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Turkish Press Review, 97-01-29
From: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>
CONTENTS
[01] EUROPE'S BIG FOUR TO TACKLE TURKEY ON CYPRUS, HUMAN RIGHTS
[02] D-8 DIPLOMACY
[03] BRITAIN AVOIDS DRUG CRISIS ISSUE
[04] "EU IS PREJUDICED AGAINST TURKEY"
[05] UN SECRETARY GENERAL WILL STRIVE TO RESOLVE CYPRUS ISSUE
[06] TURKISH SPEAKING UN DEPUTY SECRETARY GENERAL
[07] TURCO-GREEK "SUMMIT" IN STRASBOURG
[08] RUSSIAN DELEGATION IN ANKARA
[09] POLICE CHIEF ATTENDS SWEDISH HUMAN RIGHTS SEMINAR
[10] GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS MEET WITH KDP OVER ATRUSH QUESTION
[11] SEVEN YEAR TURKISH 500 MILLION MARK EUROBOND
[12] TURKISH-GEORGIAN JEC MEETING IN TBILISI
[13] TOURISM TARGET REACHED
TURKISH PRESS REVIEW
WEDNESDAY JANUARY 29, 1997
Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning
[01] EUROPE'S BIG FOUR TO TACKLE TURKEY ON CYPRUS, HUMAN RIGHTS
Europe's Big Four, whose foreign ministers will come together with
their Turkish counterpart Tansu Ciller today in Rome, are expected to
take up a number of issues ranging from the Cyprus question to human
rights in Turkey.
Ciller, who is in Italy, recalled that Turkey's expectation from
the EU was full membership. While Ciller wanted Europe not to impose
double standards, Italian officials supported Turkey's inclusion in
the EU expansion process. Foreign Minister Ciller was received by
Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi yesterday evening. Ciller pointed
out that Turkey should have a place in the list comprising countries
to be included in the EU expansion process which will be determined at
the end of an EU inter-governmental conference to be held in June in
Amsterdam. Ciller added that it was impossible for Turkey to accept a
special status which did not include full EU membership.
Ciller later delivered a speech regarding Turkey's foreign policy
and Turco-European relations at the International Relations Institute.
Ciller said: "When Turkey is included in the EU, a north-south
balance will be established in Europe and tension in the eastern
Mediterranean will be overcome. If Turkey is not included, it will be
a huge fault and it will be Europe's loss". /Cumhuriyet-Sabah/
[02] D-8 DIPLOMACY
Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan met with Indonesian Technology
Minister Dr.Habibi yesterday. They discussed issues regarding joint
production and cooperation in the establishment of the D-8 group of
eight developing Islamic countries. In a statement to reporters,
Erbakan noted that Habibi proposed some projects in the fields of
defence industry, aerospace, helicopters, automobiles and
communications. Erbakan said that a D-8 summit would be realized
within the first six months of this year. /Cumhuriyet/
[03] BRITAIN AVOIDS DRUG CRISIS ISSUE
British Deputy Interior Minister Tom Sackville has moderated his
former statements claiming Turkey was involved in drug smuggling. To
avoid a crisis between Ankara and London, Britain has issued a
statement saying "We do not accuse the Turkish government. We believe
in the determination of the Turkish security forces to struggle
against drug smuggling." /Hurriyet/
[04] "EU IS PREJUDICED AGAINST TURKEY"
The American Defence News magazine claims that the European Union
is prejudiced against a Muslim country's membership. The magazine
reported that Turkish officials had declared that they would block the
extension of NATO if Turkey was not given guarantees on full
membership in the EU. It was stated at the report that although the
Greek veto was an obstacle hindering Turkey's membership; the
prejudice of EU member countries against the membership of a Muslim
country was also a serious obstacle.
On the other hand, the magazine wrote that the missile crisis in
Cyprus would be solved by the U.S. /Sabah/
[05] UN SECRETARY GENERAL WILL STRIVE TO RESOLVE CYPRUS ISSUE
Worried over the escalation of tensions between the two
communities in Cyprus, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said he would
exert every effort to invite the leaders of the two communities to the
table for negotiations and find a solution to the Cyprus issue by the
end of 1997. Upon the instructions of Annan, UN Cyprus Special
Representative Prof. Han Sung-Joo left yesterday for Cyprus where he
will meet with Northern Cypriot President Rauf Denktas and the leader
of the Greek Cypriot community Glafkos Klerides. Following his
contacts on the island, Sung-Joo is expected to visit also Ankara and
Athens. /Hurriyet/
[06] TURKISH SPEAKING UN DEPUTY SECRETARY GENERAL
British Ambassador to Turkey Sir Walter Kieran has been appointed
UN Deputy Secretary General. Kieran learned Turkish at the Istanbul
University in 1964, and served in Ankara also in the 1965-67 period.
