ECEVIT: "WE ARE BORN TO BE EUROPEANS"
Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said yesterday that there were few people in Turkey who are opposed to the EU and added, "If we conducted a survey today, we could find that at least 70% of the Turkish public favors the EU." Appearing on state news channel TRT 2, Ecevit said, "We are born to be Europeans." He added that he hoped that the Nationalist Action Party (MHP) would change its stance towards the death penalty. /Aksam/
ECEVIT, CEM TO ATTEND EMPLOYMENT AND SOCIAL POLICY MEETING IN SPAIN
Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit and Foreign Minister Ismail Cem are scheduled to travel to Barcelona, Spain this weekend to attend the March 15-16 European Council meeting on employment and social policy. The Barcelona European Council will focus its priorities on such specific areas as integrating European financial markets to make continent a real financial power, developing a more flexible labor market capable of creating more jobs, improving the education and training of Europe's students and workers and increasing their room for mobility and liberalization, and the interconnection of the electricity and gas markets. Ecevit and Cem are to attend the first session on Friday, which will bring the leaders of EU candidate countries together. They are expected to establish significant contacts with EU officials on Turkey's bid for EU membership. Finance Minister Sumer Oral will also accompany Ecevit and Cem at the meeting, where financial issues will also be spotlighted. A recent Turkish Foreign Ministry statement said that the priorities of the Barcelona meeting closely concern Turkey and its EU accession period. /Cumhuriyet/
DERVIS TO ATTEND MEETINGS IN US, MEXICO
Turkish State Minister for the Economy Kemal Dervis is to travel to the United States and Mexico next week to attend a Turkish-American Business Council meeting on March 17 in Washington and a United Nations summit on March 20 in Monterrey, Mexico. Dervis is expected to deliver a speech and to receive an award at the Washington meeting. He will also make a speech at the UN summit on "Financing Development" and meet with the representatives of G-20 countries in Mexico. After completing his meetings in Monterrey, Dervis will return to Washington on March 22 and hold meetings with IMF and World Bank representatives on recent developments in the Turkish economy. /Turkiye/
KIVRIKOGLU MEETS TURKMEN PRESIDENT TURKMENBASI
Turkish Chief of General Staff Gen. Huseyin Kivirikoglu, who is currently visiting Turkmenistan, yesterday met with Turkmen President Saparmurat Turkmenbasi. Stating that there were strong historical relations between the two countries, Turkmenbasi said, "We have always had close relations. Turkey's and Turkmenistan's citizens belong to same nation." Furthermore, Kivrikoglu said, "I believe that in the future our relations will get even better in the future if the two countries refrain from intervening in each other's domestic politics." /Cumhuriyet/
TURKEY AND GREECE START NEW TALKS ON AEGEAN
Turkey and Greece yesterday began conducting new talks with an eye towards solving their longstanding Aegean disputes. Turkish Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Ugur Ziyal and Greek Foreign Ministry Political Director Anastasios Skopelitis met and talked in the Foreign Ministry building. During the meeting the Turkish side pressed on solving the continental shelf, territorial waters and airspace issues. The Turkish side said that they were opposed to applying to the International Court of Justice in The Hague before the two nations try to solve these problems themselves. But the Greek side insisted that the only problem between Turkey and Greece was the continental shelf, and that if no solution were reached they would take the case to The Hague. The second round of talks is to be held in Athens next month. /Hurriyet/
ARNON: "ISRAEL HAS ALWAYS SUPPORTED TURKEY"
Israeli General Consul Amira Arnon yesterday took part in a seminar on "Turkish Foreign Affairs Post-September 11" organized by Dogus University and the European Union Coordination. Saying that Turkey and Israel had always been close to each other, Arnon added, "Israel had always supported Turkey. Particularly we have always stood next to Turkey on issues concerning its domestic security." Concerning Israel's relations with the Palestinians, Arnon said that Israel had no goal other than fighting terrorism. /Aksam/
