Selections From Todays Turkish Press

Defending the National Security Council (MGK), Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said on Wednesday that the MGK was an organ of state in which military and civilian wings put forward productive work in a democratic environment. Indicating that this organ of state was a repository of valuable experience which always contributed to the well being of the Republic of Turkey, Ecevit said the MGK was in the fore front of organs of state that guard the democratic and secular Republic. He added that this organ had contributed greatly to the solution of all strategic problems that concerns the state. /Turkish News/

MESUT YILMAZ: "MGK DEBATE WAS CIVILIZED"

Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz said the National Security Council (MGK) had debated the issue of national security in a quite civilized manner at its latest meeting. "We had a civilized, high-quality discussion at the meeting," Yilmaz said, when asked by the reports as he was heading for Bulgaria for a one-day visit. "I hope this discussion will be useful for the steps we will take in the future," he added. /Turkish News/

GENERAL ASPARUK: "NATIONAL SECURITY IS VERY ESSENTIAL"

General Cumhur Asparuk gave significant messages about the issue of "national security" which recently was brought to the political agenda by Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Motherland Party (ANAP) Mesut Yilmaz. Appointed as the new Air Forces Commander, General Asparuk handed over his duty to General Tuncer Kilinc in the ceremony held at the Secretariat General for the National Security Council (MGK). Gen. Asparuk said that national security did not only cover measures taken against foreign threats but also protected basic values of the state against domestic threats. Gen. Kilinc, who was appointed as the new MGK Secretary General, said, "The efforts to use the concept of religion for separatism and to exploit it for political interests are main threats against the unitary and secular structure of the state." Meanwhile, delivering a speech at the ceremony, Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said that Secretariat General for MGK was very important since it sustains harmony between civilian and military parts within the MGK. /Cumhuriyet/

TURKEY SAYS DISARMAMENT URGENT IN MACEDONIA

President Ahmet Necdet Sezer said an urgent end to the acts of violence and disarmament under NATO supervision are needed for peace to be established in Macedonia, reiterating Turkey's support for the Macedonian government in this regard. In a written statement issued following a meeting with visiting Macedonian Foreign Minister Ilınka Mitreva in the Presidential Palace, Sezer also said that Turkey welcomed a framework agreement, which was recently concluded between four Macedonian parties, and stated that the agreement would constitute a ground for a lasting peace and stability in this country. The President added that Turkey expected the Macedonian government to take measures to protect the Turkish minority in Macedonia. /Turkish News/

KAHKONEN AND HIS TEAM TO COME TO ANKARA

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation will begin its 10th review on September 7th. The delegation will be chaired by the IMF Turkish Desk Chief, Juha Kahkonen, and the visit will last for nearly ten days. Within the framework of the visit, the meetings will be held mostly at the Treasury Undersecretariat and some works will be carried out at the Central Bank, State Planning Organization, Ministry of Finance, Privatization Board and the Banking Regulation and Supervision Board (BDDK). Within the framework of the 10th review, the situation of the macroeconomic balances, domestic borrowing policy and the convertibility capacity of the domestic debts, interests of domestic debts, the developments in the sale of the banks within the Saving Deposits Insurance Fund (TMSF), the Treasury guarantee to be ensured for the energy projects, the developments in the State Economic Enterprises' financing, the Budget preparations for the year 2002 and the situation of the manufacturing industry will be discussed. /Turkiye/

KIVRIKOGLU TO GO TO AZERBAIJAN

Chief of the General Staff, General Huseyin Kivrikoglu, will pay an official visit to Azerbaijan on August 24-26. Kivrikoglu will attend the first diploma ceremony of the Azerbaijani War Academy in Baku on August 25. Azerbaijani Minister of State, Haydar Aliyev, will also be present at the diploma ceremony. General Kivrikoglu will return to Turkey on August 26. /Turkiye/

