Selections From Todays Turkish Press

President Ahmet Necdet Sezer will pay an official visit to Tajikistan and Georgia on Nov. 7-9. In other diplomatic news, after receiving the Moldavian ambassador at Presidential Palace, Sezer responded to a question concerning a recent statement by US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, by saying, "The request to send troops to Afghanistan came from the US, just as they also requested this from some other countries. Upon this request, we decided to sent troops. However, it was not compulsory, we did it of our own will." /Turkiye/

RABBANI TO MEET WITH SEZER

Afghanistan's former head of state Burhaneddin Rabbani, who was overthrown by that country's current Taleban regime, will meet with Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer during the latter's visit to Tajikistan. High-level Taleban opposition authority Seyid Huseyin Enveri said yesterday that Rabbani would fly to Dusanbe tomorrow to meet with Sezer to discuss the situation in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, Rabbani said that they welcomed Turkey's political and economic support, adding, "Turkey and Afghanistan have a historic relationship. In past years the Afghan army was trained by Turkish military personnel and this helped to establish our army. Additionally, Turks built the first health centers in Afghanistan. On the current stage, Turkey can also play an important role to help re-establish Afghanistan." /Turkiye/

SEZER AND ECEVIT RECEIVE ICG DELEGATION

Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit received a delegation from International Crisis Group's (ICG) Board of Executives of the led by former Finnish President Martti Ahtisari. Besides Athisari, former Austrian Foreign Minister Gareth Evans, former US Congressman Stephan Solarz, and former US Ambassador to Turkey Morton Abromowitz were also present during the meetings. /Turkish Daily News/

PARLIAMENT TO DEBATE ARTICLE 86

Parliament is expected today to hold the first round of talks on a proposed amendment concerning the rights of deputies. After reaching agreement over holding talks on article 86 among themselves, the coalition partners made a proposal to this end to the opposition parties, which reportedly welcomed the proposal warmly. Coalition leaders remarked that the controversy over amending Article 86 was a matter of concern to the Parliament and not the government, and said that it was up to the deputies to decide on the matter. The proposed amendment suggests that a clause on the salaries and allowances of deputies be changed to, "The salaries and allowances of the members of the Turkish Parliament shall be regulated by law."/Turkish News/

FORWARD UNIT TO PRECEDE SPECIAL FORCES IN AFGHANISTAN

A Turkish unit of 90 special forces soldiers which will be sent to Afghanistan will be dispatched to the region when the participation of the European countries that support the US operation becomes clear. As part of this, a forward group that is expected to go to Uzbekistan the day before to coordinate the deployment of the Turkish unit will be sent soon. The Turkish unit will go to the region after evaluating the information to be received from the leading unit. Military sources say the latter process might last for two weeks. /Milliyet/

DENKTAS: ISMAIL CEM HAD RELIEVED TURKISH CYPRIOTS

Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Rauf Denktas yesterday said that Ismail Cem's recent statement concerning Cyprus had relieved Turkish Cypriots and that this statement has resulted from the Greek Cypriots bringing the case of the divided island to be solved by the European Union. On the other hand Undersecretary of state Ugur Ziyal said that Cem's statement was had by driven politics. Ziyal visited the TRNC with a committee and said that Turkey would always support Turkish Cypriots./Hürriyet/

FOREIGN MINISTER CEM: ISRAEL IS NOT A "STRATEGIC PARTNER"

Foreign Minister Ismail Cem declared in a written statement on Monday that Turkey's relations with Israel were not "strategic," and that the two countries had no intention of holding joint military maneuvers on land. The foreign minister went on to say that Turkey had managed to improve its ties with both Israel and the Arab states, even at the most difficult of times for the Middle East./Turkish News/

GUREL: "SOUTHERN CYPRUS IS A BASE FOR TERROR AND CRIME"

In a speech at a symposium entitled "Independent Administrative Authorities", State Minister Sukru Sina Gurel accused the European Union, Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration of pursuing "hypocritical policies" regarding the fight against terrorism. Stating that this trio should cease to apply double standards on such an important issue, Gurel added that Greece should shut down its Lavrion Camp where he charged, terrorists take shelter. He also argued that Greek Cyprus had become a center for certain illegal activities such as terrorism and money laundering. "These countries must no longer embrace terrorists." Gurel said. /Cumhuriyet/

