ANKARA (A.A) - 09.04.2002 - These are some of the major headlines and their brief stories in Turkey's press on April 9, 2002. The Anadolu Agency does not verify these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
HURRIYET (LIBERAL)
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SADDAM'S OIL SHOW
Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein who understood that there is no escape from the United States started to make a show by using Middle East problem. According to Saddam's statement, Iraq will stop exporting oil from Yumurtalik and Basra pipelines for thirty days.
CEM: REFORMS WILL ABSOLUTELY BE FINISHED
Foreign Minister Ismail Cem said that Turkey would absolutely fulfil its responsibilities for EU membership within framework of the Copenhagen criteria, adding, ''this situation also directly concerns the country's image.'' Giving indirect message about issues like death sentence and education in mother tongue, Cem said that the government would not make concession from the Copenhagen criteria which were based on EU standards.
TURKISH FAMILY REPEL NEO-NAZIS
A court case was opened against Turkish Sendilmen's family who run a Turkish cuisine restaurant in Pirna town in Saxony state of Germany on charges of driving back Neo-Nazis who threatened them.
CENTRAL BANK'S INTEREST RATE: 51 PERCENT
Central Bank reduced the overnight borrowing interest rate at the Interbank Money Market and Istanbul Stock Exchange (IMKB) Repo-Reverse Repo Market from 54 to 51 percent. The bank reduced overnight debt interest rate from 61 to 58 percent and decreased weekly borrowing interest rate from 55 to 52 percent.
MILLIYET (LIBERAL)
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USD 7 BILLION OF AMNESTY
There will be a partial financial amnesty within scope of an operation which aims to strengthen banking sector and re-activate companies which had stopped production due to economic crisis. The source of money which is brought in from abroad with the aim of capital increase will not be investigated. The aim of this amnesty is to draw back more than 7 billion U.S. dollars that was outflown after the crisis and to create source to banks and real sector.
PRESIDENT APPROVES ''ADJUSTMENT LAW''
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer approved the Adjustment Law which makes amendments to eight separate laws. The law foresees that political parties can be punished with freezing of Treasury's financial assistance in addition to closure. The law says that collection of books, magazines, brochures etc. from the market depends on court decision, and compensation of torture decisions of the European Court of Human Rights will be paid by the responsible personnel.
BANKS' TOTAL ASSETS REDUCE BY 26 PERCENT
Banking system is still fighting against economic crises. Deposit in banks melted 26 percent in 2001. Their total assets decreased from 142.6 billion to 105.5 billion U.S. dollars.
INDUSTRIAL OUTPUT DECREASES 4.5 PERCENT
Monthly industrial production index decreased by 4.5 percent in February of 2002. According to data of the State Institute of Statistics (DIE), decrease in industrial production index in the first two months of 2002 was 3.7 percent. DIE announced that manufacturing industry production decreased by 4.5 percent, mining industry production decreased by 0.4 percent, and electricity, gas and water production decreased by 6.3 percent in February of 2002 over to the same period of the previous year. In the first two months of the year, mining industry decreased by 4.4 percent, manufacturing industry decreased by 4.0 percent, and electricity, gas and water industry decreased by 1.1 percent over to the same period of the previous year.
SABAH (LIBERAL)
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NATIONALIST IDEALISTS: PKK TERRORISTS SHOULD NOT BE BURIED IN TURKISH TERRITORIES
Natonalist idealists started to discuss where the PKK terrorists who were killed should be buried. 75 percent of them who attended the internet survey titled ''Can PKK terrorists buried in Turkish territories?'' said, ''absolutely not'' while 16 percent of them said, ''no problem''.
DEATH SENTENCE TO SATANIST MURDER
The Supreme Court of Appeals annulled the local court's decision on 25-year sentence to each of Engin Arslan, Omer Celik and Zinnur Gulsah Dincer who had ''sacrificed'' 19-year-old girl Sehriban Coskunfirat to ''Satan'' in the Ortakoy Graveyard in Istanbul. The Supreme Court of Appeals said that death sentence should be sought for those three people as they deliberately killed the girl with torture and in a brutal way.
''GOOD MORNING AFGHANISTAN''
The General Staff gave instructions for opening of a mobile radio station within structure of the Turkish troops in Afghanistan. Turkish songs will be broadcast from the radio that will be on air in Kabul. The radio will start broadcast after Turkey takes over the command of ISAF.
