OIC-EU JOINT FORUM TO BEGIN TOMORROW IN ISTANBUL
Tomorrow Istanbul will begin hosting the very first Organization for the Islamic Conference-European Union (OIC-EU) Joint Forum. The forum, proposed first by Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem, is being convened in an effort to bring together the Islamic and Christian worlds in the wake of last September's terrorist attacks. Representatives from 71 EU and the OIC member states, including 51 foreign ministers, will attend the two-day summit. Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit and Cem are expected to address the meeting. Cem yesterday stated that the meeting would be a wholly unique one. Pointing to the importance of such a forum, Cem said, "The meeting will give the whole world a message of peace, cooperation and harmony." /All Papers/
CEM TO MEET HIS IRAQI COUNTERPART
Turkish Foreign Minister Ismail Cem is expected to meet with his Iraqi counterpart Naci Sabri during the OIC-EU Joint Forum which is scheduled to begin tomorrow in Istanbul. Sabri is to arrive in Istanbul today to attend the meeting. Evaluating the letter which Iraq's leader Saddam Hussein recently sent to Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, Turkish diplomats remarked that Turkey would continue to encourage Iraq to act in line with United Nations resolutions no matter what the letter said. /Cumhuriyet/
DEMIREL GIVES BANQUET FOR CROWN PRINCE OF JORDAN
Former Turkish President Suleyman Demirel yesterday gave a banquet for Jordanian Crown Prince Hassan Bin Tallal, King Hussein's brother. Among the banquet's guests were Jordanian Ambassador to Turkey Musa Braizat, Higher Education Board (YOK) Chairman Kemal Guruz, Professor Ilber Ortayli and former Parliament Speaker Hikmet Cetin. Prince Bin Tallal has enjoyed recent acclaim for his book "Christianity in the Arab World." /Star/
CHP TO PROMOTE "TURKISH MODEL"
The Republican People's Party (CHP) is preparing to carry out a number of activities to promote "the Turkish model" which has been highly praised by the international community in the post-Sept. 11 period for its successful synthesis of Islamic values and democracy. The CHP is planning to hold a series of international conferences this fall. Many prominent US and European scientists and politicians such as Samuel Huntington and Bernard Lewis are expected to attend the conferences. CHP Chairman Deniz Baykal yesterday met with Professor Lewis to discuss preparations for the events. /Star/
IZGI CONCLUDES VISIT TO AZERBAIJAN
Parliament Speaker Omer Izgi returned from Azerbaijan yesterday after completing his official visit to that country at the invitation of his Azeri counterpart Murtuz Aleskerov. Talking to reporters, Izgi said, "During the meetings with Azeri authorities, we re-affirmed our perfect cooperation in both the political and strategic areas. We also resolved to further develop our economic and cultural relations." Izgi also said that he had told them Turkey's views on the Upper Karabagh issue, saying that it should be solved within the framework of Azerbaijan's territorial integrity and international law. /Turkiye/
MINISTER UNLU CLIMBS MOUNTAIN IN HONOR OF CELAL BAYAR
State Minister for Sports and Youth Fikret Unlu and 150 mountaineers yesterday completed a climb of Bursa's Mt. Fatin in commemoration of late Turkish President Celal Bayar. The United Nations declared year 2002 the "International Year of Mountains," and in Turkey this is being celebrated with mountain climbs organized to honor current and former Turkish presidents. The first such climb was of Mt. Palandoken in Erzurum on Jan. 19-20 to honor Cemal Gursel, followed by the climb in Bursa. The next scheduled climbs are slated for Mt. Davraz in Isparta on March 8-9 to honor Suleyman Demirel and for Mt. Suphan in Van on April 20-22 to honor Ismet Inonu. /Aksam/
CUSTOMS MODERNIZATION BIDS TAKEN
The Customs Undersecretariat took an important step yesterday towards the modernization of Turkey's customs administration with the opening of bids for the project towards that end, which will be financed with loans from the World Bank. The evaluation of bids submitted by US, German, Chinese and French firms will be completed soon, the Undersecretariat said. /Aksam/
COAL POWER STATION CONSTRUCTION CONTINUES
Construction of Turkey's first import coal power station is continuing in Iskenderun under the build-operate-transfer (BDT) model. Once a German-Turkish consortium finishes building the Iskenderun Sugozu Import Coal Power Station, some 9 billion kilowatts of electricity should be produced every hour, which amounts to 8% of Turkey's energy needs. Aksam/
TREASURY TO SELL THREE-MONTH BILLS
Tomorrow the Treasury will hold an auction of bills with a redemption period of three months. The bills are value dated Wednesday, Feb. 13 and their redemption is scheduled for May 15, 2002. /Turkiye/
GERMANY FUELS TURKISH EXPORTS
Last year Germany retained its leadership of Turkey's export sector. During the period of January-November 2001, Turkey made exports of $ 4.98 billion to Germany, an increase of 17.4% as compared to the year before. Imports from Germany in 2001 were $4.94 billion. Turkey's exports to the United States and Italy followed those to Germany at $2.9 billion and $2.1 billion, respectively. /Turkiye/
METU HOSTING SCIENCE CAMP
Today Ankara's Middle East Technical University (METU) begins hosting a Science Camp to honor 51 winners of last year's "Creative Thought Competition." The competition was designed to encourage young people to investigate, examine and question with a critical mind, and the high-school age winners are scheduled to work on a variety of projects at the camp, including robotics, food engineering, architecture, and aviation design. The results of their projects will be exhibited at the METU Culture Center's Exhibition Hall on Feb. 15, the last day of the camp. /Milliyet/
SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION