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TRKNWS-L Turkish Press Review (January 8, 1996)From: TRKNWS-L <trh@aimnet.com>Turkish News DirectoryCONTENTS[01] PARLIAMENT OPENING WITH OATH MARATHON[02] SCAMMACCA: "TURKEY'S ENTRY INTO THE CU IS VERY PLEASING"[03] DEPUTY POLICE CHIEF VISITS TURKISH POLICE IN BOSNIA[04] ARSON ATTACKS AGAINST TURKISH TARGETS CONTINUE[05] EIZENSTAT: TOP US GOAL IS TO INTEGRATE TURKEY WITH THE WEST[06] KANDEMIR PRAISES IMPROVEMENT IN TURKISH-US RELATIONSHIP[07] MORE DEVELOPMENTS AFTER CUSTOMS UNION[08] NEW POWER DEALS ON THE WAY[09] TURKEY LOOKING FOR SHARE IN MIDDLE EAST INVESTMENTS[10] TURKEY IMPORTANT TO AMERICA[11] EC AWARD FOR GUNER[12] TURKEY READY FOR COMPETITION[13] TURKISH CARPETS EXHIBITION AT SOTHEBY'STURKISH PRESS REVIEWMONDAY JANUARY 8, 1996Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning[01] PARLIAMENT OPENING WITH OATH MARATHONThe 20th legislative term of Parliament opens today with a marathon swearing-in ceremony expected to last 18 hours or longer with each of the 550 newly-elected deputies taking turns to walk up to the rostrum and declare their allegiance to the unity of the Republic and to the secular and democratic principles written into its constitution. Welfare Party (RP) Istanbul Deputy Suleyman Arif Emre, as the oldest member, will preside over the swearing-in ceremony. Emre will maintain his temporary post until the election of the new Parliament Speaker. Ali Osman Sonmez from the True Path Party (DYP) will serve as temporary deputy-speaker of Parliament. The opening of the new legislative term will start at 2 p.m. with Emre and other temporary Speaker's Council members laying a wreath at Ataturk's Mausoleum. /All papers/
[02] SCAMMACCA: "TURKEY'S ENTRY INTO THE CU IS VERY PLEASING"The visit of Italian Deputy Foreign Minister Emanuele Scammacca to Turkey over the weekend made clear the EU's intention to become involved in the Cyprus question. Still another visit from the EU, by Dick Spring, Foreign Minister of Ireland -the next term president of the Union- is to be made to the island this week. Scammacca, whose country holds the rotating term presidency of the EU, said that his visit aimed at testing the ground on the many-faceted Cyprus question. "But we are aware that this is not a problem that can be solved in a few hours or a few weeks. We needed to gather information on the issue" he added.Scammacca said that they welcomed Turkey's entry into the customs union and Turkey's way to EU full membership would remain open. He noted that at his meetings with Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Deniz Baykal and Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Onur Oymen, Turkish-Italian relations and problems regarding the implementation of the CU were discussed and he was provided information about the Cyprus issue. He stated that he would convey the details to Italian Foreign Minister Suzanna Agnelli. Describing the CU as a very important international and commercial activity and an economic reality, he said: "Political dialogue between Turkey and the EU should be intensified for the implementation of the CU". He indicated that he was aware of the Turkish desire for full membership. "But for the time being we are at the CU stage" he said. /Cumhuriyet/
[03] DEPUTY POLICE CHIEF VISITS TURKISH POLICE IN BOSNIADeputy Police Chief, Cemil Serhadli, went to Velika Kladusa, on the Croatian border of Bosnia, where Turkish police are stationed. Serhadli first visited Bosnian refugees at the Kapijensko camp in Crpatia. Serhadli addressed the refugees, saying that they must trust the joint police force. The joint police force was formed to assist in the peaceful return of refugees to their homes. Visiting the Turkish force in Velika Kaldusa, Serhadli said this was the first time that Turkish police had served abroad in the 150 year history of the force and that they had written another golden page in Turkish history. On his way to Velika Kadusa, Serhadli was involved in a small traffic accident. There were no injuries. /Sabah-Cumhuriyet/
