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Turkish Press Review, 97-11-21
From: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>
CONTENTS
[01] "TURKEY SHOULD NOT BE EXCLUDED"
[02] PARLIAMENT FAILS IN ATTEMPT TO CURTAIL MP IMMUNITY
[03] BAKU-CEYHAN GETS MEGA BOOST FROM WASHINGTON
[04] "TALABANI IS DEADLOCKING THE ANKARA PROCESS"
[05] HARSH RESPONSE FROM ANKARA
[06] TURKISH VICTORY IN DENMARK
[07] RUSSIA BOOSTS TURKEY'S GOLD SALES
[08] HEAD OF OECD COMPETITION COMMISSION IN TURKEY
[09] TURKISH FLOWERS WIN EUROPEAN AWARDS
[10] 'RIGHTS AND PROBLEMS ARE UNIVERSAL'
TURKISH PRESS REVIEW
DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION,OFFICE OF PRIME MINISTER
21.11.97
Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this
morning
[01] "TURKEY SHOULD NOT BE EXCLUDED"
The Financial Times newspaper reports that anti-European views among
Turks are increasing. The newspaper noted that Turks thought Europe
was behaving unfairly towards them. Turkey could make its own way in
politics, security and trade in the future if it was not given strong
hope, added the same source. State Minister Isin Celebi also noted
that if Turkey was not included in the expansion process of the
European Union (EU), it would block trade with EU goods. /Sabah/
[02] PARLIAMENT FAILS IN ATTEMPT TO CURTAIL MP IMMUNITY
A draft, proposed by leaders of the ruling Motherland (ANAP),
Democratic Left (DSP) and Democratic Turkey (DTP) parties, as well as
the CHP and DYP, calling for an amendment to Article 83 of the Turkish
Cosntitution that regulates judicial immunity enjoyed by the
parliamentarians has again been turned down. In the first round of
voting on the draft, although the combined seats of the parties
supporting the bill stands as high as 368 in the 550-member unicameral
Turkish Parliament, the "yes" votes for whether or not to consider the
draft numbered only 300, and dipped further to 284 in the vote on the
first article of the proposal and to 272 in a role on changing its
second article. This result has shown that it will be very difficult
to obtain the required 330 votes in favor of the amendment in the
second round of voting. /All papers/
[03] BAKU-CEYHAN GETS MEGA BOOST FROM WASHINGTON
The prospects of the Baku-Ceyhan main export oil pipeline becoming a
reality has takrn a decisive step forward during the last few days
with unmistakably strong new endorsement from senior members of the
Clinton administration. During the first day of a two-day conference
on 'Caspian pipelines: The keys to the new oil rush," organized by
Cambridge Energy Associates, the U.S.-Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce
and the U.S.-Russian Business Council, both Secretary of Energy
Frederico Pena and U.S. Ombudsman for Energy and Commercial Relations
with the new independent states and Counselor to the Department of
Commerce Jan H. Kalicki portrayed the Baku-Ceyhan as an important
element in the overall integrated scheme which is sometimes referred
to as the "Eurosian energy transportation corridor." Kazakh President
Nursultan Nazarbayev also endorsed the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline during his
high-level visit to Washington.
"I repeatedly voiced the United States' support for the development of
a Baku-Ceyhan pipeline and I encouraged the development of a
trans-Caspian route link up with the Baku-Ceyhan corridor," Pena said
at the Caspian pipeline conference. /Hurriyet/
[04] "TALABANI IS DEADLOCKING THE ANKARA PROCESS"
Officials in Ankara said on Thursday that the Patriotic Union of
Kurdistan (PUK), led by Jalal talabani, has deadlocked the Ankara
process - the peace initiative sponsored by the United States, Britain
and Turkey. The officials confirmed the reports that members of the
PKK are situated, together with the PUK, along the ceasefire line
drawn between the two rival Kurdistan groups, the PUK and the
Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), but emphasized once again that all
the air raids carried out in northern Iraq by the Turkish army were
against the PKK.
"The PKK's ability to stage attacks has almost been eliminated. Our
troops will soon withdraw from the region," said the officials, adding
that Turkish troops had postponed their withdrawal from the area
because of the joint PUK-PKK attack on the KDP. In addition the
officials denied reports that a secure buffer-zone had been
established within Iraqi territories. /Cumhuriyet/
[05] HARSH RESPONSE FROM ANKARA
Turkey rejected yesterday an EU proposal for replacing the Turkey-EU
Association Council meeting scheduled for November 24 with an
unofficial dinner. With this decision Turkey poured cold water on new
EU proposals and thus sent a clear response to EU heads of state and
government that gathered yesterday in Luxemburg.
EU Term Chairman Luxemburg previously suggested November 24 as the
date for a Turkey-EU Association Council meeting. Ankara welcomed the
proposal. Nevertheless, the 15 EU members failed to reach an
agreement on the issue, and Luxemburg this time said that the Turkish
Foreign Minister and his EU counterparts could meet at an unofficial
dinner to discuss their views. Turkish officials, however, decided
that since EU ministers had failed to reach a concrete decision and
disagreed on the moves to be undertaken, an unofficial dinner would
hardly bring any benefits and declined Luxemburg's offer. /Milliyet/
[06] TURKISH VICTORY IN DENMARK
According to the unofficial results of local elections held in Denmark
on Wednesday, 12 of the 27 Turkish candidates have been elected to
various municipality positions. There are three other Turkish
deputies who have chances to win the elections. The final results are
expected to be announced this morning. /Hurriyet/
[07] RUSSIA BOOSTS TURKEY'S GOLD SALES
It is reported that during the last three-month period of this year
Turkey sold 76 tons of gold to foreign countries. Officials of the
World Gold Council, which prepares balance sheets for gold markets,
said that world gold sales have broken all records this year. One of
the administrators of the World Gold Council, Richard Scoterm, gave
detailed information to the Russian TASS agency about figures for the
third quarter of 1997 sent to the New York and London gold exchanges.
Scoterm stated that the amount of gold sold in international markets
during the past three months exceeded 705 tons and, out of this total,
76 tons were sold through Istanbul.
Meanwhile, General Secretary of Istanbul Gold Exchange, Kaan Aytogu,
said that the annual trade volume of the Istanbul Gold Exchange was
270 tons and added that there have been intensive demands from
Russians, Europeans and the US during recent months. /Hurriyet/
[08] HEAD OF OECD COMPETITION COMMISSION IN TURKEY
Head of the OECD Competition Commission and Deputy Chairman of the
French Competition Council, Frederic Jenny, underlined that the
Competition Board in Turkey should be 'independent and autonomous' in
order to be successful. Jenney, who came to Turkey to conduct a joint
study between the OECD and Turkish Competition Board, is also holding
seminars on competition in countries including Moldovia, Russia,
Belarus, Georgia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. Frederic Jenney met with
Head of the Turkish Competition Board, Aydin Ayaydin. /Hurriyet/
[09] TURKISH FLOWERS WIN EUROPEAN AWARDS
Turkish firms which participated in the recent International Flower
Fair held in Amsterdam, Holland, have been presented with the
"European Silver Quality Award" thus winning top places from among 430
firms. /Hurriyet/
[10] 'RIGHTS AND PROBLEMS ARE UNIVERSAL'
The 15th World Congress of the Consumers International has been held
in Chile. Chairman of the Association for the Protection of
Consumers, Mehmet Sevim, represented Turkey during the congress.
Sevim noted that the problems and rights of consumers were no longer
national but universal. He said that discussions during the congress
dealt with increasing consumerism without harming the environment.
/Cumhuriyet/
END
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