ANKARA - These are some of the major headlines and their summaries in Turkish press on August 26th, 2004. The Anadolu Agency does not verify these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

HURRIYET (LIBERAL)
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TWO MORE TURKS TAKEN HOSTAGE
Militants kidnapped two Turkish workers and threatened to kill them in Iraq. The militants urged Turkish companies to leave Iraq within 72 hours to mercy Abdullah Ozdemir and Ali Daskin. Usluel and SA-RA companies which employ those two Turkish workers, decided to withdraw from Iraq immediately.

MIT-MAFIA LINK SHOULD TOTALLY BE SUPPRESSED
Deniz Baykal, the leader of the Republican People's Party (CHP), told Hurriyet daily that the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) should end its relationship with the underground world and Mafia. Baykal said, ''the statement of MIT Undersecretary who said they ended their relations with Cakici, is pleasing. But, it seems that Cakici has not ended its relationship with MIT. This issue is so important that it can't be based on Cakici's preferences and consent.''

MILLIYET (LIBERAL)
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CIRCULAR THAT PREVENTS HIDING DOCUMENTS
An investigation will be launched against prosecutors or officials who hide some files and cause lapse of time in some cases or who send the file to the necessary organ in the last minute. Train crashes, Cakici scandals, cases on fraud in banks, and problems faced in investigations are all matters of discussion in Turkey. Justice Minister Cemil Cicek, who has issued a circular, complains that files are kept at inspection boards deliberately. Cicek said, ''they are hiding some files and thus, lapse of time occurs in cases. They send the files to the prosecutor when only 15 days are left before the lapse of time. So, no much time is left for investigation. We have observed that this method was used in cases on fraud in banks.''

SEREF WINS SILVER
Seref Eroglu of Turkey, competing in men's 66-kg Greco-Roman wrestling at Athens Olympic Games, won silver medal. Eroglu, who defeated Manukyan of Kazakhstan yesterday morning, lost the gold when he was beaten by Mansurov of Azerbaijan by only one point in the evening final.

SABAH (LIBERAL)
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WE WERE SAD YESTERDAY, BUT HOPEFUL TODAY
Seref Eroglu, from whom we expected a gold at Athens Olympic Games, won a silver while Hamza Yerlikaya could not become a medallist. Turkey, which was sad about the results of yesterday's wrestling events, is hopeful today since Elvan Abeylegesse will run 1,500 meters at 8.30 p.m.

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TRABZON?
Trabzonspor soccer club of Turkey defeated Dynamo Kiev 2-1 in Ukraine and raised Turkey's hopes for the Champions League. Everybody thought that Trabzonspor would be the first team outside Istanbul which would play in the Champions League. But, Trabzonspor lost out to Dynamo Kiev 0-2 (2-3 on aggregate) in the second leg in Trabzon, missing such a historical opportunity.

CUMHURIYET (LEFT)
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CONSOLATION TEAMS (!)
On July 7th, 2004, days before the train derailment in northwestern Pamukova town which killed and injured tens of people, the Turkish Directorate General of State Railways (TCDD) had started to form ''consolation teams'' for possible crashes. TCDD, which ignored warnings of scientists about especially outworn train lines, launched initiatives to form ''consolation teams'' with a circular signed by TCDD Deputy Director General Erol Inal on July 7th. This circular assigns these teams to share pains of relatives of the dead and the injured in possible crashes.

TURKEY WAITS FOR A STEP FROM ATHENS
Cyprus and Iraq were discussed in the National Security Council (NSC) meeting while Fener Greek Orthodox Patriarchate and the seminary in Heybeliada, which were two special items of the agenda, were not discussed. Diplomatic sources said that Turkey was expecting Greece to take a step to back the Western Thrace Turkish minority before taking a step regarding the seminary.

RADIKAL (LEFT)
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JAPANESE WHO LOVES ISTANBUL
Japanese citizen Yang said, ''I begged UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) not to exclude Istanbul from the World Cultural Heritage list. I told them that deficiencies in the city would easily be eliminated in two years.'' Yang is working to keep Istanbul in the World Cultural Heritage list. Yang, who is the Director of Special Projects in UNESCO, has seen three deficiencies in Istanbul, and she listed them as lack of protective development plan, insufficient regulations, and inadequate institutions where people can apply.

TRABZONSPOR REJECTED LEAGUE
Trabzonspor soccer club of Turkey lost its chance to join the Champions League in a home match. The team was beaten by Dynamo Kiev of Ukraine 0-2 at home although it defeated this team 2-1 in the first leg in Kiev.

TURKIYE (RIGHT)
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NSC: WE ARE FOLLOWING DEVELOPMENTS IN IRAQ
The National Security Council, which convened yesterday, discussed recent developments in Iraq and security matters. The NSC did not make any statement on the seminary in Heybeliada, which was a special item of the agenda of the meeting.

TWO TURKS KIDNAPPED
Abdullah Ozdemir and Ali Daskin, two Turks working for a Turkish company in Iraq, were kidnapped.

FITCH'S RATING IS POSITIVE
Fitch Ratings, an international rating agency, revised the outlook for Turkey's long-term foreign and local currency ratings of 'B+' to positive from stable.

ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)
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''TAKE YOUR GERMAN NEIGHBOR, AND COME TO FESTIVAL''
Istanbul Culture and Arts Foundation will bring all voices of Turkey to Berlin, the culture and arts center of Europe. The foundation, which has brought world-famous artists to Istanbul for 32 years, will now take Turkish artists to Europe. The ''Now'' festival which will start with a concert of Turkish singer Sertab Erener in Berlin will promote Turkish culture in Europe till September 4th. Gorgun Taner, the director general of the foundation, called Turkish kinsmen living in Europe not to come to the festival alone, but bring their German neighbors with them.

PARLIAMENT TO EMPLOY NEW PERSONNEL WITH EXAMS
The parliament decided to employ new personnel with exams after the state started to do the same thing in order to prevent some officials from backing their friends or relatives. Office of the Parliament Speaker has asked the Student Election and Placement Center to make an examination for 50 personnel it is planning to employ. Those who can get 70 and above out of 100 points in this examination to be held on October 9th and who can be successful in the interview, will be employed.

YENI SAFAK (CONSERVATIVE)
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MUSIAD TO BRING TOGETHER 50 COUNTRIES IN FAIR
Around 1,000 businessmen will join the Eighth International Business Forum and 10th International MUSIAD (Association of Independent Industrialists and Businessmen of Turkey) Fair to be held in Istanbul by MUSIAD between September 15th and 19th. MUSIAD Chairman Bolat said, ''we are holding trade Olympics in Istanbul. And, we expect more than 200,000 people to join these two events.''

CHP RESEARCH ON ISRAELI INTEREST IN GAP
Kilic of Republican People's Party (CHP) drew attention that 27.7 thousand hectares of land was sold to foreigners, especially the Israelis, in touristic regions of Turkey and in the Southeastern Anatolian Project (GAP) region. And, he asked the parliament to launch an inquiry regarding this matter. The motion prepared by the CHP deputies said, ''lands in coastal cities, regions having historical and touristic peculiarities, and areas in GAP region are actually plundered. Greeks, Germans, Britons, Syrians and Israelis have already purchased almost 27.7 thousand hectares of land.''

(BRC-MS) 26.08.2004