x0x Turkish news for week ending 27 July 2002
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x0x Turkish news for week ending 27 July 2002
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A service of the TURKISH RADIO HOUR, producer of:
TURKISH CULTURAL PROGRAM
Saturdays at 5:00 P.M.
KUSF FM 90.3, San Francisco
Also tune to
ORIENT EXPRESS
Tuesdays at 10:00 P.M.
KKUP FM 91.5, CUPERTINO
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Ahmet Toprak edited today's news. Your host today is Fuad Tokad.
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NEWS BRIEFS
* The daily Milliyet is reporting that Turkey's state minister responsible
for the economy is about the join the newly-formed the New Turkey Party.
The defectors from the Turkish prime minister Mr. Bulent Ecevit have
established the party recently.
Turkish politics have gotten into turmoil after the prime minister fell
ill about three months ago. Calls for early elections, first started by
the opposition, spread over to the coalition partners.
The crisis deepened when scores of parliamentarians resigned from the
prime minister's party, lowering its representation in the parliament to
one-half of what it was just a month ago, and also causing the coalition
to loose its majority in the parliament.
A reluctant Mr. Ecevit says that he will go to the early elections, but
keeps reminding that Turkey's progress on reforms for being admitted to
the European Union membership will stall.
* Speaking of Turkey's candidacy for membership in the European Union,
Turkey's Supreme Court chief Judge Erarslan Ozkaya expressed his views on
the matter to the Anatolian news Agency.
Mr. Ozkaya said that Turkey should do its utmost to become a member of
the union.
Stressing his belief that solutions, which would damage neither Turkey's
territorial integrity nor its democratic regime, could be found to certain
sensitive issues such as education in Kurdish and ending the death
penalty, Mr. Ozkaya stated that a new constitution must be prepared which
would pave the way for more democratic practices in the judiciary.
Among others, the European Union is asking that its members allow
minorities to use their languages in education. It is also asking for the
abolishment of the death penalty. These two conditions have been points of
contention among the Turkish political parties, even among the coalition
partners.
* In a related development that will help the pro-European Union camp in
Turkey, Turkey’s newly established social democratic party, the New
Turkey, has said it will give full support in Turkey's parliament to a
package of legislation drafted by one of the coalition partners. The draft
legislation is designed to amend Turkish laws to bring them in line with
those of the European Union.
* Turkey's Treasury Undersecretary Faik Oztrak said yesterday that if the
current high interest rates persisted, this might endanger the achievement
of targets in Turkey's economic program.
* The $228 million of financial assistance promised to Turkey for its
assuming command of the International Security and Assistance Force in
Afghanistan has been approved by the US Congress, more than a month after
Turkish troops deployed in Kabul.
Provision of the assistance was one of the pre-conditions laid down by
Ankara for its taking over command of the international peacekeeping force
in Kabul
* A recent Istanbul Chamber of Industry report show that government owned
industries in Turkey are the leading employers.
The high level of employees in state enterprises has been an issue of
discussion between the International Monetary Fund and Ankara, with the
International Monetary Fund seeking a reduction in the numbers on the
state payroll.
According to the report throughout the Turkish economy employee numbers
fell by 5.7 percent due to the economic crisis.
The study said that in the 500 top industries the employment figure had
fallen by 32,000 to 526,314 as a result of the financial crisis.
In 2001, the top three employers were the state-owned alcohol, drink and
tobacco producer Tekel, power producer TEAS, and sugar producer Türkiye
Seker Fabrikalari.
The report said that the reduction in employees occurred in both the
private and public sectors.
* The European Court of Human Rights dismissed on Monday a complaint filed
by 13 former Turkish Armed Forces officers alleging religious
discrimination on the Turkish armed forces' part, reports the Turkish
private channel NTV.
The officers and noncommissioned officers were discharged by the Supreme
Military Council in 1995-97 for supporting fundamentalist activities
incompatible with their military duties.
The complainants -- five from the Nakshibendi religious faction, three
Fethullah supporters, and five supporters of other fundamentalist groups
-- claimed that Turkey had violated the European Convention of Human
Rights guarantee of freedom of faith, but the court rejected these
arguments.
"Officers and noncommissioned officers in Turkey can carry out their
religious duties within the framework of their military tasks and
responsibilities", said the European Court of Human Rights' decision.
"Just as in every country, the armed forces in Turkey perform their
activities within a certain discipline. Those who enter the armed forces
are responsible to stay in compliance with this discipline." continued the
verdict.
ARTS AND CULTUR
* The Fourth Munzur Arts and Nature Festival will be on this year from
August first to fourth.
The festival is aiming at raising funds to save the Munzur Valley from
inundation by dams being built upstream. Appropriately, the theme of this
year's festival is "Do not touch Munzur".
As part of the festival there will be concerts, plays and many other
activities.
The Turkish government declared Munzur Valley as a national park in 1971.
The Valley is located in the Eastern Turkish province of Tunceli.
http://www.byegm.gov.tr/YAYINLARIMIZ/newspot/2002/mar_apr/n23.htm
* The World Health Organization, announced this week that it chose the
Yalova Municipality near Istanbul to the WHOs Healthy Cities Network,
reports the daily Star.
Under the network, the World Hrealth Organization targets over 1,000
cities and towns worldwide to promote comprehensive local strategies for
health and sustainable development.
The World Health Organization had been considering the Turkish
municipalities of Bartin, Eskisehir, Urgup, Cankaya, Yozgat and Yalova to
join the network, but only the latter was admitted.
Yalova is the 46th European city to join the network.
* The daily Star reports that the UNESCO representative Christopher Tound
visited the southeastern Turkish city of Mardin to determine whether it
meets the criteria to be added to the World Cultural Heritage List.
Mr. Tound was accompanied by the Fusun Ersoy of the space barTurkey's
Ministry of Culture and Nevin Soyukaya from the Foundation to Protect and
Promote Environmental and Cultural Values.
* Bucking a worldwide slump in tourism, Turkey saw both the number of
tourists visiting its shores and the money they spent rise during the
first quarter of this year, reports the Turkish daily Sabah.
Turkey's State Institute of Statistics announced that 1.4 million
tourists had traveled to Turkey this January-March, up from 1.3 million in
the same period last year.
In addition, the amount of revenue earned per tourist also increased by
some 11.9%, to reach a countrywide total of $886 million.
* The private Turkish channel NTV reports that youth from the southeastern
Turkish province of Urfa will be participating in the third Balkan
festival
The festival will be taking place between August 15 and 18 in
Thessaloniki Greece.
The youth will represent Turkey with their music. In addition to music,
the festival will feature from the youth of other countries filmed and
fine arts activities.
in addition to Turkey and the host country Greece, youths from Bulgaria,
Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Romania and Yugoslavia will be
attending the festival.
* Restoration works owned top of the Mount Nemrut is continuing, reports
the channel NTV.
Directed by experts from the Amsterdam University, the restoration work
this year concentrated on re-erecting the fallen statues.
The statues are 2000 years old and have been erected by the Commagene
Kings and an altitude of 7000 feet. UNESCO has declared area a World
Heritage Site.
See the following links:
http://www.nemrud.nl/en/
http://deepphoto.com/dranch/nemrud-pan03.htm
http://deepphoto.com/dranch/nemrud-pan02.htm
http://deepphoto.com/dranch/nemrud-pan05.htm
EXCHANGE RATE
Exchange rate for the U.S. dollar in Turkish Liras:
1,685,000
WEATHER
High and Low Temperatures in Degrees F, Weather
Istanbul (Marmara Region)--------: 84/75 Showers
Trabzon (Black Sea Region)-------: 91/75 Partially Cloudy
Izmir (Aegean Region)------------: 84/73 Showers
Antalya (Mediterranean Region)---: 93/75 Partially Cloudy
Ankara (Central Anatolian Region): 88/72 Showers
* The death toll from the severe flooding that has struck northern and
central Turkey has risen to 38, with further reports of casualties and
damage coming in from outlying communities.
Authorities warn against a possible outbreak of disease resulting from
damage to the water supply infrastructure in Rize province, where 27
people have died in the recent flooding.
SEA WATER TEMPERATURES
Trabzon (Black Sea) 73
Kumkoy (Marmara Sea) 75
Bodrum (Aegean Sea) 73
Alanya (Mediterranean Sea) 84
SPORTS NEWS
Edited for the Turkish Radio by Mark Nowak
* Basketball
* Turkey played the first warm-up match of its build-up to the World
Championship which starts in Indianapolis at the end of August and
recorded
a comfortable 85-54 victory over Sweden.
* Efes Pilsen power forward Mehmet Okur yesterday signed a contract with
the
Detroit Pistons.
* Soccer
* Galatasaray 1-1 Bayer Leverkusen (Germany first division)
* Fenerbahce 3-1 Real Mallorca (Spain first division)
* Fenerbahce 2-2 Hertha Berlin (Germany first division)
* Ankaragucu 2-2 Mechelen (Belgian first division)
* Besiktas 2 - 1 Neuchatel Xamax (Swiss First Division)
* Besiktas 1-3 Thun (Swiss First Division)
* Kocaelispor 0-1 Borussia Dortmund.
* Gaziantepspor 1-1 Astra (Romanian first division)
* Istanbulspor 2-1 Samsunspor
* Istanbulspor 1-3 Eskisehirspor
* Altay 2-1 Aydinspor
* Goztepe 3-1 Bucaspor
* Adanaspor 0-1 Canakkale Dardanelspor.
* Galatasaray is pursuing its interest in Parma's Cameroon striker Patrick
Mboma.
* Goztepe signed 23-year-old Congolese N'Dayi Kalenga on a one-year
contract.
* Inter Milan is trying to exchange Turkey's young World Cup midfield star
Emre Belozoglu with Lazio for either Alessandro Nesta or Dutch defender
Jaap Stam. However, neither deal looks likely to go ahead.
* Galatasaray chairman Ozhan Canaydin traveled to the club's training camp
in Switzerland and reached immediate agreement with its two unsettled
World Cup players Ergun Penbe and Hasan Sas. Ergun is to receive $1.25
million a year while Hasan has accepted a three-year extension to his
present contract, which expires next May, in exchange for an annual
payment of $2.5 million. If this report is correct, this makes Hasan the
highest-paid Turkish player in the Super League.
* The first soccer match, indeed the first sporting contest of any kind,
at Istanbul's new Ataturk Olympic Stadium will be a friendly between
Galatasaray and Greek First Division team Olympiakos on July 31.
* Turkey's top-scoring forward Hakan Sukur confirmed that he is willing to
leave Parma and that his next destination could be Besiktas.
*** ANNOUNCEMENTS
(Bu duyurulari saat 17:30 da ve 18:30'da iki kez yayinlayin.)
(Duyurularda giri$ ucreti soz ediliyorsa, radyoda bunlari atlayin.)
*** Turkish Arts and Culture Festival
The Monterey Bay Chapter of TAAC, Turkish American Association of
California, presents:
5th Annual California Turkish Arts and Culture Festival
August 3-4, 2002, Sat & Sun, 11 am – 6 pm
Monterey Custom House Plaza next to the Fisherman's Wharf
(http://www.monterey.com http://www.monterey.com/mc6/mc6.html)
FREE ADMISSION
Featuring many fun activities for the whole family, the two-day
festival will include Turkish music, movies, and folk dances, Turkish
arts and crafts exhibits and vendor booths, food and drinks and many
special activities for children.
This year, a very fun and competitive event for the kids will take
place in our children tent. The organization committee will pick the
best three drawings of the kids and give small presents to the
winners. Additionally, the first-place winning drawing will be used
as the flyer pattern for the next year’s festival.
For more information, please contact Ilge Ozersen, the executive
director of the festival, at (831) 648-9350.
The Turkish festival is looking forward to seeing you with your
families and friends at the festival.
*** 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
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