US AMBASSADOR PEARSON: "THE PKK AND DHKP-C ARE TERRORIST GROUPS"
US Ambassador to Turkey Robert Pearson yesterday criticized the European Union concerning its recent list of terrorist organizations, saying that the PKK and DHKP-C were terrorists and should be added to the list. Turkish State Minister Nejat Arseven received Pearson yesterday. Following their one-hour meeting, Pearson said that the visit was a routine consultative meeting and added that the war against terrorism was among the issues discussed. "We want both the PKK and DHKP-C to be considered terrorist organizations," he stated. "We want them to be tried in court. We want this to happen as soon as possible." Arseven said that he had told Pearson of Turkey's discomfort at seeing the term "Kurdish minority" employed in the US State Department's recent 2001 Human Rights Report. Arseven added that Pearson had understood Turkey's sensitivity to the subject. /Aksam/
THE NEW LEADER OF THE PKK IS THE EUROPEAN UNION
The eighth so-called congress of the terrorist organization PKK recently met in northern Iraq as a part of the group's recent efforts to "reform" itself into a political movement. Riza Altun, the leader of the organization's European supporters, had previously conveyed demands to PKK militant leader Osman Ocalan that the PKK should reform its structure into a political movement by changing its name and policies. The so-called congress allegedly made the decisions which its European supporters demanded, and Osman Ocalan sent the full text of the decisions to Europe for approval. PKK supporters in France, Germany and the Netherlands are expected to review the decisions. /Star/
ORAL: "NO CHANGES IN TURKEY'S ECONOMIC TARGETS"
Speaking to reporters after meeting with International Monetary Fund Turkey Desk Chief Juha Kahkonen, Turkish Finance Minister Sumer Oral said that the topic of our meeting was the 2002 budget and finance policies. "We met with the IMF and no changes will be made to our targets, everything will continue just as planned," Oral added. /Hurriyet/
TUSIAD DELEGATION IN GERMANY DISCUSSES EU ACCESSION
A Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association (TUSIAD) delegation which is currently visiting Germany yesterday met with German Bundestag Deputy Speaker Rudolf Seiters. Tuncay Ozilhan, who is leading the TUSIAD delegation, remarked that since Turkey wanted to start its EU negotiation process as soon as possible, its goal was to complete all the reforms necessary to fulfill the EU Copenhagen criteria by the end of this year. For his part, Seiters said that Germany would lend its full support to Turkey if the Turkish government managed to meet the Copenhagen criteria. /Cumhuriyet/
TOBB TO SIGN AGREEMENT WITH SPANISH CHAMBERS UNION
The Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodities Exchanges (TOBB) and the Spanish Union of Chambers are to sign a bilateral cooperation accord today in Barcelona. The agreement proposes improving commercial and economic relations between the two countries as well as encouraging new investments. /Cumhuriyet/
FORMER GREEK CYPRIOT PRESIDENT DIES
Former Greek Cypriot President Spiros Kyprianou died yesterday following a nine-month battle with cancer. Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Rauf Denktas commented on Kyprianou's passing by saying that he was one of the key players in the politics of the island. /Hurriyet/
TURKISH NATIONAL ANTHEM TURNS 81
The 81st anniversary of the adoption of the Turkish National Anthem was commemorated at the Turkish Parliament yesterday. The ceremony started with the reading of the Turkish National Anthem as a poem. In a message issued for the occasion, President Ahmet Necdet Sezer stated that the Turkish National Anthem reflected the Turkish nation's love for its native country and flag and its passion for freedom, independence and modernity. /Turkiye/
TURKISH PIANIST AYDIN HONORED AT COMPETITION
Young Turkish pianist Ozgur Aydin took second prize yesterday at the International Maria Callas Piano Competition held in Athens. During the final competition, Aydýn was accompanied by the Iasio Philharmonic Orchestra, and his performance was enthusiastically received by the music lovers present. A pianist from Italy took first place at the competition and one from South Korean took home third. /Turkiye/
SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION