ANKARA - These are some of the major headlines and their brief stories in Turkey's press on January 21, 2004. The Anadolu Agency does not verify these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
HURRIYET (LIBERAL)
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FISCHER: ''TURKEY IS A STRATEGIC PARTNER OF EUROPE''
German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer will come to Turkey later today to hold a series of meetings. In an interview with the Hurriyet Daily, Fischer said that Turkey's membership to the European Union (EU) was of great importance in regard to common strategic interests. He stressed that Turkey's inclusion in the EU was more important than the anti-missile system, adding, ''if we close the doors against Turkey, we will pay a heavy price.''
SECOND BORDER GATE WITH IRAQ
The meeting about opening of a second border gate between Turkey and Iraq was held in Cizre town of southeastern province of Sirnak yesterday. Turkish and Iraqi delegations came together in order to discuss opening of a second border gate in Ovakoy, 14 kilometers south of Silopi town, to reduce burden of the Habur Border Gate. Three U.S. military officials are attending the four-day meeting as the observer. The second border gate is planned to have a direct connection to Mosul and Kirkuk.
JEWISH COMMITTEE TO PRESENT ERDOGAN WITH COURAGE AWARD
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will be presented with the ''Courage Award'' of the American Jewish Committee (AJC) in New York, the first leg of his scheduled visit to the United States. The AJC will host a dinner in honor of Prime Minister Erdogan and present with the award. Prime Minister Erdogan and the accompanying delegation are expected to arrive in New York on January 25, 2004.
MILLIYET (LIBERAL)
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DAY STARTS AT 4 IN MORNING AT AL-QAEDA CAMP Umit Bayrak, Seckin Mandaci and Evren Hidiroglu who had been detained in northwestern town of Gebze after the suicide car bomb attacks in Istanbul talked about their experiences at Al-Qaeda camp in Afghanistan where 450 Turkish 'students' received training.
Seckin Mandaci (code name: Abdusselam) said, ''the place we went was the Ekrat camp near Jalalabad. After the religious, political and military training, we were digging foxholes. In the evenings, we were praying, reading holy Koran and making religious talks. We were obliged to go to sleep at 10 p.m. There was no electricity and listening to radio was prohibited. I knew Ilyas Kuncak who blew himself up with a lorry in front of the HSBC in Istanbul and his son-in-law Abdulkadir Karakus. We got acquainted with each other nearly six months ago and met for several times.''
Enver Hidiroglu (code name: Ensar)said, ''I entered the Ekrat camp with the help of Ali Uzum whose code name is Abu Muhammad. During a bomb training, the hand-made bomb exploded accidentally and I lost two of my fingers. I had doctors cure my left hand as I told them that I was wounded during war. People at the camp were very pleased with the September 11 attacks. After those attacks, the camp was evacuated.''
Umit Bayrak (code name: Zeyd) said, ''Gurcan Bac whose code name is Ebu Omar, the person who is frequently mentioned for the bombings in Istanbul was one of the top men at the Ekrat camp. Burhan Kus whose code name is Hamza was the man responsible for training. We were seven men and they gave us numbers. I was the number one. Although we did not cover our faces at camp, we wore masks when we went to lunch. We were not allowed to talk to other groups. Our camp official has us swear to God that we would not talk to anybody. The first phase took three months. Later, Burhan Kus ordered me to give bomb training to eight new comers. I taught them lessons about preparation of bombs with acetone, ammonium nitrate, artificial fertilizer and potassium nitrate. We were wearing masks also during those lessons. I don't know the exact place of the camp but there was a motorway 200-300 meters south of it. We were using water of a stream. There was a dining hall, laboratory and arsenal at the camp in addition to houses of Gurcan Bac and Burhan Kus.
The training programme is as follows:
04.00: ritual ablution, praying, reading Koran
05.30: sports
07.00: breakfast
08.00: resting
08.30: study of hadits and conversation
09.00: theoretical and practical weapon training
10.30: cooking
12.00: lunch and praying
14.00: bomb preparation and explosives training
15.30: praying and leisure time
22.00: sleep
KURDISH AREA TO REMAIN AUTONOMOUS
Adnan Pacaci, the term president of the Iraqi Interim Governing Council, announced that Iraq would have a federal system and the Kurdish area would keep its current autonomous status. Pacaci who attended a summit meeting hosted by U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan at U.S. headquarters in New York together with U.S. top official in Iraq Paul Bremer held a news conference and said that relations of autonomous Kurdish area with the central government would be determined in the future.
SABAH (LIBERAL)
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''TURKEY EXTENDS FULL SUPPORT TO PAKISTAN''
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer has said that Turkey extended full support to President Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan in his fight against terrorism. President Musharraf, who is currently paying an official visit to Turkey as the guest of President Sezer, first visited the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern and secular Republic of Turkey. During the tete-a-tete meeting at the Cankaya Presidential Palace, President Sezer said, ''the visit of President Musharraf to Turkey will further strengthen historical and friendly relations between Turkey and Pakistan. Following the meetings between Turkish and Pakistani delegations, President Sezer said, ''Turkey and Pakistan have assumed a joint attitude in fight against terrorism. During our meetings, we affirmed our determination to maintain this attitude. The agreement we signed earlier today to co-operate against international terrorism and organized crimes, reflects our determination in fight against terrorism.''
