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Turkish Press Review, 98-04-03
From: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>
03.04.98
Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning
CONTENTS
[01] NO NEED FOR AN URGENT GENERAL ELECTION
[02] FOREIGN MINISTER COMPLETES PAKISTAN VISIT
[03] IMF DELEGATION TO TURKEY
[04] "S-300 MISSILES OBSTACLES TO PEACE"
[05] RISK OF CYPRUS CONFLICT
[06] HOLBROOKE IN CYPRUS
[07] DEMIREL WARNS YEREVAN
[08] UN-TURKEY ALLIANCE AGAINST POVERTY
[09] FOREIGN EXCHANGE RESERVES UP $836 MILLION
[10] ELECTRONIC STORM COMING
[11] TURKISH SCIENTIST AWARDED
[12] PKK OPERATIONS
[01] NO NEED FOR AN URGENT GENERAL ELECTION
After a government coalition leaders summit in Ankara yesterday,
Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz told a news conference that the coalition
partners had agreed to suggest to Parliament that an early general
election should be held in 1999. Yilmaz said that Turkey was in no
urgent need of an election. "The government's impression is that the
majority of our people do not want an early election" he said.
Yilmaz said that the government had tackled major domestic problems
for nine months and had submitted many draft reforms to Parliament with
the outside support of the Republican People's Party (CHP), for which he
said he was grateful. Yilmaz added that if an election date was
announced as autumn 1999, many economic targets could well have been
reached by then. /All papers/
[02] FOREIGN MINISTER COMPLETES PAKISTAN VISIT
Foreign Minister Ismail Cem yesterday completed his two-day
official visit to Pakistan. Cem was received by Prime Minister Navaz
Sherif, met with Foreign Minister Ishak Dar and Deputy Speaker of the
Parliament Cafer Ikbal. After the meetings Cem said that there were no
problems in relations between Pakistan and Turkey. Regarding the visit,
Cem said that Turkey had proposed to Pakistan that direct sea and air
links between the two countries should be established in order to
improve trade between the two countries.
Deputy Speaker of the Pakistan Parliament Ikbal, said for his part
they welcomed the support that Turkey gave to Pakistan especially in
connection with the Kashmir problem and other issues, adding that the
visit had reinforced the cooperation and support between the two
countries. /Sabah/
[03] IMF DELEGATION TO TURKEY
Yener Dincmen, Undersecretary of the Treasury said that they had
reached concensus on many aspects of the 1998 financial programme at the
end of meetings with IMF. He added: "The basic problem is that some
reforms have to be realised. These reforms are preconditions to an
agreement with the IMF. Without tax and social security reforms there
can be no agreement with the IMF." Dincmen said that there will be a
meeting on 14 April in Washington and that an IMF delegation will come
to Turkey on 24 April to hold a consultation meeting with Turkish
representatives. /Hurriyet/
[04] "S-300 MISSILES OBSTACLES TO PEACE"
US President Bill Clinton said that the S-300 missiles which Greek
Cyprus is buying from Russia will be "serious obstacles" to a solution
on the island. In a report on Cyprus, covering the December 1997 to
January 1998 period, Clinton also said that the result of the Luxembourg
Summit regarding Turkey had been a "step backward" within the framework
of European Union integration targets. /Hurriyet/
[05] RISK OF CYPRUS CONFLICT
Britain's "The Guardian" newspaper has pointed out that if
Turkish-EU relations do not recover, conflict could break out in Cyprus.
The newspaper said that war would not benefit anyone and added: "Some
of the problems between Turkey and the EU stem from some countries like
Germany, which have fears about the results of Turkey's future full
membership in the EU". /Milliyet/
[06] HOLBROOKE IN CYPRUS
US President Bill Clinton's Special Cyprus Representative, Richard
Holbrooke, who will visit Cyprus today, is expected to discuss the issue
of Russian-made S-300 missiles to be deployed by the Greek Cypriot
Community. Holbrooke will meet also with President of the Turkish
Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Rauf Denktas. Denktas is expected to
tell Holbrooke that negotiations regarding Cyprus will have to be at
inter-governmental levels from now on, and that he wants the US to
contribute to new negotiations held within the framework of political
equality. Holbrooke wants EU financial aid promised to Turkey to be
released and proposed Confidence Building Measures to be approved by the
two sides on the island.
Denktas also received a Turkish delegation headed by Turkish
Parliament Speaker Hikmet Cetin yesterday. Denktas noted that the
Turkish government's support for the TRNC further strengthened the
TRNC's position on international platforms. /Milliyet/
[07] DEMIREL WARNS YEREVAN
Participating in 80th anniversary ceremonies marking the liberation
of Van, a city in the southeast of Turkey, President Suleyman Demirel
spoke out harshly against the aggressive policy assumed by the newly
elected President of Armenia, Robert Kocarian. Demirel also sent a
warning message to Kocarian calling for the immediate withdrawal of
Armenian troops from occupied territories of Azerbaijan. Demirel again
stressed that Turkey will never allow any country to disrupt regional
stability. /Cumhuriyet/
[08] UN-TURKEY ALLIANCE AGAINST POVERTY
Preparations have been completed for a project on "national
dialogue for strategies in the struggle against poverty in Turkey", to
be carried out jointly by Turkey and the United Nations Improvement
Programme. The General Director of the Turkish Economic and Social
Studies Foundation (TESEV), responsible for the maintenance of the
project, Dr.Mehmet Kabasakal, pointed out the necessity of joint action
by the state, local governments and the private sector. This project,
aiming to find fundamental solutions for poverty in Turkey, is
determined to give priority to the cities of Ankara and Diyarbakir.
/Cumhuriyet/
[09] FOREIGN EXCHANGE RESERVES UP $836 MILLION
Central Bank foreign exchange reserves continue to increase.
Foreign exchange reserves, which totalled $20.339 billion on 20 March,
increased by $836 million and reached $21.175 billion on 27 March, with
international reserves showing a total of $29.853 billion.
/Milliyet-Sabah/
[10] ELECTRONIC STORM COMING
Minister of Communications, Necdet Menzir, speaking at a meeting of
the Marmara Group's Strategic Studies Fund, said: "An electronic storm
is coming, and if we are late in preparing for it, it will not be unlike
the arrival of the printing machine in the country 300 years after its
discovery".
Menzir added that a grave mistake had been made in Turkey by not
developing the railways. Therefore the Communications Ministry was
carrying out studies for 2000 kms of new tracks. The Minister also
stated that a tunnel under the Bosphorus Straits would not constitute an
alternative to a third bridge and should be built. /Cumhuriyet/
[11] TURKISH SCIENTIST AWARDED
Dr.Ali Erdemir from Chicago University and a research specialist at
the Argon National Laboratory attached to the Department of Energy, has
been presented with a $ 2 million research award for discoveries leading
to reducing the friction factor to zero. For his research into friction
technology Erdemir has been honoured with the Edmond E. Bisson Award by
the Engineers' Union. /Milliyet-Hurriyet/
[12] PKK OPERATIONS
The Turkish Armed Forces have started wide ranging of operations in
the Ballikaya region in the Silopi-Ulupinar-Sirnak triangle. Aircraft
from Diyarbakir military base have been making observation flights over
the region. Military sources have reported that operations will
continue in the region and that there were clashes going on between
terrorist groups and the security forces. No information about the
number of wounded or dead, however, has been released. /Sabah/
Note: Because of the Feast of Sacrifice, the Turkish Press Review
will not be published again until Monday 13 April.
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