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Turkish Press Review, 97-04-15
From: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>
CONTENTS
[01] EUROPEAN UNION, MEDITERRANEAN FOREIGN MINISTERS' MEETING STARTS
[02] FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN CALLS FOR COOPERATION
[03] ANKARA IS DELIBERATE
[04] TURKEY TO HOST TWO MILITARY EXERCISES
[05] GREEK CYPRIOTS UNWILLING TO NEGOTIATE
[06] TURKEY HAS NO CONNECTION WITH ALLEGED BOSNIA PLOT TO KILL PONTIFF
[07] GOOD NEWS FROM WTO
[08] ONE BILLION DOLLARS INVESTED ABROAD
[09] BOEING WANTS TO COOPERATE WITH TURKEY
[10] IMF STARTS WINDING UP MEETINGS
[11] CILLER: WE HAVE TAKEN IMPORTANT STEPS
[12] PKK AMBUSH: KILLS FOUR, INJURES SEVEN
[13] PRESS WIELDING MORE POWER
[14] REMEMBERING TURGUT OZAL
[15] ALBANIAN DEFENCE MINISTER IN ANKARA
[16] TURKISH DELEGATION IN ALBANIA
[17] SOUTH AFRICA LIFTS ARMS EMBARGO
[18] TURKISH BOAT SINKS IN AGEAN
[19] LOWER VISA COSTS FOR BULGARIAN TURKS
[20] FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN AEGEAN WOMAN ORGANIZATIONS
TURKISH PRESS REVIEW
APRIL 15, 1997
Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this
morning
[01] EUROPEAN UNION, MEDITERRANEAN FOREIGN MINISTERS' MEETING STARTS
The second European Union and Mediterranean countries' Foreign
Ministers meeting begins on Tuesday in Malta, at which Turkey is
expected to discuss cooperation against terrorism while Israel and the
Palestinians prepare for a showdown.
Turkey, suffering from attacks on Turkish workers abroad, will also
place the issue on the agenda. It is also expected to make a
complaint about the Mediterranean Development Fund (MEDA), from which
Turkey expects 700 million ECU in aid - which remains blocked by
Greece. Turkey will be represented at the meeting by State Minister
Ufuk Soylemez and Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Onur Oymen.
[02] FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN CALLS FOR COOPERATION
Turkish Foreign Ministry Spokeman Omer Akbel said on Monday that the
German and Turkish press should play more important role in the
integration of Turkish people living in Germany into that society.
Referring to an article entitled "Dangerous aliens" published in the
German magazine "Der Spiegel", Akbel said: "A Turkish community has
been living in Germany for quite a long time. They have adapted
themselves to Germany and have started to see the country as their
second land. They want to stop being treated as strangers and
enemies. To ease the integration process, the Turkish and German
press have an important role to play."
[03] ANKARA IS DELIBERATE
Turkish Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ambassador Omer Akbel said that
before they demonstrate official reaction to the "Mykonos case" which
caused a crisis in EU-Iranian relations, they wanted to examine in
detail the decision of the German court. Noting that Turkey suffered
a lot from terrorism, Akbel said: "Within this framework, it is very
natural for us to follow the case with great attention". Pointing out
that Turkey's relations with Iran had many parameters, Akbel added:
"Turkey and Iran are neighbours. The parameters of Turco-Iranian
relations are closer and different from the relations of Germany or
other EU countries with Iran". Akbel stated that the natural gas
pipeline project between Turkey and Iran was underway. /Sabah/
[04] TURKEY TO HOST TWO MILITARY EXERCISES
Turkey is preparing to host NATO member countries for two joint
military exercises within the framework of Alliance scheduled
exercises. Ardent Ground'97 is to be carried out in Turkey's European
territory of Thrace with the participation of the US, Canada, Italy,
Norway, Holland, Germany, Belgium, Spain and Great Britain on April 28
- May 18. The maneuvres, which will be backed by air support, aim to
improve the artillery capability of NATO's light mobile land forces.
Distant Thunder, a second Turkey-based exercise, will be held by land
and sea forces in western Anatolia and the eastern Mediterranean in
May with the participation of Italy, Great Britain and the US. The
exercise aims at training land and air forces to use air defence in
all kind of air operations.
[05] GREEK CYPRIOTS UNWILLING TO NEGOTIATE
While Turkish Cypriots have accepted the UN "set of ideas" promoting a
bi-communal, bi-zonal federation on the island, Greek Cypriot
Parliamentary Speaker Sprios Kiprianu has announced that the Greek
Cypriot side had rejected the proposals. At a meeting in Geneva on
April 4, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan told Turkish Cypriot leader,
Rauf Denktas, that all negotiations for a solution to the Cyprus
question would be based on the plan proposed by former UN Secretary
General Boutros Boutros-Ghali.
Accordingly, Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration have
announced that they will held joint military maneuvres in the
Mediterranean on May 8-9. The maneuvres will be aimed at improving
not defence, but attack capabilities, and Greek fighter jets will
arrive on the island within the framework of the exercises. In
response, Turkey and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus will
organize joint military maneuvres in the afthermath of the Greek-Greek
Cypriot exercises. /Milliyet/
[06] TURKEY HAS NO CONNECTION WITH ALLEGED BOSNIA PLOT TO KILL PONTIFF
Foreign Ministry Spokeman Omer Akbel announced yesterday that Turkey
had no official information about claims that four Turkish nationals
were involved in an aborted assassination attempt against Pope Jean
Paul II in Sarajevo over the weekend. The Italian News Agency (ANSA)
had earlier reported that four "ultra-religious" Turks were behind the
plot. Akbel pointed out that according to other press reports the
ANSA repoer had turned out to be groundless, adding that Turkey was
following developments.
