ANKARA (A.A) - 26.05.2002 - These are some of the major headlines and their brief stories in Turkey's press on May 26, 2002. The Anadolu Agency does not verify these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
HURRIYET (LIBERAL)
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CHANGE IN MILITARY COMMAND
Chief of General Staff Gen. Huseyin Kývrýkoglu will hand over his mission to Land Forces Commander Gen. Hilmi Ozkok in August. Gen. Kývrýkoglu will retire at the end of the Military Council that will convene this year in August. The Council will convene between 1-4 August and it will discuss appointment of 121 generals and admirals and the dismissals due to involvement in fundamentalis activities.
YILMAZ:THERE IS POSSIBILITY OF CRISIS IN CYPRUS
Deputy Prime Minister and the leader of the Motherland Party (ANAP) said yesterday during a conference on Turkey-European Convention organized by Konrad Adenauer Foundation that Deputy Prime Minister and the leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) Devlet Bahceli has to act bravely in order to overcome the conflict regarding the abolishment of death penalty and education and broadcasting in Kurdish. Yýlmaz said that if the Greek Cypriot side is admitted to the EU, there is a possibility of crisis.
MILLIYET (LIBERAL)
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EXECUTIVES OF 47 EUROPEAN COMPANIES MEET IN ISTANBUL
Executives of 47 giant European companies had a meeting in Istanbul on Saturday upon Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit's invitation. Foreign Minister Ismail Cem represented the Turkish government at the meeting. These 47 companies are members of European Round Table of Industrialists (ERT) and the total turnover is 950 billion euro. Ecevit invited ERT members to ask for investments in Turkey and support for Turkey-EU relations which are going through a critical period.
YILMAZ:''WE MUST ACT WITH OUR MIND, NOT WITH OUR FEELINGS''
Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz who spoke at a conference on the EU's future and Turkey said that Turkey must act compromising regarding the Cyprus conflict. Otherwise, he said there would be a big crisis in December both in the Cyprus issue and Turkey-EU relations. Yilmaz also stated that Turkey could start membership negotiatins with the EU if it lifts the emergency rule, the ban on broadcast and education in the Kurdish language and the capital punishment. He also adressed to the MHP leader Devlet Bahceli and asked him to act more couragous. ''We must act with our mind, not with our feelings,'' he said.
SABAH (LIBERAL)
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TURKISH FOOTBALLERS WELCOMED IN KOREA
Turkish footballers who arrived in Korea were welcomed in a great ceremony. Koreans applauded the footballers and gave flowers to them from the airport until their camp. Turkish flags were put on the police vehicles which escorted the Turkish convoy.
DUTCH COMPANY PHILIPS WANTS TO COOPERATE WITH PROFILO
Six European tv producing companies including the Dutch company Philips were angry with the Turkish companies Beko, Vestel and Profilo when the latter started to export 9 millions of tv to EU countries annually. The six European companies applied to the EU Commission saying that the Turkish companies reduced the prices. The investigation started in 2000 and lasted more than one year. Finally the Turkish producers were acquitted. Now the Dutch company Philips decided to produce tv with the Turkish company Profilo. Philips Chairman Kleisterlee said in the signing ceremony of the cooperation agreement that ''Turkey increased its competition power in the world.''
CUMHURIYET (LEFT)
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YILMAZ ASKS MHP TO BE MORE COURAGOUS
Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz indicated that Turkey could became a full EU member in 2008 and added that EU membership would save Turkey from the ''disease of inactivity''. Addressing to the concerns that fulfilling the Copenhagen criteria might divide the country, Yilmaz said this risk is already existing at the moment. Yilmaz said that Turkey must have a different regard to ethnic identities living in Turkey. ''If Turkey wants to adjust to the world, it must quit its views based on a fear of terrorism,'' Yilmaz said.
PEOPLE AREN'T SATISFIED WITH EXPLANATIONS ON ECEVIT'S HEALTH
After Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit was hospitalized on May 17, the Prime Ministry Press Counselor is telling people that ''he is recovering and walking'' instead of giving a satisfactory explanation to people. It was reported that Ecevit could be discharged from the hospital on Monday and the doctors are insisting that Ecevit should spend his convalescence at the Prime Ministry residence rather than his home.
RADIKAL (LEFT)
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HEALTH BARGAIN IN HOSPITAL
Doctors wanted Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit to stay in hospital in the weekend and to rest at the Prime Ministry residence after he is discharged from hospital. However Ecevit's wife Rahsan Ecevit does not want her husband to stay at Prime Ministry Residence. Rahsan Ecevit told doctors that she could look after her husband at home. The problem has not been sorted out yet.
FRENCH MODEL FOR EDUCATION IN KURDISH
Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yýlmaz proposed French model to solve the problem of education in mother tongue in Turkey. Yýlmaz said that this problem can be sorted out by organizing elective courses. Referring to the issue of broadcasting in Kurdish, Yýlmaz stressed that the seperatist organizations broadcasted in Kurdish for years.
TURKIYE (RIGHT)
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100,000 TURKS MARCHED IN BERLIN
The traditional Turkish March which is held in New York, United States every year was held for the first time in the German capital of Berlin on Saturday. About 100,000 Turks participated in the march from Germany's states and even from other European countries. A number of Turkish singers and the Janissary Band performed shows during the festival.
DERVIS LEFT ALONE
State Minister Kemal Dervis continues to be criticized for stating that early elections would not hurt the Turkish economy. While he has the strong support of opposition parties, he is being criticized by coalition leaders. Finance Minister Sumer Oral had recently stated that the Turkish economy went through several unstable periods because of elections.
ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)
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ARSEVEN:TURKEY HAD MISTAKES IN HUMAN RIGHTS FIELD
State Minister Nejat Arseven in charge of Human Rights said that Turkey had mistakes in human rights field in the past, adding ''yet this has to be considered due to the conditions of that period.'' Speaking in the opening ceremony of the Turkey office of Amnesty International in Istanbul, Arseven said that the opening of the office in Turkey showed the importance Turkey attributed to human rights.