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TRKNWS-L Turkish Press Review (April 1, 1996)
From: TRKNWS-L <trh@aimnet.com>
CONTENTS
[01] DEMIREL RETURNS TO TURKEY
[02] TURKEY'S BALKAN POLICY TO BE DISCUSSED IN ANKARA
[03] GREECE STILL FORCING KARDAK ISSUE
[04] CLINTON WARNS GREECE ABOUT THE AEGEAN
[05] GERMANY READY TO EXTRADITE PKK TERRORISTS
[06] DEFENCE MINISTERS TO MEET IN ALBANIA
[07] MASS HOUSING FUND ABOLISHED
[08] OPTICAL CABLE LINK FOR MIDEAST-EUROPE PHONE CALLS
[09] ANKARA LAMBASTES EU ENVOY'S CYPRUS REPORT
[10] US AND TURKEY SIGN TAX PACT
[11] KARABAKH PEACE TALKS FALTER ONCE AGAIN
[12] TURKISH NATIONAL INCOME GREW 8.1 % IN 1995
[13] TURKEY FORECASTS $6 BILLION IN TOURISM REVENUE THIS YEAR
TURKISH PRESS REVIEW
MONDAY APRIL 1, 1996
Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning
[01] DEMIREL RETURNS TO TURKEY
President Suleyman Demirel returned to Turkey after completing his working
visit to the US. Demirel noted that his visit was very instrumental for
developing relations between the two countries. Demirel was welcomed at
Ankara Esenboga airport by Parliament Speaker Mustafa Kalemli, Prime
Minister Mesut Yilmaz, Chief of General Staff Gen.Ismail Hakki Karadayi,
General Secretary of the Presidency Necdet Seckinoz, Foreign Ministry
Undersecretary Onur Oymen and other leading officials. In a press
conference at the airport, Demirel recalled that he had paid a three-day
working visit
to Washington at the invitation of US President Bill Clinton and said:
"This visit enabled us to make a comprehensive evaluation of bilateral relations
and international issues. All circles I met in the US confirmed that Turkey
was an element of peace and stability in its region and in the world thanks
to its pro-peace foreign policy". Demirel stated that in his meeting with
Clinton, Turkey's will and determination to diversify existing close,
friendly relations between the US and Turkey and especially to accelarate
the economic relations, were expressed. Pointing out that two agreements
were signed during his visit, Demirel stressed that his visit was a good
opportunity to strengthen bilateral relations. /Sabah/
[02] TURKEY'S BALKAN POLICY TO BE DISCUSSED IN ANKARA
Turkey has decided to review its Balkan policy and has accordingly recalled
ambassadors to the Balkan states to Ankara to discuss the issues involved.
It has been reported that the meeting will be held during April in Ankara
to determine a more effective Turkish policy for the Balkan region. /Milliyet/
[03] GREECE STILL FORCING KARDAK ISSUE
The Greek government still wants to make something out of the Kardak rocks
issue. Over the weekend Greek fishing boats were active in the area, with
one fishing boat actually sending a man ashore to one of the islands.
Turkish Coast Guard vessels stationed in the area, sought out and warned
Greek Coast Guard boats about the developments. Later the man and the
fishing boats were seen to leave the islands.
In Ankara, the Greek ambassador was called into the Foreign Ministry, told
about the incident after which he was handed a protest note.
/Hurriyet-Milliyet/
[04] CLINTON WARNS GREECE ABOUT THE AEGEAN
US President Clinton has sent a tough warning letter to Greek Prime
Minister Kostas Simitis about not stirring up trouble in the sensitive
Aegean Sea
region. Clinton has warned the Greeks about the possible results of their
negative attitude and told them to get into line with a Turkish suggestion
proposing more talks to solve the issue.
In his letter -conveyed by his wife Hillary, who has been visiting the
region, including Turkey- Clinton notes that there are four main problems
involving Greece: Relations between Turkey and Greece, the Greece-Macedonia
connection, ties between Greece and the US and the situation in the Balkans
in general.
Greece remains obstinate about meeting Turkish proposals even half way,
with government officials saying no to dialogue. Turkish Prime Minister Mesut
Yilmaz extended the olive branch just about two weeks ago, and everyone
except the Greeks has approved of the gesture as a first step towards
stability in the Aegean Sea. /Milliyet-Sabah/
[05] GERMANY READY TO EXTRADITE PKK TERRORISTS
As promised by the German government, steps are being taken to extradite
known PKK terrorists and hand them over to the Turkish authorities.
Interior Minister Ulku Guney has been invited to Germany by his German
counterpart,
and while there will hand over a list of the people Turkey would like to
interview in connection with PKK terrorism.
PKK violence in Germany recently climbed to new and more serious levels,
and in response the German government is clamping down heavily on the PKK
organization, which has long been condemned by Turkey as an rists aiming to
divide Turkey and deflect the attention of the world and the Arab public.
Nurkan noted that the Arab League resolution -calling for an agreement on
the allocation of the Euphrates waters between Turkey, Syria and Iraq-
omitted to mention the fact that it was Turkey which has repeatedly invited
Syria and Iraq for dialogue on the "optimal" use of the river's waters and
had even proposed a three-stage plan for that. He said when implementing
its own projects on the Euphrates, Turkey always took care to remain within the
bounds of international rules and principles. /All papers/
[06] DEFENCE MINISTERS TO MEET IN ALBANIA
A meeting of defence ministers from Turkey, Bulgaria, Italy, Albania,
Macedonia and the US will be held in the Albanian capital of Tirana today.
