x0x Turkish news for week ending 11 May 2002
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x0x Turkish news for week ending 11 May 2002
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NEWS BRIEFS
* The daily Turkiye reports that on Wednesday Turkey voted in favor of a
United Nations resolution condemning Israel for its attacks against the
Palestinians at the Jenin refugee camp and other Palestinian territories.
The resolution passed by a vote of 74-4 with 54 countries abstaining.
While Turkey was assuming an anti-Israeli stance at the United Nations,
in an interview with the Turkish daily Hurriyet the Israeli president Mr.
Moshe Katsav expressed his nation's satisfaction with Turkey's support and
efforts aimed at establishing peace and stability in the Middle East.
Mr. Katsav stated that Turkey was very important for the region since it
had close and friendly relations with Israel, the Palestinians and the
Arab countries as well.
"That's why we trust Turkey's initiatives" said Mr. Katsav.
* Speaking of Turkey's initiatives for peace in the Middle East,
Palestinian Chairman Arafat called the Turkish prime minister Mr. Ecevit
on Wednesday. Mr. Arafat told Mr. Ecevit that he would be highly pleased
with Turkey's hosting a peace conference with Israel and Palestinians.
Mr. Arafat added that Turkey should also be a participant in the
conference, not just a host.
Earlier, the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon also endorsed the idea
of Turkey hosting a peace conference.
The daily Hurriyet says that Mr. Sharon was expected to discuss the idea
with President Bush.
As we reported last week, the Turkish foreign affairs minister Mr.
Ismail Cem first expressed the idea of hosting a peace conference two
weeks ago after he made a trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories
with his Greek counterpart.
* On the domestic front, the Turkish president Mr. Ahmet Necdet Sezer paid
a get-well visit to the recovering prime minister Mr. Bulent Ecevit.
Mr. Ecevit was briefly hospitalized for an intestinal infection a week
ago.
While President Sezer was wishing speedy recovery to Prime Minister
Ecevit, Mrs. Ciller, the leader of one of the opposition parties, was
asking a speedy termination of the current coalition government of Mr.
Ecevit.
Speaking at her party's parliament group meeting, Mrs. Ciller said that
the prime minister should leave his post as soon as possible without
wasting a moment, reported the daily Turkiye.
Mrs. Ciller claimed that the three coalition parties are always
bickering to gain advantage over each other in a future election, and that
the current government cannot serve Turkey.
Mrs. Ciller called for immediate general elections.
However, Mr. Ecevit is in no resigning mood. On Friday, the private
Turkish channel NTV reported that Turkish Premier Bülent Ecevit,
responding to suggestions that he might step down after recent heath
problems, said that his leaving office would cause more problems that it
would solve.
* The US Ambassador to Turkey Robert Pearson Tuesday presented Turkish
Security Director General Kemal Onal, Customs Director General Hakki Teke
and Gendarmerie Operations Chairman Brigadier General Mustafa BIyIk with a
plaque to honor their successful work in combating drug smuggling in
league with the US.
* Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus President Mr. Rauf Denktash last
month presented a 20-page written proposal to Greek Cypriot leader Mr.
Glafcos Clerides suggesting a number of permanent and sustainable
solutions to the problems of the island, reports the Turkish daily
Cumhuriyet.
In his proposal, Mr. Denktash focused on the idea of the establishment
of a Partnership State of Cyprus, one based on the idea of equal
sovereignty of the two states.
However, the Greek Cypriot side did not consider the proposal a positive
initiative, arguing that it would mean the establishment of two separate
states on the island.
Despite Mr. Clerides' cool reception to the proposal, Mr. Denktash is
still hoping to make progress during the negotiations.
The Cyprus problem goes back several decades. Soon after the foundation
of a bi-communal republic of Cyprus in 1960,
the Cypriot Greeks reneged on international agreements and pushed the
Turks into enclaves and blocked them from participating in the economic
and administrative life on the island.
Many extremists from the Greek community also carried out armed attacks
on Turks from time to time.
When extremist Cypriot Greeks, backed by the Greek junta in power then,
toppled the all-Greek Cypriot government in 1974 with the ultimate goal of
uniting the island with Greece, Turkey intervened militarily.
The Turkish intervention gathered the Turks into the Northern part of
the island to assure them the security and safety that they did not have
for many years.
See http://www.trncwashdc.org/h9.html for more.
* As part of the "Europe Week", a group of Turkish intellectuals
proclaimed that Turkey's place is in the European Union.
The private channel NTV reports that the statement of intellectuals was
critical of Turkey's European Union membership bid being left in the hands
of anti- European Union circles in Turkey. The statement called for rapid
action and an end to foot dragging.
The statement stressed that the results of opinion polls had shown
Turkish citizens wanted to be a part of Europe.
* Representatives of an outlawed leftist group claimed on Thursday that
being included on the European Union's list of organizations that promote
terrorism would not affect them and that the group would continue its
activities.
The Maoist Revolutionary People's Communist Party front said it would be
Europe that would be responsible for any blood that might be shed.
* Turkish government employees who have 30 or more years of service are
slated for compulsory retirement reports the daily Hurriyet.
The Turkish Treasury and Finance Ministry's plan is part of efforts to
reduce government spending.
The World Bank recently told the Turkish government that the number of
people it employs is both excessive and unaffordable in the long run.
The number of employees that will retire was put at 130,000.
Echoing the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund also warned
Turkey that it should not employ more than 1.7 million people.
Both financial institutions have been lending billions of dollars to
Turkey to get the country out of one of its worst economic crises over the
past several decades. However, the new loans are coming with demands for
structural reform in the economy and the government.
* The winds of peace blowing between Turkey and Greece are also being felt
in the economies of the two countries, says the Turkish daily Sabah.
Visiting Greek economy minister Mr. Nikos Christodoulakis and Turkish
minister responsible for economy Mr. Kemal Dervis held talks this week
about concrete steps to move the two countries' economies into closer
cooperation.
Mr. Dervis told reporters that the visiting Greek minister had proposed
a trilateral cooperation between Turkey, Greece and Italy.
If this is achieved, he said, there would be more competition in the
energy field on the European market.
"Our real economic cooperation can be achieved by the private sectors of
both nations. As this cooperation increases, the growth of the Greek
economy would be beneficial for Turkey, and Turkey's growth would be
beneficial for Greece. Economics describes this concept as the
neighborhood effect." said Mr. Dervis.
* The daily Hurriyet reports that the foreign exchange reserves of the
Turkish Central Bank reached a record high of $22.4 billion last week.
The Central Bank began to buy foreign exchange heavily in April and
continued to do so through last week.
The goal seems to be weaken the overvalued Turkish lira, which is
hurting exports and increasing the Turkish trade deficit.
* Speaking of foreign exchange the State Institute of Statistics reported
that Turkey earned $12.4 billion from tourism in 2001.
$3.5 billion of the revenue came from Turks who live abroad and who came
to spend their vacations in Turkey. After Turks, the Russian tourists
spent the most amount of money in Turkey.
* A different set of statistics indicates that Turkey's industrial
production started showing signs of recovery in March. According to these
statistics the industrial production surged 18.7 percent as compared to
the previous year.
Experts are interpreting the increase as a sign that the Turkish economy
is recovering from its most severe crisis in many decades.
Industrial production plunged for 13 months after the Turkish government
stopped defending the lira in February 2001, triggering a recession that
put more than a million people out of work and raised concerns about
Turkey's ability to pay its debts, which rose to 92 percent of the gross
national product.
ARTS AND CULTURE
* Turkey's Minister of Culture Istemihan Talay said this week that 10
state museums which enjoy great popularity would be open seven days a week
during summer and early fall.
Mr. Talay said that from May 8 to Oct. 31 this year, the following
museums would be open every day from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.:
- Topkapi Palace Museum in Istanbul,
- St. Sophia Museum in Istanbul,
- Ephesus Museum,
- Antalya Museum,
- Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara,
- Underwater Archeology Museum in Bodrum,
- Goreme Open Air Museum,
- Ruins of Troy,
- Aphrodisias Museum and
- Hierapolis Museum
(http://www.atamanhotel.com/views-hierapolis.html).
* A series of events organized by the Turkish-Dutch Theater Foundation
commemorated Turkish poet Nazim Hikmet in Amsterdam this week
The events helped reinforce cultural relations between the two countries
and promoted Turkish poetry in the Netherlands, reports the daily
Cumhuriyet.
* A European Union-sponsored exhibit entitled "EXPO 2000: Projecting
Cultural Heritage; 20 Examples from Mediterranean Countries" opened at
Istanbul's Turkish-Islamic Works Museum.
Germanys Hornnemann Institute coordinated and prepared the exhibit to
promote the participating countries efforts to protect their unique
cultural heritage.
The opening ceremony, which will spotlight works from Turkey, Egypt,
Algeria, Germany, France, Greece, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Malta,
Morocco, Palestine, Spain, Syria, Tunisia and the Greek Cypriot
administration, will be also attended by Dr. Annamaria Gerger and Jurgen
Nowak from the Hornnemann Institute, reports the daily Cumhuriyet.
* Turkey's Bogazici University started its traditional arts festival
Friday.
The festival will have numerous concerts, films and plays. There will
also be panel discussions. The organizers are saying that the goal of the
festival is to attract more people to arts and make arts part of life.
The University's fine arts, radio, dance, literature, folk dance,
photography, music, University actors, film, Turkish music clubs are all
participating in the festival.
* The fifth Istanbul puppeteers festival started this week. Puppeteers
from Austria Italy Japan: Bulgaria Croatia and Turkey are participating in
the festival.
The Festival will end on May 16.
* In Uzbekistan's capital Tashkent, several films from Turkey will be
screened as part of the European film Festival, reports the Anatolian News
agency.
SPORTS
By Mark Nowak
* Turkish Soccer Premier Division
Week 34 results (Final week)
Göztepe - Trabzonspor 4 - 2
G.Antep - Besiktas 1 - 0
Malatyaspor - Samsunspor 1 - 1
Denizlispor - Kocaelispor 4 - 0
Rizespor - Ankaragucu 3 - 2
Antalyaspor - Istanbulspor 2 - 0
Fenerbahce - Diyarbakirspor 3 - 1
G.Birligi - Bursaspor 3 - 2
Galatasaray - Yozgatspor 5 - 0
Final Standings
Team Pts
1. Galatasaray 78
2. Fenerbahce 75
3. Besiktas 62
4. Ankaragucu 53
5. Denizlispor 48
6. G.Antep 48
7. G.Birligi 45
8. Göztepe 45
9. Istanbulspor 44
10. Bursaspor 44
11. Kocaelispor 43
12. Diyarbakirspor 40
13. Trabzonspor 40
14. Malatyaspor 40
15. Samsunspor 38
-------------------- ---
16. Rizespor 37
17. Antalyaspor 37
18. Yozgatspor 27
The Champion: Galatasaray
Relegated teams: Yozgatspor, Antalyaspor, Rizespor
UEFA Champions League: Galatasaray-Group Stage, Fenerbahçe-3rd Qualifying
Round
UEFA Cup: Kocaelispor, Besiktas, MKE Ankaragücü, Denzilispor
UEFA Intertoto Cup No team from Turkey this year
* Much attention is focused on what Fatih Terim will do now that he has
taken over again as coach of Galatasaray:
Midfielder Umit Davala is back from AC Milan, initially on a
year's loan.
Ahmet Dursun visited Galatasaray's Florya headquarters.
Terim may raid his two former Italian clubs for foreign players.
Terim interested in Danish Martin Laursen, Portuguese Rui Costa and
Portuguese forward Nuno Gomes.
It is rumored that Hakan Unsal of Blackburn Rovers would like to
return to Istanbul now that Terim is back.
Another who might be interested is Inter Milan midfielder Okan
Buruk.
Strong rumors suggest that Galatasaray is trying to entice young
forward
Serhat Akin away from Fenerbahce.
French defender Sebastien Perez has left Galatasaray.
*Turkish National Team - Preliminary Roster
Goalkeepers: Rustu Recber (Fenerbahce), Omer Catkic (Gaziantepspor), Zafer
Ozgultekin (Ankaragucu), Metin Aktas (Trabzonspor)
Defenders: Bulent Korkmaz (Galatasaray), Emre Asik (Galatasaray), Fatih
Akyel (Fenerbahce), Umit Ozat (Fenerbahce), Ismail Gulduren
(Genclerbirligi), Alpay Ozalan (Aston Villa)
Midfielders: Ergun Penbe (Galatasaray), Abdullah Ercan (Fenerbahce),
Tayfur
Havutcu (Besiktas), Cihan Haspolat (Kocaelispor), Tugay Kerimoglu
(Blackburn Rovers), Hakan Unsal (Blackburn Rovers), Emre Belozoglu (Inter
Milan), Okan Buruk (Inter Milan), Umit Davala (AC Milan), Tayfun Korkut
(Real Sociedad), Yildiray Basturk (Bayer Leverkusen), Mustafa Izzet
(Leicester City)
Forwards: Hakan Sukur (Parma), Arif Erdem (Galatasaray), Hasan Sas
(Galatasaray), Serhat Akin (Fenerbahce), Ilhan Mansiz (Besiktas), Nihat
Kahveci (Real Sociedad)
Surprise: Turkey coach Senol Gunes has sprung a major selection surprise
in
his 28-strong preliminary World Cup squad by omitting defender Ogun
Temizkanoglu. The team includes three youngsters winning their first
call-up but no place for 30-year-old Fenerbahce star Ogun who has a record
75 caps.
* Turkish Men's Basketball
Quarter Finals:
T.Telekom - Oyka Renault (1-3)
beginning: (1-0)
1st match: 75-89 (1-1)
2nd match: (74-81)
3rd match: (74-76)
Efes Pilsen - Fenerbahçe (3-0)
beginning: (1-0)
1st match:(104-75)
2nd match: (86-81)
Darüssafaka - Karsiyaka (3-1)
beginning: (1-0)
1st match:88-78 (2-0)
2nd match: (87-90)
3rd match: (95-80)
Ülker - Besiktas, (3-1)
beginning: (1-0)
1st match:(88-75)
2nd match: (86-92)
3rd match: (100-80)
Semi-Final:
Efes Pilsen - Oyka Renault
Ülker - Darüssafaka
* NBA Playoffs
Sacramento Kings-Dallas Mavericks: Kings lead the series 2-1
Game 1: Sacremento Kings - Dallas: 108-91
In 25 minutes, Hidayet Turkoglu had 7 points, 4 rebound and 2
assists.
Game 2: Sacremento Kings - Dallas: 102-110
In 21 mintues, Hidayet Turkoglu had 15 points, 8 rebounds and 1
assist.
Game 3: Sacremento Kings - Dallas: 125-119
In 25 minutes, Hidayet Turkoglu had 4 points, 3 rebounds and 2
assists.
*** Turkish American Association of California has partially
underwritten today's program. TAAC is a non-profit
charitable organization established to promote better
understanding between Americans and Turks.
If you have any questions about Turks and Turkey,
give them a call:
or e-mail them at
ta...@taaca.org
http://www.taaca.org
*** TAAC-East Bay 2nd Annual 19th May Youth and Sports Day Picnic
- Date: May 19, 2002
- Time: 1:00 - 5:00 pm
- Place: Lafayette Reservoir Park
- Address: Check out Lafayette page
- Parking: Parking is $5.00 for all day.
- Menu: Kofte, pilav, piyaz, desert.
- Games: There is plenty of space to play soccer, volleyball and
games.
Donation requested.
*** AEGEAN FRIENDS
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coming together to celebrate their rich heritage,
explore common roots, and promote peace in the
Aegean region.
Share music, food, and conversation. Dance. Create art.
Discover the generosity of the heart.
For more information contact
AEGEAN FRIENDS
Box 14022
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or e-mail:
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