TURKEY COMMEMORATES BATTLE OF GALLIPOLI
Turkey yesterday marked the 92nd anniversary of the Battle of Gallipoli and Martyrs Day. In his message marking the day, President Ahmet Necdet Sezer said, "This shining country is our inheritance from all the martyrs who gave their lives while serving their country, for love of the fatherland with no thought of the difficulties they were facing at home and abroad." Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan attended ceremonies on the Canakkale peninsula and officially opened a new memorial for unknown Ottoman soldiers and a new museum located in a restored artillery position on the shores of the Dardanelles that played a major part in the Allied defeat on March 18, 1915. In his message, Chief of General Staff Gen. Yasar Buyukanit said that just as in the past, the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) stood ready to make any sacrifice to ensure the nation's independence and integrity,. /Hurriyet/

ISTANBUL TO HOST IRAQ SUMMIT TODAY
Meetings of the Iraq Reconstruction Forum (IRFO) and Iraq International Reconstruction Fund Donors Committee (IRFFI) will be held in Istanbul today and tomorrow. About 130 high-level representatives and bureaucrats from 19 countries, along with World Bank and UN Development Group representatives, will attend the IRFO meeting to discuss Iraq's reconstruction process. In addition, Iraq will participate in the gathering with a 30-member delegation including Cabinet ministers. Another Istanbul meeting on Iraq is planned for next month. /Turkiye/

CUBUKCU VISITS NURSING HOMES FOR JEWS, GREEKS, AND ARMENIANS
State Minister for family and women's affairs Nimet Cubukcu yesterday paid separate visits to nursing homes for elderly members of Istanbul's Jewish, Greek and Armenian communities. During her visits, Cubukcu said that state social services aimed to serve all communities without any regard to religion, language or ethnicity. She added that nursing homes should be places for the elderly to live out their lives in tranquility. /Milliyet/

GREEK FM BAKOYANNIS: "TURKISH-GREEK RELATIONS ARE NORMAL"
Speaking to Greece's To Vima daily yesterday, Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis rejected media reports that Turkish-Greek relations face a new period of crisis after her Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul cancelled his visit to Athens. "There's neither a glorious improvement nor deterioration in Turkish-Greek relations," she said. "Our relations continue at the same level. Turkey's stance is the same." She added this misperception of relations comes from an exaggerated sense of importance. /Sabah/

THOUSANDS IN ISTANBUL PROTEST WAR
More than 3,000 people protested the war in Iraq in two separate weekend demonstrations in Istanbul to mark the fourth anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq. /Turkish Daily News/

GERMAN EMBASSY DECORATES ZAPSU WITH HONORARY MEDAL
Germany's Embassy in Ankara yesterday decorated Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan's advisor Cuneyd Zapsu with an honorary medal for his contributions to the development of Turkish-German relations. Hosting a ceremony for the occasion, German Ambassador Eckart Cuntz said that his government welcomed Zapsu's efforts to boost bilateral ties. /Milliyet/

ISTANBUL TO JOIN RANKS OF WORLD'S 30 LARGEST URBAN ECONOMIES BY 2020

Istanbul is set to climb into the top-30 rankings for the world's largest economies by 2030, according to a new report by investment and consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers. Istanbul would particularly fare well in the ranking for 2020, as it is projected to climb from 34th place in 2005 to number 27, with a 5.2% gross domestic product (GDP) average growth rate per annum. Ankara and Izmir were also included in the rankings. Ankara ranked 94 and Izmir 117 on the 2005 list. /The New Anatolian/

BABACAN: "EU COUNTRIES WILL MAKE THE TOUGH CHOICE WHETHER OR NOT TO SHARE THEIR POWER"
State Minister for the Economy Ali Babacan said yesterday that concerning Turkey's membership, European Union member states would make the though decision as to whether or not to share their power. Meeting with visiting students from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, Babacan said that he was a graduate of the same school. Babacan said that Ankara expected EU talks to focus on technical topics, while certain EU states were concentrating on unimportant minutiae from the thousands pages of the EU communautaire. Stressing that Turkey has implemented many reforms for democracy, basic rights, and the rule of law, Babacan touched on Turkey's importance for the bloc as a majority Muslim, democratic country. /Turkiye/