CONFLICT OVER CYPRUS GROWS

Turkey is seeking possible solutions for the Cyprus issue under new circumstances in which both international pressure and diplomatic traffic concerning the issue have significantly increased. President Ahmet Necdet Sezer commented yesterday that a common platform should be established so as to resume proximity talks on the issue. Meanwhile, the EU Commission has reacted to Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit's recent remark stating that, were the Greek Cypriot administration admitted to the EU without reaching a permanent solution on the island, Turkey might then annex the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). "We regretfully denounce Turkey's attitude. We have been trying to reach a permanent solution before the Greek Cypriots' admittance to the EU. This is also what we desire.", said a member of EU Commission. Meanwhile, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's Special Envoy to Cyprus Alvaro de Soto held meetings yesterday in Ankara. He met with Foreign Minister Ismail Cem and Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Ambassador Ugur Ziyal. Ziyal then traveled to the TRNC to meet with TRNC President Rauf Denktas. President Sezer's statement read, "Turkey has always supported the UN secretary general's mission based on good will, and we always will do so. However we believe that a common platform should be established to resume proximity talks. I hope Mr. De Soto will contribute to these efforts." /All Papers/

HARRAZI IN TURKEY

Iranian Foreign Minister Kemal Harrazi arrived in Turkey yesterday as Foreign Minister Ismail Cem's official guest. The two ministers are expected to discuss and evaluate recent developments in Afghanistan and their repercussions on Turkish-Iranian bilateral relations. /Cumhuriyet/

MINISTER TURK TRAVELS TO POLAND

Justice Minister Hikmet Sami Turk has gone to Warsaw representing President Ahmet Necdet Sezer at an international conference on fighting terrorism, the Anatolia news agency reported yesterday. The conference is to be attended by the heads of state of various countries or their representatives. The aim of the conference is to enable Central, Eastern and Southeastern European countries that have switched from a socialist economic order to a free market economy to help the coalition that is fighting terrorism. Turk said that Turkey, as a country that had suffered much from terrorism placed a great deal of importance to being invited to such a conference along with the United States and the Russian Federation. He said that when he addressed the conference he would brief it on Turkey's general position vis-à-vis combating terrorism and stress the importance of international cooperation. /Turkish Daily News/

ENVIRONMENT MINISTER AYTEKIN IN MOROCCO

Environment Minister Fevzi Aytekin flew to Morocco yesterday to attend the assembly meeting of the UN Climate Change Agreement 7th Participants' Conference. Before his flight, Aytekin told reporters that Turkey would attend the conference as an observer. Aytekin will return to Turkey on Nov. 10. /Turkish Daily News/

CULTURE MINISTER PROMOTES 2002 ATATURK CALENDAR

A new "The Cradle of Civilizations" promotional kit, spotlighting a dozen different types of Turkish music and a 2002 Ataturk calendar was unveiled during a press conference yesterday. Culture Minister Istemihan Talay gave a speech at the unveiling ceremony emphasizing that the ministry had been working to foster the creation of cultural values and their transformation into works of art. He added that the Culture Ministry had spearheaded an important effort in league with numerous art institutions, resulting in the "Cradle of Civilizations" kit, an effort to promote various types of music, including Turkish music, pop music, traditional dance and classic Western music. /Turkish News/

ERDOGAN: "THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD RESIGN"

Justice and Development Party (AKP) leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan asserted yesterday that the government, not only Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, should resign. He said that a real vote of trust could only be realized by elections. During a visit with Erdogan, Spanish Ambassador to Turkey Manuel De La Camara also remarked that Turkey needed young politicians to gain dynamism. /Turkiye/

SP TO APPLY TO CONSTITUTIONAL COURT

The Felicity Party (SP) will apply to the Constitutional Court tomorrow with a request to rescind a parliamentary decision giving authority to the government to send troops abroad. SP Group Deputy Chairman Omer Vehbi Hatipoglu told reporters that his party had collected 110 parliamentarians' signatures, which are needed to apply to the Court. He added that the SP was also planning to propose a censure motion for State Minister Kemal Dervis, who they charge is responsible for the Turkish economy's current woes. /Turkiye/

CUMHURIYET OWNER BERIN NADI DIES

Cumhuriyet Newspaper owner Berin Nadi has died in the hospital where she had been undergoing treatment, the hospital announced yesterday. Nadi was the daughter of Celal Sahir Erozan. She was born in 1910 in Gedikpasa and was married to the Cumhuriyet founder Yunus Nadi's son, Nadir Nadi. Berin Nadi was 91 years old. /All Papers/

TOROS-2001 EXERCISES BEGIN

The Turkish Armed Forces' planned "Toros-2001" exercises began yesterday in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). The exercise will be held under the Cyprus Turkish Peace Force's leadership and administration and within TRNC territory, territorial waters and airspace and last through Nov. 7. /Turkiye/

