SEZER ARRIVES IN ROME TO ATTEND NATO-RUSSIA SUMMIT
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer accompanied by Foreign Minister Ismail Cem arrived yesterday in Rome to attend a NATO-Russia summit. Sezer stated that Turkey welcomed the establishment during the summit of a new NATO-Russia Council. Sezer said that decisions taken at the summit would usher in a new era of NATO-Russian cooperation. /Hurriyet/
RECOVERED ECEVIT RETURNS TO HIS OFFICE
Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit left Baskent hospital yesterday after undergoing 11 days of medical treatment there for a broken rib and a blood clot in his left leg. “I am fine and I am in charge,” he told reporters and throngs of people gathered together chanting supportive slogans in front of the hospital before he left for his office. Today, he is expected to hold a press conference at the Prime Ministry residence to mark the third anniversary of the three-way coalition government and his 77th birthday. /All Papers/
BAHCELI VISITS GREAT WALL OF CHINA
Deputy Prime Minister Devlet Bahceli yesterday visited the Great Wall of China. Calling the 2,400-kilometer long structure one of the greatest wonders in the world, Bahceli said, “I have always wanted to see the Great Wall of China since it is one of the most impressive monuments in the world and it attracts many foreign tourists to China.” He declined to respond to journalists’ questions on discussions over the future of the Turkish government. Bahceli also visited the Turkish Embassy in Beijing. /Cumhuriyet/
YILMAZ, DERVIS MEET WITH US SENATORIAL DELEGATION
Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz and State Minister for the Economy Kemal Dervis yesterday met with a US delegation upon the invitation of the US Embassy in Ankara. The delegation consisted of a number of US senators who paid a one-day official visit to Turkey. Central Bank Governor Sureyya Serdengecti, Treasury Undersecretary Faik Oztrak and Banking Regulation and Supervision Board (BDDK) Chairman Engin Akcakoca also attended the meeting. Among the issues which were discussed during the gathering were Turkey’s current economic situation and discussions on Turkish-EU relations as well as early elections. /Cumhuriyet/
COALITION CELEBRATES THIRD ANNIVERSARY, ECEVIT HIS 77TH BIRTHDAY
Today has a special importance for Prime Minister and Democratic Left Party (DSP) leader Bulent Ecevit, as the tripartite coalition government celebrates completing its third anniversary in power, and Ecevit himself celebrates his 77th birthday. The current 57th government has changed 10 of its Cabinet ministers to date, while coalition junior partner Motherland Party (ANAP) leader Mesut Yilmaz joined the Cabinet on July 13, 2000, as deputy prime minister and state minister. The majority of the approximately 400 draft laws presented to Parliament by the government during the past three years have been enacted. The government has issued some 58 decrees with the force of law, 4,293 decrees and 130 circulars. /All Papers/
IZGI: “THE EU TRAIN WILL NOT BE MISSED”
Parliament Speaker Omer Izgi said yesterday that Turkey will not miss the European Union train. Pointing to President Ahmet Necdet Sezer’s initiative to hold a meeting with the coalition government leaders and other parties’ leaders in Parliament regarding Turkey’s EU membership process, Izgi said that the meeting should be considered a normal and natural part of the process. After addressing the opening of a symposium entitled “Erzurum and Sivas Congresses” at Gazi University, Izgi told reporters that the EU was one of the options laid out before Turkey. Regarding the discussions on language and education, Izgi stated that the Turkish state was not against teaching different languages in general, but that the language of education could not be anything other than Turkish. Commenting on the death penalty, Izgi said, “Greece, an EU member state, has a provision in its Constitution for the death penalty in cases of war and threat of war. Turkey may abolish the death penalty completely, but for the time being it is not urgent.” /Turkiye/
KAHKONEN PRAISES TURKEY UPON COMPLETING SECOND REVIEW
