Selections From Todays Turkish Press

Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, the Chief of General Staff Gen. Huseyin Kivrikoglu, Ministers of State and Deputy Prime Ministers, Devlet Bahceli, Mesut Yilmaz and Husamettin Ozkan, Minister of Foreign Affairs Ismail Cem and Undersecretary of the National Intelligence Service, Senkal Atasagun came together in Ankara yesterday. Reportedly, during the two-hour meeting the effects of a possible military operation which is expected to be carried out following the terrorist attacks to the US on Sep. 11 and the kind of strategic support that can be given to NATO were discussed. /Turkiye/

CEM'S STATEMENT ON INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM

Minister of Foreign Affairs Ismail Cem brought the international cooperation against terrorism to the fore during the luncheon he held for EU member countries' Ambassador to Ankara yesterday. Speaking to the NTV television network after the luncheon, Cem said they would launch a new initiative within the EU to reach a common point of view on terrorism. Stating that there was no clear definition of terrorism within the EU law, which makes it harder to fight against terrorism, Cem said, "We, as Turkey, will demand a legal framework t be formed so as to define what terrorism is within the EU law." Cem summarized the call he made for the EU countries as follows: "Despite all our justified views regarding the past, we do not need settling up for the past but a new reconstruction period for the future. That's what we are proposing to the EU countries. Terrorism should be defined legally. We should cooperate in dealing with it." Meanwhile, Turkey has demanded the ceasefire between Israel and Palestine to be improved so as to contribute to the peace and stability process in the region. Meeting with Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, Cem said the atmosphere emerged after the September 11th incident should be used to end regional conflicts. /Cumhuriyet/

ECEVIT REPROACHES EUROPEAN ALLIES

The US Ambassador to Turkey, Robert W. Pearson, held a reception to commemorate the victims of the recent terrorist attacks on the US yesterday. Pointing out that Turkey was fighting against terrorism for 20 years, Pearson said that especially Turkish people felt the horror of the attacks and shared the grief of American people. Thanking to their Turkish friends, Pearson stated, "This is an international struggle to sustain the right to live together with respect to others' lives and without fear for all people no matter their nationalities or religions. We will be the winners of this fight." Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said they felt the grief of American people in their very heart and would always be there for the US in their fight against terrorism. Stating that certain European countries did not agree with Turkey on terrorism, "Ecevit said, "The recent terrifying attacks on the US have showed that terrorism itself is inexpensive and easy but fighting against it is difficult and expensive. Intelligence services of all countries must cooperate in this fight." /Cumhuriyet/

INCIRLIK AIR BASE, ONE OF THE TARGETS?

FBI has seized certain plans and documents in the homes of three Arabic origin people who were caught during the operations currently continuing following the recent terrorist attacks in the US. It was reported that some of the documents showed that terrorists had attack plans targeting Incirlik Air Base in Turkey. FBI Speaker Hank Galspie said that notes taken in Arabic on "American Air Base in Turkey" were found during the operations. No further information was announced about the notes by the FBI. /Hurriyet/

MINISTER SAYS PKK HAD GERMAN HELP IN PAST

Minister of State Yilmaz Karakoyunlu said that Germany had been supporting the terrorist organization PKK for 10 years, and that the Kara Ses (Black Voice) and Milli Gorus (National View) organizations financed terrorism by growing more powerful in Germany. Karakoyunlu responded to questions from German journalists during his meeting with a delegation on Wednesday. He said that Turkey was one of the countries which could understand the terrorism the US was exposed to, and that Turkey was harmed by those who backed terrorism, both in the country and abroad. "Germany is at the top of the countries backing terrorism in Turkey. I hope that Germany will take action without making any discrimination in the fight against terrorism, rather than taking action according to the countries involved." /Turkish News/

DENKTAS : "WE DO NOT ASK A SO-CALLED SETTLEMENT"

The President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Rauf Denktas opened his individual photography exhibition and then gave a conference, entitled "Cyprus: From Yesterday to Today" in Gaziantep yesterday. Talking about the history of the Cyprus issue, Denktas claimed that Greece was trying to put the Cyprus issue in front of Turkey as an obstacle. He added Turkey is completely justified on the Cyprus issue. /Turkiye/

AKCAN THE MINISTER OF PUBLIC WORKS AND SETTLEMENT

A Representative of Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) from Afyon, Prof. Abdulkadir Akcan was appointed to the post of the Minister of Public Works and Settlement in place of Koray Aydin who resigned from the post for a while ago. /Turkiye/

RUSSIAN SUPREME COURT PRESIDENT IN ISTANBUL

Russian Federation Supreme Court President Doctor V.M. Lebedev visited Istanbul Chief Prosecutor Ferzan Citici with the High Court of Appeals Chief Justice Sami Selcuk. Lebedev was welcomed by Citici during their conservation they dicussed the Turkish legal system and structure. During the visit Citici and Lebedev gave eachother plaques and presents. Later Lebedev went to visit some historical tourist locations in Istanbul with Selcuk. /Turkish Daily News/

PEACEFUL STAR EXERCISES ON THE MARCH

The Peaceful Star 2001 maneuvers have started in Istanbul, to establish and to develop a joint defense program with Partnership for Peace (PfP) countries. The exercises are being carried out under command of the 1st Army Command and are conducted by the 3rd Army Corps and Western Garrison Commander Gen. Ergin Saygun. Gen. Saygun said that PfP countries should gather their experience in one pool. He pointed out that the exercise aimed to promote Turkish culture as well, therefore some social activities would be held. /Turkish News/

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT

The Constitutional Commission began debates on the 37-article constitutional amendment package yesterday. The first day 14 articles were accepted. Taking the opinions of the leaders into consideration, the word "action" was changed to "activity". The phrase "without changing their essence" was added to the second article which said fundamental rights and freedoms could only be restricted by law. It was also added to the same article that the fundamental rights and freedoms could not be against the requirements of a secular society. With the amendment to the 19'th article of the Constitution the period of into custody in collective crimes decreased from 15 to 7 days. /Sabah/

PROTECTION OF MARMARA SEA MEETING

The third meeting aimed at protecting the Marmara Sea will be held in Canakkale. According to the announcement made by the Canakkale Governorship, the third meeting will include "The Marmara Sea Environmental Problems and Solutions, and representation of applications in the frame of action plans," "A solution to the problems of Marmara basin environment and argument on service union Regulation Draft." After the meeting, which will be held in two sessions, a final report will be prepared at the Trade and Industry Chamber. /Turkish Daily News/

VURAL MEETS WITH CHHIBBER

Minister of Transport Oktay Vural met with the World Bank's Turkey Director Ajay Chhibber yesterday. Following the meeting, Chhibber said they took up the topics of privatization of the Turk Telekom and restructuring of the railways. He said, "We are fully supporting the government on these two topics." /Turkiye/

ORAL : "PROBLEMS WILL BE REDUCED IN 2002"

Meeting with journalists, Minister of Finance, Sumer Oral said problems in the Turkish economy will decrease in 2002."Evaluating the budget for the year 2001, Oral said, "Our main target is to catch the growth and increase the value of Turkish Liras. The surplus excluding interest is increased to TL 10.2 quadrillion as of August. The implementations in the 2001 budget shows there will be no deviation from the targets." He also informed about the preparations for the budget of 2002 and said, "Macro studies on the next year's budget are being carried on in technical and political levels. We are also continuing meetings with the IMF regarding the figures for the budgets of 2001 and 2002." /Turkiye/

IMF: "WE CAN POSTPONE DEBTS"

A positive reply came from the IMF to the statement of Minister of State for Economy Kemal Dervis. Previously, Dervis said, "We will ask IMF to postpone Turkey's $ 5-billion debt." Sources close to the IMF in Washington declared that the debt postponement request was regarded as feasible and possible. On the other hand, reportedly, the IMF Executive Directors Board meeting for the 10th revision will be held in the first half of October as scheduled . /Turkiye/

LETTER OF INTENT TO BE WRITTEN LATER

It was stated that it would take long to write down the letter of intent, which will be sent to Washington following the 10th review meetings chaired by the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) Chief to the Turkish Desk, Johan Kahkonen. It was further stated that the letter of intent will not be completed before the end of this month. Officials from the Ministry of Finance gave information concerning the meetings held with the IMF delegation and stated that the IMF did not have any demand concerning the amount of tax increase to meet income requirement for the year 2002. Officials say that the amount of additional income precaution will be determined when the inflation target concerning this period of time is determined. /Hurriyet/

