ANKARA - These are some of the major headlines and their brief stories in Turkey's press on July 5, 2003. The Anadolu Agency does not verify these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
HURRIYET (LIBERAL)
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U.S. RAID IN TURKISH SPECIAL TEAM
Nearly 100 U.S. soldiers raided bureau of Turkish Special Force Team in Suleymaniyah in northern Iraq and took 11 Turkish soldiers to Kirkuk. The incident escalated tension between Turkey and the United States. Ankara protested attitude of U.S. soldiers and called on the United States to release 3 Turkish officers and 8 noncommissioned officers immediately. The U.S. side claimed that its soldiers raided the bureau upon a tip-off saying that some Turks planned to assassinate Kurdish governor of Kirkuk. Meanwhile, General Staff Deputy Chief General Yasar Buyukanit confirmed the incident and said that attitude of the United States, an ally of Turkey for 50 years, created profound sorrow.
TOMRIS UYAR PASSES AWAY
Tomris Uyar, one of pioneers of modern Turkish literature, lost her life at Istanbul's Metropolitan Florence Nightingale Hospital yesterday. Uyar had been suffering from esophagus cancer. She will be laid to rest on Sunday. Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc and Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal sent messages to relatives of Uyar and expressed their profound sorrow. Both Arinc and Baykal described demise of Uyar as a serious loss for Turkish literature.
TURKISH AND ARMENIAN WOMEN COME TOGETHER IN YEREVAN
Turkish and Armenian women came together in Armenian capital Yerevan and prepared a joint declaration. The declaration envisages exchange of young people in holidays and removal of accusing and hostile expressions in school books.
MILLIYET (LIBERAL)
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GUL: ''NOT SOLDIERS, BUT POLITICIANS ARE GUILTY''
Upon a question about the Cyprus question, Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul, who paid a working visit to British capital London, said, ''our government has been expending intense efforts to find a peaceful solution to the Cyprus question. If undesired developments occur on the island after a final solution, it will lead to a calamity. The Turkish Armed Forces does not have an attitude of preventing a solution on the island. The Turkish Armed Forces shares its views with the government and leaves the decision-taking duty to politicians. Therefore, I accused our politicians for some similar situations of the past, instead of the Turkish Armed Forces.''
''TURKEY CAN BECOME A MEMBER OF THE EU IN 2011''
Vittorio Surdo, the Ambassador of the current European Union (EU) Term president Italy in Ankara, said that Italy was in favor of opening accession talks between Turkey and the EU after Turkey fulfilled the Copenhagen criteria. Surdo noted that Turkey could become a full member of the EU in 2011.
SABAH (LIBERAL)
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SENER: ''MANAGEMENT OF IMAR BANKASI HAVE BEEN TRANSFERRED TO SDIF''
State Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullatif Sener said that management and control of Imar Bankasi, a private bank owned by Uzan family, had been transferred to the Savings Deposits Insurance Fund (SDIF) as of Friday under the decision of the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BRSA), but transfer of this bank's partnership rights to the SDIF was out of question.
''THERE IS NOT ANY PROBLEM IN MEETINGS BETWEEN SEZER AND ERDOGAN''
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan have not met for the last four weeks. The Cankaya Presidential Palace said that there was not any problem. Presidential Chief Advisor Sermet Atacanli, who accompanied President Sezer during his visit to Croatia, said that regular meetings between President Sezer and Prime Minister Erdogan could not be held due to visits of Sezer and Erdogan.
CUMHURIYET (LEFT)
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''GREEN LIGHT'' TO TURKISH SOLDIERS FROM UNITED STATES
The United States which faces several difficulties due to increasing security problems in Iraq, shed 'green light' also to Turkish soldiers about whom it was not positive earlier. Turkey proposed the United States to send troops up to a brigade. The Turkish Armed Forces is expected to be offered mission in the south of Iraq under command of Poland.
INTERNAL CLASH AT KADEK
An armed attack was staged on Cemil Bayik, a member of the leadership council of the terrorist organization KADEK, who is said to have felt uneasy about the Justice and Development Party's (AK Party) bill on reassociation. In the attack at Kanijenge camp, Bayik was injured while his five bodyguards were killed.
''INFLATION CALCULATION IS NOT REALISTIC''
Bulent Tanla, a Republican People's Party (CHP) deputy, stressed that inflation rates that the State Institute of Statistics announces in the beginning of each month, which show price movements, do not reflect the realities. He said that goods which form the basket of inflation calculation and their distribution are defective. He said, ''while goods and services like stovepipe, besom, Turkish bath fee, fish roe and table tennis ball are included in the basket, goods and services like cell phone, CD, vacation and special insurance are not included.''
RADIKAL (LEFT)
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''WE ARE DETERMINED TO FULFILL COPENHAGEN CRITERIA''
Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul said that the seventh European Union (EU) adjustment package would be enacted before parliamentary recess. Gul stressed that they were determined to fulfill Copenhagen criteria.
CORRUPTION REPORT SUBMITTED TO PARLIAMENT
Parliamentary Corruption Inquiry Commission submitted the first part of its report on corruption to the parliament. Commission Chairman Azmi Ates said that additional reports including requests of investigation and denouncements about some formed prime ministers and ministers would be sent to the parliament in the coming days.
TURKIYE (RIGHT)
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''OZAL THOUGHT OF IT BUT WE MADE IT''
Environment and Forestry Minister Osman Pepe said that defunct President Turgut Ozal was the architect of the project on sale of areas that lost their forest characteristics. He said, ''one day, Husnu Dogan visited me and told me that also Ozal had worked a lot on this issue. However, he could not finish it as he faced several obstacles.'' Pepe said, ''this project will have the state earn twenty billion U.S. dollars. We are determined to do it. If it is necessary, we will bring it to referendum. We trust our people. We bring this issue which is vital for the country to referendum.''
IMAR GONE, TOO
After electricity generation and distribution companies Cukurova and Kepez, the bank owned by the Uzan family was transferred to the state. The Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BRSA) seized Imar Bankasi, announcing that the bank had started to pose a threat against banking system. State Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullatif Sener said that precautionary measure might be taken on the Uzans' worldly possessions while Uzan Holding said that the bank had difficulty in paying the deposits when depositors panicked after seizure of Cukurova and Kepez.
PRO-ARMENIAN HILLARY
Senator Hillary Clinton, the wife of former U.S. President Bill Clinton who has always said he was a friend of Turks, extended full support to bill on so-called Armenian genocide. This unexpected attitude of Hillary Clinton confused Turks living in the United States.
TURKEY BURNING
The desert heat which has been affecting Turkey since last Wednesday has started to threaten the life. Temperatures rose to 50 degrees Celsius in several areas while a 41-year-old man died of cerebral hemorrhage in Yenice town of western province of Canakkale. Meanwhile, a person roasted egg on the street under 44 degrees Celsius heat.
ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)
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UZAN HOLDING TRANSFERS 645 TRILLION LIRAS OF DEPOSITS TO ITS COMPANIES
Uzan Holding's Imar Bankasi of which management had been seized two days ago was completely seized yesterday. The Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BRSA) revoked the bank's banking license. The BRSA decided on liquidation of the bank while it announced that deposits except off-shore accounts were under state guarantee. Imar Bankasi of which executive board chairman was Young Party (GP) leader Cem Uzan's father Kemal Uzan, collected a total of 912 trillion Turkish liras (TL) of deposits as of March 2003, and it lent 645 trillion TL of those deposits to its companies as loan.
(UK-MS) 05.07.2003