ANKARA - These are some of the major headlines and their summaries in Turkish press on August 11th, 2008. The Anadolu Agency does not verify these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
TURKIYE
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MISSILE SHIELD FOR ISTANBUL
Turkey has been holding talks with Russia, the United States, the People's Republic of China and Israel to purchase a long-range air defense system. If Turkey reaches agreement with one of those countries, it will purchase eight missiles. Two of them will be deployed in Istanbul and Ankara.
BABACAN'S TELEPHONE TRAFFIC
Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan has called his Georgian counterpart Eka Tkeshelashvili for two times. Babacan also held a telephone conversation with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to expressed Turkey's growing concerns that the war in South Ossetia could hamper stability in Caucasus.
Meanwhile, Turkish truck drivers are escaping from Georgia.
Ossetian soldiers opened fire on a vehicle carrying four Turkish journalists. Journalists survived the attack without injuries.
ZAMAN
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ROADS TURN INTO A BATTLEFIELD: DEATHTOLL 39
Traffic accidents nationwide turned the roads into a battlefield. Accidents caused by high speeding, driving under the influence of alcohol and carelessness killed 39 and wounded tens of people. The casualties were highest in accidents that occurred in Malatya, Amasya, Ankara and Mugla.
EMERGENCY PRISON TO BE TURNED INTO OPEN AIR MUSEUM
Southeastern province of Diyarbakir, one of the most important destinations for "faith tourism" with the cultural and historical sites it houses, has rolled up sleeves to utilise this potential. Ic Kale fortress surrounded by bulwarks --once used as a prison in the time of the emergency rule (OHAL)-- is being converted to a museum, which is unequalled in the world. Ancient lives of mankind in the times of first settlements will be depicted with artworks in the historical site which will become the world's largest open air museum. The project aims at attracting one million tourists to Diyarbakir.
YENI SAFAK
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BIGGEST DANGER IN TURKEY: CREDIT CARDS
The New York Times, one of the leading dailies in the United States, reported that the number of issued credit cards in Turkey exceeded 38 million while amount of credit card debts reached 18 billion USD. The daily warned that the biggest danger that Turkey might face was credit card crisis.
EXPORTS TO MIDDLE EAST ON RISE
Abdulkadir Cikmaz, chairman of the Southeast Anatolian Exporters' Association, said that exports of various products to Middle Eastern countries climbed 75 percent to 848.4 million USD in the first seven months.
VATAN
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DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME TO BE ABOLISHED IN 1.5 YEARS
A report by the Energy of Ministry shows that advancing the clocks by one hour under daylight saving time for 7 months saves one million kw/h, but extending the daylight saving through out the year saves even more energy. Therefore the Ministry of Energy is planning to abolish the daylight saving time as of March 2009.
BODRUM VACATION OF ERDOGANS
After President Abdullah Gul, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan also chose Mugla for vacation. Erdogans who departed from Ankara on Friday checked in to a villa of Rixos Hotels. Erdogan had met Syrian President Bashar al-Asad in the same villa last week. Erdogan who is expected to travel to Ankara to meet General Staff Chief Gen. Yasar Buyukanit would return to Bodrum after the meeting.
CUMHURIYET
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TWO TURKS INJURED
Kanalturk correspondent Levent Ozturk and cameraman Guray Ervin were injured when Ossetian soldiers opened fire on their vehicle. Ozturk and Ervin were trying to enter Ossetian capital city of Tshinvali to cover the developments following withdrawal of Georgian soldiers when they were attacked. Ozturk was injured in his head and Ervin in his shoulder. They were taken to a hospital in Tshinvali.
MARMARAY NOT TO PRODUCE ANY SOLUTION
The government is getting ready to lay foundation of the Marmaray Tunnel Project on December 8th in an effort to find a solution to traffic problem in Istanbul. But it was revealed that the project was designed to create a new real property annuity. The labor union of transportation sector said in a report that since its route was wrong, the project would not resolve Istanbul's traffic jam.
RADIKAL
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CONCRETE STEP FOR DOCKYARDS
First concrete step for job safety was taken at the dockyards which claimed lives of 101 workers in 21 years. The statute which took effect as of August 10th regulates the safety standards of the dockyards and empowers a special committee for supervision.
USED TO BE MARSHLAND ONCE UPON A TIME
Akyatan Lagoon, one of the most important safe havens for birds in Turkey, suffers from draught and misuse of water. Although the wetland in the lagoon was reduced by 50 percent, increasing number of birds are coming to the lagoon for the remaining wetland as many lakes in Anatolia dried up.
HURRIYET
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DID YEDITEPE DISCLOSE THE SECRET?
Prof. Dr. Fikrettin Sahin, chairman of the Yeditepe University Department of Genetics and Bioengineering which was established three years ago with a fund of 20 million USD, has said that they succeeded in re-programming stem-cells taken from an adult. "This is a revolution in stem-cell technology," he said.
Results of the research will be made public at a meeting to be held at the Yeditepe University later in the day with the participation of Prof. Dr. Yusuf Ziya Ozcan, chairman of the Higher Education Board (YOK). The discovery could extend life span of human being up to 150 years.
GEORGIA WANTS AID FROM TURKISH RED CRESCENT
Georgia has requested aid from the Turkish Red Crescent team which was waiting at the border region since the beginning of Russia-Georgia war in South Ossetia. The Red Crescent team crossed the Turkish-Georgian border to help those who were injured in the city of Gori which took the brunt in the clashes.
MILLIYET
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DEBT TRAP IN TURKEY
New York Times daily newspaper pointed out that number of issued credit cards in Turkey exceeded 38 million while amount of credit card debts reached a total of 18 billion USD and warned against the possibility of a crisis similar to the one that occurred in South Korea.
ERDOGAN STAYS IN VILLA WHERE ESAD STAYED
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his family are spending their vacation in a private villa complex of Rixos hotels in southwestern town of Bodrum. Not long ago, Syrian President Bashar al-Asad also stayed in the same villas. PM Erdogan who sent private jet of Prime Ministry to Ankara, asked coast guard boats patrolling the bay to leave. Erdogan spent half an hour at the veranda of the second storey of the villa.
SABAH
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TENSION AFTER WAR
Russian press kept Turkey and the United States responsible for the war in South Ossetia. Russian Izvestia newspaper claimed that Ankara had sent military aid to Tbilisi.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called both President Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin of Russia on Friday to encourage them to find a peaceful solution. Erdogan held talks with President Saakashvili but Prime Minister Putin did not respond to his call. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Ali Babacan called his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov. Lavrov called him back two days later.
TWO TURKISH JOURNALISTS INJURED IN SOUTH OSSETIA
Two Turkish journalists were injured near Tshinvali when Ossetian soldiers opened fire on a vehicle carrying Turkish journalists from Kanalturk and NTV channels. Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs requested the Russian Embassy in Ankara to assist Turkish journalists covering developments in South Ossetia.
THE DEBT TRAP
The amount of credit card debt has reached 18 billion USD in Turkey. The New York Times, one of the leading dailies in the United States, wrote, "from 2003 to 2006 in Turkey, 41 people died because of credit card debt, either through suicide or homicide." The daily also indicated that Turkey could face a credit card debt crisis.
(UK-OZG-MS)