16. August 2000

1. - BBC - "Turkey asks allies for help":

Ecevit: "US should take action in an efficient manner"

Turkey has called on its allies to provide more than just verbal support in tackling its financial crisis.

"Time is of vital significance in overcoming the economic crisis," Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit told Turkish television on Friday.

"The United States should take action in an efficient manner. (President George W.) Bush has conveyed his support. It is time that they (work for more) concrete results."

His comments come ahead of intensive weekend talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) about aid for a new economic recovery programme.

On Sunday, the new economy minister Kemal Dervis also said that he would meet with ambassadors from the Group of Seven industrial nations, as well as IMF and World Bank officials to discuss Ankara's efforts to overhaul its battered economy.

"I will also try to explain to them clearly within the framework of a consistent programme that Turkey really needs a reasonable amount of foreign support quickly to overcome this financial mishap."

Turkey is expected to announce details of its long-awaited economic plan this week.
Mr Dervis would not elaborate on the amount of aid he is seeking.

The new economic programme is designed to replace the failed three-year anti-inflation plan which was backed by over $11 billion of IMF loans.

Look, no hands

In February, President Bush contacted the Turkish prime minister and President Ahmet Necdet Sezer to express support and urge them to continue with economic liberalisation.

However, the Bush administration has made it clear in the past that its opposes intervention.
Treasury secretary Paul O'Neill and top economic adviser Lawrence Lindsey have indicated that they believe market forces are more efficient in achieving international economic objectives, including preventing and resolving financial crises.

Nevertheless, Mr Dervis has expressed hope of US aid.

Earlier this month, Mr Dervis told local newspapers that the Mr O'Neill had pledged funds to help Turkey.

Mr Dervis added that Mr O'Neill had hesitated to name a figure until Turkey draws up its new economic plan.

Economic plan-x

Turkey's new economic package would be concluded over the next two or three days, according to Mr Dervis.

The European head of the IMF, Michael Deppler, arrived in Ankara on Friday for talks on aid for the package.

The IMF said that it welcomed emergency economic measures announced by Mr Dervis last week to speed up privatisation of national companies and bring three of the state banks under the control of an independent management board.

The ailing banking sector is seen as the main cause of the financial crisis.

The Turkish lira and the stock market both firmed on Friday amidst suggestions that a rescue package by international lenders was forthcoming.

The markets have suffered a roller-coaster week that was acerbated by a turmoil on stock exchanges across the world.

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2. - Kurdish Observer - "Newroz excitement is on rise":

Newroz preparations in Kurdistan and Turkey are continuing with much enthusiasm. Delegations from Europe are expected to take part in celebrations as well as intellectuals, writers, artists, unionist and representatives of NGO's.

NEWS CENTER

In Amed delegations from European countries such as Finland, Belgium, Germany and Italy are expected to attend to the Newroz observations. There are deputies and representatives of human rights and NGO's in the delegations.

Newroz is observed continuously

On the other hand, Newroz observations which began ten days ago, are continuing. Groups of people in Amed lighted fires, as groups in Izmir observed Newroz with fires and halays.

Magnificent preparations for Newroz in Europe

Marches will take place on 20 March night all around Europe. Thousands of Kurdistanis are expected to attend to the demonstrations.

Confederation of Kurdish Associations KON-KURD made a statement on the Newroz program of its affiliated associations.

Kurds will continue their activities until end of March. There will be meetings, feasts and observations as well as central marches.

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3. - Ozgur Politika - "There could be a march to Ankara like that of the Zapatistas":

PKK President Abdullah Ocalan, making reference to the "Peace March" of the Zapatista guerrillas, which was greeted with great enthusiasm by oppressed all across the world, and said that a similar march could be held in Ankara. Ocalan called attention that constitutional guarantee for this was essential.

PKK President Abdullah Ocalan said that a peace march similar to that of the Zapatista guerrillas could be arranged in Ankara if constitutional guarantees were secured for democratic and cultural rights.

Zapatur 2001 example

In a statement made through attorneys Dogan Erbas, Hatice Korkut, and Irfan Dundar from the Century Law Firm, with whom he met on Wednesday, Ocalan touched on the "Zapatur 2001" march in the capital of Mexico led by Zapatista guerrilla leader Marcos from the Mexican state of Chiapas and 23 guerrilla commanders for the granting of relative autonomy to the local people. Ocalan said that a similar march could be held in Ankara and that a call from the President could open the path for this. Ocalan said that the primary condition for holding such a march was for democratic and cultural rights to be constitutionally guaranteed, and continued to say the following: "Just as in the Mexican example, a call from the President in Turkey could open the path for this. In such a situation, thousands of people could make a "peace march" to Ankara similar to the Zapata march, including dropping of weapons. Such a march could be started by constitutional guarantee for democratic and cultural rights. This would be the most correct response to overcoming the economic and political crisis being experienced in Turkey."

Our contribution to democratization will be great

The PKK President said that there would be a democratic ascent in Turkey and stressed that their contribution to this rise would be great. "Turkey, Mesopotamia, and Anatolia will be reborn upon its great cultures," Ocalan said, continuing, "This rebirth will be a democratic ascent. Our contribution to the democratization of the republic will be just as great as the contribution of the freedom fighters to the establishment of the republic."

Positive thoughts will be presented

Ocalan noted that the difficult situation that had been entered with the economic crisis being experienced could be overcome in this fashion and said that they would avoid negativities that would make things difficult for Turkey. Ocalan continued to say the following: "We will be the defenders of the unity of a democratic and secular Turkey. We will avoid negativities that will make things difficult for Turkey in these trying days. We will present every type of positive thoughts. We will do everything in our power for our peoples to present a democratic unity and wholeness."

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4. - BBC - "Turkey seals new IMF deal":

Dervis: I hope we will obtain adequate foreign aid

Turkey and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have agreed a new economic programme aimed at reviving foreign investors' confidence following the financial crisis last month.

The deal was reached after two days of talks with the IMF official responsible for Europe, and after a meeting with representatives of the G-7 countries.

The IMF has backed the programme and is looking at bringing forward $6.25bn of scheduled loans to Turkey.

"We have reached an agreement on the financial and monetary policies that will be implemented," Turkish Economy Minister Kemal Dervis told a press conference.

Mr Dervis said that Turkey would outline the details of the programme by the middle of April when it would submit a letter of intent to the IMF.

At the press conference, Mr Dervis again stressed that he would push on with economic restructuring including reforms to the banking sector and faster privatisations.

"The positive outcome of these contacts depends on our resolve in implementing the reforms... I hope we will obtain adequate foreign aid with this programme, on which framework we agreed with the IMF," he said.

The program aims to bring annual inflation, which is at 30%, to below 20% by 2002 but Mr Dervis warned it would rise in the next few months.

He expressed hope that economy would recover later this year despite an expected 2% fall in growth.

IMF given assurances

IMF European Department Director Michael Deppler said the Fund might bring forward the release of some $6.25 billion in loans pending to Turkey and allow more flexibility in their use.
"We are looking into questions of advancing the timing of the remaining disbursement," Deppler told a news conference.

He did not say if the IMF would offer Turkey fresh loans.

Deppler blamed the failures of the last IMF programme "on problems in the banking sector".
He said the IMF had been given specific guarantees that there would be changes to create a "robust" banking system.

"There's no question that external assistance would help Turkey, and the minister is seeking external support. But ultimately what is going to matter is good policies to keep the thing going well," Deppler said.

The Turkish stock market rose 2.5% on the news but quickly lost the gains.

No aid, no investment

Investors indicated last week that their confidence in Turkey would only be restored once there was an offer of financial help from Western sources.

The financial market's reaction to the package will be judged on Tuesday when the Turkish Treasury will auction around $2.5-3.5bn worth of 3-month debt.

The financial crisis last month resulted from Turkey's inability to meet the demands of a three-year IMF deflation programme.

