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Turkish Press Review, 97-11-20
From: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>
CONTENTS
[01] PARLIAMENT HOLDS IMMUNITY DEBATE
[02] UN ENVOY STARTS TO MAKE CONTACTS IN CYPRUS
[03] 11 PKK TERRORISTS KILLED
[04] FOREIGN MINISTRY STATEMENT
[05] TANER IN NEW YORK
[06] TUSIAD: "WESTERN WORLD SUPPORTS YILMAZ"
[07] KERIMOV IN ESKISEHIR
[08] NEW STRAITS REGULATION
[09] US FIRMS SEEK GO-AHEAD FOR TURKISH HELICOPTER BID
[10] ANKARA COMES DOWN ON EU VAGUENESS TOWARD TURKEY
[11] IRAQ CRISIS HITS TURKEY'S ECONOMY
[12] MUSIAD HOSTS THIRD INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS FORUM IN ISTANBUL
[13] PANEL DISCUSSES RECONSTRUCTION OF HISTORICAL HERITAGE IN BOSNIA
[14] "GOODBYE SMOKING" DAY
TURKISH PRESS REVIEW
DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION,OFFICE OF PRIME MINISTER
20.11.97
Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning
[01] PARLIAMENT HOLDS IMMUNITY DEBATE
The Turkish Parliament voted 300 to 198 yesterday on the draft
aimed to amend Article 83 of the Constitution which will strip
parliamentarians of the legislative immunity they currently enjoy.
According to Parliament's bylaws, 330 votes are required to consider a
constitutional amendment draft. A total of 517 deputies attended the
vote. Six deputies abstained from voting, eight votes were declared
invalid, five votes were blank, while 26 deputies did not attend the
parliamentary session.
Under the constitution, two secret ballots must be held, with a
48-hour interval between them, for a constitutional amendment to be
passed. The deciding vote will be probably held next week. 367 votes
are required in order to pass the amendment without going to a
referendum. /Hurriyet/
[02] UN ENVOY STARTS TO MAKE CONTACTS IN CYPRUS
The UN special adviser for Cyprus, Diego Cordovez, began making
contacts yesterday in a new fact-finding mission for the resolution of
conflicts in Cyprus. Cordovez met for two hours with Greek Cypriot
leader Glafkos Klerides in the capital, Nicosia, before travelling to
the north of the island for talks with Turkish Cypriot President Rauf
Denktas. He is due to leave on Friday. "I don't think we can expect
any news from this trip for the simple reason that what the
secretary-general proposed to the two leaders in January of this year
was to initiate a process of negotiations, probably after the
elections" he told reporters upon his arrival. /Cumhuriyet-Sabah/
[03] 11 PKK TERRORISTS KILLED
During current operations in the southeast Anatolia region 11 PKK
terrorists have been killed and seven members of the Hizbullah
terrorist organization had been arrested. According to the regional
state of emergency governorship there have been heavy clashes between
PKK terrorists and Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic Union (IKDP) peshmerges
in Northern Iraq, and the PKK organization has had heavy losses.
/Cumhuriyet/Sabah_
[04] FOREIGN MINISTRY STATEMENT
Foreign Ministry Spokesman, Ambassador Necati Utkan said in his
weekly press conference yesterday that during operations conducted by
the Turkish Armed Forces against the PKK in northern Iraq, some
members of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) had been killed.
Utkan added that PUK members had withdrawn to the cease-fire opening
the way for 2,000 Turkish petrol tankers to return to Turkey.
/Cumhuriyet/
[05] TANER IN NEW YORK
Completing his intense contacts in Washington yesterday, State
Minister Gunes Taner and his accompanying Turkish delegation flew on
to New York. Taner will there meet representatives of finance circles
and give speeches on Turkish economy. Taner and the Turkish
delegation will come back home at the weekend.
Meanwhile IMF representatives have announced that their meetings
with the Turkish delegation had been very fruitful and aded that the
next round of meetings will be in December. IMF and American sources
stressed that Taner and the members of the Turkish economy delegation
had left a very impressive mark in Washington. They added that Taner
and his bureaucracts knew their subjects very well and had been
successful in promoting the Turkish economy and its future
development. /Cumhuriyet/Sabah/Hurriyet/
[06] TUSIAD: "WESTERN WORLD SUPPORTS YILMAZ"
A Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association (TUSIAD)
delegation continues its contacts in Washington. In a press
conference, yesterday, regarding the visit, TUSIAD Chairman, Muharrem
Kayhan said that the Clinton administration, the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank had "positive views" about the
Mesut Yilmaz coalition government's stability package. /Sabah/
Cumhuriyet_
[07] KERIMOV IN ESKISEHIR
Visiting the Arcelik durable goods production plant belonging to
the Koc group in Eskisehir, Uzbekistan President Islam Kerimov, who is
in Turkey as the official guest of his Turkish counterpart, said that
they wanted to construct similar Arcelik facilities in Uzbekistan.
Chairman of the Executive Board of the Koc group, Inan Kirac,
furnished information about the facility to Turkish President Suleyman
Demirel and his guest Islam Kerimov. /Hurriyet/
[08] NEW STRAITS REGULATION
Foreign Ministry Deputy Undersecretary, Ambassador Inal Batu, who
held contacts in Moscow just prior to Russian Prime Minister Victor
Chernomyrdin's visit to Turkey, said that Turkey would change the
Straits Regulations in a way tthat would satisfy also Russia.
Pointing out that the new regulations put into force in 1998 would
ease the tension between Russia and Turkey, Batu said: "The new
regulations will not only protect Turkey's national advantages but
also satisfy our neighbours." /Hurriyet/
[09] US FIRMS SEEK GO-AHEAD FOR TURKISH HELICOPTER BID
Five US "giants" of the helicopter industry handed a "warning
letter" to US President Bill Clinton with regards to Turkey's bid
seeking international firms for a joint-production venture. The five
companies have urged the president not to delay permission for the
companies to submit their bids. The companies also asserted their
desire to take part in the bid in letters sent to Secretary of State
Madeleine Albright and Secretary of Defense William Cohen.
"The Turkish modernization programme is at a crossroads. Turkey
has asked Russian, American and European firms to submit their bids
for this project worth between $4-5 billion. The deadline is on
December 31, 1997. If the US administration does not give us
permission we will be left out of a project which will extend until
the year 2015. Turkey will decide soon, considering that they have
already had a long waiting period" the letter said. /Hurriyet/
[10] ANKARA COMES DOWN ON EU VAGUENESS TOWARD TURKEY
Ankara yesterday criticized the European Union's vagueness
concerning Turkey's major foreign policy goal, its long-lasting
membership bid to join the EU, noting that the 15-nations had not yet
made up their minds on important issues still on the agenda between
Turkey and the EU. "We are still in the process of waiting for
reasonable answers to our reasonable demands conveyed to the EU"
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Necati Utkan said at his weekly press
conference. The final decision making about the enlargement process
of the EU will take place at the Luxembourg summit in December.
Turkey waits to be at least given a pre-accession strategy.
[11] IRAQ CRISIS HITS TURKEY'S ECONOMY
Chairman of the Democratic Left Party (DSP) and Deputy Prime
Minister Bulent Ecevit warned that if the Iraq crisis was not solved,
Turkey's economy would be severely damaged. Ecevit, speaking to his
party's parliamentary group said: "If the new Iraq crisis is not
solved in a short time, the Turkish economy, especially in the
Southeast, will be severely harmed and Turkey will again suffer due to
punishment given to Iraq. Therefore, we are sensitive on this issue".
Ecevit pointed out that the Iraq crisis had caused serious
difficulties for Southeast Anatolia's tradesmen and truck drivers.
"The 'food for petroleum' trade with Iraq has been halted and
Southeast Anatolia's economy has been damaged" Ecevit commented,
adding that the Cabinet was doing everything they could to end the
crisis as soon as possible. /Hurriyet/
[12] MUSIAD HOSTS THIRD INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS FORUM IN ISTANBUL
The Third International Business Forum (IBF) which is being
hosted by the Independent Industrialists' and Businessmen's
Association (MUSIAD) opened yesterday in Istanbul. The IBF meeting
was attended by more than two hundred Turkish and foreign politician,
academicians and government representatives.
[13] PANEL DISCUSSES RECONSTRUCTION OF HISTORICAL HERITAGE IN BOSNIA
A panel organized at the Middle East Technical University (METU)
discussed yesterday the "urbacide" in Bosnia as Bosnian Ambassador to
Ankara, Hajruddin Somun, also made a call to Turkey, UNESCO and
European countries and institutions, to contribute to the revival and
reconstruction of the cultural heritage in Bosnia.
[14] "GOODBYE SMOKING" DAY
All papers give coverage to the "quit smoking" day on November
20. Milliyet daily newspaper told readers that it is an opportunity
to get rid of smoking. Every year, three million people throughout
the world die of illnesses caused by smoking. This figure will reach
10 million by the year 2020.
END
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