STOP NATO: �NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- ListBot Sponsor -------------------------- Sopranos fanatics, this one is for you. Tony Soprano's autographed Suburban is available for purchase on eBayTM. James Gandolfini has personally signed the vehicle. Find this and over 800 other Sopranos items for sale on eBay. http://www.bcentral.com/listbot/ebay ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Analysts agree that Turkey - a NATO member and key U.S. ally - will do everything in its power to avoid defaulting. [Ankara's role in the New World Order is to serve as NATO's base of operations and assault force in the Caucasus, Northern Iraq, the Balkans and the Eastern Mediterranean, while the Turkish people are bled white by the IMF and Western arms manufacturers.] July 17, 2001 Turkey Minister Enis Oksuz Resigns by BEN HOLLAND Associated Press Writer ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) -- Turkey's transport and communications minister, seen as a key opponent of an economic recovery program backed by the International Monetary Fund, resigned Tuesday in a move that could ease market turmoil that has threatened the program. Enis Oksuz's resignation came on a day when Turkey's turbulent economy threatened to slide out of control. The currency dropped 8 percent to its lowest ever against the dollar and investors snubbed a Treasury bond issue, deepening fears that Turkey could face default because of the inability to borrow on domestic markets. The government submitted Oksuz's resignation to President Ahmet Necdet Sezer late Tuesday, the Anatolia News Agency reported. ''I saw fit to resign, and I hope the country benefits,'' Oksuz said. There were signs that his departure would ease market pressures, with the lira recovering in late trading, private CNN Turk television reported. Oksuz, a member of the coalition's nationalist wing, was seen as one of the main opponents of the IMF-backed program, which aims to slash government spending, end political interference in the economy and bring down inflation, which has averaged 80 percent for a decade. The program is seen as the last chance to save Turkey's economy, hit by a February crisis that included massive layoffs and a 50 percent currency devaluation. Oksuz was blamed for delaying key measures in the program. He insisted on appointing political allies to the board of Turk Telekom, the state-owned land-line monopoly slated for privatization. That led the IMF to delay a $1.6 billion installment of its $15.7 billion loan package earlier this month, saying Turkey had broken its promise to appoint new Telekom directors with business backgrounds. The government later backed down. An IMF team met Turkish officials in Ankara Tuesday to discuss how to salvage a program derailed by resistance from within the government. The program was based on a forecast that long-term interest rates would be about 60 percent this month. They stood at 115 percent Tuesday, raising serious doubts over Turkey's ability to repay $130 billion in debt. Also Tuesday, the Treasury sold only $30 million in a bond issue, less than one-sixth of its minimum target. Analysts agree that Turkey -- a NATO member and key U.S. ally -- will do everything in its power to avoid defaulting. The government and the IMF could strengthen the current program with further spending cuts, or draft a new one based on voluntary debt restructuring and stronger control over exchange rates, said Tolga Ediz, a Turkey analyst at Lehman Brothers in London. Turkish media have called on politicians to make way for a ''technocrat government'' to end the crisis. Those calls could recede with Oksuz's resignation. On Monday, Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit rejected the calls for his administration to step down in favor of a government of economic experts, saying such demands were ''shaking the foundations of democracy.'' � __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! Mail http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/ ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