[04] ARSON ATTACKS AGAINST TURKISH TARGETS CONTINUEArsonists attacked a Turkish travel agency and a community association in the German city of Hamburg on Saturday night. It was the third day that Turkish premises had been targeted in what appeared to be a campaign to draw attention to unrest in Turkey's prisons. Petrol bombs were thrown into both offices, but police said the fires were put out quickly and the damage was slight. As a result of an attack against a Turkish sports club in Duisburg, a fire broke out. A Turk was detained with a petrol bomb in his hand following the attack. It is reported that a molotov cocktail which caused material damage was thrown into a Turkish travel agency in Ludwigsburg. On Saturday vandals threw petrol bombs into a Turkish social club in the German city of Bremen, but they failed to explode. On Friday night members of the militant Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP-C) occupied the labour attache's office at the Turkish consulate in Mainz for 10 hours, before giving themselves up to police. On Thursday, arsonists attacked five Turkish targets in the Cologne and Hamburg areas, causing minor damage. /Sabah/
[05] EIZENSTAT: TOP US GOAL IS TO INTEGRATE TURKEY WITH THE WESTStuart E.Eizenstat, President Clinton's nominee as the new undersecretary of commerce for international trade, said on Friday that integration of Turkey with the West was a top foreign policy item for the administration. Ambassador Eizenstat, the current US representative of the EU, if approved by the US Congress, will replace Jeffrey Garten who left the department for Yale University. "We worked very hard for Turkey's acceptance into the European customs union" Eizenstat told journalists at a Foreign Press Centre briefing."One of the reasons why we supported the CU between Turkey and the EU is because we saw it as a way of creating private sector Opportunities. The US, not in a competitive way, but in a complementary way, wants to do more to encourage investments in Turkey, trade with Turkey, alliances with Turkey, so that Turkey can be effectively integrated with the West" Eizenstat said. /All papers/
[06] KANDEMIR PRAISES IMPROVEMENT IN TURKISH-US RELATIONSHIPNuzhet Kandemir, Turkish Ambassador to the US, has summed up developments in Turkish-US relations in 1995 at a press conference held on Friday at the Turkish Embassy for the Turkish press. Kandemir said he believed bilateral relations were on a much better footing now compared to the year before. He especially noted the fact that the issue of human rights, which almost became a stumbling block in bilateral relations at the beginning of 1995, seemed no longer to be the central focus of relations between the two NATO allies.Surveying a wide panorama of international issues, Kandemir singled out the following four issues as the success stories of 1995 as far as Turkish foreign policy is concerned: Turkey's participation in UNPROFOR; participation in IFOR; participation in the Steering Group in Bosnia; and Turkey's emerging role in the training of the Bosnian military. He added that by becoming a member of the European customs union, Turkey had become a "bridge of stability" between East and West in 1995. "We are happy that we received support from the US way beyond our expectations on the CU issue" he said. He also cited US support on Caspian oil pipeline routes and the description of Turkey by the US Commerce Department as one of the ten Big Emerging Markets in the world. /All papers/
[07] MORE DEVELOPMENTS AFTER CUSTOMS UNIONNow that Turkey is a fully recognized member of the customs treaty with the European Union (EU), the door has been opened to other economic and trade areas. Thus the Foreign Trade Department is preparing a statement that will be sent to third countries, the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the GATT member countries outlining Turkey's new economic standing.Turkey wants to make sure that other countries and trade organizations understand Turkey's new potentials and opportunities for more investment, trade and partnerships stemming from customs union membership. The Turkish foreign trade and related sectors are now moving into top gear to take advantage of the new horizons opening up to Turkey's businessmen. /Cumhuriyet/
[08] NEW POWER DEALS ON THE WAYForeign power companies are looking with interest at fourteen new power contracts coming up for bids in Turkey. Of the fourteen big power projects, nine are for hydroelectric power stations, three for natural gas powered stations, one thermal and one fired by waste materials.Initial foreign investments in the proposed power plants will come to 4.76 million dollars. A number of foreign based consortiums have already agreed with their Turkish partners on financing and programmes. Some of the older projects begun in 1991 and 1994, are well under way, with sub-contractors putting the final touches to almost complete contracts. /Hurriyet/
[09] TURKEY LOOKING FOR SHARE IN MIDDLE EAST INVESTMENTSTurkey has already taken some important steps to secure a share in the growing investment opportunities in the Middle eastern countries. In order to seize opportunities as they arise, credit and investment facilities will be made more available through new banking terms extended by the Middle East Investment Bank.The bank is setting up regional infrastructural services in the power, water, road transport and communications sectors. Experts will assess project feasibility and support new initiatives accordingly. Incentives will be available in certain cases. With expert support on hand, blunders in this exciting new investment area will be avoided. /Hurriyet/
[10] TURKEY IMPORTANT TO AMERICAIt has already been pointed out that Turkey is one of the nine countries which are important to America, and how developments in Turkey could effect regional countries. Because of this, America has had to improve its trade relations with Turkey, support investments in Turkey and increase personal relations with the political leaders of Turkey, notes an important international magazine.According to a study published in the January-February, 1996, issue of "Foreign Affairs", Turkey, located not only on an East-West and North-South, but also on a Christian-Muslim crossroads, could deeply effect regional countries. In the study, prepared by Paul Kennedy, Robert Chaes and Emily Hill, Turkey is described as a country which has a strongly developing economy and welfare level depending on an increasingly middle wealthy class. According to the article, Mexico, Brazil, Algeria, Egypt, South Africa, India, Pakistan and Indonesia are also important countries for America. "Recently the US administration declared that it will support Turkey to ensure economic stability. After playing an important role in Turkey's customs union membership, the Washington administration has now started an important attack against terrorism. During recent Syria-Israel meetings, America asked Damascus to withdraw its support for the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK)", said the article. /Sabah-Hurriyet/
[11] EC AWARD FOR GUNERThe European Council Parliamentary Assembly has decided to give an honorary award to Engin Guner, former Deputy Speaker of the Assembly and former Motherland Party parliamentarian.Speaker of the Assembly Miguel Angel Martinez has sent a written invitation to Guner to visit Strasbourg between 22-26 January when he will be presented with his award. In the invitation, Martinez pointed out that they wanted Guner to be an honorary member of the European Assembly and thanked him for his services. /Hurriyet/
[12] TURKEY READY FOR COMPETITIONThe Confederation of Turkish Employers' Unions (TISK) has prepared a report on Turkish economic competitive power now that Turkey is a member of the Customs Union. According to the report, Turkey is in an advantageous position. It is especially private sector dynamics that create high levels of competitive power, the report claims. However, it is also important to get all the benefits that membership will bring, Turkey must be determined about middle and the long term policies for strengthening competition and about which countries will be targeted for competition in the future. Despite some of the problems which will be eliminated as a result of the privatization policies, the entreprising spirit of the Turkish people and the developing situation of the private sector, many advantages will be created in the economy. It is also be noted that the ratio of entrepreneurial activity in Turkey is high in comparison to many other countries. /Sabah/
[13] TURKISH CARPETS EXHIBITION AT SOTHEBY'STurkish carpets will be exhibited at the world-renowed Sotheby's auction hall in London between February 10-25, the Anatolia news agency reported yesterday. Precious carpets will be brought from the Applied Arts Museum in the Hungarian capital of Budapest. Officials from the auction hall said the first place and time of carpet weaving were unknown, but that Turks had an important role in the history of carpet weaving. Twenty-two carpets, belonging to the period when Hungary was under the control of the Ottoman Empire, will be exhibited at Soethby's. |
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