ERDOGAN: "WE DON'T ALL HAVE TO BE THE SAME, BUT WE MUST STICK TOGETHER"
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday said that Turkey should be a country of freedoms and ideals, not suspicions and fears. "We want all our people to express themselves and their opinions with constitutional legitimacy, and we want them to be included in the nation's educational, economic and social life," Erdogan said in a televised address. "We don't have to be the same as each other, but we have to be united and stand together. Our having different beliefs, ideas, and lifestyles is no obstacle to fellowship. It's our duty to bridge distances, if there are any." He said that in Turkey's democratic and legal order, every problem has a solution. Erdogan added that a country that views its own citizens as a threat can't go forward. /Star/
ERDOGAN MEETS WITH GUL
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday saw President Abdullah Gul for their regular weekly meeting. Erdogan also received his top military adviser, Corps Commander Nusret Tasdeler, along with National Security Council (NSC) Secretary-General Tahsin Burcuoglu and the undersecretary of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA). / Cumhuriyet/
20 KILLED BY EXPLOSION AT UNLICENSED FIREWORKS FACTORY IN ISTANBUL
An explosion at an unlicensed fireworks factory in an industrial area of Istanbul yesterday killed 20 people and injured 117 others. Visiting the scene of the blast, Istanbul Governor Muammer Guler blamed fireworks illegally manufactured in the five-story building for the explosion. Istanbul Greater Municipality Mayor Kadir Topbas said that a series of explosions had destroyed the top two floors of the building in the Davutpasa district yesterday morning. President Abdullah Gul, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Parliamentary Speaker Koksal Toptan all issued messages of condolences for victims of the blast. /Turkiye/
IN EGYPT, TOPTAN MEETS WITH HIS KUWAITI COUNTERPART
In Egypt, Parliament Speaker Koksal Toptan yesterday met with his Kuwaiti counterpart Jassem Mohamed Al Khurafi on the sidelines of the fifth conference of the Parliamentary Union of the Organization of Islamic Conference Member states (PUOICM). Saying that Turkey and Kuwait have excellent relations, Toptan invited his counterpart to visit Turkey. For his part, Khurafi said that there will be more mutual visits and cooperation with Kuwait's "brother country" Turkey. Toptan also helped add the phrase "Turkish Cypriot state" to the OIC meeting's final declaration. /Turkiye/
BAYKAL: "POLITICIANS CAN'T GUARANTEE OUR CONSTITUTIONAL SYSTEM"
Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal yesterday criticized Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan for recently calling himself the "guarantee" of Turkey's secularism. "By no means can politicians be the guarantee of the constitutional system in a country," Baykal told news channel NTV. "Politicians come and go. The law, our institutions, the Constitutional Court, and the Constitution itself are the guarantee." In related news, Constitutional Court Chief Justice Hasim Kilic paid a courtesy visit to Baykal at CHP headquarters. /Aksam/
ISTANBUL UNIVERSITY RECTOR, FACULTY CRITICIZE PLAN TO END HEADSCARF BAN
The rector and other faculty at Istanbul University (IU) yesterday criticized a plan spearheaded by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to lift the ban on wearing headscarves at universities. At a meeting of IU deans, professors and other faculty members, Rector Mesut Parlak claimed that supporters of headscarves have put Turkey in a dangerous situation. "The issue should be dealt with through the participation of all sectors of society," he said, complaining that universities had not been consulted on the issue. /Hurriyet/
US STATE DEPT: "THE HEADSCARF ISSUE IS A DOMESTIC MATTER FOR TURKEY TO DECIDE"
The headscarf issue is a domestic matter for Turkey to decide, said Matt Bryza, US deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, yesterday. "We don't advocate any particular form of expression, including the wearing of a headscarf or any other religious clothing," he said. "Whether or not to wear a headscarf is an individual choice for women to make. The United States continues to support freedom of religion, a right which democratic societies should respect." /Milliyet/
FORMER GERMAN CHANCELLOR SCHROEDER TO VISIT TURKISH REPUBLIC OF NORTHERN CYPRUS TODAY
Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder will arrive in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) today to pay a visit at the invitation of Prime Minister Ferdi Sabit Soyer. During his stay, Schroeder is set to be accompanied by Cuneyt Zapsu, a top advisor to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. / Cumhuriyet/