STAR TV STAFF START HUNGER STRIKE
Following operation of Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BRSA) against the Imar Bankasi, all bank accounts of the Uzan family have been frozen. As a result, staff of Star media group could not get their salaries for the last seven months. Hundreds of Star staff appeared on Star TV for a show of solidarity in its main news broadcast on Monday night. They said that they were on hunger strike. Meanwhile, Tuesday's edition of Star Daily had just four pages printed on a single sheet of paper heralding a ''resistance'' campaign.
CUMHURIYET (LEFT)
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FOUR RESIGNATIONS FROM TUBITAK
The tension which erupted after adoption of the law authorizing Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to appoint chairman and members of the Turkish Scientific and Technical Research Council (TUBITAK) Scientific Council, resulted in resignation of four directors. Besides TUBITAK Deputy Director General Prof. Dr. Tugrul Tankut, three other directors resigned from their posts to protest attitude of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government against law and ethics.
HARSH WARNING FROM JURISDICTION TO GOVERNMENT
Supreme Court of Appeals Chief Prosecutor Nuri Ok has said, ''any attempt to restrict judicial independence by taking advantage of recent investigation into corruption claims in the jurisdictions, will yield extremely negative results. We expect jurists, who were involved in corruption, to resign from their post without waiting for results of the investigation.''
RADIKAL (LEFT)
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HOPE FOR A DISARMED AEGEAN
Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul has welcomed the proposal of his Greek counterpart George Papandreou to disarm the Aegean. In an interview with the Greek Mega Channel, Gul described the proposal as very good, and stressed that they agreed with the Greek side about disarmament of the Aegean. Meanwhile, Greek Government Spokesman and Greek National Defense Minister Yiannos Papandoniou eulogized Ankara's approach. Papandreou said that if they won the elections to be held on March 7, they would propose Turkey to reduce mutually defense expenditures.
A TOAST FOR EU
Austrian Parliament Speaker Andreas Kohl hosted a luncheon in honor of Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc, who is currently in Vienna on an official visit. Speaking at the luncheon, Arinc stressed that Turkey's membership to the European Union (EU) would prove that Islam and modernism could co-exist. Meanwhile, Kohl expressed Austria's support to the reform process in Turkey.
TURKIYE (RIGHT)
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TALAT: ''WE WILL SOLVE IT TOGETHER WITH TURKEY''
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Talat who came to Ankara as the guest of TOBB and met with Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul said that there were very serious initiatives and preparations about finding solution to Cyprus issue. ''Through consultations with Turkey, we will act for solution of the Cyprus issue,'' he said. Meanwhile, Gul said that Talat and he had exchanged opinions about several matters. Noting that they hoped a lasting and fair solution that satisfied the sides and protected the Turkish Cypriots would be found by May 1, 2004, Gul said that both the TRNC and Turkey would do their best to this end.
ARINC: ''WE CAN BE A MODEL''
Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc who is currently in Austria said, ''Turkey's EU membership will show the whole world that Islam can reconcile with modernism and prove that Moslems and Christians can live together on basis of common values and interests.'' Austrian Parliament Speaker Andreas Kohl said that they were closely following developments in Turkey. ''We sincerely support the reforms made by Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government,'' he said. During a joint news conference, Kohl requested Arinc to lift visa implementation for Austrians and Arinc said he promised to convey this request to the government. Arinc said that Austria gave full support to Turkey's EU membership.
GUL RESPONDS PROPOSAL OF PAPANDREOU IN AFFIRMATIVE
Greek government spokesman Hristos Protopapas said that Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul reacted positively to Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou's proposal of 'decreasing defense expenditures mutually'. Greek Parliament Speaker Apostolos Kaklamanis said he thought Gul's response appropriate and positive. Meanwhile, Greek press said that Gul's positive approach to Papandreou's proposal brought forth progress in Turkey-Greece relations and expectation for decrease in tension in Aegean.
ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)
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RELATIONS BETWEEN SOLDIERS AND CIVILIANS IN TURKEY SHOULD BE BROUGHT TO EU STANDARDS
Speaking to the newspaper, EU Council Secretary General and EU Foreign Policy chief Javier Solana said that relations between soldiers and civilians in Turkey should be brought to European standards. Solana who praised the Turkish government's determination to make reforms stressed that functioning and independence of jurisdiction in Turkey should be consolidated. Another matter to which Solana attributed importance is swift lifting of obstacles in front of basic freedoms in Turkey. Meanwhile, Solana is indifferent to the changes in Annan's plan that the Turkish government plans to propose. Solana finds the plan balanced and thinks that both sides' bringing it to referendum as soon as possible after approving it would be the most appropriate thing. On the contrary to some Commission officials who claim that Turkish soldiers in Cyprus would be 'invader' when the Greek Cypriot side becomes EU member on May 1, Solana does not comment on the status of Turkish troops. Solana called on both sides to return to negotiation table as soon as possible.
(UK-MS-AY) 21.01.2004