U.S. Urges Turkey to Stick to Economic Reform Program
The appeal came in a May 7 letter by U.S. President George W. Bush to Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, the text of which was revealed by Ecevit's office on Wednesday.
"I am confident you and your government will demonstrate by your actions over the coming days and weeks that the support of the United States and the international community was a wise investment both in Turkey's economic and political well-being, as well as in the stability, security and prosperity of Europe," Bush said in his letter.
NATO member and EU membership candidate Turkey is a key U.S. ally in a volatile region at the crossroads of the Balkans, the Middle East and the oil-rich Caucasus.
Bush stressed that Washington played a central role in the outline of a $10 billion (11.3-billion-euro) package for Turkey by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, which is expected to receive a final approval at an IMF Executive Board meeting on May 15.
Bush underlined that crucial reforms such as the long-delayed privatization of Turkish Telekom and the rehabilitation of the troubled banking sector would require "great political courage."
The bills dealing with those reforms should be passed before the IMF board meets May 15 to make its final decision on the aid package, AFP quoted Economy Minister Kemal Dervis as saying.
The banking bill was submitted to Parliament on Monday, but the government must still iron out legal snags in the telecom sell-off.
Along with roughly five billion dollars allocated under earlier packages, Turkey is expected to receive almost $15 billion from the IMF and the World Bank by the end of 2001.
The money will be a vital source to drag Turkey out of a severe financial crisis that broke out in February, causing the Turkish lira to lose around 40 percent of its value against the dollar and sending the economy into recession.