ANKARA - News reports claiming that new ports and zones are offered to U.S. usage are misleading, stated Turkish Foreign Ministry on Thursday.
Releasing a written statement the Ministry said, ''A report published today in a Turkish newspaper and claiming that the United States will use 7 ports and 6 airports (in Turkey), are misleading and give the (false) impression that the United States is provided with new logistic opportunities.''
The report was related to a new version of an earlier notice concerning Belbasi Seismic Research Station. ''In opposition to the reports, the notice, which includes updates for the management of Belbasi Seismic Research Station after its transfer to Istanbul-based Kandilli Observatory and Seismology Institute (KRDAE), does not bring any new element to the former notice issued on August 10, 1995,'' said the Ministry.
''The new notice was aiming to pursue the (same) procedures regarding the import and export of equipment and material required for the management of the station after its transfer to KRDAE, as well as for usage of the station with civilian means,'' said the Ministry.
''Military usage of Belbasi Seismic Research Station, which was established by the United States to monitor nuclear tests in the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) in 1950s, was ended at the beginning of 2000,'' the Ministry recalled. ''The management was then transferred to Kandilli Observatory thanks to an agreement signed between Turkey and the United States on February 8, 2000 and came into force on March 30, 2004'', the statement said.
The Ministry said that the station, which was modernized by U.S. experts, is used to monitor the explosions occurred under or on the surface of seas, nuclear tests and radioactive leaks.
(GC-ULG) 02.09.2004