An International Monetary Fund delegation headed by Turkey Desk Chief Juha Kahkonen yesterday completed the IMF’s second review. It is to present a report on recent developments in Turkey’s economy to an IMF Executive Board meeting in late June. Speaking to reporters, Kahkonen said that Turkey’s government was doing a good job implementing its economic program. When asked about rumors of early elections, Kahkonen stated, “You are doing well, and I don’t want to make any speculations.” /Hurriyet/
AGREEMENT SIGNALS ALTERED RUSSIAN STANCE ON BAKU-CEYHAN
Russian pipeline construction company Rosneftegazstroi and the Georgian International oil company (GIOC) on Sunday signed an agreement in Tbilisi, Georgia to construct a new pipeline. Under the new agreement, Russia is to transport some of its oil to Ceyhan, Azerbaijan through a secondary pipeline called the “Novorossisk-Supsa-Ceyhan” connected to the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline. GIOC Chairman Georgi Canturya yesterday stated that a Russian-Georgian partnership had been set up to construct the new pipeline. Novorossisk is known as Russia’s main oil port in the Black Sea. Since the Tengiz-Novorossisk, which Russia has so far considered an alternative to Baku-Ceyhan, has increased sea traffic in the Bosphorus, Turkey had offered Russia the opportunity to transport its oil through Baku-Ceyhan. Although the Russian government has not yet made an official statement on the issue, it seems that Russia has decided to change its policy over Baku-Ceyhan. The new pipeline will also increase Russia’s latitude in making oil exports. /Cumhuriyet/
ANKARA STREET NAMED FOR INDIAN POET TAGORE
The Greater Ankara Municipality City Council yesterday passed a resolution giving the name of Indian poet and philosopher, Rabindranath Tagore, to a street in the Cankaya neighborhood. During its meeting, the council voted and approved the “Chairmanship Article on Giving Rabindranath Tagore’s Name on a Street in Ankara.” Fourth Street in Cankaya will be henceforth known as Tagore Caddesi. Tagore, who was born in 1861 and died in 1941, is thought of as the final representative of traditional Indian poetry. His poems were inspired by the suffering of his people, and he passed away just a few years before India achieved independence. /Aksam/
ISTANBUL HOME TEXTILE FAIR A RESOUNDING SUCCESS
The EVTEKS 2002 home textile fair ended in Istanbul on Sunday, with organizers reporting that deals totaling some $1.5 billion had been signed at the fair, a record amount. The five-day event attracted some 68,000 attendees from Turkey and around 8,500 from 72 countries worldwide, including Germany, the US, Russia, Italy, Israel, Greece, Japan, and the United Arab Emirates. The 410 largest companies in the sector were represented at the fair, which hosts ITF and the Istanbul Fair company called the world’s second-largest home textile fair. /Sabah/
BARTHOLOMEOS URGES REOPENING OF ORTHODOX THEOLOGICAL SCHOOL
Istanbul Patriarch Bartholomeos yesterday reiterated his call for the reopening of the Orthodox theological school on Istanbul’s Heybeli Island. Speaking to journalists during a visit to Capadoccia, Bartholomeos said that he had repeated his request many times that theological schools directed to educating young men of faith be opened. Concerning his request to have the Heybeli Island school reopened, Bartholomeos added, “It was our right to expect this from the Turkish government. We hope and believe that the Education Ministry and Board of Higher Education [YOK] will deal with this issue with understanding and find a solution as soon as possible.” Then Bartholomeos reopened for visitors the 13th century Sarica Church, a church near Urgup which had recently been restored. /Turkiye/
SABANCI LAWYER APPEALS ERDAL RULING
Legal proceedings in the case of Fehriye Erdal, a fugitive from Turkish justice for the murder of Istanbul businessman Ozdemir Sabanci, took another turn this week with an appeal by Sabanci family lawyer Fernard Schmitz. Some two weeks ago Belgium’s High Court of Appeals sent back to a lower Bruges court a decision on whether Erdal should be tried in Belgium for her crimes in Turkey. Erdal’s lawyers hailed this decision at the time. Schmitz has now filed an appeal, however, arguing that Erdal should definitely face a Belgian court for her crimes in Turkey. His appeal was filed at the High Court of Appeals, which will most likely hear the case in September. Turkey has been requesting Erdal’s extradition from Belgium for some years, a request which Belgium has consistently refused. /Cumhuriyet/
SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION