ANKARA - These are some of the major headlines and their summaries in Turkish press on September 11th, 2008. The Anadolu Agency does not verify these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

TURKIYE
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"WE ARE NOT THE BANANA REPUBLIC"
President Abdullah Gul met President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan in Baku after his visit to Armenia last week. President Gul denied the allegations that he visited Armenia at the behest of the United States. "There is mentality considering Turkey like a banana republic. The United States did not suggest such a thing," he said. Gul also expressed his hope that Azerbaijan and Armenia would resolve the Upper Karabakh issue through dialogue.

THY AIMS AT BECOMING WORLD`S NUMBER-ONE AIRLINES
Temel Kotil, CEO of the Turkish Airlines (THY), said that they succeeded in becoming the number-one airlines in Europe in the first half of the year. "Now, we aim at becoming the best airlines both in the world and Europe in the second half," he said.

ZAMAN
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ACCIDENT AT KADIKOY AGAIN
After failing to qualify for the 2006 World Cup finals after play-off second leg against Switzerland at Istanbul`s Sukru Saracoglu Stadium, Turkey drew with Belgium 1-1 at the same stadium. Losing two points at home, Turkey`s goal came from a penalty kick by captain Emre Belozoglu.

OUR GROWTH PERFORMANCE WAS FINE, MINISTER
Finance Minister Kemal Unakitan said that "Turkey`s growth performance was fine. However, the closure case filed against the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party caused a significant slowdown in Turkey`s growth rate. Turkey`s growth rate went down to 1.9 percent in the second quarter of 2008." Unakitan also stressed that global increase in the prices of oil and food items and global financial crisis had played a role in the decline of Turkey`s growth rate.

YENI SAFAK
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WE DON`T DO ANYTHING BY PERMISSION
President Abdullah Gul, who went to Baku to meet Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, responded to those who criticized him for paying a visit to Armenia. "Any suggestion from the United States or European Union was out of question," Gul said.
Gul said instability in the Caucasus would turn the region into a wall between Turkey and Central Asia. However, Gul noted that in case of peace, the Caucasus would become a region of cooperation and stability.

TURKEY WILL FINALIZE NABUCCO PROJECT
Energy & Natural Resources Minister Hilmi Guler said Turkey was a part to the NABUCCO project and the party who actually initiated it.
Guler who attended a conference on "oil and gas potential in Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan" in Baku, said "Turkey will definitely finalize NABUCCO project."

VATAN
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300 PEOPLE FROM AFRICA DUE IN TURKEY TO BECOME IMAM
300 students from Mozambique, Togo, Mauritania, Sudan, Uganda and several other African countries will receive education in Turkish Imam-Hatip schools for four years. Department for Religious Affairs will meet all the costs.

CHAIN OF NEGLIGENCE
Experts who investigated the AtlasJet plane crash in the southwestern province of Isparta found very interesting evidences. Accordingly, airport approaching information had not been installed in the plane`s computer and the pilot approached the airport from a wrong direction. Besides, the system which was supposed to warn the pilots about the distance to the ground was not working. Although the plane was supposed to be in maintenance, it was revealed that it was on flights.

CUMHURIYET
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GROWTH STOPS IN TURKEY
Turkey`s growth rate continued to decline as of the second quarter of 2006. Turkey grew only 1.9 percent in the second quarter of 2008. This rate was Turkey`s lowest in 78 months. The Turkish industry is almost at a standstill and has not grown much recently. The Turkish agriculture sector is also experiencing declining numbers in growth rates.

GREEK CYPRIOTS DO NOT WANT A SOLUTION, TRNC PRESIDENT
President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), Mehmet Ali Talat, said that the Greek Cypriot administration did not accept a calendar for a solution in Cyprus. Talat stressed that he wished for a solution in Cyprus prior to the European Parliament elections in June 2009. The Greek Cypriots do not want a solution, Talat said. "The European Union (EU) must motivate the Greek Cypriots for a solution," Talat added. Full-fledged talks in Cyprus begin on September 11th.

RADIKAL
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TRIPARTITE SUMMIT AT UN
Turkey`s initiative for peace and cooperation in the Caucasus has begun receiving international support. Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said that a tripartite summit would take place during the United Nations meetings in New York in the coming weeks after holding talks with his Azerbaijani and Armenian counterparts. Babacan said during his visit to Baku that Azerbaijan should not miss such an opportunity.

HAYAL TO BE RETRIED
The Court of Appeals has overruled the six-year imprisonment sentence to Yasin Hayal for his alleged involvement in the bomb attack on the McDonalds restaurant in the northern province of Trabzon. Hayal, one of suspects of the killing of journalist Hrant Dink of Armenian descent, will be retried. The first hearing will be held at the Trabzon High Criminal Court on September 23rd.

SLOWDOWN
The Turkish economy has slowed down with a growth rate of 1.9 percent in the second quarter of the year. In the first quarter, the growth rate was 6.6 percent. It was the lowest growth rate of the last 25 quarters. Agriculture sector narrowed by 3.5 percent and education sector by 6.1 percent. Construction sector grew only 0.9 percent.

HURRIYET
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ARMENIAN JARGON CHANGED
Speaking at his 8-hour visit to Baku, President Abdullah Gul said his visit to Armenia aimed at finding a solution to the problems of the region, including Upper Karabakh.
Gul said Armenian jargon in diaspora in the United States and in foreign media had changed after his visit to Yerevan.
Asked if Azerbaijan felt uneasy over his visit to Armenia, Gul said, "this will be injustice to Turkey if Azerbaijanis feel uneasy. Isn`t the solution and saving Azerbaijani territory under occupation a service?"

TURKEY BRAKES
Turkish economy that has been growing uninterruptedly for the past 26 quarters jammed in the second quarter of this year. Turkey could only grow 1.9 percent in the second quarter of 2008.
Growth remained behind the expectations because of shrinkage in sectors like agriculture, manufacturing industry as well as construction.
Growth in the first half of the year was calculated as 4.2 percent.

MILLIYET
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ECONOMY SLOWS DOWN
The Turkish economy has created a disappointment in the second quarter of the year after reaching a growth rate beyond expectations in the first quarter. The Turkish Board of Statistics accounted the growth rate for the second quarter as 1.9 percent. It is the lowest rate recorded since the second quarter of 2002. The agriculture sector narrowed by 3.5 percent in the second quarter while the industrial sector grew only 2.5 percent after the first quarter`s rate of 7 percent.

PLAY LIKE A GIANT
Turkish national basketball team have beaten France 77-65 in their third match for the 2009 European Championship finals.

DTP TO SPEAK KURDISH AT PARLIAMENT
The Democratic Society Party (DTP) is getting ready to launch a campaign for inclusion of the right to education in mother language in the Constitution. Kamuran Yuksek, deputy chairperson of the political party, said that the DTP deputies would support the campaign by delivering their speeches in Kurdish at the parliament.

SABAH
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ARMENIANS WILLING TO WITHDRAW FROM AZERBAIJANI TERRITORY
President Abdullah Gul said on the way back from Baku to Turkey that the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders are in an optimistic mood. Gul stressed that the Armenians were willing to withdraw from Azerbaijani territory. President Gul conveyed to his Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev his impression that the Armenian leaders were willing to move out of Azerbaijani territory.

AUTOMOTIVE PRODUCTION IN TURKEY GOES DOWN BY 15 P.C.
After having been affected by oil and mortgage crisis worldwide, the Turkish automotive industry received a big blow from Europe. The declining demand for automobiles in Europe resulted in a drop in automotive production in Turkey by 15 percent in August when compared to the same month last year. 43,857 automobiles were manufactured in August, 2008. In August, 2007, 51,626 automobiles were manufactured in Turkey.

(AY-UK-SOL-MS)