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Turkish Press Review, 00-05-30
From: Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs <http://www.mfa.gov.tr>
30.05.00
Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning
CONTENTS
[01] ONAL SEES NO SUBSTANTIAL DEVIATION FROM CURRENT ACCOUNT
PROJECTION
[02] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...
[03] NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL TO MEET TOMORROW
[04] ECEVIT TO VISIT NORWAY
[05] CEM MEETS ALIYEV
[06] SASI: "TURKEY COMMITTED TO FULFILLING EU CRITERIA"
[07] ATAMAN RECEIVES FINLAND'S MEDAL
[08] TAI PRODUCES ITS FIRST COUGAR AS-532 HELICOPTER
[09] EFQM FORUM TO BE HELD IN ISTANBUL
[10] ELECTRONIC TRADE SEMINAR TO BE HELD AT BOGAZICI UNIVERSITY
[11] KIEKENS IN TURKEY
[12] FINANSBANK IN THE EUROPEAN UNION
[13] ARCELIK TO BE VISITED BY EUROPEAN COUNTRIES
[14] IMKB BECOMES A PARTNER WITH KYRGYZ STOCK EXCHANGE
[15] COOPERATION BETWEEN BANK CAPITAL AND ALPHA BANK
[16] BONIFACE: "EUROPEAN DEFENCE NEEDS TURKEY"
[17] EXTRADITION OF FEHRIYE ERDAL REFUSED BY BELGIUM
[18] EU CANDIDATE PARLIAMENTS' GENERAL SECRETARIES' TO MEET
[19] FOREIGN MINISTRY MARTYRS COMMEMORATED
[20] HIZBULLAH SUSPECT TAKEN TO CRIME SCENE
[21] INVESTMENTS IN SOUTHEAST
[22] MOODY'S SURPRISED BY TURKEY'S SUCCESS
[23] TURKISH BUSINESSMEN IN IRAN
[24] ONAL SEES NO SUBSTANTIAL DEVIATION FROM CURRENT ACCOUNT
PROJECTION
[25] NEW COMPANIES OPENED
[26] TURKEY AMONG THE TOP 10 AFTER 23 YEARS
[27] ERDEMIR TO START HIGH-TECH POWER PLANT
[28] TURCAS EYES LEAD ROLE IN OIL RETAILING
[29] TWO CARTOONISTS IN NEW YORK
[30] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...
[31] HOPES FOR MEMBERSHIP TO THE EU BY ILTER TURKMEN (HURRIYET)
[01] ONAL SEES NO SUBSTANTIAL DEVIATION FROM CURRENT ACCOUNT
PROJECTION
[02] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...
[03] NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL TO MEET TOMORROW
The National Security Council (NSC) will have its monthly meeting
at the Presidential Palace tomorrow. This will be the first such
meeting attended by the new President Ahmet Necdet Sezer. /All
papers/
[04] ECEVIT TO VISIT NORWAY
At the invitation of Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg,
Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit will make an official visit to
Norway on June 4-6. Ecevit will be received by King Harald V of
Norway and will have talks with Prime Minister Stoltenberg.
Ecevit will deliver a speech at the Nobel Institute on 'Turkey at
the Dawn of the 21st Century'. Foreign Minister Ismail Cem,
accompanying Ecevit during his visit, is expected to meet his
Norwegian counterpart, Thorbjorn Jagland. /All papers/
[05] CEM MEETS ALIYEV
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ismail Cem, who held a series of
meetings in Azerbaijan's capital city, Baku, also met
Azerbaijan's President, Haydar Aliyev. Cem in a statement
concerning this meeting, said, "We held concrete and constructive
meetings as part of my visit to Azerbaijan. During the process of
the implementation of Baku-Ceyhan pipeline project, this stage
had been reached thanks to Aliyev's great contribution. Turkey
also did its best for the implementation of the project."
/Hurriyet/
[06] SASI: "TURKEY COMMITTED TO FULFILLING EU CRITERIA"
Finnish Minister of Foreign Trade and European Affairs Kimmo Sasi
stated that Turkey was committed to fulfilling the Copenhagen
criteria and eventually be a full member of the EU. Stressing
that his country supported Turkey's candidacy at the Helsinki
Summit, Sasi pointed out that he was hopeful about Turkey's
membership of the EU. Speaking at a press conference at the
Finnish Embassy yesterday, Sasi outlined his visit's purpose as
discussing trade relations with Turkey and exchanging views on EU
enlargement. Meeting with Health Minister Osman Durmus, Energy
Minister Cumhur Ersumer, Deputy Prime Minister Husamettin Ozkan,
State Minister Yuksel Yalova and State Minister Tunca Toskay,
Sasi said that Turkey was a train on the right track and added
that the only problem was the speed of the train, which was
solely up to Turkey. /All papers/
[07] ATAMAN RECEIVES FINLAND'S MEDAL
Finnish President Tarja Halonen decided that Finland's Honorary
Consul-General to Istanbul, Ural Ataman, be given Finland's Lion
Medal due to his achievement in improving relations between the
two countries. In a statement by the Finnish Embassy, this medal
was presented to Ural Ataman yesterday during a ceremony, which
was also attended by the Finnish Foreign Trade Minister, Kimmo
Sasi. Ataman has been working as Finland's Honorary
Consul-General for 10 years. /Hurriyet/
[08] TAI PRODUCES ITS FIRST COUGAR AS-532 HELICOPTER
The first Cougar AS-532 helicopter produced by Turkish Aviation
and Space Industry (TAI) will be given to the Land Forces Command
on May 31. According to a written statement by TAI, it produced
its first Cougar AS-532 with the 'EUROTAI' consortium established
with EORUCOPTER. It will be given to the Land Forces Command at a
ceremony to be attended by Defence Minister Sabahattin
Cakmakoglu. /All papers/
[09] EFQM FORUM TO BE HELD IN ISTANBUL
The 'Perfection Forum', which is organized by the European
Foundation of Quality Management (EFQM) every year, will be held
in Istanbul this year. EFQM Forum 2000, which will be organized
on the theme of 'Management of Differencies: A Bridge Through
Perfection', will be held at Lutfu Kirdar International Congress
Hall between 27 and 28 September. Member of the Executive Board
of EFQM, Kazim Kantarci, and the Chairman of KalDer, Dr.Yilmaz
Arguden, stated that Istanbul would welcome the leading
representatives of the international business world during the
forum. In addition, European Quality Awards will be presented
during this forum. /Hurriyet/
[10] ELECTRONIC TRADE SEMINAR TO BE HELD AT BOGAZICI UNIVERSITY
The Banking and Finance Conference, which is the first of the
electronic trade conferences' series, will be organized by
Bogazici University's Department of International Trade with the
contribution of Central Bank and the Finance World between 2 and
3 June. /Hurriyet/
[11] KIEKENS IN TURKEY
International Monetary Fund's Executive Director to the European
Region, Willy Kiekens, arrived in Ankara yesterday. It was stated
that Kiekens will participate in the IMF delegation, chaired by
the IMF's Turkey-Desk Chief, Carlo Cottarelli, who is expected to
leave Turkey at the end of this month. /Turkiye/
[12] FINANSBANK IN THE EUROPEAN UNION
Finansbank, which has received the licence of the European Union
Bank and established a base in Holland, speeded up opening new
branches in Europe. Chairman of the Executive Board of Fiba
Holding Company, Husnu Ozyegin, who attended an opening ceremony
of the Directorate General of Finansbank Holland N.V., said, "We
opened many branches in Europe by taking the advantage of being
an EU bank. We also benefited from well-educated Turkish young
generation in these countries and made a big progress in a short
period of time. We are one of the two biggest Turkish banks,
which are active abroad. We are performing banking services in
Sweden, France, Holland, Germany, Romania and Russia. Our target
is to work also in Austria and the Scandinavian countries."
/Turkiye/
[13] ARCELIK TO BE VISITED BY EUROPEAN COUNTRIES
The Arcelik Company will share its knowledge and experience of
quality with the European companies. As part of the project of
'distribution of the best practices', organized by the European
Foundation of Quality Management (EFQM), Arcelik takes place
among the companies, whose best practices will be taken as an
example. As part of the project, Arcelik will be visited by a
group of 11 people from various institutions in seven European
countries on 31 May. /Milliyet/
[14] IMKB BECOMES A PARTNER WITH KYRGYZ STOCK EXCHANGE
Within the framework of its initiatives on the international
level to support and improve the Central Asian countries' capital
markets and stock exchanges, the Istanbul Stock Exchange (IMKB)
became a partner (27.4%) with the Kyrgyz Stock Exchange. During
the meeting that was held in Bishkek on 25 May, 17 partners,
including the IMKB, decided that the Kyrgyz Stock Exchange would
continue its activities as a joint stock company from now on.