AL ATRASH BRIEFED BY UNVER

The Chairman of the Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP) Administration, Olcay Unver, briefed Syrian Irrigation Minister, Taha Al Atrash, who is currently in Ankara as the guest of the State Minister Mustafa Yilmaz. During the briefing that was held at the GAP Administration, Unver said, "The population in the GAP region constitutes 10% of the country and the economy of the region is not developed. However, the potential of the region is high." Unver briefed the guest minister and the accompanying delegation on the historical development of GAP. /Turkiye/

LEMMON IN ARMENIA

The US Ambassador to Yerevan, Michael Lemmon, has visited the Armenian Revolutionist Federation/Dasnaksutyun center and has discussed the issue Turco-Armenian Consensus Commission with the party officials. The Mediamax agency, which is based in Yerevan, stated that Lemmon had met the party officials Vahan Hovanesyan and Mario Nalbandyan two days ago. According to the news, the Ambassador and the party officials have discussed Armenia's relations with Turkey and Azerbaijan. Dasnaksutyun is against the activities of the Turco-Armenian Consensus Commission's on the grounds that they are not in compliance with the Armenian benefits. /Turkiye/

ARSEVEN RECEIVES BELGIAN AMBASSADOR

State Minister Responsible for Human Rights Nejat Arseven received Belgian Ambassador Jan Matthysen on Wednesday. Ambassador Matthysen said he was paying a courtesy call to Minister Arseven. Belgium has taken the term presidency of the European Union, the Ambassador said, and the visit was important for that reason too. Stating that they had evaluated the issue of human rights with the State Minister, the Ambassador said that they had seen that the same values are being shared by both sides. /Turkish Daily News/

DE SOTO TO VISIT CYPRUS

Alvaro De Soto, U.N. Special envoy for Cyprus, is to visit Cyprus on August 29. According to a statement made by the spokesman for the Greek Cypriot Administration, Mihalis Papapetru, de Soto is expected to stay until September 5 to hold daily meetings with both Greek Cyprus leader Glafcos Clerides and Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Rauf Denktas. Greek Radio said that the Cyprus talks may start in New York in early September, but President Denktas said he will not take part in this scenario. In a statement to the Cyprus daily, Denktas said he plans to meet U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on August 28, and that he will decide on whether to continue the talks after this meeting. /Turkish Daily News/

FOREIGN MINISTRY ASSIGNMENTS PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL GAZETTE

The assignments at the Foreign Ministry have been published in Wednesday's issue, the Anatolia reported. According to the assignments Undersecretary Faruk Logoglu has been assigned as Washington Ambassador replacing Baki Ilkin who has been appointed to serve at Foreign Ministry headquarters. /Turkish News/

OPERATION IN SOUTHEAST

An armed terrorist has been killed in the Southeast, Anatolia reported on Wednesday. According to information given by the governor of the provinces under the Emergency Rule region (OHAL), in Sirnak's rural areas, a fight broke out between terrorists and soldiers, and an armed terrorist was killed. Two members of a terrorist organization were caught in Mus and Van. As a result of the skirmish, which occurred between terrorist organization PKK militants and soldiers, one soldier was killed and another was wounded. /Turkish News/

CABINET PLEDGES SUPPORT FOR AGRICULTURE

The government will make all the sacrifices necessary to protect farmers without deviating from the economic program's targets, said State Minister Sukru Sina Gurel after a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday. Gurel told in a press conference that Economy Minister Kemal Dervis gave information about the Finance and Manufacturing Advisory Board which met on Monday. "Dervis briefed us on the points discussed in the board for stimulating the real economic sector and leading an export boom," Gurel said. /Turkish News/

ISO'S STATEMENT

Istanbul Chamber of Industry (ISO) stated that the government and bureaucracy should cooperate with the private sector and with all the other segments of society to overcome the economic crisis. In an announcement in which the ISO's second 500 big company research results take place, it was written, "We should challenge the economic crisis together. The government, bureaucracy, private sector and all the other segments of society have to be in cooperation." /Turkiye/

