Selections From Todays Turkish Press

The guests of honor at the Turkey-EU Relations meeting organized by the Turkish Economic Development Foundation (İKV) were President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz. İKV Chairman Meral Gezgin Eris and İstanbul Chamber of Commerce (İTO) Chairman Mehmet Yildirim criticized the government and demanded an urgent revision. Upon the criticism, Yilmaz said that there were many people criticizing the government but no one bringing an alternative. Eris said, "The government revision should be made as soon as possible. Then, the coalition leaders should pursue whatever is necessary to recover the economy with great determination." Yildirim said, "We are not looking for new names. We are expecting the current authorities to make the necessary decisions as soon as possible. /Milliyet/

Sezer: "No Cabinet Of Technocrats"

Delivering a speech at the İKV's "Turkey-EU Relations" meeting, President Ahmet Necdet Sezer said Turkey should start its membership consultations with the EU until 2003. Sezer said, "Turkey's success in the democratization process depends on the amendment of the "Law on Political Parties" towards sustaining the inner party democracy." Criticizing the demands for establishing a technocrat government, Sezer said, "İ believe that Turkey can overcome the crisis by depending on the framework of the Constitution. We shouldn't begin searching alternatives contrary to the Constitution." /Milliyet/

Yilmaz: "Many Criticisms, No Alternatives"

Delivering a speech at the İKV's "Turkey-EU Relations" meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz said, "There are many people criticizing the government and program. However, no one has proposed an alternative program yet." Yilmaz said Turkey must be successful in Turkey's accession period to the EU and that Turkish people were in favor of entering the EU. /Milliyet/

Dervis: "We Are Better Than Argentina"

The State Minister Responsible for Economy, Kemal Dervis, pointed out that Turkey's situation was better than other countries like Argentina and Brazil. He added that the negative atmosphere of last week was overcome in Turkey and that the situation of the markets was getting better day-by-day. Dervis came to the Prime Ministry and met with the State Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister Husamettin Ozkan. While leaving the building, he has answered the reporters' questions. Dervis has replied a question concerning the Deputy Chairman of the İnternational Monetary Foundation (İMF), Stanley Fischer's visit to Turkey, Dervis said, "Fisher is one of those who support Turkey's economic program the most. He knows Turkey well; therefore he wants to visit Turkey. He will come to Turkey on Monday and leave Turkey on Wednesday. We are planning to hold a press conference or tele-conference with Fischer concerning the foreign and domestic markets." He also added that there might be slight changes in the macroeconomic targets this year. /Turkiye/

Dervis' Statement Gives Hope To The Markets

The Minister of State responsible for the Economy, Kemal Dervis' statement, arguing the negative atmosphere of last week was overcome and the Treasury bid would be successful today, giving hope to the markets. The stock exchange rates increased exceeded 10,000 points after Dervis' statement. The shares in the stock exchange gained a value of 3.62. /Milliyet/

National Security Council To Convene

National Security Council (MGK) will convene on 25 July in İstanbul and will be chaired by the President Ahmet Necdet Sezer. The MGK's ordinary meeting of July will be held at the War Academy at 14:00. During the meeting, the domestic and foreign developments will be evaluated. /Turkiye/

Cyprus Talks To Start Soon

İt was announced that the Secretary General of the United Nations (UN), Kofi Annan, was hopeful that the talks concerning the Cyprus issue would begin soon. The Spokesman of the UN, Frad Eckhard, said the works concerning the Cyprus talks were improving and that Annan hoped that these talks would start soon. Eckhard said the President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), Rauf Denktas, would go to New York and meet Annan and following this meeting, the process of Cyprus talks might restart. Following this statement, Eckhard talked with the reporters and said, "İn addition, Annan's Special Representative to Cyprus, Alvaro de Soto, has been maintaining contacts with the President of the TRNC, Rauf Denktas, and the Greek-Cypriot Administration leader Glafkos Klerides, for a few days. Meanwhile, the TRNC's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense reacted against the announcement, which was made concerning the Cyprus issue during the G-8 Summit in Geneva, and stated that the fair and permanent solution would be found not by the G-8, but by the two owners of the İsland. /Turkiye/

General Kivrikoglu Receives The Medal Of Friendship

Kazakhstan's Chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant General Alibek Kasimov, presented the "Republic of Kazakhstan's Medal of Friendship" to the Turkish Chief of the General Staff, General Huseyin Kivrikoglu, on behalf of Kazakhstan's President, Nursultan Nazarbayev. General Kivrikoglu said, "İ admit this medal as the symbol of the friendship and cooperation between our countries and the proof of the determination to improve these relations much more. Following the ceremony, a protocol that envisages the cooperation and training in the military health was signed. /Turkiye/

Chirac: Support To Turkey Will Continue

French President Jacques Chirac said at the G-8 summit they can not sit and watch such a big and important country, Turkey struggle against the economic crisis, which will not benefit any other country. Mr. Chirac added that, at a meeting, (Russia had not participated in) of G-7 countries, they had agreed to continue supporting Turkey. Mr Chirac believes solidarity is a must among the industrialized countries to struggle against regional crises. Therefore, the decision on the continuation of support for Turkey by both İMF and other international financial institutions was put on the joint comminique of the summit. /Hurriyet/

Communist Party Leader Of Norway İs Of Turkish Origin

At the communist party congress held four months ago, Zafer Gözet(35), who has been living for 21 years in Norway was elected chairman of the party. Zafer Gözet, graduated from the Faculty of Education at the Oslo University had been born into a worker family. Zafer Gözet thinks that Turkey has little chance of getting membership from the EU. The EU will definitely reject the application of Turkey. They are keeping Turkey to wait at the door of the Union, therefore the right decision for Turkey is to withdraw its membership application and direct itself to the way of countries it has similarities and common interests./ Hürriyet/

Maneuvers Of Units At The Borders

Border maneuvers by Turkish and Bulgarian Land Forces were held at the Kapikule Border Gate in Edirne. The maneuvers were held in the buffer-zone. /Cumhuriyet/

78th Anniversary Of Lausanne Treaty

The 78th anniversary of the Lausanne Treaty through which the presence of Republic of Turkey as an independent country was recognized is being celebrated. A ceremony will be held at the İnonu Museum House in Heybeliada, İstanbul today to celebrate the anniversary of the Treaty. /Cumhuriyet/

İmf Finds Monetary Program Successful

The Minister of Finance, Sumer Oral received the İMF delegation, chaired by the İnternational Monetary Fund (İMF) Chief to Turkey, Juha Kahkonen, at his office yesterday. After the meeting, which has lasted for about an hour, Oral made explanations to the journalists and said, "A general evaluation of the Turkish economy was made during the meeting and the financial policies and the policies concerning the budget were discussed. They said they had found the finance and budget policies in Turkey very successful and that there was nothing more to say. They added that the tax incomes were above the targets and that the expenses were in compliance with the budget targets. We have reached a consensus that there would not be any problems concerning the budget. We also agree that the other elements should be implemented in parallel with the targets of the Program, so the Economic Program can be successful." /Turkiye/

Deppler Defends İmf Policies Over Turkey

The İnternational Monetary Fund Europe Director Micheal Deppler responded to the criticism of the İMF policies concerning Turkey by the World Bank, former Chief-economist Oktay Yenal, in a letter published in the Financial Times. Upon the criticism arguing the İMF acted irresponsible in changing its policies on Turkey several times, Deppler claimed, "No matter how effective the program is or how great the international support is, the authorities have to persuade the markets that they are determined to pursue it." He argued that the İMF altered its policies on Turkey due to the problems changing shape in economy. /Cumhuriyet/

Fisher To Come To Turkey

Deputy Chairman of the İnternational Monetary Fund (İMF), Stanley Fisher, will come to Turkey. Fisher, who has previously stated that he would leave his duty at the end of September, is expected to determine the situation concerning the economic program in Turkey and to evaluate the revision works. Reportedly, Fisher will participate in the revision works in the Economic Program, which has come on the agenda following an unexpected change in the foreign currency rate. /Turkiye/

World Bank Delegation in Ankara

A delegation, consisting of the telecommunication experts from the World Bank, came to Turkey. According to the information received from the CNBC-E television channel, Telecommunication Sector Expert, Garid Looksly, is also present in the delegation, chaired by the Chief Economist of the World Bank, James Parks. The delegation will make investigations in Turkey for three days and meet the officials from the Treasury and the Telecommunication İnstitution. World Bank experts suggest that after the license authority is given to the Telecommunication İnstitution, new licenses will be given rapidly. Within this framework, it was stated that the delivery of new licenses in many fields, including the internet service access through the satellite systems and the data processing systems will be on the agenda. /Turkiye/

"Financial Times" On The Sale Of Demirbank

The British "Financial Times", which is one of the most effective newspapers of the economic world, said the British bank HSBC's purchasing Demirbank was an important turning point for Turkey. İn the article published in the "Financial Times", the Turkish authorities' selling Demirbank to one of the biggest banks in the world, HSBC was evaluated. İn the article, it was stated that if the purchase were completed, it would be the biggest foreign investment in the Turkish banking history. The article further stated that the sale would help the reformation of the confidence in the Economic Program. /Turkiye/

Turkish Businessmen in Northern İraq

Foreign Trade Undersecretariat is attaching more importance to the official contacts to revive the trade with the neighboring countries and the two offices, which were opened by the Turkish businessmen to benefit from the business opportunities particularly in Northern İraq, cannot operate well because of the slow bureaucracy. Following the contacts, the local administration and the ASİAD's involved institution has signed an agreement of construction of a bridge 96meters-long on the Erbil-Selahattin road. The building mobilization works for the bridge construction of 700,000 US dollars, which will be made by the Zafer Construction İndustrial and Commerce Joint Stock Company. However, the delivery of the goods, which will be used in the construction works, had been delayed for one and a half months due to the problems at the Turkish customs. Chairman of ASİAD, Cengiz Bozbeyoglu, said the petroleum income of the region would reach 4,5 billion US dollars in one year. /Turkiye/

The 13th Joint Economic Commission To Be Held Today

The economic relations between İraq and Turkey, which had been delayed following the Gulf War, are gaining speed. The 13th Period Meeting of the Joint Economic Commission (JEC) between the countries will be held in Ankara today. İraqi Minister of Petroleum, Amer Rasheed, will come to Ankara to attend the meeting today. İn spite of the embargo placed on İraq, the trade volume, which has developed previously between the two countries, has also been closely followed by the US. During the 13th Period Meeting of the JEC, the Turkish side will be chaired by the State Minister Safter Gaydali. During the JEC meeting, the economic and commercial relations between the two countries will be reviewed and the precautions for the development of the bilateral economic relations will be discussed. The opportunities of cooperation between the two countries concerning the border trade, free zones, land and railway transportation, raw petroleum, natural gas, contracting services, industry, agriculture and health will be on the agenda. İn addition, Rasheed will also be received by the Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit. /Turkiye/

Balfe: "Crisis Would Not Affect Turkey's Accession Period"

The European Parliament member Richard Balfe, who is currently vacationing in Antalya, visited the Governor of Antalya, Ertugrul Dokuzoglu. Balfe said the economic crisis in Turkey would not affect Turkey's accession period to the EU. He said, "However the economy must recover. We as the EU are supporting Turkey via our statements." /Cumhuriyet/

German Press Gives Coverage to Turkish Businessmen

The German weekly Die Zeit gave coverage to the activities of the Turkish businessmen in Germany. Stating that Germans ignored 300,000 foreign businessmen in Germany, Die Zeit said that many German citizens were employed especially by the Turkish businessmen. Die Zeit said according to the data by the Turkish Researches Center, there are about 59,000 Turkish administrations and establishments in Germany, the endorsement of which totals to DM 57 billion. /Cumhuriyet/

Kent Food in Russia

A contract was signed between the Turkish company Kent Food and Russian firm Chupa Chups to establish a joint venture company with $2 million capital. The company will produce chewing gum and candies in St. Petersbourg. The Chupa Chups will be responsible for the distribution of the products in the Russian Federation. /Milliyet/

Botas General Manager Removed From Office

Energy Minister Zeki Cakan on Monday sacked two top officials from state oil and gas pipeline company BOTAS, including general manager Gokhan Yardim, and officials said preparations to replace them were under way. "Yardim and Deputy General Manager Nadir Biyikoglu have been appointed to the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, an official told Reuters, adding the appointment was ordered by Cakan. /Turkish News/

Tupras Announces Its Target Figures For 2001

Turkey's largest company state-run oil refiner TUPRAS is confident that it can protect itself from the adverse impact of the economic crisis, Anatolia news agency reported. TUPRAS Executive Board Chairman Huseyin Danis said that his company has raised its profits by 16 percent to TL 383 trillion in 2000 from TL 330 trillion in 1999. The company increased its operational profits by 51 percent to TL 344 trillion, he said. Danis said that TUPRAS was taking strong steps towards becoming a world-class refiner. "Our ultimate aim is to become a first class refiner in the performance evaluation by expert institutions at the international level. Our commercial target is to produce the maximum amount of refined products at a minimum cost and raise profits on a per unit basis." /Turkish Daily News/

Flag Of Honor For Ankara And İzmit

Ankara and İzmit were deemed worthy of the "Flag of Honor" award, which is given to some European cities or villages by the European Council every year. İn a statement issued by the European Council, it was announced that Ankara's signing the agreements of twin cities between Skopje, Tbilisi, Tiran, Sofia, Bucharest, Moscow, Kiev and Sarajevo and organizing some activities to improve the friendly relations between the people living in Ankara have played an important role in the delivery of this flag. European Council further stated that in addition to Ankara, 13 cities and villages, including İzmit, were deemed worthy of the same award. /Turkiye/

