THOUSANDS FLOCK TO ANITKABIR TO COMMEMORATE ATATURK
Nearly half a million people visited Anitkabir, the mausoleum of modern Turkey's founder, on Saturday to commemorate the 69th anniversary of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk's death. President Abdullah Gul, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Chief of General Staff Yasar Buyukanit attended the official ceremony at Anitkabir. Compared to last year, the number of visitors increased nearly four-fold this year. / Turkish Daily News/
ISRAEL'S PERES VISITS ANKARA
Israeli President Shimon Peres yesterday arrived in Ankara for an official visit. Peres will meet with his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul, Parliament Speaker Koksal Toptan, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Ali Babacan, and is also set to address Parliament. Gul will bring Peres and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas together tomorrow. Speaking to news channel NTV, Peres said that he was in Turkey not only to speak but also to listen and added, "We'll listen to what Turkey says. We'll benefit from the experiences of the Turkish president and prime minister." Touching on a possible Turkish cross-border operation into northern Iraq, Peres said that Turkey's intention to end terrorism was acceptable. /Aksam/
IN BRUSSELS, CHIEF OF STAFF BUYUKANIT TO SPEAK ON POSSIBLE CROSS-BORDER OP
At a NATO meeting in Brussels today, Chief of General Staff Gen. Yasar Buyukanit will speak about a possible Turkish cross-border operation into northern Iraq. Buyukanit yesterday traveled to Brussels to attend the military committee meeting, where he will meet with his US, Italian and Greek counterparts and exchange views on how to combat the terrorist PKK. /Hurriyet/
TURKISH-GREEK NATURAL GAS PIPELINE SET TO OPEN SUNDAY
A new Turkish-Greek natural gas pipeline is set to be inaugurated next weekend by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Greek counterpart Costas Karamanlis. Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi and energy ministers from neighboring countries are also invited to Sunday's opening ceremony. The pipeline will initially pump 250 million cubic meters of natural gas per year, and by 2012 is set to have an annual capacity of 11 billion cubic meters. A Turkish energy official hailed the pipeline as an landmark step, as it constitutes a new energy corridor to the EU. /Turkiye/