ANKARA - These are some of the major headlines and their summaries in Turkish press on April 24th, 2008. The Anadolu Agency does not verify these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
HURRIYET (LIBERAL)
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MESSAGE FROM STATE
During a ceremony held at the first parliament building on the occasion of April 23rd, National Sovereignty and Children`s Day, Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) chairperson Devlet Bahceli held the hand of Hasip Kaplan, a deputy from Democratic Society Party (DTP), and said, "let us complete the colors of the parliament".
"Our opinions may be different, but we gathered under the roof of the parliament thanks to the votes of the nation," Kaplan told Hurriyet daily.
Bahceli said such hand-shaking was in conformity with the spirit of the first parliament.
INFORM US ABOUT SABAH`S QATARI PARTNER
The indicators concerning the identity of the partner of Calik Group`s Turkuvaz, which bought Sabah-ATV media group, show the Amir of Qatar. Calik Group did not deliver any statements on the issue, except the name of the partner company.
Zahit Akman, chairperson of Turkish Radio & Television Supreme Council (RTUK), said that the council should be notified of the change in the distribution of Turkuvaz`s shares.
MILLIYET (LIBERAL)
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QATARI PARTNER CONFUSES
Calik Group made a part of payment for Sabah and ATV by taking the Qatar`s Al Wasaeel International Media as partner. It was revealed that the owner of the company was Qatar Investment Authority.
Chairman of RTUK said they were not notified about the Qatari partner. The Savings Deposit Insurance Fund said, "we will investigate the company."
CEYLAN IN CANNES AGAIN
Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan`s "Uc Maymun" will vie for the Golden Palme d`Or at the 61th Cannes Film Festival. This is the third time Ceylan has been announced as the nominee for the award. Ceylan will compete with world-famous directors such as Clint Eastwood and Steven Soderberg.
SABAH (LIBERAL)
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ANKARA COLD AS ICE
Tension among leaders was felt during the ceremonies that were held in Ankara to mark the April 23rd, Turkey`s National Sovereignty and Children`s Day. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the main opposition Republican People`s Party (CHP) chairman Deniz Baykal stood side by side at the ceremony at the Anitkabir, the Mausoleum of Ataturk, but they did not talk.
TURKEY RANKED 8TH IN TAX BURDEN AMONG OECD COUNTRIES
Turkey is ranked the 8th among members of Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in terms of tax burden over employees. Regarding the tax burden over the average salary, Turkey was ranked the 1st among 30 OECD-member countries with a figure of 42.7 percent in 2007.
VATAN (INDEPENDENT)
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F-16 JETS BOMB NORTH OF IRAQ
F-16 jets of Turkey bombed the north of Iraq again. Website of the Iraqi Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) led by Jalal Talabani said that four F-16 jets bombarded Hakurk region in the north of Iraq.
TENSION IN ANKARA
Tension between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and main opposition Republican People`s Party (CHP) chairman Deniz Baykal was also felt on April 23rd, Turkey`s National Sovereignty and Children`s Day. Erdogan and Baykal walked side by side during the ceremony at the Anitkabir, the Mausoleum of Ataturk, but they did not talk to each other.
CUMHURIYET (LEFT)
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FAREWELL TO MARTYRS
Three soldiers, who were killed in a mine blast on Tuesday, were laid to rest in their hometowns. People chanted slogans against terrorist organization PKK at the funerals.
LABORERS AT TAKSIM
Representatives of workers once again announced that they would celebrate May 1st at Taksim square in Istanbul despite government threats. Chairman of the Confederation of Public Sector Unions (KESK) said they would go to Taksim square which he said was open for any kind of celebration from Police Day to new year parties. Confederation of Revolutionary Workers` Unions (DISK) Board of Directors will convene today to discuss details of celebrations at Taksim square.
RADIKAL (LEFT)
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TURKEY`S GOBEKLITEPE CHARMS BRITONS
Leading British daily newspaper Guardian has given broad place to ongoing archaeological excavations in Gobeklitepe in southern Turkey in its yesterday`s edition. The newspaper said that Gobeklitepe was a site that stunned archaeologists. In an interview with the daily, Klaus Schmidt, head of the excavations, said, "this place is a supernova. Within a minute of first seeing it I knew I had two choices: go away and tell nobody, or spend the rest of my life working here."
The daily also compared the site with famous British site Stonehenge to let Britons to understand the real magnificence of the site: "None of the circles excavated (four out of an estimated 20) are more than 30 metres across. T-shaped pillars like the rest, two five-metre stones tower at least a metre above their peers. What makes them remarkable are their carved reliefs of boars, foxes, lions, birds, snakes and scorpions, and their age. Dated at around 9,500BC, these stones are 5,500 years older than the first cities of Mesopotamia, and 7,000 years older than Stonehenge."
SYMPOSIUM ON INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUE
A symposium on "Intercultural Dialogue" will be held at the Italian Culture Center in Istanbul. Sakir Eczacibasi, head of the Istanbul Foundation of Culture and Art and a leading Turkish businessman, will make the opening remarks of the symposium.
TURKIYE (RIGHT)
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ERDOGAN: "TURKEY IS CHANGING"
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at a special session of the General Assembly held on the occasion of the 88th anniversary of the establishment of the Turkish Parliament, "there are some allegations that our people failed to claim enough the fundamental characteristics of the Republic. Those allegations harm our people`s loyalty to their state."
GAP TO FEED WHOLE WORLD
Turkey is planning to double its production of wheat, corn and rice in the Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP) region and export them to the world which is scared of a possible famine.
ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)
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GUL TELLS LEADERS: NEXT GENERATIONS
WILL PAY THE PRICE OF TENSION
April 23rd, Turkey`s National Sovereignty and Children`s Day, was celebrated across Turkey. However, political controversies, frosty attitudes of leaders left their mark to the ceremonies. The most important meeting of the day was at Cankaya Presidential Palace. President Abdullah Gul hosted a luncheon for Parliament Speaker Koksal Toptan, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other party leaders. Main opposition Republican People`s Party (CHP) chairman Deniz Baykal did not attend the luncheon.
Gul pointed out the need to put an end to political tension, said officials who asked not to be named.
"Next generations will pay the price if we can not turn threats into opportunities," Gul was quoted as saying.
"OUR DEFENSE WILL BE LIKE A MANIFESTO, WE WILL HAND IT OUT IN 5 LANGUAGES"
Ankara discusses democratization package, referendum and early elections amid controversies about the closure case filed to prohibit ruling Justice & Development (AK) Party. PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan met his party`s 48 MPs to set their party strategy. He said they had taken all measures regarding the case.
Party officials, who declined to be identified, said PM Erdogan told MPs that opposition parties were "opportunist" regarding constitutional amendments and democratization and he accused opposition parties CHP and Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) for "playing tricks and not acting sincerely."
"We will prepare a very well defense which could be a manifesto of democracy. We will translate it into 4-5 languages and send it to foreigners," Erdogan was quoted as saying.
YENI SAFAK (CONSERVATIVE)
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DON`T LET CHILDREN SEE
While Turkish children shared with foreign guests the honor of possessing the only children`s festival in the world, voices of the children singing, reading poems and laughing echoed everywhere in Turkey.
Children gave messages of "compromise, moderate criticism and self-confidence" when they symbolically took over the titles of various statesmen.
MHP chairperson Devlet Bahceli`s chat with Democratic Society Party (DTP) MP Hasip Kaplan at the first parliament building drew attention.
Only CHP chairperson Deniz Baykal`s speech included "support for closure" on such a festivity day.
THERE CAN BE NO EU WITHOUT TURKEY
President of Slovenia, which holds EU`s rotating presidency, called on Europe to support Turkey. Slovenian President Danilo Turk said EU needed Turkey if it desired to become a strategic global actor.
(UK-TÇ-DO-MS)