Improvement seen in Turkish-Iranian

[kurdeng at aps.nl]

Subject: Improvement seen in Turkish-Iranian ties


Tehran once more displays political will to improve its relations with Ankara,
while Damascus remains distant

By Adnan Caglayan

Turkish Daily News
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TEHRAN/ANKARA- Despite claims of competition in central Asia and Tehran's
alleged support to the PKK separatists, Iran and Turkey displayed quite warm
relations at the three countries' latest gathering while Syria chose to remain
distant. The tripartite meeting of Iran, Syria and Turkey, held in Tehran on
Friday, showed clearly that Iran agrees with Turkey on security matters to
which Ankara attaches great importance. Turkish officials who attended the
meeting told the Turkish Daily News that Iran had displayed firm support for
the Turkish position during the talks.

They added that Tehran had spent great efforts to bring Damascus to the
tripartite meeting, which was postponed twice, due mainly to Syria's objections
to its timing.

Tehran at the meeting expressed its uneasiness about the chaotic situation in
northern Iraq.

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Velayeti briefed reporters on his country's
stance on the northern Iraqi issue after the tripartite meeting.

"While Iraq does not have sufficient control over the region and foreign powers
would like to dominate the area, we cannot afford to wait for Iraq to gain
enough power," he said. Turkey, which also is uneasy about Western powers'
escalating interference in its back yard, was apparently satisfied with
Velayati's statement.

But, the atmosphere of mutual understanding between Iran and Turkey was hurt
when the issue of the United States interference in the region came on the
agenda.

"We want peace in the region but not a pax-Americana," an Iranian official
said, referring to the Aug. 11 U.S.-sponsored Dublin meeting of rival Iraqi
Kurds, which Turkey attended as an observer.

Tehran and Damascus initially expressed their uneasiness about Turkey's
presence in Dublin during the tripartite meeting, saying they have doubts on
Ankara's policy toward Iraq. Iran's uneasiness was clearly felt with a
Hezbollah demonstration staged in front of the Turkish Embassy in Tehran last
Wednesday.

Hezbollah was protesting against a Turkish newspaper which had published a
story about the late Ayatollah Ruhullah Khomeini. "Allowing radical groups to
stage demonstrations is a well-known move of Iranian government to show its
displeasure," analysts noted.

"However, we informed our Syrian and Iranian counterparts that Turkey's
regional policy, which is aimed at providing security and stability, was not
against our neighbors' national interests. We think that they were satisfied
with this information," a Turkish official noted after the meeting.

But, the Iranian press remains unsatisfied and have pointed out that the
Turkish participation in the Dublin meeting was against the sprit of the
tripartite meetings mechanism, in their commentaries published after the
tripartite meeting.

"The Turkish-U.S. relations will remain as the main obstacle between Ankara and
Tehran. The U.S. presence in the region is the main concern of Iran while
Turkey is keen to use this superpower's support in its policies toward Middle
East and Central Asia," a western observer said.

He also indicated that before the second Dublin meeting Ankara has received
Iran's and Syria's support for the prevention of unwanted developments in
northern Iraq, namely the establishment of a Kurdish state,

Syria involuntarily supported Turkey mainly because its only ally Iran took a
positive approach to the issue, observers said. Damascus, squeezed under
escalating U.S. pressure to sign a peace accord with Israel, tried to convince
Tehran, which strongly opposes any agreement with Israel, that it would never
sign the accord before making sure that all Israeli-occupied areas were freed.

Diplomatic observers told the TDN that Ankara did not interfere in this
argument between the two anti-West countries.

Supreme board endorses Turkey's first bank privatization

Turkish Daily News
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ANKARA- The High Board of Privatization (OYK), Turkey's highest decision-making
body in sell-offs, endorsed on Monday the sale of Sumerbank to privately-owned
textile firm Ipeks, a subsidiary of Garipoglu group of companies. This is
Turkey's first privatization of a state-run bank.

The Privatization Administration (OIB), the executive agency, said in a written
statement that all 100 percent public shares at Sumerbank were sold to Ipeks
for $103.4 million. It said the buyer has to pay half of the price, $51.7
million, in cash and the second half in two installments within 24 months. The
seller, the OIB, will impose an annual interest rate of LIBOR (London Interbank
Offering Rate) plus a spread of 2.5 percent on the second half. Sumerbank,
established in 1933, reported net profits worth TL 1.048 trillion last year.
Its first half profits were TL 287.8 billion this year.

The bank has 49 branches nationwide and employs 619 people. Its assets climbed
38 percent from TL 4.303 trillion last year to TL 5.924 trillion at the end of
June this year. Its paid-in capital stands at TL 1.6 trillion.

The buyer, Ipeks, is a family conglomerate. Its parent group, Garipoglu, is
owned by three brothers. It runs several cotton and textile factories in
Turkey. The family also owns brewers Marmara Biracilik.

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 * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0)