Where Were We? By Gungor Mengi (Sabah)

Columnist Gungor Mengi writes on the expectations of the Turkish people. A summary of his column is as follows: "Turkey who had welcomed the year 2000 with the claim of becoming a regional super power faced accidents one after another on the way. Two strong earthquakes, consequent economic crises, therefore arising dilemmas and various problems were encountered.... However, the potential for growth and source of riches were not lost. Turkey expects an administration she duly deserves and which is able to show the will to use right leverages and the society should demand such an administration and follow the changes made closely. Turkish nation sees that the future of the country lies with Europe. Civil society sees EU membership, which will increase Turkey's regional power status more clearly than the state resisting changes fearing that we are surrounded by enemies. People know that democracy is more than changing governments through elections. They believe that political freedoms and human rights will add power and not lead to weakness in the face of threats of secessionism and fundamentalism. They are in complete agreement with the EU which put down the conditions of integration with the Copenhagen criteria. The Economic Development Foundation (İKV) Chairperson Meral Gezgin Eris in her opening speech of the conference entitled 'Turco-EU Relations' said, 'İt is our right to live in a country where rule of law functions, democracy and respect for human rights and a powerful economy exist, and we want to live in a such a state.' During the same conference President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz counted the ways to achieve this goal through short cuts. The President stated that the amendments to the Constitution should be completed until November and that this must take place in the progress report. The President, who requested a change in political parties and election laws to regain the trust of the people, also stressed that he did not support extraordinary searches for the formation of a government. Sezer, noting that integration with Europe was a road of no return, reiterated his support for the economic program. The precondition to begin membership negotiations with the EU is to complete political and legal reforms. The amendments to the Constitution form the most critical stage on the road. Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz said that the Turkish Grand National assembly would be called to convene on 17 September to carry out 37 amendments to the Constitution. The normalization in the markets is an opportunity for the social mind to focus on these great aims. The important thing is to bring about the conditions for normalization. İKV Chairperson Gezgin Eris summed up the social expectations in words, 'a new Government formed of fewer ministers and new names inspiring confidence with their belief in the program and showing their own capabilities.' The coalition leaders should seriously consider this demand. Mesut Yilmaz stated that the greatest difficulty was in the change of mentalities. İf so, they have to prove their determination in doing which befalls them with a new government."

Sezer's Open Message By Sami Kohen (Milliyet)

Columnist Sami Kohen comments on the speech delivered by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer during a conference organized by the Economic Development Foundation. A summary of his column is as follows: "İf Turkey wants to guarantee full EU membership, she has to sit on the negotiation table in 2003. İn order to accomplish this she has to give clear messages that she will be complying with the EU criteria as soon as possible. Otherwise, other candidates will begin to enter the EU in 2004 and Turkey will miss an important train. Many EU officials have made this warning lately, and Turkish diplomats closely concerned with the EU and institutions such as the Economic Development Foundation (İKV) have reiterated this view frequently. Yesterday, the expression of President Ahmet Necdet Sezer's views on the matter which was being ignored due to the economic crisis we are in, has been timely. President Ahmet Necdet Sezer's statement gives important messages. He stated that it was only normal for the EU to keep Turkey under a magnifying glass and that Turkey has to accept this fact and try to know Europe better. Sezer added that for the beginning of the membership process Turkey must carry out legal changes in compliance with the EU criteria as soon as possible. İt is time to amend the Constitution. Furthermore, political parties have to enter a restructuring process and the election system should be amended. Meanwhile government models, which are not compatible with democracy, should not be seen alternatives. The National Program should be carried out, prejudices should be left aside and an understanding of compromise should be developed...İt is a must to begin membership negotiation process in 2003. Therefore, Turkey should carry out the necessary work she has to accomplish before the Progress Report to be issued by the EU in November and before the Summit meeting at the end of the year. The President believes that these should be carried not only because the EU requires them, but also because Turkey has to fulfill them to reach modern standards. İn principle the majority of the people want these issues to be accomplished. All the political parties support this. However, there are some who are resisting these conditions or putting obstacles before them. Some who seem to favor integration with Europe slow down this process through old habits. The President's statement, deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz' words showed that time was getting shorter to reach the deadline. The calendar has been set before. The next few months will determine Turkey's future in foreign policy as well as in economy. As an EU official has said, the present crisis should not slow down Turkey, instead it should be a challenge for her ambition in the race."