It was triggered when Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit and President Ahmet Necdet Sezer clashed publicly over the pace of an anti-corruption drive.

The government was force to float the lira, which has fallen by about 30% against the US dollar, and inflation shot up again.

The failed IMF programme had cut inflation to 30% annually, compared with triple digit levels of the 1990s.

Mr Dervis is expected to go the US in late March for talks with US and IMF officials over aid.

Anti-IMF protests

Unions have threatened to oppose any programme that does not look after workers needs and have called for mass demonstrations on April 14 to protest against IMF-inspired policies.
Major workers' unions have united under an umbrella group named Labour Platform to protest against the new economic programme.

The unions fiercely oppose any economic measures taken in cooperation with the IMF, saying it would ignore the needs of people suffering from the crisis.

EU reforms approved

Turkish Cabinet on Monday also approved the National Programme of political and economic reforms to prepare the country for EU membership.

The program commits Turkey to political, economic and legal changes aimed at eventually gaining membership in the European Union.

"We have taken the necessary measures to speed up the membership process," Cabinet Minister Rustu Kazim Yucelen said.

Yucelen gave few details on the program, but the Hurriyet newspaper reported the draft version did not cover contentious issues such as granting cultural rights to Kurds, abolishing the death penalty and curbing the military's influence in politics.

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5. - Reuters - "New Turkish plan seeks 50% inflation":

ANKARA

Turkey's new economic plan, designed to defuse crisis and restore foreign confidence, may target annual inflation of 50 percent for 2001, well above the 10 percent set by an IMF-backed program abandoned last month.

The new program took form in a series of meetings among Turkey's ruling coalition leaders and economy bureaucrats on March 12.

A leading force in the talks was long-time World Banker Kemal Dervis, summoned home from Washington last week with wide-ranging powers to control the country's finances.

"The inflation target is expected to be set at around 50 percent year-on-year in wholesale prices (WPI) and 45 percent in consumer prices (CPI)," a source close to the government said.
Under an IMF-backed plan launched in January 2000, Turkey had lowered inflation by around 30 percentage points to 32.7 percent in WPI and 39 percent CPI at end-2000. Inflation fell further this year to 26.5 percent and 33.4 percent in February.

But the February crisis, with stocks crashing and interest rates soaring, forced Turkey to abandon controls on its lira currency that constituted the bedrock of the plan. The lira was allowed to fall and currently languishes almost a quarter below pre-crisis levels.

The sudden lira depreciation is expected to have substantial impact on inflation, particularly in March and April. Banks which already saw the 10 percent target as out of reach before the crisis will be forced to revise forecasts.

"We are tentatively revising up our inflation forecasts. For 2001, we now project year-end-inflation rates of 75.3 percent for CPI and 68.6 percent for WPI, up from previous estimates of 23 percent and 19 percent, respectively," Morgan Stanley Dean Witter said in a recent note.
The source close to the government said the government was now expected to revise down its gross national product (GNP) growth rate projection.

Turkey's original 2001 target set under the previous plan was 4.5 percent after a high growth of around 6 percent in 2000. But high interest rates, sharp lira depreciation and weaker domestic demand have made the target unrealistic.

"The new target might be set around minus two percent. That means Turkey will not grow this year but shrink," the source said.

The new program is likely to include radical measures to reform the banking sector.
Any plan to reform the banking system is expected to include provisions to retire the stock of duty losses. For this, Turkey would need billions of dollars in additional loans from foreign agencies such as the World Bank or the US Treasury.

IMF officials now in Ankara for talks on the new program will be looking for a clear commitment from Turkish politicians.

They will need some assurance there will be no repetition of the public row between Ecevit and the president that triggered a crisis still far from being under control.

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6. - Middle East Newsline - "Israel wants to complete water talks with Turkey":

JERUSALEM

Israel has decided to launch the last stage of negotiations to purchase water from Turkey.
Israeli officials said the goal is to complete by the end of the year an agreement with Turkey for the import of tens of millions of cubic meters of war. They said the government has given the green light for the resumption of talks after a delay of several months.

Finance Minister Avraham Shohat provided the final approval to the negotiations, officials said. Shohat has set the parameters for the last phase of the water talks.

Shohat decided that Israel is prepared to buy 25 million cubic meters of water annually over the next five to 10 years. That amount could be doubled over time.

The water from the Manavgat River would be transported by ships from Turkey to the Israeli port of Ashdod. The key obstacle to an agreement is price.

The finance minister was under pressure from both water experts and the defense industries to complete a deal with Turkey. Water experts warned that the coming winter would not ease the current water crisis and defense executives said an agreement with Turkey was crucial to win contracts for Ankara's military modernization program.

In Ankara, Turkish officials welcomed the Israeli move. They said Israel has signalled that tension with Turkey concerning Ankara's support for the Palestinians is over and that an Israeli water delegation will soon arrive.

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7. - Turkish Daily News - "Will the program usher Turkey into new era?":

Turkey today announces its National Program to fulfill the Copenhagen criteria after months of wrangling over its content. The National Program by which it bounds itself to initiate a series of reforms is another historic step in Turkish-EU relations

The National Program comes at a time when Turkey is passing through one of its worst economic crisis in decades. Experts argue that in case of strong support for the program, it can also give morale to economic markets

While the National Program will tackle every single issue of reforms to fulfill the Copenhagen criteria, the status of the National Program and granting cultural rights to Kurds are expected to be sticky issues of the program

ANKARA

Turkey today announces its National Program by which it will detail its plans to fulfill the Copenhagen criteria, a must for eventual European Union membership in a bid to respond to EU conditions that were outlined in the Accession Partnership Document endorsed by the EU last year.

The Prime Ministry declared yesterday that three coalition partners have considered the National Program and have reached a full agreement on the content of the document. While Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz responsible for Turkey-EU relations will have a press meeting today, Foreign Minister Ismail Cem is expected to hold a meeting with EU member countries' ambassadors in Ankara late in the day in a bid to discuss with them the details of the program.
As it is announced that the government had finalized the last details of a National Program of political and economic reforms to prepare the country for EU membership, this week is expected to witness many debates on the content of it. The EU laid out its own version of what Turkey needs to do before membership talks can start late last year in the Accession Partnership Document.

Since then Turkey's three coalition partners have been wrangling over the details of its own National Program -- not to be confused with an economic program currently being prepared after the financial crisis. "The three leaders of the coalition parties have revised the EU National Program of Turkey finally and reached a full compromise," the Prime Ministry said in a statement yesterday.

The announcement of the document comes at a time when Turkey is going through one of its most serious economic crisis in decades. While opinion polls consistently show that the vast majority of people want to be in the EU, experts argue that the latest economic crisis has dramatically increased the number of people who see a possible EU membership as a recipe for Turkey's problems. Arguments are raised by different circles stressing that had Turkey been a member in the EU, the recent economic crisis which resulted in the devaluation of the Turkish lira some 25 percent against the U.S. dollar would never have happened. A strong backing of the National Program by political parties may create a positive ambiance for the faltering economy as well, experts argue.

Relations between Turkey and the EU have long been fraught, and many Turks doubt whether the bloc will ever admit Muslim Turkey to what some see as a "Christian club." The EU's accession document sparked anger in some quarters in Turkey because of references to sensitive issues such as Cyprus and cultural rights for Kurds -- an issue that the army and some nationalists see as fuelling separatism.

The statement said the plan would be examined by the government on Monday. "The National Program is a turning point in relations between Turkey and the EU," it said. "The National Program that we will submit to the evaluation of the government tomorrow [Monday] will be evidence of the political determination, self-confidence and wide social consensus of Turkey for full membership in the EU."

MGK and Kurdish issues will dominate discussions

The status of the National Security Council (MKG) and granting Kurds their cultural rights will remain the basic topics of discussion in the wake of the National Program announcement. The status of the MGK and its influence in Turkish politics has long been debated both in Turkey and in the EU. The EU has made it clear on many occasions that the MGK should be redefined like its counterparts in EU-member countries. The National Program is expected to cite the increasing number of civilian members in the council as a step to reform it.

On the Kurdish issue, which has always been a central item of discussion in Turkish-EU dialogue, the program is not expected to commit itself to allow education in Kurdish. Instead an interim solution of granting "social and cultural activities" to those people who speak minority languages is expected to be announced. The very definition of minorities is another complicated issue. While Turkey does not recognize any of its Muslim population as "minority," the EU insists that Kurds should be given "minority" status.

The National Program is a document of compromise as announced by the Prime Ministry and expected to solve issues by time rather than producing prompt recipes.

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8. - Turkish Daily News - "Carnations and complaints: Women's committee visits Diyarbakir":

This is the first time a group of well-known women intellectuals including journalists and writers had come to Diyarbakir or for that matter to Southeastern Anatolia

The most important note struck by the visiting committee of women was that the women of Diyarbakir were not alone; the most important problem was that of language -- Kurdish women don't know Turkish due to circumstances beyond their control

DIYARBAKIR

Carnations and complaints were the order of the day when a group of 24 women from Ankara and Istanbul arrived in Diyarbakir on Saturday morning. This was the first time a committee of well-known women intellectuals, including journalists and writers, had come to Diyarbakir or for that matter to Southeastern Anatolia. The trip was organized together with the Diyarbakir Women's Platform.

The women of Diyarbakir along with young girls in traditional costume met the group with carnations as well as complaints within the framework of "Women's Support for Peace." Actress Turkan Soray was supposed to attend but at the last minute she was taken ill. Those who attended were Duygu Asena, Perihan Magden, Zeynep Oral, Nilgun Cerrahoglu, Sukran Soner, Vicdan Baykara, Guler Kazmaci, Zeynep Atikkan, Pinar Selek, Julide Kural, Ayse Duzkan, Pelin Erda, Sema Pekdas, Zubeyde Atay, Nemika Tugcu, Gulsen Alpay, Semra Somersan, Zeynep Avci, Halime Guner, Yasan Seyman, Fusun Sayek, Saynur Varisli and Elif Ergun.
The two-day program started with a meeting with Kurdish women from the region in the Diyarbakir Metropolitan Municipal Meeting Salon. A large group of women had gathered outside and were dispersed on the orders of the new Diyarbakir police chief. But before they were dispersed, committee members went out on the balcony of the municipal building to wave to the assembled women.

The names of the women who had come were also read out and for example feminist writer Duygu Asena had an opportunity to say how the women of Diyarbakir were not alone. Where peace, democracy, freedom of thought and human rights didn't exist, women were enslaved; women in Diyarbakir and elsewhere in Turkey were equally enslaved. Asena's words were supported by those of sociologist Pinar Selek who spoke about how all of them felt the same things.

Even though the members of the committee lived fairly close to Diyarbakir -- it took them approximately an hour and a half to reach the city by air -- the differences in their ways of life were very striking. She suggested that the one way to bridge these differences was by bringing the women together. Afterwards, during the meeting inside the group listened to the problems faced by Kurdish women and debated ways in which these might be solved.

A major problem was identified as the fact that Kurdish women do not know Turkish and in fact what was said at the meeting had to be translated into Kurdish and vice versa. One reason for their lack of understanding was attributed to the 15 years of clashes in the East and Southeast between members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Turkish military. One proposal to solve some of the problems was more publicity provided by the women journalists and writers among the group.

The program on the second and last day took the women's group for breakfast to Carikli, a tent village and the poorest area of Diyarbakir. Carikli consists of some 5-6,000 people who had to leave their own villages and migrate to Diyarbakir because of the clashes with the PKK.
The Piro Tuturmaz family was the host although the food offered was undoubtedly collected from everywhere in the tent village. In the afternoon the participants went to Kayapinar to plant trees as part of the conservation efforts in Diyarbakir before departing to Ankara and Istanbul.