IZGI RECEIVES US CONGRESSMAN SHAYS
Turkish Parliament Speaker Omer Ýzgi yesterday received US Congressman Christopher Shays, who is currently in Ankara as ahead of a delegation from the US House of Representatives. Remarking that the United States appreciated Turkey's support during the operation in Afghanistan, Shays said, "Turkey has been fighting against terrorism for 30 years, but not all of us were aware of that. Now, the Turkish government can share its experiences with us. There are many things we can learn from you. We are grateful to the nation for its support." For his part, Izgi stated that the terrorist attacks in the US had vindicated Turkey by making the case that international cooperation was necessary to successfully fight against terrorism. /Cumhuriyet/
DENKTAS AND CLERIDES TO MEET BEFORE NEGOTIATIONS
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Rauf Denktas and Greek Cypriot Leader Glafcos Clerides will reportedly meet on Jan. 11 before the official start of negotiations on the divided island in order to discuss the issue of "missing people," or people who were lost track of in 1974 and previous years. The two leaders will meet in the residence of Zbigniew Wlosowicz, the United Nations special envoy to Cyprus. /Star/
JAPANESE PARLIAMENTARY DELEGATION TO VISIT TURKEY
A Japanese parliamentary delegation chaired by Shoji Motooka is to visit Turkey today. The delegation will visit Istanbul today and move on to Ankara tomorrow. The group is scheduled to visit Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer as well as the Parliament. /Star/
HABUR GATE IN NORTHERN IRAQ REOPENED
Turkey's Habur Gate on the border with northern Iraq reopened yesterday for gas oil trade, announced by Sirnak Deputy Governor Resul Celik. The gate had been closed after last September's terrorist attacks. /Star/
TURKEY DENOUNCES DECISION TO DEMOLISH OTTOMAN CASTLE
Ankara denounced a recent decision by the Saudi Arabia government to go ahead with the demolition of a 130-year-old Ottoman castle. The Turkish Culture Ministry has requested that UNESCO reprimand Saudi Arabia for its plans to replace Mecca's historic al-Ajyad Castle with a shopping center. Culture Ministry spokesman Nazif Sahin said, "This is similar to what the Taleban did to the statues of the Buddha." In addition, State Minister Yilmaz Karakoyunlu said, "This decision only demonstrates how disrespectful Saudi Arabia is to the history of another country. They have the same mentality as the Taleban." Ahmet Vekif Alp, the chief advisor to Nationalist Movement Party Chairman Devlet Bahceli, added that destroying such a historic place would constitute a crime against all humanity." /Milliyet/
HARBOR OPERATIONS BEGIN MODERNIZATION
The Transportation Ministry has begun to implement a project under which it will conduct and control operations at Turkey's harbors via computer, to begin with Istanbul's Haydarpasa Harbor, and the Izmir and Mersin harbors. Officials from the Transportation Ministry announced yesterday that it had begun to use a remaining 5 million euros in loans from the European Investment Bank to equip and modernize with computers harbor operations and to implement the harbor computerization project. /Aksam/
DERVIS MEETS WITH NGO REPRESENTATIVES
State Minister for the Economy Kemal Dervis met yesterday with a number of social groups and the chairman of business and labor chambers in Ankara and defended the policy of supporting banks through state financial resources. Following the meeting, Dervis told reporters that although a full compromise had not been reached, it was a very fruitful meeting and all of its participants had expressed their own views very clearly. He added, "Putting banks back on their feet is a process of rehabilitation. If we don't do it with directed action, the financial sector may collapse and a new crisis will become inevitable." Present at the meeting were representatives from the Union of Chambers (TOBB), Ankara Chamber of Commerce (ATO), Turkish Confederation of Employers (TISK), Union of Agricultural Chambers (TZOB), Confederation of Tradesmen and Artisans (TESK), Labor Federation (Turk-Is) and Confederation of Revolutionary Labor Unions (DISK). /Turkiye/
CAKAN, MAYORS AGREE TO REDUCE GAS PRICES 11-22%
After a meeting yesterday with the mayors of Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir, Bursa, Izmit and Eskisehir as well as BOTAS sate gas authorities, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Zeki Cakan announced that the price of natural gas would be reduced 11-22%. In a press conference following the six-hour-plus meeting, Cakan said that an agreement had been reached between the mayors, excluding only Ankara Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Melih Gokcek. The minister stated that the Fuel Consumption Tax (ATV) had been postponed to May 1, 2002 and that he would also try to effect a reduction in the Value Added Tax (KDV) in the future. Meanwhile, Ankara Mayor Gokcek left the meeting while complaining that the government was stubbornly resisting efforts to reduce the gas KDV. Gokcek said that he would hold a press conference today to announce his own reduction in the natural gas price. /Turkiye-All Papers/