Later, in 1969-72, Kieran was appointed to Cyprus as second secretary.
/Hurriyet/
[07] TURCO-GREEK "SUMMIT" IN STRASBOURG
After a European Council Parliamentary Assembly meeting, Turkish
and Greek parliamentarians had dinner together yesterday evening in
Strasbourg. During the dinner, the parliamentarians discussed issues
of regional importance. The Turkish and Greek parliamentarians agreed
that armament was harmful for the economies of the both countries and
reached an accord to continue bilateral dialogue. /Hurriyet/
[08] RUSSIAN DELEGATION IN ANKARA
A delegation from the Russian Foreign Ministry arrived in Ankara
late on Monday to try and calm recent tensions that have sprung up
between Turkey and Russia. The tensions are directly related to the
Russian government's decision to go ahead with the sale of S-300
missiles to southern Cyprus. The missiles have a range of 150
kilometers and the deal has brought negative reaction from not only
Turkey but also the US and European countries. /All papers/
[09] POLICE CHIEF ATTENDS SWEDISH HUMAN RIGHTS SEMINAR
Alaaddin Yuksel, chief of the Turkish Police Force, said
yesterday that the biggest problem in the development and exercise of
human rights is terrorism and added that those who support democracy,
human rights and the rule of law should clearly state their attitude
on terrorism.
Speaking at the opening of a Human Rights Seminar organized by
the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Lund University in Sweden, Yuksel
noted that the concept of human rights carries grave importance for
the Turkish police, and that the Turkish police force took many
important steps in 1996 which would be developed in 1997. Yuksel
announced that a research center had been established by the
Anti-terrorism Department to investigate "disappearances". Noting
that the center would provide service 24 hours a day, Yuksel said that
the police force had purchased a fully-equipped vehicle to investigate
claims of disappearances at the site of the crime. /All papers/
[10] GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS MEET WITH KDP OVER ATRUSH QUESTION
Members of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) from the northern
Iraqi town of Duhok met officials from the intelligence unit of the
Turkish Foreign Ministry and the Turkish Armed Forces yesterday to
discuss the latest developments at the Atrush refugee camp. The
meeting was held in the Gendarmerie Headquarters in the town of
Silopi, near Diyarbakir, by the Turkish Foreign Ministry. Atrush was
one of the subjects discussed at the Monday meeting of the National
Security Council (MGK). The General Staff told the meeting that
approximately only 300 of the refugees at the camp had joined the PKK
terrorist organization, much less than the 1,000-1,500 estimated by UN
sources. /All papers/
[11] SEVEN YEAR TURKISH 500 MILLION MARK EUROBOND
Turkey's expected 500 million mark Eurobond was likely to have a
seven-year maturity and be launched this week, syndicate managers said
yesterday. Commerzbank was tipped as one of two lead brokers on the
deal. Turkey last tapped the mark sector in November 1996 with a 750
million mark five-year bond. Priced to yield 280 basis points over
Bunds, the deal tightened by around 20 b.p. Commerzbank and Deutsche
Morgan Grenfell were joint leaders on the issue. Also in the pipeline
is a 500 billion Italian lire five-year bond for Turkey, due in late
February or early March, via Chase. /All papers/
[12] TURKISH-GEORGIAN JEC MEETING IN TBILISI
A Turkish-Georgian Joint Economic Committee (JEC) first term
meeting started in Tbilisi yesterday. Foreign Trade Undersecretariat
officials said the JEC meeting will last for two days. Turkish State
Minister Demircan is heading the Turkish delegation, and Agriculture
and Food Minister Bakur Gulua is heading the Georgian side. The sides
will review trade relations between Turkey and Georgia and discuss
facilities to increase trade volume. The sides will also take up
issues to improve economic and technical cooperation in areas
including industry, transportation, agriculture, banking, construction
and the Turkish-Georgian Natural Gas and Crude Oil Pipelines, and will
also review the Kars-Tbilisi railway construction project. Demircan
is expected to return to Turkey on February 2, 1997. /All papers/
[13] TOURISM TARGET REACHED
In 1996, Turkey reached her tourism targets. 8.5 million
tourists visited Turkey during the year. Germany sent the most
tourists to Turkey, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) came
second with 1.6 million tourists and Britain came third with 800,000
tourists. There was a 60 percent increase in the number of tourists
visiting Turkey in 1996 over 1995. /Hurriyet/
END
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