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Turkish Press Review, 97-02-05Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>CONTENTS
TURKISH PRESS REVIEWFEBRUARY 5, 1997Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning[01] VAN MIERLO CALLS FOR EU HONESTY WITH TURKEYDutch Foreign Minister Hans van Mierlo said yesterday that the time had come for the European Union (EU) to come clean with neighbour and NATO ally Turkey and tell Turkey did not pass muster for EU membership. Speaking to a European Parliament committee on behalf of the Dutch EU presidency, van Mierlo said Europe faced difficulties in fully embracing Turkey. He added: "However, the EU cannot keep Turkey far from itself". Turkey signed an association agreement with what is now the EU as long ago as 1963. It formally applied to join the bloc in 1987. The European Commission, which vets countries' membership applications, ruled that Turkey was not ready on both economic and democratic grounds. Since then, however, the Berlin Wall has fallen and a stream of central and Eastern European countries, including Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, have been promised eventual membership.Meanwhile, Belgian Parliamentarian Leo Tindemans asked whether or not there will be a change regarding the beginning date of Cyprus membership in the EU. Van Mierlo said: "There is no doubt regarding the date. Negotiations with Cyprus will begin, as envisaged, six months after an Inter-Governmental Conference is held". /All papers/ [02] BSEC MEETS IN ISTANBULThe Black Sea Economic Cooperation's member countries' foreign ministers convened in Istanbul yesterday at the newly refurbished Musrit Fuat Pasha Mansion, home to the BSEC International Secretariat. Apart from BSEC members Albania, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and Greece; observing countries Austria, Italy, Israel, Egypt, Poland, the Slovak Republic and Tunisia sent representatives. Sessions will continue for three days, after which a declaration of intent will be drafted. Meetings will focus on strengthening the legal powers of the cooperative, evaluating the meeting held in Moscow in October and founding a Black Sea free trade area. Opening of the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank is another subject of the meeting. /All papers/[03] DENKTAS UNSATISFIED BY RUSSIA'S EXPLANATION OF MISSILE SALESRauf Denktas, President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), told reporters after his meeting with Russian envoy Vladimir Cijov that he remained unconvinced by Cijov's explanations concerning the sale of Russian S-300 missiles to the Greek Cypriots. After the meeting, Denktas said that Russia's attitude was leading the search for a solution to the Cyprus issue into a dead end and making it impossible to reach a compromise with the Greek side.Denktas summarized Cijov's defence of the missile sales as, "If we didn't sell these missiles to the Greek Cypriots, someone else would have sold missiles to them" and called the attitude unacceptable. Denktas said: "In our meeting with the Russian official, he claimed the sale of the missiles was based on purely commercial considerations. He also claimed that they had not changed their policy and that they held no antagonism towards the Turkish Cypriots". Denktas reportedly also gave Cijov, chief of the European Department at the Russian Foreign Ministry, detailed documents concerning the Cyprus issue. /All papers/ [04] NO TRUTH TO DRUG RUMORSThere is no evidence that the Turkish government is protecting the drug industry, according to German police in Lower Saxony. The German News Agency has reported that the State Interior Ministry of Lower Saxony has forwarded a letter to the Federal Interior Ministry, informing them that the State Criminal Office has never opened any inquiry into this issue. The State Ministry said that they have only received statements from a drug smuggler sentenced to seven years. The convict had claimed that the "Baybasin and Senoglu families control the trade in drugs". /Hurriyet/[05] NO OBSTABLE TO ARMS SALEChairman of International Relations Committee Benjamin Gilman (R-NY) has sent a letter to Secretary of State Albright to stop the sale of Sea Hawk helicopters to Turkey before Aegean and Cyprus disputes are resolved. US State Department spokesman Nicholas Burns said the US has no intention of applying an arms embargo against a NATO ally. "We have an alliance relationship with both Greece and Turkey, and there will be continued US military asssistance to both countries in the context of that NATO alliance" Burns said. "So no one's talking here about shutting down military relationships that are vital to the US and to those governments".When confronted by a Greek journalist who questioned a Washington Post claim that Greek Cypriot leader Glafkos Klerides promised a State Department official he would not deploy Greek F-16s for 13 months, Burns stood by the US version of the supposed exchange. The official in question, Southern European office director Carrey Cavanaugh, also previously said that Klerides had promised him that the Russian-made S-300 missiles would not be deployed in Greek Cyprus for a period of 16 to 18 months. /Milliyet/ [06] BAGHERI TO BE DECLARED PERSONA NON GRATAThe Foreign Ministry has initiated an investigation into a provocative speech given by Iranian Ambassador to Ankara, Muhammed Riza Bagheri, promoting the setting up of sheriat or religious law in Turkey on the "Jerusalem Night" Moslem celebration organized by the Ankara Sincan Municipality on Friday. According to reports in today's papers Bagheri will be declared persona non grata and his withdrawal from Turkey will be demanded. /All papers/[07] BUSINESSMAN KOC REPORTS TO ERBAKANLeading Turkish businessman Rahmi Koc yesterday briefed Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan about his recent share in a meeting including Turkish and Greek business leaders.Koc detailed developments in the business and trade sectors between the two countries, and again said that Turkey would like to enjoy the same good relations with Greece that Turkey has with other neighbour countries. Prime Minister Erbakan repeated that the Aegean Sea should be a "sea of friendship" between Greece and Turkey, and added that Turkey harboured no ulterior motives towards Greece. /Hurriyet/ [08] TURKEY IS MAIN EXPORTER TO EU IN MEDITERRANEANEurostat, the Community statistics office, has published a report on the EU's trade with Mediterranean third countries which shows a considerable rise in the Union's surplus of trade with these countries and Turkey as the leading exporter in the Mediterranean. The surplus was already significant in 1994 at ECU 10.4 billion. In 1995, it rose to 13.7 billion due to a significant rise in European exports (10 %). Imports also rose, but at a slower pace (4%).Trade with the Mediterranean countries accounted for 9.3 % of all EU exports and 7.2 % of total exports. On the Mediterranean side, the EU's biggest supplier is Turkey, which in 1995 accounted for 24 % of total EU imports from this region, at ECU 9.2 billion. /All papers/ END Turkish Press Review Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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