International Market Director, Ugur Polat, was appointed to the
Executive Board of the Kyrgyz Stock Exchange as the
representative of the IMKB. /Milliyet/
[15] COOPERATION BETWEEN BANK CAPITAL AND ALPHA BANK
Bank Kapital, whose fifth anniversary was celebrated this year,
has signed its fifth syndication with Alpha Bank, which is the
biggest private bank in Greece. Thus, the Greek banks, which have
taken place in the Turkish banks' syndication loans as a
participant or co-organizer, this time took place on the level of
the only organizer for the first time. /Milliyet/
[16] BONIFACE: "EUROPEAN DEFENCE NEEDS TURKEY"
Chairman of the International Relations and the Institute of
Strategy (IRIS), Prof.Paskal Boniface, stated that Turkey had a
European identity and that Turkey was necessary as a strategic
power in Europe's joint defence. French strategist Boniface,
delivered a speech at Galatasaray University yesterday during a
conference entitled 'Why a Europe of Defence', which was
organized by the Prime Ministry's Directorate General of Press
and Information and Galatasaray University's Strategic Research
Centre, and said, "When the period of Cold War was over, NATO's
mission began to be questioned and the future of NATO began to be
discussed. However, the European defence improved during the last
two years as it had not improved in the last 50 years."
/Cumhuriyet/
[17] EXTRADITION OF FEHRIYE ERDAL REFUSED BY BELGIUM
Following an announcement last Friday by Belgian Prime Minister
Guy Verhofstadt that Fehriye Erdal, an accomplice to the
assassination of businessman Ozdemir Sabanci, will not be
extradited to Turkey, a letter of justification reflecting the
position of the Belgian Cabinet is expected to arrive in Ankara.
It was announced by diplomatic circles that the Turkish
Ambassador to Belgium, Temel Iskit, was verbally informed of the
decision by the Belgian Cabinet to turn down Turkey's request for
extradition and that a written justification will be forwarded to
Turkey through the same channel. /All papers/
[18] EU CANDIDATE PARLIAMENTS' GENERAL SECRETARIES' TO MEET
Parliament General Secretary Vahit Erdem has gone to Romania to
participate in a meeting with his counterparts from other EU
candidate countries in Romania. The general secretaries will
discuss what more needs to be done to bring their countries into
line with EU standards. /Turkish Daily News/
[19] FOREIGN MINISTRY MARTYRS COMMEMORATED
Members of the Foreign Ministry who were killed in terrorist
attacks while on duty abroad were commemorated in a ceremony
yesterday in Ankara with the participation of the ministry and
many public officials. State Minister Sukru Sina Gurel stated at
the ceremony that terrorists would never be able to threaten
ministry officials, adding that the struggle would continue
against activities which aim to divide the country. /Turkish
Daily News/
[20] HIZBULLAH SUSPECT TAKEN TO CRIME SCENE
Nurettin Sezik, caught in Sanliurfa and accused of Hizbullah
terrorist activities, was taken to the crime scenes of murder and
kidnapping incidents which took place in Diyarbakir in 1994, the
Anatolia News Agency reports. Meanwhile, an operation against
Hizbullah was conducted by the police in Gebze, Kocaeli,
resulting in six people being taken into custody. Kocaeli Police
Chief Erdinc Sarialp stated at a press conference that they had
caught the suspects thanks to statements of another 33 suspects.
[21] INVESTMENTS IN SOUTHEAST
US Ambassador to Turkey, Mark Parris, who is in the midst of a
tour of Turkey's Southeast region, has said that he sees many
reasons to re-invest in the region. Parris was speaking at a
dinner hosted by the Van Chamber of Trade and Industry and said
this was the first time since the early 1980s that an American
Ambassador had visited the region. Parris stated that the US
supported Turkey's legal fight against terrorism and would do
whatever it could to help. Parris signalled that the region was a
great potential for economic and employment expansion and that
opportunities exist for the mutual benefit of both Turkish and
American businessmen. /All papers/
[22] MOODY'S SURPRISED BY TURKEY'S SUCCESS
International rating agency Moody's stated that the Turkish
government was pursuing a constructive and determined economic
policy and that it demonstrated a surprising performance. Moody's
pointed out that Turkey has been experiencing a high-rate of
inflation for many years and said that the government headed by
Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit was determined to solve the problems
and receive positive results. /Star/
[23] TURKISH BUSINESSMEN IN IRAN
A meeting attended by a Turkish delegation of businessmen and
government officials headed by Foreign Trade Undersecretary
Kursat Tuzmen and nearly 600 Iranian businessmen was held in
Tehran yesterday. Chairman of Iranian Chambers of Commerce,
Industry and Minerals, Ali Naki Hamushi, said that bilateral
trade should be diversified through non-oil goods and suggested
co-production and exports to third countries. Hamushi stated that
Iran was considering to improve cooperation with Turkey through
the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO). Tuzmen said for his
part that the visiting Turkish mission of more than 150
industrialists and businessmen revealed the importance Turkey
attaches to trade with Iran. /All papers/
[24] ONAL SEES NO SUBSTANTIAL DEVIATION FROM CURRENT ACCOUNT
PROJECTION
State Minister for the Treasury Recep Onal said an unacceptable
real evaluation in Lira was not expected, ruling out the
