Press Scan

ANKARA - These are some of the major headlines and their summaries in Turkish press on July 3rd, 2006. The Anadolu Agency does not verify these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

HURRIYET (LIBERAL)
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A STORY OF HEROISM
A fire broke out in Ankara's Gazi University Faculty of Medicine Hospital last week. All patients and personnel were evacuated. Despite all warnings, Prof. Dr. Emin Gundogan and his seven-member team succeeded in performing two heart surgeries.

PRIEST STABBED
A Roman Catholic priest was stabbed and injured in the northern city of Samsun. French priest Pierre Brunissen, 74, was injured in his hip and leg. He was rushed to a nearby hospital. Doctors said that he was not in a life-threatening condition. A mentally ill suspect was detained in connection with the attack.

MILLIYET (LIBERAL)
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PROVINCIAL CHIEF OF MIT IN BATMAN KILLED
Ismet Onal, chief of the Turkish National Intelligence Agency (MIT) in the southeastern city of Batman, was killed in an armed attack. Onal was shot for six times by one of his colleagues outside his office.

ZEBARI IN TURKEY
Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari of Iraq arrived in Ankara on an official visit. He is scheduled to meet Turkish Foreign Minister & Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul later today. During the meeting, Gul is expected to ask Zebari to extradite two suspects who were involved in 2003's bombings in Istanbul which resulted in killing of more than 60 people.

SABAH (LIBERAL)
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DIPLOMATIC CRISIS WITH EU IN ERZURUM
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan did not attend ground-breaking ceremony of a school which was constructed with donations of the EU in the eastern city of Erzurum. Hansjoerg Kretschmer, head of the delegation of the European Commission to Turkey, left the city without attending the ceremony. The ceremony turned into a diplomatic crisis with the EU.

VICTIMS OF SIVAS EVENTS COMMEMORATED
Thirty-seven people who were killed in a hotel in the central city of Sivas on July 2nd, 1993 were commemorated throughout Turkey. Representatives of political parties, non-governmental organizations and relatives of the victims were in attendance at a ceremony in Sivas.

VATAN (INDEPENDENT)
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EU RESOLVES SEPTEMBER CRISIS
Finland, which has taken over rotating EU presidency, is getting ready to launch an initiative to prevent a likely crisis between Turkey and the EU. Envisaging that Turkey would not open its ports and airports to the Greek Cypriot traffic till December, Finland will propose to suspend entry talks only on chapter headings concerning the Customs Union such as transportation and free movement of goods and services. Britain, Spain, Italy and Lithuania extended support to Finland's proposal.

PRESS SCAN (2)

ANKARA - These are some of the major headlines and their brief stories in Turkey's press on July 3rd, 2006. The Anadolu Agency does not verify these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

CUMHURIYET (LEFT)
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PROVINCIAL CHIEF OF MIT KILLED
Ismet Onal, chief of the Turkish National Intelligence Agency (MIT) in the southeastern city of Batman, was killed in an armed attack. Onal was shot for six times by one of his colleagues outside his office.

MASSACRE CONDEMNED
The massacre in the central city of Sivas was protested on its 13th anniversary. Nearly 5 thousands people were in attendance at a ceremony in Sivas to commemorate 37 people who were killed by fundamentalists. They chanted slogans and carried photographs of the victims.

RADIKAL (LEFT)
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NO MORE MASSACRES
Thirty-seven people who were killed when a hotel was set on fire in the central city of Sivas on July 2nd, 1993 were commemorated throughout Turkey on the 13th anniversary of the events. Representatives of political parties, non-governmental organizations and relatives of the victims were in attendance at a ceremony in Sivas. They said that the hotel should be turned into a museum out of respect to the victims.

TURKIYE (RIGHT)
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''WE WILL PAY THE PRICE''
Speaking at a congress of the ruling Justice & Development Party (AKP) in the eastern city of Erzurum, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, ''we will not open our ports and airports to the Greek Cypriot traffic as long as isolation of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) continued. We have fulfilled our responsibilities. Now, it is turn of the Greek Cypriot administration and the EU. The Greek Cypriot administration does not want to cooperate with us. If they want a solution, they should sit at the negotiation table. The EU says that it would suspend entry negotiations with Turkey because of the Cyprus issue. We are ready to pay the price.''

TALAT TO MEET PAPADOPOULOS
President Mehmet Ali Talat of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) will meet Greek Cypriot leader Tassos Papadopoulos in the buffer zone later today. They will meet for the first time in two years. The meeting will focus on efforts to determine the fate of hundreds of people still missing from both sides.

ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)
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FM GUL DUE TO UNITED STATES
Turkish Foreign Minister & Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul will leave for the United States on Tuesday. Gul is scheduled to meet U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Wednesday. During the meeting, Gul and Rice will sign the strategic vision document. The document includes many issues such as fight against terrorism and efforts to find a solution to the Cyprus question. Gul will also hold talks with Stephen Hadley, assistant to the President for national security affairs, congressmen, representatives of several think-tank organizations, and leaders of Turkish community in the United States.
YENI SAFAK (CONSERVATIVE)
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MAYOR DIES
Flood waters triggered by torrential rains in northern part of Turkey have claimed three lives. Meanwhile, Sezai Nevik, mayor of Kocaman hamlet in the northern city of Samsun, died after his automobile plunged into a stream due to land-slide.