VURAL ANNOUNCES NEW TARGETS FOR THE NEW YEAR
Transport Minister Oktay Vural yesterday said, "Turkey and its citizens can overcome our difficult periods only through new initiatives and high morale." Laying out his ministry's targets and projects for the year 2002, Vural said, "Our vision is to become rapid, competitive, and more dependable in transportation and communication services." Pointing to the government's plans to complete the restructuring of Turk Telekom this year, after which the landline monopoly would be ready for completion and privatization, Vural said it would offer free Internet services to libraries and schools. He also said a project would be launched to benefit from unused airports, whose capacities total some $2.5 billion. Vural went on to say that Turk Telekom would open a bid this month for a system that would enable telephone, Internet and television services through a single line. /Turkiye-Turkish Daily News/
IMF TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL FUNDS
The International Monetary Fund is expected to provide $10 billion in additional financing for the government's new economic program just after discussing Turkey's Letter of Intent. Some $7 billion would be provided directly to the budget and the rest to funds. Speaking to Reuters yesterday IMF Turkey representative Odd Brekk, said that the IMF Board of Directors is expected to come together to approve the new stand-by loan in the second half of this month. /Milliyet/
IZMIR TO CAPITALIZE ON ATHENS OLYMPICS
The Izmir Chamber of Commerce (IZTO) is planning projects to capitalize on the 2004 Olympics to be held in Athens, just a short trip away on the Aegean Sea. IZTO Executive Board Chairman Ekrem Demirtas stated yesterday that the Olympics being held in Turkey's neighbor Greece presented an opportunity for the nation, and that the group would do all that it could in order to ensure commercial cooperation between the two countries such as mutual investments and export opportunities. /Aksam/
OGER TOURS BECOMES TOP 5 GERMAN TOUR OPERATORS
Prominent German tour operator Oger Tours announced yesterday that its 2001 gross revenues of 100 million Deutsche marks had placed it among that nation's top 5 operators in the sector. Oger Holding Company General Coordinator Sinan Vardar said that last year had seen an increase of 15% in Turkish vacation market as compared to 2000 and that they had brought nearly 1 million German tourists to Turkey in 2001. Saying that one out of three German tourists who travel to Turkey use Oger Tours to do so, Vardar added, "We are the top in terms of the number of tourists and amount of foreign exchange we bring in from Germany. The German tourists that we brought in last year provided Turkey with foreign exchange input amounting to nearly 1 billion Deutsche marks." /Aksam/
OZTAY TEXTILE RECEIVES MILLENIUM AWARD
The International Commercial Prestige Award was given yesterday to Turkish company Oztay Textile, the maker of Abbate shirts. The award, which is given by a Spain-based business group, covers the year 2000 and therefore is called the Millennium Award. The award was given in a ceremony held in Madrid. Receiving the award, Oztay Textile Executive Board Chairman Hayrettin Gumuskaya said that Oztay was number three in the world in terms of shirt production quality and capacity and that it would build on its success in this field in the year 2002. He added that it had sold 6 million shirts under its own brands on the international market and had also made exports under the names Abbate, Enzo Feretti, Lorenzo Mazoli and Tomas Hart, all trademarks of Oztay Textile. /Aksam/
FESTIVAL FOR TURKISH LANGUAGE BEGINS
An international festival entitled "The Turkish language: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow" began yesterday in Ankara. Culture Minister Istemihan Talay remarked that since national language constituted the base of Turkey's common national culture, all citizens were responsible for protecting Turkish and helping it keep up with new developments affecting all languages worldwide. The festival, which is organized by the Culture Ministry, will be a platform where the problems of the Turkish language will be discussed. In his speech at the festival's opening ceremony, former Turkish Culture Minister Talat Halman called on officials to take measures against the misuses of Turkish. /Cumhuriyet/
SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION