ECEVIT-AZIZ MEETING IN ANKARA

While US jets were bombing Iraq, Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz was having talks in Ankara with his "old friend", Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, in an effort to enhance economic ties between the two countries. After his meeting with Aziz, Ecevit said that proposals had been brought to the table which could open a new chapter in economic relations between Turkey and Iraq. Ecevit said that the Turkish side had expressed its displeasure over the possibility of the division of Iraq and also its worries about the ongoing UN embargo on Iraq. Turkey presented a new plan to Iraq in an effort to enhance economic relations with Baghdad. The use of Incirlik Air Base, Operation Northern Watch and the lack of authority in Northern Iraq were among the topics of the meeting between Ecevit and Aziz. /Turkiye/

PKK REPORT GIVEN TO AZIZ

Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit handed a 45-article file to Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tarik Aziz concerning the PKK activities in Iraq and Iraqi support for the PKK. Ecevit asked Aziz to cut this support immediately on behalf of future friendly Turco-Iraqi ties. Meanwhile, Aziz wanted Ecevit to prevent the US from using the Incirlik Air Base against Iraq. Ecevit replied that they could not condone any air attack from Turkey, unless there were real reasons for it. Ecevit remarked that US airmen only attacked Iraqi targets in order to to defend themselves. Meanwhile, presidential sources announced yesterday that the meeting between President Suleyman Demirel and Tarik Aziz meeting had been cancelled. /Milliyet/Turkiye/

IRAQ: "INCIRLIK WILL ALSO BE TARGETED"

Iraqi Deputy Head of State, Taha Yasin Ramazan, said yesterday that if flights in the no-fly zone continue, Iraq would carry out attacks against British and US bases in Saudi Arabai and Kuwait and against Incirlik Air Base in Turkey. In a statement read out on Monte Carlo radio, Ramazan said: "If attacks against Iraq continue from Incirlik, it will also be targeted". Meanwhile, US aircrafts which left Incirlik Air Base yesterday attacked positions in northern Iraq. Iraqi officials noted that during these bombings, five civilians died and 22 were wounded. /Cumhuriyet/

AZERI FOREIGN MINISTER IN TURKEY

Tevfik Zulfikarov, the Azerbaijani Foreign Minister, arrived in Turkey yesterday as the guest of his Turkish counterpart Ismail Cem, the Anatolia news agency reports. The Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying that Zulfikarov's visit to Turkey will create the opportunity of further improving the friendly relations already existing between Turkey and Azerbaijan. His meetings are expected to focus on bilateral relations as well as the latest developments in the process of finding a solution to the question of Nagorno-Karabakh. The Baku-Ceyhan oil pipeline project will also be brought onto the agenda of the meetings.

OCALAN IN KENYA

It is claimed that the PKK leader, Abdullah Ocalan, has been handed over to Turkish officials. According to Greek journalists, Ocalan, whose first stop was Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, was captured during a joint operation carried out by Turkish and Greek intelligence services and had been delivered up to Turkish officials. A Greek correspondent said that officials from the Greek Embassy in Kenya had also confirmed the truth of the incident. /Sabah/

OCALAN BEGS RUSSIA

The PKK leader, Abdullah Ocalan, has issued a similar statement in Moscow to the ones he had previously made in other countries. Ocalan begged Russian Prime Minister Yevgeni Primakov to remove the obstacles in the path of granting him asylum. Ocalan, who made a statement yesterday through ERNK, the political wing of the PKK, said that he urged Russia, Italy and Greece to grant him asylum. Ocalan expected special sensitivity on the part of Primakov and urged him to consider the Duma's point of view on this issue. /Sabah/

GREECE: "WE DO NOT WANT ANY TROUBLE WITH TURKEY"

Nearly 150 members of the PKK terrorist organization, who gathered in front of the Greek Parliament building yesterday in Athens, held demonstrations demanding that the PKK leader, Abdullah Ocalan, be granted asylum. Security was tight and the police took one PKK member into custody. The Greek Government Spokesman, Dimitris Reppas, said that Greece rejected Ocalan's demand for asylum and pointed out that Greece was determined not to increase the strain on already-frayed Turkish-Greek relations. Reppas said: "We do not want Ocalan in Greece". /Sabah/

FOREIGN PRESS ON OCALAN

A leading newspaper published in Belgium, Le Soir, said yesterday that the PKK leader, Abdullah Ocalan, who could not find any place to stay, had become tired. An article in the newspaper entitled 'The endless journey of the unwanted man' stated that the Turkish government was determined to find him, even if he were in Hell. The article added that Ocalan had been abandoned. /Sabah/