JONES: "ECONOMIC CRISIS WILL NOT AFFECT BAKU-CEYHAN"

US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Elizabeth Jones has said that the economic crisis in Turkey will not have a negative impact on the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline project. She said, "We have discussed this issue with Turkish officials. They told us that the economic crisis will end before the construction of pipeline. In addition, if the pipeline project costs run over the Turkish side will be responsible for meeting them. Besides these, all other expenses will be met by other companies. Even if Turkey has to pay something, when compared with the total expense this will be very small amount. So as a result, we believe that Turkey's current economic problem will not have a bad impact on this project." /Turkish News/

GOVERNMENT DRAFTS BILL TO EASE TREASURY BORROWING

A bill has been drafted and sent to Parliament to exempt capital gains from income tax, which the government hopes will encourage retail investors to buy Treasury debt papers to manage heavy rollovers. The draft will amend the existing income tax legislation in a fashion that will allow an exemption for up to TL 50 billion interest gains from Treasury bills in 2002, the Anatolia news agency reported yesterday. Once enacted the exemption will cover bills and bonds issued during July 26, 2001-December 31, 2002 and capital gains posted until December 31, 2004. /Turkish Daily News/

BUILD-OPERATE-TRANSFER PROJECTS

The Treasury and the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources have agreed to guarantee the projects which will be named as "efficient" among the 29 build-operate-transfer projects. The Ministry will hold meetings with the 29 companies to determine the projects which can be given up. /Cumhuriyet/

TURKEY RANKS 15TH IN STEEL PRODUCTION

Turkey ranked 15th in the world steel production. The raw steel production in Turkey for the first six months of this year increased by 6.3 % and reached 7.4 million tons. Turkey has a share of 1.8% in the world production. /Cumhuriyet/

ERDEMIR BUYS A FACTORY IN ROMANIA

Erdemir Iron and Steel Factories has bought LBE Facilities for 8 million US dollars in Romania. It was stated that the LBE Facilities' annual capacity was nearly 100,000 tons. General Director of Erdemir, Sener Macun, said they were taking some important steps on the way to become a global iron and steel company. /Turkiye/

FOURTH MOBILE NETWORK PLANS $1.5 BLN INVESTMENT

Turkey's fourth mobile telephone network Aycell said on Wednesday it plans to invest $1.5 billion to bring the vast majority of the country into its network by the second half of 2002. Aycell Board Chairman told reporters the company would tender in September for a wide infrastructure installation contract. /Turkish News/

EXPORTS SURGE 6.5 PCT IN JUNE

Turkish exporters continued their surge in June with a 6.5 % rise, scoring a total of a 10.2 % rise for the first six months. The State Statistics Institute (DIE) reported on Tuesday that June exports increased to $2.47 billion from last year's $2.32 billion. For the first six months, exports increased from $13.8 billion to $15.21 billion. /Turkish News/

BIDDERS FOR TWO BANKS

The Banking Supervision and Regulation Board said on Wednesday it had authorized NovaBank of Greece to examine necessary documents and prepare a bid to buy Sitebank, and local holding company Koc Holding to do the same for Etibank. Etibank and Sitebank are among 18 failed banks taken into state receivership and put under the control of the watchdog's Savings and Deposits Insurance Fund (SDIF). /Turkish News/

TURKISH-GREEK CONCERT UNDER THE SPONSORSHIP OF ANADOLU AGENCY

A Turkish-Greek concert will be organized in Greece with the support of Anadolu Agency and Macedonia News Agency. The concert will be held on August 26 at the "Balkan Meydani." Neopolis Mayor Grigoris Hacisavas said in the press meeting that Turkish singer Zulfu Livaneli and Greek singers Maria Faranduri and Panayotis Karadimitri in company with famous Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis' orchestra will attend the concert. /Turkish Daily News/