ANKARA - These are some of the major headlines and their summaries in Turkish press on August 16th, 2008. The Anadolu Agency does not verify these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

TURKIYE
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NEW ERA WITH TEHRAN BEGINS
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Turkey and Iran were two important powers in the region. He said political and economic cooperation of the two countries would contribute to global peace.

UNCERTAINTY OVER, FOREIGNERS COMING
Finance Minister Kemal Unakitan said political and economic uncertainty was over and stability ensured following the finalization of case filed to ban ruling Justice & Development (AK) Party.
"National and foreign investments will grow and unemployment rate will drop from now on," Unakitan said.
"Investors can see the future more clearly," he said.

ZAMAN
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"AMERICA THAT CAN NOT PROTECT EVEN ITS ALLY, CAN NOT ATTACK US"
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad met academicians on the second day of his visit to Istanbul. Following the meeting Ahmadinejad was in front of the cameras, challenging the United States once again.
"It is impossible for United States, which could not even protect its ally Georgia, to attack Iran," he said.

YENI SAFAK
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MESSAGE FROM SULTANAHMET
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has asked to develop cooperation with Turkey. "I am giving a message by performing Friday prayer in a Sunni mosque. Let`s leave euro and dollar aside and use Turkish lira (YTL) in our trade," he said.

OUR PRIDE
Elvan Abeylegesse of Turkey has won silver medal in women`s 10,000 m with 29:56.34. Abeylegesse broke a new Europe and Turkey record and became the first Turkish female athlete winning silver medal in the Olympic Games.

VATAN
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TEMPORARY INJUNCTION ON AYGUN`S SECRET WEALTH
An Istanbul high criminal court, which prosecutes the Ergenekon case, ordered temporary injunction on Ankara Chamber of Commerce Chairman Sinan Aygun`s 2.5 million Euros found in a money chest in his house. The court ordered the injunction with suspicions of financing the terrorist organization.

EVEN HE IS SURPRISED WITH INTEREST SHOWN TO HIM
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad performed the Friday prayer at Sultanahmet Mosque and he saw an unexpected interest by the people. He performed the prayer with people at the back of the mosque, not at the place reserved for him.
The crowd chanted, "mujahid Ahmadinejad", "down with America" and "down with Israel".

CUMHURIYET
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ELVAN`S HISTORIC SUCCESS
Turkey has won its third medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games after Elvan Abeylegesse won silver medal in women`s 10,000 m with 29:56.34. Abeylegesse broke a new Europe and Turkey record and became the first Turkish female athlete winning silver medal in the Olympic Games.

SOLDIER DIES AFTER STEPPING ON LAND-MINE
A soldier has died after stepping on a land-mine planted by PKK terrorists. He will be laid to rest in his hometown Osmaniye.

RADIKAL
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DOES THE MILITARY DEAL WITH POLITICS?
According to some documents seized by the police in the house of Ergun Poyraz under the Ergenekon probe, the military has kept daily entries about the political parties including the governing Justice & Development (AK) Party and politicians such as the Prime Minister recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul. Ethnic backgrounds and even personal lives of deputies were recorded in archives.

AN APOLOGY FROM AHMADINEJAD
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has kept zionist terrorism responsible for the tight security measures taken during his visit to Istanbul which paralyzed daily life and traffic in Istanbul.
President Ahmadinejad also indicated that Turkey should become a member of the EU.

HURRIYET
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A LESSON OF BEHAVIOR IN SULTANAHMET
The imam of Istanbul`s famous Sultanahmet (Blue) Mosque has warned those who shouted "Allahuekber" and took photographs to extend their support to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as he was performing Friday prayer at the mosque, to behave themselves.
Meanwhile, President Ahmadinejad expressed his regret that tight measures taken for him paralyzed daily life and traffic in Turkish megacity. I wouldn`t allow such measures in Tehran, he said.

OUR ELVAN
Elvan Abeylegesse has become the first Turkish female athlete winning silver medal in the Olympic Games. Abeylegesse won silver medal with 29:56.34 in women`s 10,000 m at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Abeylegesse broke a new Europe and Turkey record.

MILLIYET
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"I WOULDN`T CLOSE ROADS IN TEHRAN"
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has apologized for causing traffic jam in Istanbul. During a breakfast with Turkish journalists, President Ahmadinejad said that he was aware of Istambulis` difficulties in traffic because of tight security measures taken for his visit. I wouldn`t allow such measures disturbing people in Tehran, he said.
Meanwhile, a group of people chanted slogans to support Ahmadinejad as he visited Istanbul`s Sultanahmet (Blue) Mosque to pray. They chanted "holly warrior Ahmadinejad".

"BOMBS BELONGED TO ERSEVER"
Retired colonel Arif Dogan has been arrested by the court and sent to prison under the Ergenekon probe. During his deposition at the prosecutor`s office, Dogan said that the grenades seized in a shanty house in Istanbul`s Umraniye district belonged to Cem Ersever, one of commanders of the gendarmerie intelligence unit (JITEM). "After Ersever was killed, the grenades changed owners," he said. Dogan also refused any involvement in the alleged organization of Ergenekon.

SABAH
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ELVAN IN HISTORY
Turkish athlete Elvan Abeylegesse, who ran 10,000 Women`s Final at Beijing 2008 Olympics, won the silver medal, the first silver in Turkey`s history in athletics. She also set new Europe and Turkey records with 29:56.34.

FROM OXFORD TO HAKKARI
Professor Ibrahim Belenli of the Abant Izzet Baysal University is one of the three candidates running to become the rector of the newly established Hakkari University. Belenli, who got his doctor`s degree at Oxford University, was congratulated by the Chairman of the Board of Higher Education for his courage.
Belenli said he has never been to Hakkari and knows the city only from pictures in the internet. Asked "why Hakkari", Belenli said, "it is a challenge on my own and a little bit pleasure of achieving a difficult goal."

(TÇ-UK)