FIRST REACTION AGAINST BASQUE REGION FROM IZMIR

The Izmir Chamber of Commerce (IZTO) reacted harshly against the Basque Regional Parliament in Spain. The IZTO Chairman, Ekrem Demirtas, said that they had decided not to participate in the commercial delegation to visit Bilbao on March 1, 1999. A decision had been reached to allow the so-called Kurdish Parliament-in-exile to hold a meeting in the building of the Basque Regional Parliament. /Aksam/

KILLING IN AFYON PRISON

The suspect in the Ozdemir Sabanci muder case, Mustafa Duyar, was attacked and murdered in Afyon Prison where he was serving his jail sentence. Meanwhile, Selcuk Parsadan, who was in the same prison convicted of fraud, was seriously injured. Following the incident, police and gendarmerie officers tightened security in the area. /All papers/

YILMAZ: 18 APRIL ELECTION IS A REFERENDUM

The Motherland Party (ANAP) leader asked whether Turkey would go back to a dark and chaotic time or whether it will move ahead into the 21st century by voting for ANAP in the upcoming elections. Yilmaz said yesterday in Ankara that the upcoming local and parliamentary elections set for 18 April would be a kind of referendum that will reflect the will of the Turkish people. Announcing his party's candidates for the parliamentary elections to members of the press, Yilmaz said that the 18 April elections would determine the government that would carry Turkey into the 21st century. /Milliyet/

THE US COMMANDER IN ANKARA

The US Air Force Commander responsible for Training, General Lloyd Newten started his Ankara visit yesterday. Newten visited Ataturk's Mausoleum accompanied by the US Ambassador to Ankara, Mark Parris. Newten said that his visit reflected the importance that the US attached to Turkey on military issues. Meanwhile, Ambassador Parris noted the importance of Turco-American relations and the uneasiness that they felt at the visit of Tarik Aziz to Turkey. /Milliyet/

TURKISH SOLDIERS IN AZERBAIJAN

It is reported that Azerbaijan has started initiatives to deploy Turkish soldiers within its territories due to the uneasiness that it felt due to close Russian-Armenian cooperation. The Azerbaijani Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tevfik Zulfugarov, began his official visit to Turkey yesterday. Azerbaijani diplomatic sources reported that Russia was still sending arms to Armenia and this had caused a change in the balance of power in the region. The same sources noted that Turkish soldiers in Azerbaijan would be a way of protecting the security of the Baku-Ceyhan oil pipeline. /Milliyet/

TEMIZEL ORDERS TO BE IMPARTIAL

The chief fiscal authorities of 80 provinces and the Regional Directors of the Inland Revenue Department met in Ankara on Monday. Finance Minister Zekeriya Temizel said that those who have not paid any tax for years have made their 15 percent tax obligation a major problem for the country. "It was compulsory to ease the financial burden of the masses in 1998. Major changes have already taken effect in 1999," said Temizel. Fiscal administrations never use taxation as a means of blackmail or to threaten people, said Temizel. He ordered the fiscal administration to stay impartial and stick to the letter of the Laws before the 18 April General Elections. /Turkiye/

WORLD BANK'S REPRESENTATIVE IN TURKEY

Johannes Linn, World Bank Deputy Chairman responsible for the European region including Turkey, will be in Ankara today for a one-day visit on his way to Russia. Linn will be received by Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit and Deputy Prime Minister Hikmet Ulugbay. The World Bank's financial support for Turkey will be discussed during the visit. Before his departure, Linn is expected to hold a press briefing in order to inform the public about his meetings in Turkey. /Milliyet/

TWO TREASURY BONDS

The Treasury will put two bonds on the open market today. With these two bonds, one of them for six months and the other for 392 days, a minimum of TL 650 trillion and a maximum of TL 800 trillion in borrowing is aimed at being raised. It is expected that individuals and foreign investors will be interested in the bonds due to their short terms. /Sabah/

TOFAS AUTOMOBILE IN EGYPT

Turkish private automobile producer TOFAS announced that they would increase their share of the world market in 1999. A Spokesman for TOFAS, Jan Nahum, said that they would start to produce TOFAS Fiat 178 cars in Egypt and Russia next September. He added that they would also develop a seven-people capacity Kartal people-carrier for Egypt. "In September we will also start to produce Palio cars in Egypt. TOFAS's Dogan and Sahin models are also at the top of the table in the market in Egypt," Nahum said. /Turkiye/Hurriyet/

FOREIGN INVESTMENT INTERESTS IN TURKEY'S WASTE

The Minister for the Environment, Fevzi Aytekin said that private German firms had asked to establish a waste disposal and recycling facility in Turkey. Aytekin added that the facility would be established along build-operate-transfer lines. He remarked that, in addition, Japan companies wanted to take part in such a project. /Milliyet/

NOVARTIS INVESTS IN TURKEY

The Swedish medicine and food company, Novartis AG, stated that it would invest $80 million in the construction of a new production facility in Turkey. According to a statement made by the Turkish Coordinator of Novartis, Semiha Baban, the facility planned to be built in Kurtkoy, would double their current production capacity. Baban noted that exports would also increase. /Sabah/

OYMEN WITHDRAWS FROM CANDIDACY IN FAVOUR OF WOMEN

Altan Oymen, a famous journalist and currently the Republican People's Party (CHP) Istanbul MP, declared that he is withdrawing his Parliamentary candidacy through the party administration quota in order to protest against the relatively low numbers of women nominated from places where the chance of being elected is high. Oymen said, "This situation undermines one of the fundamental goals of our party envisioned for this election. The only way to compensate for this deficiency is to assign more places to women in the former rows of the party administration quota. Therefore I am withdrawing my candidacy in order to facilitate this possibility." /Hurriyet/

CONSTRUCTION FINISHES ON BAKU-SUPSA PIPELINE

It is reported that the Tekfen Construction Co. is to finish the construction of the Georgian component of the Baku-Supsa pipeline which will form part of the Azeri oil transportation project. In this way, the entire construction of the Baku-Supsa pipeline will have been finished by the end of this month. /Hurriyet/

ATATURK IN RUSSIAN MAGAZINE

One of the leading life-style magazines published in Russia, XXL, has given wide coverage to Ataturk, the founder of the Republic of Turkey. An article in the magazine said: "The mausoleum of Lenin could be demolished, however Ataturk's Anitkabir (Mausoleum) could never be ruined since he is the real 'father' of the Turks". The article added that Ataturk was a great reformist and statesman. The article also remarked on the cooperation between Ataturk and Lenin. /Sabah/

MODERN WEAPONS FOR THE TURKISH MILITARY

The efforts begun to modernize the Turkish Armed Forces are rapidly moving ahead. In place of the G-3 rifles now in the inventory of the Turkish Army, the Machine and Chemicals Industry Corp.(MKEK) will produce 5.56 mm. rifles, for which production lines have already been planned. In the beginning, MKEK will produce 20,000 rifles annually. Meanwhile, it is reported that the company is also implementing a project in order to produce 40 mm.artillery guns. /Turkiye/

MEDAL FOR ERKIN FROM HUNGARY

The Chairman of the Turkish-Hungarian Business Council, Tugrul Erkin, will be presented with a medal for his contributions to commercial relations between the two countries. Erkin, who contributed to the free-trade agreement between Turkey and Hungary, said that Hungary enjoys an important position in Turkey's eyes. Erkin added that the trade volume between Turkey and Hungary, which amounted to $168 million in 1991, had increased by 100 %. /Sabah/

EXPLORATIONS BENEATH MARMARA SEA

The German research vessel Meteor has conducted explorations and an observation programme beneath the Marmara Sea for three weeks with the help of Turkish scientists. It has been discovered that the Marmara Sea is clear. The delegation headed by Prof.P.E.Halbach, took underwater photographs of the Marmara Sea. Turkish scientist Prof.Asaf Pekdeger from the Berlin Freie University also participated in the exploration. /Sabah/

RELIGIOUS FAITH TOURISM

It is reported that religious faith tourism will constitute an important part of Cappadocia's potential in the year 2000, the anniversary of the birth of Jesus Christ. The Chairman of the Cappadocia Tourist Agencies' Association, Ahmet Bayram, said that during the celebration of the millenium, ruins in the region would attract many visitors. Bayram added: "Tourists to holy places will contribute enormously to both tourism and the economy". /Sabah/

ARMENIAN UNIVERSITY RECTOR IN TURKEY

The Rector of the Armenian Yerivan University, Prof.Radick M.Martirossian, the Dean of the International Relations Faculty, Prof.Edick A.Zohrabian and the Head of the Turcology department, Ass.Prof.Alexandre V.Sasarian, will visit Turkey today. It is reported that these academics will engage in meetings to develop relations between the two universities within the guidelines of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) organization. /Cumhuriyet/

TUROB MEETS MEDITERRANEAN HOTEL MANAGERS

The Turkish Hotel Managers' Association (TUROB) will meet with their Mediterranean colleagues during the EMITT'99-Eastern Mediterranean Tourism Fair to be held in Istanbul between February 18-21, 1999. According to a statement made by TUROB, the fair, which will focus on development in the sector, the change in tourist profiles, and latest trends in tourism activities, will also provide an opportunity for two-way meetings. /Hurriyet/

TURKEY'S HONOUR: OZGUR AYDIN

The noted Turkish pianist, Ozgur Aydin, has been putting on successful concerts both abroad and at home. The Washington Post newspaper has devoted wide coverage to Aydin's concerts in New York and in Washington. Aydin will also put on concerts in Istanbul on March 5-6 and in Izmir on March 26-27. /Sabah/

TURKISH GIRL: QUEEN IN BELGIUM

During a traditional carnival held in February in Belgium, a Turkish girl, Filiz Celik aged 17 was elected 'Queen of the Carnival'. Celik, who received many gifts and a money prize, said that she was very pleased with the result. The Belgian press has given wide coverage to Celik. /Sabah/

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

DIPLOMACY ON A RAZOR'S EDGE - BY EMIN PAZARCI (AKSAM)

In his column Emin Pazarcı delves into the recent visit which the Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tarıq Aziz paid to Turkey. A summary of his column is as follows: "Yesterday some interesting diplomatic traffic took place. While aircraft lifting off from Incirlik base bombed Northern Iraq, the Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister, Tariq Aziz, and the Turkish Prime Minister, Bulent Ecevit, met. Aziz was searching for a way out. He tried to gain support for his cause and gave two messages to Turkey. First, "If foreign influences got out of the way, Turco-Iraqi relations would improve" and second, "The security of Iraq is the security of Turkey; Turkish security is as important to Iraq as its own." ... He is right...The developments which have emerged since the Gulf War, have influenced Turkey as well as Iraq... Turkey suffered severe damage. The embargo seriously affected Turkey. The financial loss to the country alone is $ 35 billion; that is one-third of Turkish foreign debt. The power vacuum in Northern Iraq has worked against us. An actual Kurdish state has come into being as our neighbour. We had to watch this process of formation reluctantly......Turkey is in favour of Iraqi territorial integrity as its interests so demand. However, it is not as easy to say that our neighbour holds the same opinion concerning Turkey. In fact, it is embroiled in activities threatening our territorial integrity. There are intelligence reports that Saddam is giving information to the PKK. Yesterday these reports were conveyed to Tariq Aziz. He was told that if Iraq wanted Turkish friendship , it had to withdraw its support from the PKK... Turkey cannot risk US enmity or nor can she do whatever it says. Therefore she has to follow a policy of balancing on a razor's edge."

THE CONTRADICTION BETWEEN PARTY BASES AND PARTY ADMINISTRATIONS - BY KURTHAN FISEK (HURRIYET)

Kurthan Fısek, a columnist from the `Hurriyet' daily, reflects on some deficiencies in the election policies of the political parties as far as the forthcoming April 18 elections are concerned. He writes: "The party bases are disturbed. The True Path Party (DYP) has eliminated all of its former politicians. The Republican People's Party (CHP) is undergoing serious problems. Those who have governed the Motherland Party (ANAP) are at the bottom of the lists of candidates. The Democratic Left Party (DSP) is enmeshed within an artificial intellectualism. Last but not least, the Virtue Party (FP) voters held a public meeting in order to protest against their own Mayor who had been condemned for irregular conduct. The forthcoming elections are an opportunity for voters to challenge the party administrations. Some of the parties prefer preliminary in-party elections in order to nominate their candidates. Others have been assigned from the party headquarters. Both group of parties have dealt a blow to former MPs and politicians. Thus, 150 MPs out of a total of 550 have recently changed their parties. My friends ask me for which party I am going to vote. Throughout my lifetime, I have never voted for persons but for parties. The fact that the man on the list of the party I voted for is also elected does not mean that I directly voted for him as well. One should think carefully before voting. Which party will diminish the least? At least you will sleep in peace at night."

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