IMF DELEGATION HOLDS CONTACTS

The 10th review of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation chaired by IMF Turkish Desk Chief Juha Kahkonen met yesterday with bureaucrats from the Finance Ministry, the Treasury, the Central Bank and the State Planning Organization (DTP). During their meeting, participants concluded Turkey's increased inflation resulted from increases in the foreign exchange rate. They also discussed whether or not the high October inflation rate would necessitate a revision of next year's program targets. However, it was reported that the targets could be revised depending on the amount of resources expected to be given by the G-7 countries. During the first day of the meetings, the delegation had a surprise meeting with Finance Minister Sumer Oral and State Minister Yilmaz Karakoyunlu. Oral said that the 2002 targets and financial policies as well and the 2001 budget had been discussed. He added that the proposals to shrink the state were on the agenda and that these proposals might be announced this week. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit received State Minister for the Economy Kemal Dervis and Treasury Undersecretary Faik Oztrak. Reportedly, Dervis and Oztrak worked on the savings precautions package. /Milliyet/

TAI TO SIGN HEAVY LOAD AIRCRAFT CONTRACT

The Turkish Aerospace Industry (TAI), which became a major player in the aviation industry with its production of F-16, is among eight aviation giants slated to sign a contract for the A400M, dubbed "the heavy lift transport aircraft of the future," the Anatolia news agency reported yesterday. The countdown for pre-production work on the A400M project has begun. The contract is the most important part of the project and will be signed on Nov. 16 by all participating companies together with the French company OCCAR and the Airbus Military Company. Once the contract is signed, the production will begin. /Turkish Daily News/

IS BANK SIGNS DEAL FOR $350 MILLION IN LOANS

Turkey's largest private leader Is Bank signed a deal for $350 million in syndicated loans in London on Monday. The loan package was arranged by 43 banks from the US, Europe and Japan. /Turkish News/

CYPRUS, OR POLITICS ON THE EDGE BY HASAN CEMAL (MILLIYET)

Columnist Hasan Cemal writes on the Cyprus issue and recent developments concerning it. A summary of his column is as follows: "During the years after the World War II, Turkey paved the way for its NATO membership by sending troops to Korea. The US played a determining role in this decision. Now we are sending troops to Afghanistan after the Sept. 11 attacks. Will the doors of the EU be opened with the support of the US? Some may believe so. During the war against communism which lasted almost 50 years, Turkey's strategic importance increased in the West. Following the Sept.11 incidents a war against terrorism was launched. It seems that Turkey has achieved an important position as the only secular and democratic Muslim country, especially in the eyes of the US. Can the EU be affected by this? This brings the Cyprus issue to mind. Turkey does not favor the membership of the Greek-Cypriot administration to the EU before a solution is reached on the issue. If such membership is granted, not only Greece but also the Greek Cypriot administration will oppose Turkey's admittance to the EU. The European Union has made mistake on the issue. At the Helsinki Summit, it was stated that a final solution was not required for the membership of the Greek Cypriot administration, thus putting the horse before the cart. Therefore, the Greek administration, did not feel the need to budge in negotiations with the Turkish Cypriots. As it took its EU membership for granted, it showed a reluctance for any flexibility in its stance. This policy has led to a hardened attitude on the part of TRNC President Rauf Denktas. This was not the result the EU was looking for. However, it hasn't yet changed its policy. It continues to say, 'I don't care what you say, I will admit Southern Cyprus into the Union.' As if this weren't enough, the EU is trying to put obstacles before Turkey on another issue as well. It says, "If you do not change your stances regarding Cyprus and the proposed European army, I will block the additional economic aid you need to overcome your economic crisis.' Ankara defiantly answers,' If the Greek Cypriot administration is admitted into the Union before reaching a final solution, the EU can forget stability in the Eastern Mediterranean. Turkey may integrate with the TRNC and review its relations with the Union.' The Greece's stance during these developments is interesting. It is watching the clash of the EU and Turkey from the sidelines smiling, as if it were not a party to the issue. This is a policy of tension. It can also be called crisis diplomacy, or politics on the edge. This may last until the EU summit when the final decision on the Greek Cypriot administration's admittance to the European Union will be given. The sides may occasionally repeat that their stances remain unchanged or challenge each other. This is not a pleasing prospect for either side. This process may help those who would like to exclude Turkey from the EU both within the country and Europe. This may not be a good solution for Europe as either. Therefore, it would be best for both sides to search for reasonable solutions."