Compiled by the Washington Office of the Turkish Industrialists’ and Businessmen’s Association (TUSIAD-US).

• TGNA'S INTENSE SCHEDULE

• PRISON UNREST IN EASTERN TURKEY

• GSM LICENSE AGREEMENT SIGNED: GOVERNMENT AND IS-TIM SIGN ACCORD ON MOBILE PHONE LICENSE

• BANKING REGULATORY AND SUPERVISORY BOARD TAKES OVER TWO PRIVATE BANKS

• GSM BOOST TO PRIVATIZATION: SELL OFF REVENUE TO REACH $5.5 BILLION BY YEAR’S-END

• YUCAOGLU: PREDICTED INCOME “FAR FETCHED” AND CALLED FOR WIDENING OF TAX BASE

• RUSSIA, TURKEY TO BOOST COOPERATION

• GREEK-TURKISH RELATIONS QUESTIONED

• GREECE WANTS NEW CONDITIONS FOR THE ACCESSION PARTNERSHIP DOCUMENT

• ·GREECE LEAVES TURKEY NATO EXERCISE

• ·USA IS THE BIGGEST MARKET FOR TURKEY'S EXPORTS

TGNA'S INTENSE SCHEDULE

Following the election of the new Parliamentary Speaker, the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TGNA) is beginning the new legislative year with a busy schedule. Next week, the TGNA will select the members of the Bureau of the Assembly and the commissions who will be in charge for the next three years. The Government is expected to immediately send the decrees with the power of law (KHK) vetoed by President Sezer, to the TGNA, in the form of a bill. The budget for the 2001 fiscal year, presented to the TGNA Speaker on Oct. 17, 2000 will be taken up in the Planning and Budget Commission next month. Additionally, in the Assembly's agenda, 152 draft laws and proposals from the last legislative year are awaiting discussion. /Cumhuriyet Daily/

PRISON UNREST IN EASTERN TURKEY

Nearly 400 paramilitary police surrounded a prison in eastern Turkey on Saturday after radical Islamist prisoners took 17 guards hostage. The unrest is the latest in a series of protests at Turkish prisons, where police have little sway over overflowing dormitory-style wards that house political and mafia prisoners. Authorities negotiated the release of nearly 45 guards in two jails this week after inmates seized control of prison buildings to protest against the delay of a wide amnesty for non-political prisoners. Successive governments have promised to introduce the amnesty, intended in part to ease overcrowding.  /Reuters/

GSM LICENSE AGREEMENT SIGNED: GOVERNMENT AND IS-TIM SIGN ACCORD ON MOBILE PHONE LICENSE

The third GSM 1800 licensing agreement has finally been penned. Is-Tim, a consortium of Is Bank and Telecom Italia, signed the mobile phone service provider agreement with the Transportation Ministry following much wrangling over the terms, such as the Treasury’s insistence that value added tax on the deal be paid upfront. Minister of Finance Sumer Oral, Transportation Minister Enis Oksuz and Is-Tim Chairman Ersin Ozince announced the agreement. Oral explained that the VAT payment on the GSM would be made in two installments. The first payment of $85 million would paid in 10 days along with an initial payment of $500 million of the deal, worth an estimated $3 billion. The remaining figure will be paid in three months, in addition to a final VAT payment of $344 million. Transportation Minister Oksuz, meanwhile, announced that Turk Telekom would establish another company with its fourth GSM license, adding, “The decree with respect to this operation has been delivered to the High Planning Commission for the required arrangements. GSM tasks will be controlled by this new company in order to prevent non-competitive practices.” /NTV-MSNBC/

BANKING REGULATORY AND SUPERVISORY BOARD TAKES OVER TWO PRIVATE BANKS

Turkey’s newly established Banking Regulatory and Supervisory Board on Friday took over two private banks after a government body ruled that they were on the brink of collapse, raising to 10 the number of failing banks that the state has seized during the past year. The Banking Regulatory and Supervisory Board said Etibank and Bank Kapital posed a risk both for depositors and the security of the financial system. Etibank, established in 1935 and privatized in 1998, is partly owned by media conglomerate Medya Sabah Holding. Bank Kapital’s main shareholder includes a large construction company, Ceylan. Earlier in the year, the government took over eight banks which were said to have been mismanaged, placing all deposits under state guarantee. The government set up the Board in September to stamp out corruption in the financial sector. /Associated Press/

GSM BOOST TO PRIVATIZATION: SELL OFF REVENUE TO REACH $5.5 BILLION BY YEAR’S-END

With the sale of the GSM-1800 mobile phone license to Is-Tim, officials are now saying that the country’s privatization revenues will be higher this year than in the past 10 years combined. A vital component of the 2001 budget, revenues from sell offs are expected to hit $5.5 billion this year with the GSM license sale. The Is-Tim consortium — made up of Turkey’s Is Bank and Telecom Italia — will stump up $2.525 billion for the license, more than the total revenue from privatization during the last 10 years. Privatization High Council (OIB) figures show that since the start of the year, some $2.986 billion have been raised from sell offs. Of this amount, $2.705 billion comes from establishments that have been sold and transferred to their new owners, $171.2 million accounts for those establishments that are still at their signing stage, and $109.4 million accounts for those establishments that are still awaiting approval. The OIB had set a calculated goal of $5.2 billion from privatizations for this year. /NTV-MSNBC/

YUCAOGLU: PREDICTED INCOME “FAR FETCHED” AND CALLED FOR WIDENING OF TAX BASE

The chairman of Turkey’s leading business association spoke out Wednesday on the progress of the government’s economic program, saying that predicted tax revenues were “far fetched”. Turkish Industrialists and Businessmen’s Association (TUSIAD) Chairman Erkut Yucaoglu added in a statement that he hoped efforts were being made to widen the country’s tax base.  “Tax collection is supposed to be from those who are able to pay and also from those who are able, but do not want to pay,” he said. TUSIAD chairman added that his organization did not think the current account deficit or foreign trade deficit was in alarming figures. /Anatolian News Agency/. See the full article in www.ntvmsnbc.com

RUSSIA, TURKEY TO BOOST COOPERATION

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov pledged Monday to increase military cooperation with NATO member Turkey, saying the two countries are ``not rivals, but partners.'' Turkey plans to spend nearly $150 billion on weapons during the next 25 years and Russia is keen to win some of the lucrative contracts. On Monday, Kasyanov met with Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit for more than two hours. ``We have reached agreement to intensify cooperation, especially in the military and security fields,'' Kasyanov told reporters.  Ecevit stated that ``We want cooperation instead of competition with Russia.'' (See the article by SUZAN FRASER at http://wire.ap.org October 23) An electricity purchase agreement was signed with Russia and Georgia during Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov's official visit. Electricity transfers will begin from the two countries in 10 days. According to the agreement, Russia and Georgia will sell 100 million Kw/h electricity to Turkey. At a meeting with the businessmen in Istanbul, Mr. Kasyanov said Russia aims to increase the trade volume between Russia and Turkey, which is currently at $3 billion, to $10 billion thanks to natural gas exports. /Milliyet Daily/

GREEK-TURKISH RELATIONS QUESTIONED

The honeymoon for Greece and Turkey ended in an ominous setting: amid soldiers and fighter jets. The return of an old Aegean Sea spat — which led Greece to quit NATO military exercises this week — has also brought back questions over the depth and durability of goodwill between the two rivals. Some wonder how it will hold up when truly sensitive issues are tackled, such as the territorial disputes that marred the NATO maneuvers that ended Wednesday in Turkey. (See the article by ELENA BECATOROS, Associated Press Writer at http://wire.ap.org October 25)

GREECE WANTS NEW CONDITIONS FOR THE ACCESSION PARTNERSHIP DOCUMENT

The Greek government is trying to have preconditions included in to the Accession Partnership Document currently being prepared with any requirements necessary for Turkey's full EU membership. Greece wants new conditions regarding the Cyprus and Aegean Sea to be incorporated. Greece requests the inclusion of: "Turkey has a great responsibility regarding the Cyprus issue. The island is under occupation. A solution must be found in line with the UN decisions" and "Turkey should resolve the existing disputes over the Aegean with Greece in accordance with the decisions of the International Court of Justice in Hague" as paragraphs in the document. However, the EU Commission does not support the Greek viewpoint. Diplomatic sources drew attention to the fact that the members of the EU would not allow the Accession Partnership Document to become an "offending" document. /Milliyet Daily/

GREECE LEAVES TURKEY NATO EXERCISE

Greek forces have pulled out of NATO exercises in Turkey after a dispute between the neighboring nations over military boundaries in the Aegean Sea, military officials said. The dispute marked the first serious threat to a yearlong effort to improve relations between the traditional rivals. ``There is a real problem which NATO must deal with,'' Greek government spokesman Dimitris Reppas said Monday. Greece's Defense Minister, Akis Tsochadzopoulos, ordered the county's forces to pull out of the maneuvers after NATO did not respond to a Greek request to cut the seven-nation exercises short.

Also on Monday, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Rauf Denktas accused Greece and Greek-Cypriots of risking a dangerous escalation of tension after mock dogfights between Greek and Turkish warplanes near Cyprus. The Greek Cypriot media claimed that Greek-Cypriot anti-aircraft radar locked onto two Turkish F-16s Sunday, flying over a military air base near the western town of Paphos. "You can’t lock your radar onto Turkish planes, it means an act of war if you’re not careful", said the TRNC President Denktas before his meeting with the UN Special Representative to Cyprus, Alvaro De Soto. /Cumhuriyet Daily-Turkish Daily News/ /Associated Press/

The Greek Parliament decided to freeze nine agreements signed with Turkey. Regarding the disagreement with Turkey, which emerged during the NATO exercise, “Destined Glory-2000”, the Greek Parliamentarians agreed to suspend the agreements until they were able to determine Ankara's real intent. /Turkiye  Daily-AP News/

USA IS THE BIGGEST MARKET FOR TURKEY'S EXPORTS

Turkey's exports to the United States showed the greatest increase in September of this year. In nine months, Turkish exports to the US increased by $442.7 million, reaching a total of $2.19 billion. Exports to the Great Britain increased by $151.9 million and to Iraq by $82.2 million. The exports to Germany, on the other hand, decreased by $174.4 million. /Star Daily/