Some papers reported yesterday that this was a plot to denigrate
Turkey, since the mines found under the bridge over which the
Pontiff's motorcade was to pass had no detonators. /Cumhuriyet/
[07] GOOD NEWS FROM WTO
According to a World Trade Organization (WTO) report, Turkey's foreign
trade growth for the period 1990-96 outstripped the world average by 4
percent. In an indepth look at a recently-released WTO study, the
Anatolia news agency reported that while the world average for foreign
trade growth was 7 percent for the 1990-96 period, Turkey racked up
the impressive figure of 11 percent, leaving many developed countries
behind. The WTO report shows that Turkey is one of the 21 countries
with the highest increase in foreign trade volume during the 1990-96
period.
[08] ONE BILLION DOLLARS INVESTED ABROAD
During the January-March period of this year, Turkish banks and
companies opening up to world trade transferred just over one billion
dollars to foreign countries. Turkey's Is Bank headed the list with
transfers of 88.1 million dollars mainly to Britain, Germany and the
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). /Sabah/
[09] BOEING WANTS TO COOPERATE WITH TURKEY
On Monday, Prime Minister Erbakan received a high-level group from
American aircraft giant Boeing to hear the delegation's proposals for
cooperation in the aviation sector, especially in the production of
Boeing 737s in Turkey. The Boeing delegation was headed by Philip
Condit, executive board chairman of the company. Erbakan noted that
the government would continue to assess proposals from other
companies, and would decide soon which company was to be selected for
the joint projects. Turkey is preparing to produce a passenger plane
together with a foreign manufacturer. /Cumhuriyet/
[10] IMF STARTS WINDING UP MEETINGS
State Minister Abdullah Gul on Monday received a visiting IMF
delegation led by Martin Hardy. Having collected data about Turkey's
macroeconomic performance in 1996 and the predictions about the 1997
performance, the IMF team on Monday started a final round of
assessments with government officials, and the meeting with Minister
Gul is seen as the start of this round. Observers note that Hardy and
the IMF delegation were in general pleased with the current economic
situation in Turkey. /All papers/
[11] CILLER: WE HAVE TAKEN IMPORTANT STEPS
Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Tansu Ciller said that
Turkey had taken important steps towards full European Union
membership, and added that they expected that the the Partnership
Council meeting to be held at the end of April would have positive
results for Turkey./Cumhuriyet/
[12] PKK AMBUSH: KILLS FOUR, INJURES SEVEN
At the end of near clashes between Turkish security forces and
separatist terrorists near Siirt, four soldiers were martyried and
seven were wounded./Milliyet/
[13] PRESS WIELDING MORE POWER
According to Chief of Staff General Karadayi, the press is a leading
power in Turkey. Speaking with his Romanian counterpart, Constantin
Degeratu, General Karadayi said that in Turkey the press was the
"first power" -but Degeratu said that in his own country the press was
somewhere in fourth position. /Milliyet/
[14] REMEMBERING TURGUT OZAL
Tomorrow will mark four years since the death of Turkey's eigth
president, Turgut Ozal. Special ceremonies have been prepared and a
number of the country's leading political, social and private sector
figures will attend. /Hurriyet/
[15] ALBANIAN DEFENCE MINISTER IN ANKARA
Albanian Defence Minister Shakir Vukaj arrived in Ankara yesterday.
Vukaj, who has come to Ankara as the official guest of Turkish Defence
Minister Turhan Tayan, will hold contacts for two days. It is
reported that Vukaj will request that 800 Turkish soldiers should go
to Albania as soon as possible in order to participate in the
6,000-strong international peace force. /Milliyet/
[16] TURKISH DELEGATION IN ALBANIA
In addition to a five-person parliamentarian delegation, representing
the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Turkish Parliament, a 15-person
advance guard, representing 500 Turkish troops yet to be sent, has
arrived in Tirana. Today, 100 Turkish soldiers will also go to
Albania. The rest of the Turkish force will reach Dures port by sea
on 19 April. Commission members will meet with high-level diplomats
during their three-day visit to Albania. /Milliyet/
[17] SOUTH AFRICA LIFTS ARMS EMBARGO
South Africa has lifted its arms embargo against Turkey, the Turkish
Foreign Ministry announced on Monday. The embargo was imposed on May
4, 1995. The Pretoria government has told the Turkish Embassy in
South Africa that it would now include Turkey among the countries it
is willing to sell arms to. The Foreign Ministry said Turkey was
pleased with the decision. /Milliyet/
[18] TURKISH BOAT SINKS IN AGEAN
Greek officials reported that a Turkish fishing boat had sunk near
Meis island on Saturday and that two Turks were missing. The same
sources noted that four Turkish crew members had been taken aboard by
a Ukranian boat./Cumhuriyet/
[19] LOWER VISA COSTS FOR BULGARIAN TURKS
Turkey has reduced visa costs for Bulgarian citizens by approximately
60 percent. Ahmet Dogan, an ethnic Turk living in Bulgaria and deputy
of the Rights and Freedoms Movement Party, welcomed the decision as a
positive step towards solving the problems of Bulgarians of Turkish
origin. The reduced payment implementation will begin on May 1, the
Foreign Ministry announced. /Sabah/
[20] FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN AEGEAN WOMAN ORGANIZATIONS
At the "Women's Summit" on the Greek Island of Sisam Turkish and Greek
women declared they were "hand in hand for peace". At the end of the
summit, Greek and Turkish women decided to struggle on until they had
made their governments sit at the peace table./Hurriyet/
END
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