14
May 2002
2. "UN push to end Cyprus deadlock", United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan is due in Cyprus on Tuesday, in an effort to revive talks on the future of the divided island.
3. "US Intensifying Talks with Iraq Opposition", Senior U.S. officials have stepped up talks with Iraqi opposition groups, including some which were not invited in the past, as the Bush administration presses on with efforts to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, the Washington Post reported on Monday.
4. "If Yilmaz were in Denktash's place", the statements by Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz and "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" (TRNC) President Rauf Denktas
5. "Iran: Tehran Has Halted Electricity Exports To Turkey", Iran has halted electricity exports to Turkey after poor returns on gas exports this year. Both problems seem to be the result of Turkey's economic downturn, but Iran also faces competition from Russia as the dominant energy supplier.
6. "Earth Tech Signs Contract to Design Hydroelectric Plant and Dam in Turkey, Earth Tech leads U.S.-Turkey consortium for energy project", Earth Tech, a business unit of Tyco International Ltd. (NYSE: TYC; LSE: TYI; BSX: TYC), today announced that a U.S.-Turkey consortium led by Earth Tech has signed a contract with the State Hydraulic Works of Turkey for the design phase of the Alpaslan II Dam and Hydroelectric Power Plant Project.
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1. - Cyprus News Agency - "Cypriot defence minister: There is no way Greece will accept the Euroforce agreement":
Larnaca, 13 May 2002
Defence Minister Sokratis Khasikos believes that Greece is not prepared, under any circumstances, to allow plans for the establishment of a European Union rapid deployment force to leave Cyprus at Turkey's mercy.
"Greece opposes strongly the joint Anglo-American-Turkish plan, known as the Ankara document, and as the Greek prime minister and his defence minister have said, there is no way Athens will have the EU accept this paper," Hasikos said, on his way to Brussels to attend a meeting of EU defence ministers and their counterparts from candidate countries.
The Ankara document suggests that the Aegean and Cyprus are excluded from operations the proposed EU military force will be undertaking. Cyprus, a prospective EU member, whose northern areas have been be under Turkish occupation since 1974, does not agree with such stipulations either.
Hasikos said Greece will not allow Cyprus to be a hostage to Turkey, which demands that the EU has no right of intervention in one of its member states, if that state is involved in a conflict with a non EU country.
Turkey has warned against Cyprus' accession to the EU, without a prior political settlement, saying its reaction to such an eventuality would be beyond limits and cause problems.
The Brussels meeting of defence ministers will deal with contributions of member-states to the EU force, the dispatch of a force to former Yugoslavia and the possible creation of a common body that would oversee military hardware purchases by EU states and candidate countries.
While in Brussels Hasikos will meet his Greek counterpart Yiannos
Papantoniou.
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2.
- BBC - "UN push to end Cyprus deadlock":
NICOSIA / 14 May 2002 / by Tabitha Morgan
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan is due in Cyprus on Tuesday,
in an effort to revive talks on the future of the divided island.
Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders have been involved in UN-sponsored
negotiations since the beginning of the year but there are few signs
of progress.
When the talks began, the two sides agreed that they would aim to have the basis of an accord thrashed out by the end of June.
But since then it has gradually become obvious that they are as far apart as ever, divided by the same long-standing issues that have bedevilled previous attempts to reach a settlement.
Night and day
As Mr Annan arrives in Cyprus, all the signs are that the negotiations are in trouble.
One Turkish official described the two proposals on the table as being as different as night and day.
President Glafcos Clerides, representing the Greek Cypriot side in the negotiations, is seeking the reunification of Cyprus as a single state with two distinct zones and a shared central government.
Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash, by contrast, is still believed to be insisting on recognition for the breakaway state of Northern Cyprus.
Mr Annan will be having meetings with the leaders of both sides over the next few days but it's not clear exactly what his role will be.
The United Nations Security Council recently issued a statement suggesting
that the Turkish Cypriot side needed to be encouraged to do more to
help the talks succeed.
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3. - Reuters - "US Intensifying Talks with Iraq Opposition":
13 May 2002 / Washington
Senior U.S. officials have stepped up talks with Iraqi opposition
groups, including some which were not invited in the past, as the
Bush administration presses on with efforts to topple Iraqi President
Saddam Hussein, the Washington Post reported on Monday.
In one meeting, a White House official, a CIA (news - web sites) official
and other members of a U.S. team met secretly last month in Germany
with leaders of two Kurdish parties, Massoud Barzani and Jalal Talabani,
the Post said, quoting sources familiar with the gathering.
One source identified the White House official as retired Gen. Wayne Downing, the deputy national security advisor for combating terrorism, the Post said.
The Post said the meetings were to determine what role Iraq's opposition would play in an bid to remove Hussein and to develop ties with opposition groups other than the Iraqi National Congress, a London-based umbrella group that has been the focus of U.S. policy toward Iraq for the past decade.
