Turkish Press Scan

Published: 3/11/2005
 
[0.gif] ANKARA – These are some of the major headlines and their
summaries in Turkish press on March 10th, 2005. The Anadolu Agency
does not verify these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
INSTRUCTION TO PULL THE PLUG

HURRIYET- Hamza Keles, the acting chief prosecutor responsible for
the Broadened Criminal Courts, instructed officials to stop tapping
telephone lines till March 31st. Keles told intelligence officials of
the National Intelligence Organization (MIT), Directorate General of
Security and Gendarme General Command in a secret summit to stop
tapping telephone lines before the new Turkish Penal Code (TCK) was
put into force. Keles said, “the law is obvious. I will punish those
who tap telephones irregularly.”

FIVE MORE DIE DUE TO COUNTERFEIT RAKI

HURRIYET- Five more people, who were poisoned by the bootleg raki,
died in Istanbul. Sezai Palavan, Ekrem Atici, Bayram Sirma and Orhan
Canur died at hospitals, while 41-year-old civil servant Atilla
Ozturk died at his house, increasing the death toll to 22 according
to the figures of the Istanbul Health Directorate.

SEZER’S REACTION

MILLIYET- President Ahmet Necdet Sezer was scheduled to pay a state
visit to Finland between March 14th and 16th. However, President
Tarja Halonen of Finland invited the Greek Cypriot Ambassador in
Helsinki to the banquet to be hosted on March 15th in honor of
President Sezer and his wife. Turkey harshly reacted it, and informed
Finland that Turkish delegation would not partake in the dinner. It
was the first crisis. Later, the EU criticized police intervention in
a demonstration in Istanbul on Sunday. Upon all these developments,
President Sezer decided to cancel his visit to Finland.

ARMENIA REJECTS ERDOGAN’S PROPOSAL

MILLIYET- Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanyan rejected the
proposal of Prime Minister Erdogan. Earlier, Prime Minister Erdogan
called for an impartial study to be carried out by historians about
Armenian allegations that their people were exposed to genocide
during the World War I, saying, “we have opened our archives to
those people who claim there was genocide. If they are sincere they
should also open their archives. Teams of historians from both sides
should conduct studies in these archives.”

CYPRUS VETO

SABAH- The reason why Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer postponed
his visit to Finland has become obvious. As the Finnish President
invited the Greek Cypriot ambassador to the dinner he will host in
honor of Sezer, Sezer did not accept it.

DEATH TOLL RISES TO 30

SABAH- The death toll rose to 30 due to bootleg raki as five more
people who drank counterfeit raki died yesterday (Wednesday).

MUMCU SAYS “CONDITIONAL” YES TO ANAP

SABAH- Erkan Mumcu, who resigned from the ruling Justice &
Development Party (AKP), met a group of members of the Motherland
Party (ANAP of which he had been a member of). Mumcu told ANAP group,
“I will declare my candidacy for ANAP leadership if you openly
declare that you have adopted restructuring principles I have been
defending for 10 years.” And, the group promised to do so.

“TURKS FELT SLIGHTED BY FACT THAT WASHINGTON LAUNCHED IRAQ WAR”

CUMHURIYET- The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, one of the
prominent think-tank organizations in the United States, said in a
report “many Turks believe that the United States is not treating
them with respect”. The report said that most Turks felt slighted by
the fact that Washington launched the Iraq war despite the vote in
parliament against such a campaign. “Their resentment increased when
U.S. troops arrested Turkish soldiers in northern Iraq on July 4th,
2003. The lack of U.S. action against the PKK, present in northern
Iraq, has only exacerbated such feelings. If Washington does not take
a step, U.S.-Turkish ties may remain strained,” the report added.

EP WANTS A DETAILED REPORT

CUMHURIYET- The European Parliament (EP) wants Turkey to prepare a
detailed report about police intervention in Sunday’s demonstration
in Istanbul. The draft resolution, which will be put to vote at the
EP today, will condemn acts of police during the demonstration.

USD CAN’T BE STOPPED BY BRAKES

RADIKAL- Despite the intervention of the Central Bank of Turkey,
which reduced short-term interest rates by one percent, the USD
closed the day at 1.2740 New Turkish Lira (YTL), with only 0.7 New
Kurus (YKr) increase. USD did not increase despite the intervention
because of great deal of sale by foreigners.

OUR LESSON IS MARILYN MONROE

RADIKAL- The first daily history book prepared for the high schools
is telling about Marilyn Monroe and Lenin. After the National
Education Ministry increased high school education to four years and
decided to include “history of world and Turkey in the 20th
century” in the curriculum of high schools, the first “daily
history” book was published. The aim of the book, prepared by the
History Foundation with the support of the European Union (EU), is to
teach the concepts that can be used in daily life and increase
interest of students in history. The book will narrate topics like
dictators after 1929, EU and Iraq War, and Turkish and foreign famous
dignities like Orhan Gencebay (Turkish singer), Nazim Hikmet (Turkish
author and poet), Aziz Nesin (Turkish author), Marilyn Monroe, Lenin
and Che Guevara.

MIGRATION INCREASED CRIMES

TURKIYE- Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan answered
questions of Fuat Bol, Mehmet Soysal and Ismail Kapan in a program
live broadcast on TGRT Haber TV. PM Erdogan said that migration of
desperate people of Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia regions to
metropolises caused many problems, and added, “particularly children
below 18 years old are used by some circles. They are forced to
commit crimes.”

TALAT’S EYE ON THE TOP

TURKIYE- Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Talat of Turkish Republic of
Northern Cyprus (TRNC) claimed that he would most probably win the
presidential elections due on April 17th. Talat said that in case he
was elected as the new TRNC president, he would be the negotiator in
Cyprus talks, and he would carry out these negotiations in
cooperation and coordination with the government.

BAYKAL INVITES MCCARTHY TO TURKEY

ZAMAN- Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal said that
they had invited Prof. Justin McCarthy from the University of
Louisville to Turkey. Prof. McCarthy is expected to come to Turkey in
the coming days to hold a series of meetings on allegations of
so-called Armenian genocide. He will also attend conferences at the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Strategic Studies Center, the Bilkent
University and the Marmara University.

U.S. SOLDIER CAPTURED WITH A WEAPON IN DIYARBAKIR

ZAMAN- U.S. soldier Cristopher Franz Pipes was captured with a weapon
in his luggage. Together with his Australian brother in arm Ross
Milosevic, Pipes came to Turkey from Iraq. They arrived in Diyarbakir
Airport to go to Istanbul. During the routine check, security forces
found a hand-gun hidden in the luggage of Pipes. Pipes and Milosevic
were transferred to the court with the accusation of carrying fire
arms without a license. However, they were released by the judge, and
they will be tried without detention.

“WE WILL NOT OPEN OUR AIR SPACE TO GREEK CYPRIOTS”

YENI SAFAK- Turkish Transportation Minister Binali Yildirim reacted
to the European Union (EU) which called on Turkey to open its air
space unilaterally by allowing the Greek Cypriot side to use it.
Yildirim said that such a thing was not possible.

DEATH TOLL FROM BOOTLEG RAKI RISES TO 21

YENI SAFAK- Three more people died in Istanbul after drinking bootleg
raki, bringing the death toll to 21. Meanwhile, several others
remained hospitalized after drinking fake raki, which was apparently
made using methyl alcohol. Police have raided underground
distilleries in Istanbul and other cities, confiscating thousands of
bottles of illegally produced raki last week.   Turkish Press

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