Turkish Defence Minister Oltan Sungurlu will represent Turkey at the
meeting and give a talk about the issues of peacekeeping missions in the region,
and military information exchange. Sungurlu also will meet with US Defence
Secretary William Perry and the defence ministers of Albania and Macedonia.
/All papers/
[07] MASS HOUSING FUND ABOLISHED
A decision of the Council of Ministers to abolish the mass housing fund fee
collected from the people going abroad has come into force. The decision
has been published in the Official Gazette. Every year approximately four
million Tuurkish citizens go abroad. However, only 20 percent of those who
went abroad for exceptional reasons had to pay this fee. 50-60 million
dollars used to be collected for the fund from travellers every year.
/Milliyet/
[08] OPTICAL CABLE LINK FOR MIDEAST-EUROPE PHONE CALLS
An optical cable link will be installed between Bulgaria and Turkey to
improve the quality of telephone calls between the Middle East and Europe.
Officials from the Bulgarian Telecommunication Administration said that the
optical cables had been laid up to the Turkish border, and added that the
Postal Telephone and Telegram Authority (PTT) would install the cables from
the Kapikule border gate. /All papers/
[09] ANKARA LAMBASTES EU ENVOY'S CYPRUS REPORT
Turkey deplored Friday a report by an EU envoy as "unrealistic" and accused
the envoy of breeching his mission. A statement by the Foreign Ministry
stressed that the Cyprus report presented to the EU Council by the term
presidency's Cyprus coordinator, Italian diplomat Federico Di Roberto, was
a demonstration of the efforts of the EU envoy to devise a role for himself
in excess of his mission. The statement said examination of Di Roberto's
report revealed that he had a prejudiced approach toward the Turkish Cypriot
people. The statement further underlined that Di Roberto's report revealed
that contrary to his mission he was attempting to join in efforts aimed at
establishing an agenda for the resumption of the Cyprus intercommunal talks
process. "We were told that Di Roberto was appointed as an envoy of the
term president of the EU and that his mission was only a fact-finding one and
that he would only listen to the views of the two sides and report his
findings to the term presidency" the Foreign Ministry statement said. /All
papers/
[10] US AND TURKEY SIGN TAX PACT
The US and Turkey have signed a new income tax convention which regulates
how each country may tax business profits earned in one of the nations by a
resident of the ot@i=18. ,,s with OECD member countries. /All papers/
[11] KARABAKH PEACE TALKS FALTER ONCE AGAIN
The latest round of Karabakh peace talks carried out by the Minsk group of
the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) has ended
without any progress being achieved due to both side's maintaining their
opposite stance. The negotiations reportedly entered an impasse during the
discussion of the issues as to what type of political status would be given
to the Karabakh in the future. The Armenian and the Azeri delegations were
led by their respective deputy foreign ministers. Turkey was represented by
Foreign Ministry Representative Selim Karaosmanoglu. Ayhan Kamel, the
Foreign Ministry's Karabakh coordinator, went to the region as a
presidential emissary. Kamel conveyed a message from President Suleyman
Demirel to his Azeri counterpart Haydar Aliyev. He also delivered a message
from Demirel to Armenian President Levon Ter-Petrossian. /All papers/
[12] TURKISH NATIONAL INCOME GREW 8.1 % IN 1995
Turkey's gross national product (GNP) grew by a rapid 8.1 % in 1995,
official figures revealed at the weekend. The national statistics agency
said the Turkish GNP was TL 7.644 quadrillion, or $165.5 billion, last
year. Gross domestic product (GDP) jumped by 7.7 % to TL 7.671 quadrillion, or
$166 billion. The State Institute of Statistics (DIE) also said Turkey's
per capita income soared by 22.9 % to $2,685 at current prices. That represents
a 6.2 % rise at constant prices, the DIE said. Per capita income, in terms
of the national currency, jumped 93.2 %, at current prices, to TL 124
million. The DIE said the Turkish economy grew by 7.7 % in the final
quarter of last year.
In 1995, the agency said, the industrial sector grew by 12.1 %, the fastest
on a sectoral basis. The trade sector grew by 11.6 % and agriculture 2.6 %.
At constant prices, the DIE said, financial services grew by a slight 0.4%,
ownership of dwellings 2.1 %, self-employed and services 7.5 %, government
services 2.5 % and import taxes 11.8 %. The DIE said that in the final
quarter of the year private consumption increased by 8.4 %. Government
investment dropped 17.3 % but private investment rose by 38.8 %. /Milliyet/
[13] TURKEY FORECASTS $6 BILLION IN TOURISM REVENUE THIS YEAR
Tourism receipts in 1996 are expected to rise as high as $6 billion with
the arrival of 9.5 million tourists, according to Tourism Minister =DDsilay
Saygin. Preliminary statistics from the World Tourism Organization (WTO)
stated that in terms of tourist arrivals Turkey saw an increase of 7.9 %
over 1994, gaining receipts of $5.02 nillion in 1995. The report emphasized
that Eastern Mediterranean countries, especially Israel and Turkey, had
benefitted from increasing peace and security as well as the trend towards
cultural tourism. According to WTO data, 1995 was also the year that
tourists rediscovered the Middle East, making it the fastest growing
tourism region in the world. /All papers/
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