possibility of a substantial deviation from program targets. "The
planned transition to a new exchange rate policy by mid-2001 will
increase flexibility in this respect" Onal told a conference in
Ankara yesterday. Treasury Undersecretary Selcuk Demiralp told
the same conference that the current account deficit was the most
important indicator for the success of an IMF-backed economic
reform program. /All papers/
[25] NEW COMPANIES OPENED
New companies and cooperatives rose by 11.92 % from last year to
10,904. According to the State Institute of Statistics (DIE),
companies and cooperatives shutting down in the first four months
of this year numbered 679. /All papers/
[26] TURKEY AMONG THE TOP 10 AFTER 23 YEARS
If the targets outlined in Turkey's Eighth Five-Year Development
Strategy Draft are realized, Turkey will be among the top 10
countries throughout the world with a population of 83.6 million
and a national income of $1.9 trillion in current prices. The
draft envisages a 6.5 % growth rate during the 2001-2005 period
and 7 % during the 2006-2023 period. /Aksam/
[27] ERDEMIR TO START HIGH-TECH POWER PLANT
State-owned iron and steel concern Erdemir said it would set up a
25 megawatt power plant to generate 1.2 billion kilowatt_hour
electricity per year, the company said yesterday. In a statement
to the Istanbul Stock Exchange, Erdemir said the advanced
technology plant would supply part of the electricity needed for
uninterrupted production of hot minerals. /All papers/
[28] TURCAS EYES LEAD ROLE IN OIL RETAILING
Turkish oil retailer Turcas is eyeing the lead role in the oil
retailing market in the new century, Turcas Chairman Erdal Aksoy
told an annual shareholders' meeting yesterday. Shareholders
accepted to increase its capital to TL 16.2 trillion, up from the
current TL 7.3 trillion, the Anatolia News Agency reports. Turcas
plans to spend several millions of dollars in the coming years to
expand its gas station network through deals with strategically
positioned gas stations, Aksoy added.
[29] TWO CARTOONISTS IN NEW YORK
Kyoto Seika University in Japan opened an international cartoon
exhibition, which will participate in the activities of the World
Environment Day, at the United Nations Public Gallery in New
York. This exhibition, during which the cartoons of Eray Ozbek
and Atila Ozer from Turkey were also displayed, will be opened at
the Art Museum in the Municipality of Kyoto in Japan between 14
and 26 November. /Cumhuriyet/
[30] FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...FROM THE COLUMNS...
[31] HOPES FOR MEMBERSHIP TO THE EU BY ILTER TURKMEN (HURRIYET)
Former Ambassador Ilter Turkmen writes on Turkey's expectations
regarding its full-membership to the EU. A summary of his column
is as follows:
"Last week 'Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's
Association' (TUSIAD) Chairman Erkut Yucaoglu participated in a
symposium in Brussels and delivered a convincing and influential
speech which was received favourably by all. He also distributed
documents including comprehensive information on Turkey's
political and economic problems. The private sector is continuing
its efforts on the issue. However the official institutions of
the State are standing-by at this stage. Ambassador Volkan Vural
expected to be assigned as the secretary general of the
organization responsible for coordination on these issues also
participated in the symposium and made an excellent presentation
using his diplomatic experience and knowledge despite all
uncertainties in the Government policy.
In spite of the inaction which was going on, Ankara has reflected
the political will which was seen in the EU Helsinki Summit to
technical staff at the Commission and Council. All units are
working in line with a calendar and are preparing the draft on
Participation Partnership to present to the Turkish Government in
order to learn its views. Following the expression of Turkish
views, in October the final document of Participation Partnership
will be submitted and there won't be any discussions on this
text. At that stage Turkey is expected to prepare a national
program for the implementation of the decisions in this text.
Ankara is inactive on many issues it defended in the past.
However, the problems with the EU do not only stem from the
inaction of Ankara. The EU has important institutional problems.
During the expansion negotiations conducted with 12 states,
unexpected difficulties arose. The discussion between those who
favour a federal structure for the union and those who are
opposed to it is growing. On the other hand, the hesitations in
France and Germany concerning Turkey have been voiced. There are
those who underline the disagreement between the civilizations
and culture in additon to others who do not consider Turkey a
European country even geographically.
One view expressed concerning Turkey is that, they do not know
what to do if Russia follows suit when Turkey becomes a member.
This is not a realistic question. Turkey is European State as
Russia but Russia is still an empire which wants to change the
status quo.
The path before Turkey is long and full of traps. It has to
overcome the fixed ideas and prejudices in the European community
and start negotiations with the EU as soon as possible. The
policies of postponement and delay should be ended. Otherwise,
the hopes for membership can easily be dashed. It should not be
forgotten that there are many people in Turkey who do not want to
be an EU member".
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