SEZER'S MESSAGE CONCERNING THE OPENING OF 45TH EUROPEAN QUALITY CONGRESS

Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer sent a message concerning the opening of the 45th European Quality Congress. In his message, Sezer stated that Turkey, which aims to reach the criteria of the modern world, has to make correct and realistic plannings and implement the comprehensive structurings in a determined manner and immediately in order to keep pace with the changing conditions. Sezer added that the concept of globalization, which is influential in every field of our lives, has created a new and different world, in which the goods and services depend on high technology, power of competition and the concept of total quality. Sezer added that the basic condition to have a place in such a world is to be an economically strong country, who has planned her future and who has presented her citizens all the opportunities of the modern life-style. /Turkiye/

45TH EUROPEAN QUALITY CONGRESS OPENED

45th European Quality Congress was opened at the Lutfi Kirdar International Congress and Exhibition Palace and organized by FGS Fair Joint Stock Company Piramit-Ayintap Fair Company. The Congress was opened by observing a minute of silence for those who have lost their lives during the terrorist attack against the US. The Congress was attended by the State Minister Ramazan Mirzaoglu, Minister of Industry and Commerce, Ahmet Kenan Tanrikulu, Chairman of European Quality Organization, Riccardo Dell' Anna and the Chairman of the Turkish Union of Chambers and Stock Exchanges (TOBB), Rifat Hisarciklioglu. In his opening speech, Tanrikulu said, "The most important condition of having a place within the global market and being successful is high quality production. Tanrikulu added that Turkey also should comply with the technical regulations of the EU to ensure the free movement of goods. /Turkiye/

THY TO SELL SEVEN AIRBUSES

Turkish Airlines (THY) will sell seven 310-300 type Airbus planes by bidding. Chairman of the THY Promotion and Public Relations, Faik Akin, said that the Executive Board of the THY had decided to sell the planes nearly a month ago and that the announcement concerning the bidding to be held on October 12, 2001 had been made. Akin added it was planned that three of Airbus 310-300 planes would be sold in 2002 and that four of them would be sold in 2003. Akin added new planes are not planned to be bought with the money, which will be earned by the sale of these planes. /Sabah/

THE MILITARY AND THE FIFTH ARTICLE BY FIKRET BILA (MILLIYET)

Columnist Fikret Bila comments on NATO's invoking of the Fifth Article upon the US request . A summary of his column is as follows: "NATO has invoked the Fifth Article upon the US request. In compliance with this Article, NATO countries will act jointly against the terorist attack on the US as if they have been attacked themselves. It is wondered how the US will respond after accepting this attack as a declaration of all-out war and taking NATO by her side. For Turkey the important question is what will be asked from Ankara within the framework of the Fifth Article. President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit and Foreign Minister Ismail Cem have all declared that Turkey would stand by the US and would do everything in her power as one of the most experienced countries in terrorism. Ankara who has been supported by the US and hampered by Europe during the fight against terrorism, will not hesitate to stand by Washington. Even though a bitter experience has sparked it, all the world including Europe has to come to the point Turkey has defended for years. Ankara is working on plans to help the US within the framework of NATO. Today, the Office of the General Staff will make an announcement on how the Fifth Article will work.. Even though Turkish requests for the invoking of the Fifth Article were not accepted for close to 20 years, the General Staff is pleased with its adoption now. Combatting terrorism does not only mean responding to the terrorist attacks in the US. In compliance with the Fifth Article, the decision to fight against terorrism covers all terrorist actions and terror organizations. The Military in Ankara believes that NATO will fight in collaboration with the US against terrorism. This is a view Turkey has defended all along. The Fifth Article will be carried out not only for the US but for all other NATO countries subjected to terrorism. For 20 years the terrorist organizations engaged in terrorist activities against Turkey were financially supported by Germany and politically by Belgium. All has been proven with concrete evidences. Both countries are NATO members. While helping the US in fighting against terrorism in compliance with the Fifth article, what will they do regarding the terrorist organizations and their members working against Turkey? This issue should be discussed during this process. Will Germany and Belgium forbid these organizations to take shelter, hide or gather financial and political support in their countries after agreeing to comply with the Fifth Article? If the Fifth Article is to be invoked, all NATO countries, mainly Germany and Belgium, must sweep their countries clean off the terrorist organizations working against Turkey and extradite the terrorists they capture to Turkey. Ankara will help the US within the framework of the decision taken due to the recent attack unconditionally. There can be no bargaining on the issue. However, it is her due right to expect the NATO countries not to give refuge to terrorist organizations."