IZGI: “POLITICAL PKK IS IMPOSSIBLE”
Parliament Speaker Omer Izgi said yesterday that PKK is a terrorist organization that uses terrorism to take part in Turkish political life. Izgi also said that it is impossible to imagine that the PKK will ever have a place in the Turkish political life. /Hürriyet/
BLAIR PHONES ECEVIT
British Prime Minister Tony Blair yesterday night phoned Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit to discuss the issue of Afghanistan. Prior to his departure from the Prime Ministry, Ecevit said that they evaluated recent developments in Afghanistan on the phone. British government had previously stated that it would welcome Turkey taking over the lead of the peacekeeping force in Afghanistan from Britain. Meanwhile, a high-level British official said, “There are discussions taking place and we expect the Turkish government to make a formal announcement soon.” /Cumhuriyet/
YILMAZ: “HARMONY IS TAKING TURKEY TO THE EU”
Deputy Prime Minister and Motherland Party (ANAP) leader Mesut Yilmaz said yesterday that harmony is leading Turkey into the European Union. Yilmaz also said that the government and the opposition have agreed on the European Union. The problem now is not to reach a compromise on the issue but to implement the agreement quickly. /Milliyet/
BUSY SCHEDULE IN THE PARLIAMENT
Following the Sacrifice Feast, a busy working schedule awats the Turkish Parliament. Abolition of the capital punishment, second Constitutional amendment package and broadcasting in Kurdish will be the priority topics on the agenda to be debated. The debates are expected to cause disputes between the coalition partners, as the Nationalist Action Party (MHP) is against Kurdish broadcasting and lifting of the capital punishment. /Turkiye/
DENKTAS AND EU
President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Rauf Denktas said to Italian Limes Periodical that Greek Cypriots will become a member of EU with the pressure of England and USA. Denktas stated that the important thing is to solve Cyprus problem within the two sides. He said that Greek Cypriots wanted to reduce the status of Turkish Cypriots to a minority and the EU acted as if the only problem in Cyprus was to enter Union. “That’s why Greek Cypriots decline agreeing with us. Greek Cypriots know that they can carry the whole Cyprus to Europe by misleading them”. Denktas also said that a conflict seemed near if the Greek Cypriots entered the EU and the question would be, “ Who will protect the Green Line?”. Greek Cypriots want to create a problem on the Green Line with Turkish troops to capture the island and they want to bring about this crisis to get rid of Turkish Cypriots. /Sabah/
SPANISH DEFENSE MINISTER TRILLO TO VISIT TURKEY
EU Term President Spain’s Defense Minister Federico Trillo is to pay an official visit to Turkey as the official guest of the Turkish Defense Minister Sabahattin Cakmakoglu. Trillo will meet with Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit and Chief of the General Staff Huseyin Kivrikoglu. He is expected to discuss the issue of the European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP) with the Turkish officials. /Cumhuriyet/
TASAR RETURNS FROM ITALY
Turkish Tourism Minister Mustafa Tasar, who attended the “World Tourism Fair,” opened in Milano, Italy, returned to Turkey yesterday. During the press conference he held at Ataturk Airport in Istanbul, he said that his meetings that lasted for four days were beneficial for the country. Tasar added, “I think the number of Italian tourists visiting Turkey will increase a great deal in the year 2002, as it has been in the year 2001. In addition, the Italian tourism investors seem to be willing to invest in Turkey.” /Aksam/
IMF DELEGATION TO VISIT TURKEY
International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation will arrive in Turkey on March 5th for the first review of this year. If the delegation, headed by Turkey Desk Chief Juha Kahkonen, finds the performance and structural criteria affirmative following the review, the IMF will relase a loan tranche of $1.15 billion. As part of the first review, the delegation is expected to stay in Turkey for 15 days. The new stand-by agreement between Turkey and the IMF which will last until 2004, proposes scheduled reviews and implementation of certain criteria.Turkey waits for some $5-billion loan from the IMF after four reviews within this year. /Turkiye/
TURKISH-US ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP COMMISSION TO MEET TODAY
The Turkish-US Economic Partnership Commission is to hold a two-day meeting. The Turkish group is chaired by Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Ugur Ziyal and the US group by the Assistant Secretary of State Alan Larson. The Turkish Union of Chambers and Stock Exchanges (TOBB) and the Turkish Assembly of Exporters (TIM) sent a letter to US Secretary of State Colin Power, stating that a commercial agreement should be signed between the two countries. /Cumhuriyet/
GERMAN PILLER OPENS REPRESENTATIVE OFFICE IN TURKEY
German Piller Company, world famous in production of industry fans, opened its 15th representative office in Turkey. At a meeting organized to promote the Piller, Director General Nils Englund said, “Turkey is a new door for our company to open up to the world.” Stressing that the Piller had a turnover of 50 million DM and had a share of 12% in the sector in Germany, Sales Manager Joachim Schmitz underlined that trade relations would get Turkish and German cultures closer. /Turkiye/
TURKISH BUSINESSMEN WOULD VISIT IRAQ
Foreign Trade Undersecretary (DTM) Kursat Tuzemen will visit Iraq on 2-5 March with a group of 150 Turkish businessmen. During the visit Turkish businessmen will meet with representatives of the Iraqi government. /Hürriyet/
NUMBER OF TOURISTS VISITING TURKEY SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASES
According to recent data released by the World Tourism Organization, the number of foreign tourists visiting Turkey increased by 12.4 % in 2001. The increase has been evaluated as a remarkable success for Turkey as the number of tourists visiting other countries has dramatically declined in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. /Hurriyet/
“SHOPPING FAST 2002” TO BE HELD IN ISTANBUL
Istanbul is preparing for the shopping campaign, “Shopping Fast 2002,” which will be held for the first time on March 15-20 so it will become a brand worldwide. Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ITO), Turkish Association of Travel Agencies (TURSAB) and the Turkish Hotel Association (TUROB) will carry out the campaign with the support of Tourism Ministry. Kapalicarsi, Nisantasi and Osmanbey were chosen as pilot regions during the campaign. The campaign will bring to fore that Istanbul, with its great historical and cultural wealth, might become a worldwide shopping center. /Aksam/
ANKARA TO HOST INTERNATIONAL YOUTH PLATFORM
University students from Turkey and abroad will gather together during the “International Youth Platform” to be held on April 24-28 by Gazi University’s Rectorship and Gazi University’s Engineering-Architecture Faculty Student Group’s Career Club. The young people will seize the opportunity to find jobs at the “Opportunity Creating Fair” to be held as part of the platform. Students from the state and foundation universities all around Turkey and the university students from the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Italy, Austria, Germany, the US, England, France, the Netherlands, Australia, China, Japan, Philippines and Canada were invited to the platform, in which the problems of the young will be discussed. /Aksam/
SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION