMNS ... FROM THE COLUMNS ... FROM THE COLUMNS

NOTES ON ALGERIA - BY TAHA AKYOL (MILLIYET)

Taha Akyol, a columnist in the `Milliyet' daily, reflects on the Turco-Algerian relations, and the similarities and differences between the two countries on the occasion of President Demirel's visit to Algeria. Akyol writes: "To improve our relationship with Algeria has been a `state decision'. President Demirel's visit is an important step with this end in mind. The diplomatic respectability of Demirel renders this visit more significant. Algeria is an important country because certain tendencies against Turkey frequently emerge in the Arabian Conference. Thus, Turkey has to develop its special relations wlth those Arab states akin to friendship. In November 1997, during the Islamic Conference in Tehran, there also emerged a wave against Turkey, but Algeria's attitude was pleasing concerning the issues of Cyprus and Western Tracia, departing from the Arabic majority. Ankara has received the message. Despite their intertwined histories covering more than three centuries, the paths of Turkey and Algeria separated in the mid-twentieth century. While Turkey faced towards the West and attended NATO and the European Council, Algeria established an anti-Western, authoritarian regime in the early 1960s and integrated itself more with the Third World. The authoritarian and state-centred regime of the Algerian Liberation Front (FNL) resulted in the disenchantment of the people from politics and generated its own symmetric foil: the fundamentalist movement in Algeria (FIS) has inherited political violence and authoritative methods from the secular FNL regime. As President Demirel noted in an answer to a question on the plane, "Even if they seem to have similar aspects, the conditions in Turkey and those in Algeria are radically different." By virtue of the democratic tradition in Turkey, neither the regime nor the Islamist movement in Turkey resembles those in Algeria. The Virtue Party (FP) movement here is integrated with the system. Europe does not permit visas to be given to Algerians because of its fear of terrorist violence. Yet the Algerians are coming to Turkey! To say, then, for the Algerians, Turkey is a country like Europe. We are informed that in 1997, about 50 thousand Algerians visited Turkey for both commerce and recreation and Turkey gained a total revenue of $250 million from this business. Hence, the separated routes of Turkey and Algeria are converging once again on the way to economic and political liberalism today."

SADDAM WILL GO HOWEVER WHO IS GOING TO COME? - BY ENIS BERBEROGLU (HURRIYET)

"If we are not mistaken, the first reaction to the insubstantial US policy on Iraq originated from Ankara. Bulent Ecevit said during a crisis last year that Washington should announce its plan on the future of Iraq following the war. US silence in the past year confirmed Ankara's justified concern. Two basic problems concerning the US policy on Iraq could not been solved: 1. Who is going to topple Saddam? 2. Who is going to come to power in place of Saddam? A dissenting voice has already been heard in the Iraqi opposition, to which the US Congress has sent $97 million in aid. The Chairman of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), Mesud Barzani, who is due to receive shares of this money, rejected this proposal and said: "We have no intention of receiving this aid". Meanwhile, the US has been content with the diplomatic victory gained during a meeting of the Arab Union's Foreign Ministers; the Arab Union refrained from making any statements supporting Iraq. However, it is not possible for any Arab country to help in the operation against the territorial integrity of Iraq. The unwillingness of the Kurds and Arabs is clear. The Iraqi Turkmens, the third largest ethnic group, have not actually been taken into consideration. Then the same questions are on the agenda again: Who is going to topple Saddam and who is going to come to power instead of Saddam?"

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