The meeting in Germany was to determine what military and intelligence capabilities the Kurdish parties -- based in northern Iraq -- could contribute to the effort to oust the Iraqi president and how they would be protected, the Post reported.
The Kurds, who are divided into two parties, threw their lot in with the United States in the Gulf War (news - web sites) in 1991 but were brutally crushed by Hussein's forces because of the absence of U.S. backing.
Downing also met two months ago with a delegation of Iraqi exiles who claimed to have strong ties with elements in the Iraqi military and central provinces, which strongly support Hussein.
The meeting focused on issues like how many military officers could be counted on to oppose the Iraqi leader and what role the exile officers would play, the Post said.
Downing encouraged the exiles to continue broadening their contacts, the Post said.
The White House declined to discuss any meetings Downing might have
had, according to the newspaper.
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4. - Cumhuriyet - "If Yilmaz were in Denktash's place"
14 May 2002 / by Birgit Orhan
The statements by Deputy Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz and "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus" (TRNC) President Rauf Denktas.
Mesut Yilmaz is not a common citizen, he has been in politics since 1982 and he is among the founders of the Motherland Party (ANAP) together with Turgut Ozal. He is ANAP's Rize deputy. He was tourism minister, state minister and foreign minister. Then he became the prime minister and today he is deputy prime minister. He has knowledge on all the documents of the government. He has a say and a vote in the determination of national strategy at the National Security Council (MGK). When he recently called for TRNC President Denktas to be 'more compromising' in the meetings between Denktas and Greek Cypriot administration leader Glafcos Clerides, he must have looked before he leapt.
Deputy Prime Minister Yilmaz made this pronoucement in the leadup to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's visit, which is expected to be paid to the island this week in order to evaluate the state of the Cyprus issue. In other words, the secretary-general and of course EU officials can base their arguments that Denktas is 'not compromising enough' on this ill-timed declaration by Yilmaz.
Denktas, who learned about Yilmaz's statement while he was in Ankara as President Ahmet Necdet Sezer's guest, accused Yilmaz of having not read the package of proposals dated April 29 which he had sent to Clerides. Wasn't his sarcastic manner just what was called for? In his reply to Yilmaz, Denktas felt obliged to add that the package was prepared in cooperation with the Turkish government. The proposals dated April 29, which were sent by Denktas to Clerides, of course were approved by the MGK. While Yilmaz was saying that he was expecting Denktas to adopt a more compromising manner concerning these proposals, Denktas, unable to hide his bewilderment, found it necessary to explain the island's strategic importance for Turkey once more on news channel CNN Turk yesterday. Then he tried to remind the Turkish public and Yilmaz of the London-Zurich agreement which was signed in 1960. In summary, Denktas said the following:
- The 1960 Constitution clearly set forth the Turkish side as a founding member of the joint government. But the incidents of July 15, 1974 destroyed this partnership, and a total of 103 villages were demolished in order to put the island under the sovereignty of Greek Cypriots. - The existence of two nations and the necessity for two separate zones were put into the UN documents after July 20, 1974. In the same documents, the distribution of property was accepted. We want Turkey to continue to be a guarantor state on the island. - We have not considered withdrawing from the meetings. We consider the EU as the union of the countries constituting the center of civilization, and of course we want to be included in this phenomenon. However, we don't want to be reduced to a state of minority and would like in fact to become a nation. We have been excluded from the budget for 39 years. We want the example of Belgium to be practiced in Cyprus.
What would happen if Yilmaz were in Denktas' place? Our current government
is getting odder and odder. Of course it is unthinkable that a coalition
government can be in full agreement on all matters. However, what
can we say when faced with the comedy of contradictions which is on
display concerning Cyprus?
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5. - Radio Free Europe - "Iran: Tehran Has Halted Electricity Exports To Turkey":
Iran has halted electricity exports to Turkey after poor returns on gas exports this year. Both problems seem to be the result of Turkey's economic downturn, but Iran also faces competition from Russia as the dominant energy supplier.
BOSTON / 11 May 2002 / by Michael Lelyveld
Iran has stopped its electricity exports to Turkey in what may be the latest sign of conflict over a contract for natural gas.
On Monday, the managing director of the regional power company in Iran's Azerbaijan province announced that the cutoff to Turkey had started on 31 March.
In an interview with the Iranian official news agency IRNA, Mirfattah Qarabagh cited what he called "commercial reasons" for the move, implying that Turkey had fallen behind on its payments for power.
Turkish officials have yet to address the issue. The Iranian utility supplied Turkey with 280 million kilowatt-hours of electricity last year, which is only a fraction of 1 percent of its total power needs.
While the shutdown may only cause problems in border areas, it marks the second energy dispute between Iran and Turkey in the past month. In April, Turkey disclosed that it was trying to renegotiate gas contracts with both Russia and Iran after it imported less than it promised to buy in the first quarter of this year.
Turkey's poor performance on its gas contract with Iran is a setback for Tehran, which took years to strike a 23-year deal with Ankara that was originally valued at over $20 billion. Last December, the first gas from Iran began to flow through a 2,500-kilometer pipeline after Turkey delayed the startup for over a year.
Now that the trade has started, the amount is so small that it hardly seems to have been worth the investment.
Both the gas and electric problems seem to stem from Turkey's 15-month-old economic crisis, which has cut the country's growth in energy use and its ability to meet its commitments.
Officials tried to argue last month that Turkey will not face hundreds of millions of dollars in penalties under its take-or-pay contracts for gas, but they were flatly contradicted by their Iranian counterparts.
Deputy Oil Minister Hamdollah Mohammad-Nejad told IRNA, "We feel totally obliged to observe all terms of the agreement, which also specifies the volume of exports." He added: "If the Turkish side fails for any reason to hit the figure, it will still have to pay the price for the whole amount even if [it] doesn't import."
Gokhan Bildaci, general manager of the Turkish state pipeline company Botas, may have angered Tehran needlessly last month when he stated that Turkey had bought 96 percent of the contracted amount from Russia, its main supplier, but only 50 to 60 percent of the agreed-upon volume from Iran.
Botas has lowered its gas-consumption estimates twice since January on its website. Most recently, it added a note without explanation reading, "The volumes are contracted, but not obliged to 'take or pay' conditions." Previously, the company has indicated that it has take-or-pay contracts with Algeria and Nigeria, as well as Russia and Iran.
Iran's problem in dealing with Turkey on the electricity problem is that it is too small a player. Last year, Turkey received far more power from Russia, Bulgaria, and Georgia. Iran may also suffer the troubles of a secondary supplier with its gas exports, as it tries to enforce its contract and waits to be paid.
In the past two months, Iranian officials have held out hopes that the pipeline through Turkey could be turned into a gateway for gas exports to Greece and the rest of Europe instead. But here again, it faces stiff competition from Russia, which has greater clout in the Turkish gas sector and is becoming heavily involved in Greece.
Competition with Russia in energy seems to be an increasing problem for Iran. In addition to the Turkish arena, Iran and Russia have been squaring off in the Caspian Sea, where the dispute over dividing resources has been driven by the conflicting formulas of Moscow and Tehran.
Iran has also felt the effects of Russian oil policy, which has gradually eroded the influence of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. As OPEC's second-largest producer, Iran can only be hurt by Russia's drive to boost oil output, exports and, world market share.
Although cooperation remains in other areas, Russia's sway over energy
markets continues to grow, leaving Iran with lower prospects and profits
to the north and the west.
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6.
- PR Newswire - "Earth Tech Signs Contract to Design Hydroelectric
Plant and Dam in Turkey Earth Tech leads U.S.-Turkey consortium for
energy project":
LONG BEACH, Cal / 13 May 2002
Earth Tech, a business unit of Tyco International Ltd. (NYSE: TYC; LSE: TYI; BSX: TYC), today announced that a U.S.-Turkey consortium led by Earth Tech has signed a contract with the State Hydraulic Works of Turkey for the design phase of the Alpaslan II Dam and Hydroelectric Power Plant Project. The contract value of the design phase is $6.98 million. The entire project is estimated to cost $337 million.
The dam is located on the Murat River in Eastern Turkey, approximately 30 kilometers north of the city Mus. Project elements include: a rock fill dam 106 meters high; a gated spillway on the left abutment; two diversion tunnels; two power tunnels on the right abutment; one 200 megawatt hydroelectric power plant; and an irrigation system than can serve more than 70,000 hectares.
"Turkey is one of the fastest growing power markets in the world," said Diane C. Creel, president of Earth Tech. "The signing of the Alpaslan II contract will provide an added resource that ensures the people of Turkey future energy for years to come. Earth Tech's experience in developing energy resources spans the globe. We're proud to be part of this effort."
This project is one of nine hydroelectric projects included in the U.S.- Turkey joint statement on hydropower projects signed in February 1998.
The consortium is led by Earth Tech, and includes Harza Engineering Company International L.P. (USA), ABB Power Generation Inc. (USA), Su Yapi Engineering and Consulting, Inc., and Alpaslan II Construction Joint Venture, which consist of the Turkish construction companies Ozisik Construction and Contracting, Inc., Yapi Merkezi Construction and Industry, Inc., and Ekinciler & Construction Partners and Trading, Ltd. Subcontractors include General Electric (USA), Voith Hydro Power Generation and Duke Engineering and Services (USA).
About Earth Tech
Founded in 1970, Earth Tech (www.earthtech.com) is an international provider of global water management and transportation, engineering and environmental services. Earth Tech is headquartered in Long Beach, Calif., and employs more than 9,000 people in nearly 200 offices worldwide.