CUMHURIYET (LEFT)
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DARKNESS FOR PEACE IN PALESTINE
The Peace Initiators of Turkey called on everybody to hold a ''one-minute darkness demostration for peace in Palestine'' and to share the ''darkness that surrounded Palestine''. Sources said that the demonstration will start at 9 p.m. today. People who want to join the demonstration will turn off lights for one minute.
AMNESTY TO USD 200 MILLION
The Higher Board of Privatization convened under leadership of Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit for the first time in last 1.5 years. The board decided to bring amnesty to more than 200 million U.S. dollars debts which have not been paid by persons or companies that purchased the organizations which the Board had privatized.
JEWISH LOBBY'S REACTION TO ''GENOCIDE''
Nine Jewish institutions in the United States said they were profoundly disappointed by Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit's definition of Isareli operation as ''genocide''. Sending a letter to Ecevit, Jewish institutions said that the Israeli government had taken some measures to protect its people after the suicide bombings. They defended that Israeli operation was directly comparable to Turkish government's use of its armed forces to protect civilians in northern Iraq.
RADIKAL (LEFT)
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FIRST STEP IN REFORM
Tax reform's part related to the Luxurious Consumption Tax (LCT) was opened to signature in Council of Ministers. State Minister and Government Spokesman Yilmaz Karakoyunlu said that the LCT was opened to signature, adding, ''this bill does not bring any extra burden and does not cause any tax loss.'' Karakoyunlu said, ''there are three issues that were determined together with submission of this bill. First one is that this bill does not cause any change in the currently existing tax burden. Any tax loss or a new tax are out of question. It does not bring any new burden and does not cause any tax loss. This bill gathers 16 indirect taxes under a single umbrella. The last 2 stages of the existing 5-stage value added tax will be taken in the scope of LCT. This bill which concerns nearly 22 percent of 57 quadrillion Turkish liras of tax estimate brings new arrangements more than 14 quadrillion Turkish liras of tax volume.''
RAID ON HEZBOLLAH
Three members of the terrorist Hezbollah organization who clashed with security forces in a hide-out in Istanbul's Bagcilar district were captured and six people who aided and abetted to the organization were also taken into custody. A member of the terrorist Hezbollah organization who had been captured in southeastern province of Diyarbakir told security teams that three members of the organization went to Istanbul. The member of the organization who was taken to Istanbul showed the hide-out to the police. Security forces launched an operation in the hide-out overnight. Clash erupted between security forces and terrorists who responded to warning of security forces by opening fire. Three terrorists were captured in the operation. Security forces said that two of three terrorists could be involved in killing of Gaffar Okkan. They were sent to southeastern province of Diyarbakir for further questioning.
TURKIYE (RIGHT)
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IRAQ CUTS OIL
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has announced that they decided to stop oil production until Israel will withdraw from Palestinian territories. Hussein also announced that they stopped oil flow from Yumurtalik pipeline as of Monday afternoon.
ARIF SEZER RESIGNS FROM DSP
Arif Sezer, a deputy of the Democratic Left Party (DSP) from Adana province, resigned from the DSP on Monday. After resignation of Sezer, number of DSP deputies decreased to 128 and number of independent deputies increased to 14.
TSK IS NOT OPPOSED TO BROADCASTING IN KURDISH
General Staff said that it was not against broadcasting in Kurdish, but added that education in Kurdish should not be allowed, CNN-Turk reported on Monday. Sources of CNN-Turk said that soldiers were not considering the broadcasting in Kurdish as necessary, but they also would not be opposed to that. General Staff shed green light to broadcasting in Kurdish on the condition that it will be limited and controlled. However, General Staff is against to education in Kurdish completely.
ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)
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TURKEY COMES 24TH AMONG COUNTRIES CONTRIBUTING TO WORLD SCIENCE
Turkish Academic Network and Information Center (ULAKBIM) has announced the list of publications in international reference index in 2001. Turkey was ranked 24th with 7,381 publications among 191 countries contributing to the world science, according to the list which was made by scanning I-SI-Web of Science data which produces bibliographic and reference data base covering over 16 thousand periodicals, books and conference reports in several sciences and disciplines.