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Anadolu Agency: News in English, 00-04-28

Anadolu Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: The Anadolu Agency Home Page at <http://www.anadoluajansi.gov.tr/>


[01] AA News

28 April 2000 Friday

[02] TURKEY-PRESS SCAN

These are some of the major headlines and their brief stories in Turkey's press on April 28, 2000. The Anadolu Ajansi does not verify these stories and does not vouch for their occuracy.

HURRIYET (LIBERAL)

LAST SUPPER
President Suleyman Demirel held a dinner party in honor of his last guest, Chad's President Idris Deby, and his spouse on Thursday. Deby is the final guest that Demirel hosted as the President of Turkey. Parliament Speaker Yildirim Akbulut, Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit and his spouse, Virtue Party leader Recai Kutan, Foreign Minister Ismail Cem, and State Minister Ramazan Mirzaoglu were present at the dinner party.

ROAD TO CANKAYA OPENS WITH 281 VOTES
Ahmet Necdet Sezer, President of the Constitutional Court and the candidate of five party leaders received 281 votes in yesterday's first round of voting of presidential elections, getting the largest number of votes against his rivals. Although 281 votes was not enough for Sezer to qualify in the first round, where a majority of 367 votes was required, the results indicated that he is due to Cankaya for sure at the end of the next round of voting or the one after. Most of his rivals are expected to withdraw their candidacies in the forthcoming round.

YET ANOTHER CREDIT MARK INCREASE
Fitch-IBCA, the third major credit rating institution of the world, increased the long-term foreign currency credit mark of Turkey from B+ to BB-. The statement made by Fitch-IBCA officials said ''The resolution to increase Turkey's credit mark is a reflection of the success of the economic program implemented by the ruling government and Turkey's victorious emergence from the 1997-99 global crisis.''

MILLIYET (LIBERAL)

WARM BREEZE FROM TURKEY BLOWS IN FRANCE
Jacquemart Andre Palace, one of France's most popular museums hosted the second great Turkish exhibition in one month. Following the exhibition of Sakip Sabanci's Calligraphy Collection at the Louvre, the Jacquemart Andre Palace which is France's third most frequently visited museum, hosted an exhibition consisting of 200 pieces of ceramics and Chinawork of Iznik and Kutahya, belonging to Istanbul's Sadberk Hanim museum. Receptions were held on two consecutive night on the occasion, and Suna-Inan Kirac and Sevgi Gonul, the owners of the collection hosted a total of 300 guests.

CAUGHT BY THE WOLVES
Coast Guard teams, which carried out a series of ''WOLVES'' operations in the Marmara, the Straits and the Dardanelles, handed 48 sea vehicles over to justice. The Coast Guard ''wolves'' captured the owners of 48 vehicles and handed them over to justice on charges of various crimes, including illegal fishing and fuel smuggling. A total of 145 vessels and boats were checked in the operations.

MINOR TREMORS JOLT MARMARA AND AEGEAN
The Kandilli Observatory and Seismological Research Center of Istanbul's Bogazici University annonuced that an earthquake measuring 3,0 on the Ricter Scale had been recorded at 22.50 on Wednesday with Bergama-Izmir as its epicenter. The Center said that two minor scale earthquakes, both measuring 2,9 were recorded in the Marmara Sea at 02.23 on Thursday, and that a 2,7-strong aftershock was felt in Golyaka-Duzce.

SABAH (LIBERAL)

SEZER LIKELY TO BE ELECTED NEXT WEEK
Ahmet Necdet Sezer, the head of the Constitutional Court couldn't get the sufficient votes to be elected, yet he won the highest number of votes in first round which will enable him to be elected in the other rounds. The Virtue Party (FP) and the True Path Party (DYP) probably voted for their own candidates. There were also some votes for Yıldırım Akbulut, the Parliament Speaker from the Motherland Party (ANAP). The coalition leaders believe that Sezer will be elected in the second round.

900 STUDENTS POISONED BY HAZELNUTS
Nearly 900 children were hospitalized with food poisoning after eating hazelnuts distributed as snacks by their schools yesterday. The nuts were apparently taken from a warehouse damaged during last year's devastating earthquake. Health officials conduct tests to determine the exact cause for the outbreak of food poisoning in schools in six separate cities across the country.

CUMHURIYET (LEFT)

DEMIREL: ''GAP IS INDEPENDENT FROM GOVERNMENTS''
President Suleyman Demirel said that the South east Anatolia (GAP) project, expected to have been completed in 10 years' time at a cost of 16 billion dollars, is independent from the affairs of the government, and underlined, ''No matter which government rules, that project will be completed.'' Speaking at a panel held by the Sanliurfa Foundation, Demirel said that the GAP was a project symbolising Turkey's development, and it had to be completed whatsoever.

PACIFIC NORTHWEST BALLET DUE IN ISTANBUL
The Pacific northwest Ballet Company will perform ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' on June 11, 12, and 13 at Ataturk Culture Center. The music of the ballet, whose coreography was made by famous Russian artist George Balanchine, was composed by Felix Mendelssohn, who was inspired by the play of British poet and playwright William Shakespeare.

LAW TO BE ENFORCED FOR ''6-ZERO-REMOVAL''
A draft law, pertaining to the removal of six zeros from the Turkish Lira, is being prepared. It is still unclear which banknotes and coins will be minted after the removal. The ''zero-removal'' operation is going to be th first in the history of the Republic of Turkey. The Central Bank is now working on a draft law pertaining to the process.

RADIKAL (LEFT)

SEZER:I WON'T WITHDRAW
Ahmet Necdet Sezer, the head of the Constitutional Court who received 281 votes in the first round of the presidential elections said that the result of the first round of the presidential election is the appreciation of the parliament. When asked whether he could withdraw or not, Sezer said he would struggle till the end.

DEBATE IN MHP
The Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) administration protected first the MHP deputies who had a scuffle with Sadi Somuncuoglu, another MHP deputy and State Minister while he was handing in his nomination for the presidential candidacy. However, the MHP administration later decided to start disciplinary proceedings about the MHP deputies who tried to stop Somuncuoglu from becoming a presidential candidate.

YENİ BİNYIL (LIBERAL)

DEBATE ON RESIGNATION
Lawyers split regarding the debate which started in the parliament yesterday during the first round of the presidential elections. Aydın Menderes, an independent deputy said before the ballot that Ahmet Necdet Sezer, the head of the Constitutional Court had to resign before running for candidacy. However, Nejat Arseven, the Acting Parliament Speaker said that there was no obligation for him to resign according to the Constitution.

TURKIYE (RIGHT)

DEMIREL TO BID FAREWELL TO MGK
President Suleyman Demirel will address the National Security Council (MGK) for one last time, and bid farewell to the members. The regular monthly meeting of the MGK will be held today at Cankaya Palace, and President Demirel will preside over the meeting for an 84th and last time. The meeting will stage talks on the latest developments in Turkish economy, and security issues, and a ''farewell speech'' by Demirel, in which he will be making an assessment of the studies of the Council during his seven-year rule.

GONUL SARAY ALPHAN WITHDAWS CANDIDACY
Gonul Saray Alphan, Democratic Left Party deputy from Amasya, and the first female candidate for presidency in Turkey's history, announced that she withdrew from the race in a press conference she held at the Parliament. She said that both her candidacy and her withdrawal were decisions she had taken with her free will.

ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)

CHAOS IN RED CRESCENT
Prosecutors charged six past and present officials of Red Crescent with interfering in bidding for medical supplies yesterday. The Red Crescent officials denied any wrongdoing. The charges come after widespread criticism of the agency for its poor response to devastating earthquakes in August and November last year. Five officials were freed pending trial. Hayati Kalkanoglu, who was formerly in charge of buying and selling material for the relief agency, was later arrested. He also faces trial on previous charges of mismanagement.

[03] ANKARA INTERNATIONAL MUSIC FESTIVAL OPENS WITH FAZIL SAY CONCERT

ANKARA - The 17th International Ankara Music Festival opened with a magnificent concert by Fazil Say, ''wonder boy of piano'', and the Bilkent Symphony Orchestra.

Culture Minister Istemihan Talay, Azerbaijani Culture Minister Polad Bulbuloglu, Bashkortostan Culture Minister Talgat Sagitov, Mayor of Cankaya Municipality Haydar Yilmaz, Vice Chairman of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Sevket Bulent Yahnici, and art lovers attended the opening concert at the Ministry of Culture's Conference Hall.

Mehmet Basman, Chairman of the Sevda-Cenap And Music Association, who delivered a speech prior to the concert said that he was happy to host the festival for a 17th time in Ankara.

Culture Minister Istemihan Talay, who raplied to questions by reporters, said that the festival fulfilled an important mission in the promotion of universal art forms.

Say performed the Piano Concerto of Tchaikovsky in accompaniment of the Bilkent Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Alexander Dimitriev, and later on, he took stage one more time upon the request of the audience.

In the second half of the concert, Say performed Rachmaninov's Symphony No. 2.

The 17th International Ankara Music Festival will continue until May 16.

[04] TURKEY-U.S. HIGH RANKING DEFENSE GROUP MEETINGS

WASHINGTON D.C. - Defense issues that concern Turkey and the U.S and regional and political problems were taken up broadly during the first day of the high ranking defense group meetings between the two countries on Thursday.

General Edip Baser, the Deputy Chief of General Staff presides the Turkish delegation, and Frank Kramer, the American Deputy Secretary of Defense presides the American delegation in the meetings.

The sides explained their views about the developments in the Caucasus, Iran, Iraq, Syria and European Security and Defense Initiative (ESDI) on the first day of the meetings, which will end on Friday.

The future of the defense cooperation between Turkey and the U.S. and technical issues were also taken up.

General Baser is expected to leave for Turkey on Saturday.

[05] FAITH TOURISM AND SACRED SITES - TOURISTS RUSH TO MOTHER MARY'S HOUSE AND THE ANTIQUE CITY OF EPHESUS

IZMIR - Mustafa Tamer, Deputy-Governor of Izmir and Faith Tourism Coordinator said on Friday, that both domestic and foreign tourists rushed to the House of Mother Mary and the antique city of Ephesus when the Easter holiday and April 23 Children's Festival overlapped, and added, ''73 thousand visitors visited Ephesus, and about 40 thousand visited the House of Mother Mary over the past three days.''

Tamer said that Easter Masses were held in the House of Mother Mary on April 23rd and 24th, as part of the Faith Tourism program, and that there was a surprising turnout in the ceremony.

Noting that tourists often asked for such religious ceremonies to be held in the holy sites of Turkey, Tamer said:

''Nearly 73 thousand tourists visited Ephesus, and 40 thousand tourists visited the House of Mother Mary in the past three days. These figures show that we are promoting our country successfully. Tourists from Estonia and Sweden, visiting Turkey for the first time, said they were very much impressed by our country and its historic riches and natural beauties, and especially by the special Easter Mass. Children coming from 36 countries within the framework of the 23 April Children's Festival were also taken to the House of Mother Mary. And the festival program was broadcast by many teleevision channels abroad. That was a great means of promoting our country, and Faith Tourism in Turkey in particular.''

[06] PERMANENT HOUSING FOR QUAKE SURVIVORS

ANKARA - The Ministry of Public Works and Housing will construct 27 thousand 205 housing units for the quake survivors, and 12 thousand 69 other houses will be built by using the grant in aid to be received from the World Bank.

Of the total 40 thousand 752 permanent housing units, 16 thousand 82 will be in Kocaeli, 6,700 in Sakarya, 10 thousand in Duzce, 1,458 in Bolu, and 5, 500 in Yalova.

According to the information given by the Disaster Area Coordinating Governorship, the number of housing units, their locations and their financial sources are as follows:

KOCAELI: 16,082

Golcuk: 4,834 (3,592 of them with World Bank credit)

Degirmendere: 444 (Ministry)

Uzunciftlik: 450 (Ministry)

Bahcecik : 738 (Ministry)

Dongel: 574 (Ministry)

Yuvacik: 2,258 (Ministry)

Gundogdu: 4,740 (2,820 of them with World Bank credit, and 920 as grant in aid)

Korfez-Hereke: 558 (World Bank credit)

Karamursel: 506 (World Bank credit)

SAKARYA: 6.700

Karaman: 6,300 (2,608 of them with World Bank credit)

Ferizli: 400 (Ministry)

DUZCE: 10.000 (NUMBER MAY RISE)

Central 'A' Region: 8,996 (Ministry)

Central 'B' Region: 622 (World Bank credit)

Golyaka: 282 (World Bank credit)

Cumayeri:100 (World Bank credit)

BOLU: 1,458 (Near the Hospital, Ministry)

YALOVA: 5,500 Sogucak Village: 950 (Ministry)

Ciftlik Koy-Altinova: 2,950 (Ministry)

Cinarcik: 1,600

ISTANBUL: 1,012. (Ministry, 559 of them to be purchased from Emlak Bank)

[07] CICEK, IN 77 KG, WINS GOLD IN SNATCH AND TOTAL

SOFIA - Ayhan Cicek, in 77 kg, won gold medal in snatch and total in the 79th European Adults' Wrestling Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria on Friday.

Cicek became the second in 77 kg clean and jerk.

Ayhan Cicek lifted 155 kg in snatch event and 190 kg in clean and jerk event. Thus, he lifted 345 kg in total.

Cicek became the gold medalist in snatch and total. However, he became the second in clean and jerk.

[08] BLACK SEA AND DANUBE RIVER COMMISSION MEETING

ISTANBUL - Black Sea and Danube River Commission, which is the executive organ of Protection of the Black Sea Against Pollution, within the scope of Bucharest Agreement, signed two agreements on Friday.

Members of the Black Sea and Danuber River Commission, who carries out efforts in Dolmabahce Palace under the term presidency of Turkey in order to operate Bucharest Agreement, signed ''Center Agreement,'' and ''Concession and Exemption Agreement,'' following their works.

Under the agreements, headquarters of permanent secretariat will be Istanbul, and their work place will be Dolmabahce Palace.

On official from Turkey, Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Romania, and Georgia will be appointed to this center. Six countries will give these officials the right of free circulation and working.

Permanent Secretariat will convene and start technical works related with the Black Sea after the agreements are signed by the concerned countries. Later, Ukraine will take over the term presidency from Turkey.

In the section of the meeting which was closed to the press, technical works to prevent pollution coming to the Black Sea from the Danube River, were discussed.

[09] SIX CONSORTIA SUBMIT BIDS FOR ANKARA-ISTANBUL RAILROAD REHABILITATION TENDER

ANKARA - Six consortia submitted bids on Friday for the Ankara-Istanbul railroad rehabilitation tender.

Prior to the acceptance of the bids, Turgay Doludeniz, the Acting Director General of the Turkish State Railways Administration (TCDD), told reporters that the projects aims at reducing the railway travel between Ankara and Istanbul to two and a half hours.

Cevat Oktay, the Deputy Director of the TCDD and the chairman of the tender commission, said that this rehabilitation project is on the agenda since 1992.

Oktay noted that the contract will be awarded to the consortium which will propose the cheapest price and which will request the least credit.

The proposal of the consortium which will win the tender, will be submitted to the Treasury Undersecretariat, Oktay stated.

Oktay added that if the credit is approved, a contract will be signed with the consortium.

The consortia which submitted bids for the tender are as follows:

-Yapi Merkezi, Nurol Ins. Tic. Inc, Usluer

-Alsim Alarko, DHL (Spain), G&O (Spain)

-Tekfen, Vias (Spain), Elecnor (Spain), Cobra (Spain), Dimetronic (Spain), Ineco (Spain), Inabensa (Spain)

-Limak, Mustafa Ozcan, Ircon (India)

-Turan Hazinedaroglu, Oztas, BTC (Germany), HCE (Germany)

-Gunsayil Ins. Tic. San. Ltd, Azvi (Spain).

The amount of the proposals are expected to be announced today.

The project is planned to be completed in 34 months.

[10] IMF IS EXPECTED TO APPROVE TURKEY'S ADDITIONAL INTENT LETTER ON FRIDAY EVENING

ANKARA - International Monetary Fund (IMF) Executive Directors Committee is expected to approve Turkey's additional intent letter on Friday evening.

Sources told A.A that IMF Executive Directors Committee, will state that performance criteria was reached, by approving Turkey's 13-Article additional intent letter. The letter includes the developments since December 1999.

The sources said that the program goes well in its course, and this will be voiced at the Committee Meeting.

The sources also said IMF circles welcomed that several commitments that should be fulfilled under the intent letter, were now at the Parliament, although they were not fulfilled yet.

[11] NSC CONVENES - PRESIDENT DEMIREL TO LEAD NSC FOR THE LAST TIME

ANKARA - National Security Council convened on Friday under the leadership of President Suleyman Demirel.

The NSC meeting, which President Demirel leads for the last time, started at 15:00 local time.

Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit; Gen. Huseyin Kivrikoglu, Chief of General Staff; Devlet Bahceli, Minister of State and Deputy Prime Minister; Husamettin Ozkan, Minister of State and Deputy Prime Minister; Foreign Minister Ismail Cem; Sabahattin Cakmakoglu, Minister of National Defense; Gen. Atilla Ates, Land Forces Commander; Gen. Ergin Celasin, Air Forces Commander; and Gen. Rasim Betir, Commander of Genderma attended the meeting.

Cumhur Asparuk, NSC Secretary General; Senkal Atasagun, Undersecretary of National Intelligence Organization; Faruk Logoglu, Foreign Ministry Undersecretary; Turan Genc, Director General of Security; and Gokhan Aydiner, Governor of Emergency Rule Region also attended the meeting.

[12] FIRE BREAKS OUT IN A TENT-SITE IN IZMIT

KOCAELI - Fire broke out in Degirmendere Tent-site of quake-hit Izmit province on Friday.

Kemal Onal, the Kocaeli Governor, said that fire broke out in the tent-site which was composed of 249 tents.

A total of 15 tents burned, Onal noted.

Onal stated that no deaths or injuries were recorded in the fire.

The fire could have broken out due to a LPG canister explosion or short circuit, Onal added.

[13] AMOUNTS OF BIDS PROPOSED BY CONSORTIA IN ANKARA-ISTANBUL RAILWAY REHABILITATION TENDER, ANNOUNCED

ANKARA - The amounts that six consortia proposed in the bids they submitted for the Ankara-Istanbul Railway Rehabilitation Tender, were announced on Friday.

The consortia which submitted bids for the tender and the amount they proposed are listed below:

-Yapi Merkezi, Nurol Ins. Tic. Inc, Usluer: 384 million 401 thousand 659.54 U.S. dollars.

-Alsim Alarko, DHL (Spain), G&O (Spain): 441 million 179 thousand 233 EURO.

-Tekfen, Vias (Spain), Elecnor (Spain), Cobra (Spain), Dimetronic (Spain), Ineco (Spain), Inabensa (Spain): 178 million 40 thousand 44.19 U.S. dollars and 287 million 185 thousand 382.36 EURO.

-Limak, Mustafa Ozcan, Ircon (India): 320 million 519 thousand 222.33 U.S. dollars.

-Turan Hazinedaroglu, Oztas, BTC (Germany), HCE (Germany): 375 million 207 thousand 881 U.S. dollars.

-Gunsayil Ins. Tic. San. Ltd, Azvi (Spain): 424 million 663 thousand 388 U.S. dollars.

The project is planned to be completed in 34 months.

[14] AYDIN, MINISTER OF HOUSING AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS, TO LAY THE FOUNDATION OF INFRASTRUCTURES OF 6,628 PERMANENT DWELLINGS

ANKARA - Works for the permanent dwellings, following massive Marmara and Duzce quakes, came to the last stage.

Koray Aydin, Minister of Housing and Public Affairs, will lay the foundation of infrastructures of permanent dwellings following ground searches, assessment of places, planning, projection and expropriation.

A ceremony will be staged in Karaman village of Sakarya on April 30. Following the ceremony, infrastructure of 6,628 dwellings will be laid. The dwellings were planned to shelter 33,750 people.

The dwellings will be constructed in Selcuklu-Ottoman architecture style and will be 99 square meters.

Electricity, water, and telephone networks were planned to be under ground. The permanent dwellings will have maximum four storeys.

Meanwhile, efforts are underway pertaining to the works of superstructure.

Most of the permanent dwellings are planned to be completed by the end of the year 2000.

[15] BONES AND STONES EXCAVATED FROM GRAVES IN SAMSUN, SENT TO SAMSUN MUSEUM DIRECTORATE FOR EXAMINATION

SAMSUN - Experts of the Tourism Directorate and officials of the regional municipalities visited on Friday the graves which are claimed to belong to the Amazons, the legendary female warriors believed to have lived along the shores of Lake Simenit in the 12th century B.C.

Officials told A.A correspondent that Yuksel Unal, the Provincial Tourism Director; Cemil Durumlu, the Golyazi Mayor; Mustafa Mahmutoglu, the Sogutlu Mayor, and experts visited 22 graves.

The bones and stones taken from the graves, were sent to Samsun Archeology Museum, the officials said.

Unal said, ''it is thought that the Amazons were living near Terme. But, we have not conducted detailed researches in this region. People living around the Simenit Lake, say that some stones and bones can be seen after the turn of the tide. To this end, we launched researches there. We found stones and bones in every place we excavated. We sent these to the Museum Directorate to understand what these stones and bones are.''

Amazons, female warriors, who were believed to have lived in the 12th century B.C in city of Thamiskyra located along the banks of Terme Stream, would commission men as workers and servants, according to some legends, and would bear children from their prisoners, whom they would later kill.

[16] 17TH INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION AND SCHOOL FAIR OPENED IN ISTANBUL

ISTANBUL - ''17th International Education and School Fair'' was opened on Friday in Istanbul.

Several schools and universities of the U.S., Canada, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), and Europe, and some universities and foreign language education institutions in Turkey join the fair.

The fair offers possibilities to those who want to have education in medicine, tourism, social sciences, and fine arts in foreign schools and universities and those who want to have bachelor degree or doctorate degree in the foreign universities.

The fair will be open until April 30, 2000.

[17] HEAVY RAIN STORM EXPECTED THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY ON SATURDAY

ANKARA - Heavy rainstorm is expected throughout the country on Saturday.

General Directorate of State Meteorology Affairs said rain is expected in Marmara, Central Aegean, Goller region, Eastern Mediterranean, Central Anatolia, West and Central Black Sea, and south and west parts of Southeastern Anatolia on Saturday. Other regions will be partly cloudy.

Rainstorm will be influential in Eastern Mediterranean, and Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia. Temperatures will decrease in regions where it rains, and will be stable in other regions.

Heavy rain will be effective in Ankara and in Istanbul on Saturday. Izmir will be partly cloudy.

Minimum and maximum temperatures on Saturday and Sunday are as follows:

PROVINCE SATURDAY SUNDAY
------- --------- -----
Istanbul 13-20 13-22

Samsun 10-17 10-19

Izmir 12-22 13-25

Adana 11-20 13-22

Antalya 13-22 15-24

Ankara 9-18 9-20

Erzurum 1-16 1-16

Diyarbakir 5-18 5-20

[18] A.A


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