ANKARA - These are some of the major headlines and their summaries in Turkish press on October 22nd, 2004. The Anadolu Agency does not verify these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
HURRIYET (LIBERAL)
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FINAL VERDICT: 25 YEARS IN PRISON
Turkish court sentenced contractor Veli Gocer to 25 years in prison on charges of causing death of 195 people as the buildings he constructed collapsed in the devastating earthquake of August 17th, 1999. Criminal Court in central Konya province sentenced Veli Gocer, his son Can Gocer and partner Zafer Coskun to 25-year imprisonment on charges of causing death of people by behaving incautiously and carelessly. Veli Gocer will have to serve nine more years in prison, since he was imprisoned for seven months before this verdict.
FROM ERDOGAN TO ARMENIAN JOURNALIST: DON'T AGITATE
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan used the expression ''Armenian genocide'' directly without using the expression ''so-called'' before it. When an Armenian journalist asked a question about this matter, Erdogan said, ''there are 58 Armenian churches, and 57 (Armenian) schools in Turkey. Four Armenian planes land at (airport of) Istanbul every week. Don't try to agitate this (situation).
MILLIYET (LIBERAL)
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I AM ALSO AFFECTED BY MONICA SCANDAL
Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the terrorist organization PKK, thinks that there was a link between his arrest and Monica scandal. In his defense sent to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), Ocalan claimed that Bill Clinton, the U.S. President then, ordered his capture. According to Ocalan, the Israeli lobby that wanted to establish good relations with Turkey, blackmailed Clinton regarding his relationship with Monica, and thus, Clinton had Ocalan caught.
WE ARE RAISING ASTRONAUTS
Turkish Air Forces Command sent eight pilots to education and training at the Stanford University of the United States. These pilots will receive education on how to become an astronaut till 2010, and are planned to sent to the space in 2020.
SABAH (LIBERAL)
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ERDOGAN REACTS TO QUESTION ABOUT SO-CALLED ARMENIAN GENOCIDE
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan held a news conference in French capital Paris yesterday after the Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) released its periodic report for Turkey. When asked, ''you are the first Turkish prime minister who did not use the word of so-called to define the Armenian genocide. Are you getting prepared to recognize the genocide?'' Prime Minister reacted, ''you should first read historical documents in our archives.''
GOCER SENTENCED TO 25 YEARS IN PRISON
The High Criminal Court in the central city of Konya sentenced contractor Veli Gocer to 25 years in prison for negligence after apartment buildings he built crumbled in the 1999 earthquake, killing 195 people. Expert reports said that Veli Gocer used shoddy building practices such as mixing sea sand and pebbles with concrete in buildings that collapsed when the quake hit in August 1999.
CUMHURIYET (LEFT)
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WORKERS TAKE STREETS FOR SSK HOSPITALS
Members of labor unions and health workers took streets in several cities to protest the handing over of hospitals belonging to Social Security Agency (SSK) to the Ministry of Health. Meanwhile, Confederation of Turkish Labor Unions (Turk-Is) Board of Chairmen held a meeting yesterday, and decided to hold mass demonstrations in the cities of Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir, Adana and Bursa.
CRISIS OF ''ARMENIAN GENOCIDE''
Kemal Dervis of the Republican People's Party (CHP) said while replying to questions of journalists about the allegations on ''Armenian genocide'' that he was sorry about massacre of Armenians. His statement caused a serious uneasiness within the CHP.
GOCER SENTENCED TO 25 YEARS IN PRISON
The High Criminal Court sentenced contractor Veli Gocer to 25 years in prison for causing deaths of 195 people through negligence after apartment buildings he built crumbled in the massive quake disaster of 1999.
RADIKAL (LEFT)
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BARGAINING WITH EU
Speaking at the Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan put forward Turkey's expectation from the EU Summit on December 17th as saying, ''entry talks between Turkey and the EU should be initiated without any delay. We mean that entry talks should be opened officially in July of 2005 the latest.''
POPE CANCELS HIS VISIT TO TURKEY
Pope John Paul II cancelled his planned visit to Turkey due to health reasons. Earlier, Greek-Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I invited Pope John Paul to Turkey.
DENKTAS DESIGNATES EROGLU
President Rauf Denktas of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) designated National Unity Party (UBP) leader Dervis Eroglu to form the new government. The coalition government of the TRNC formed by the Republican Turkish Party (CTP) and Democrat Party (DP) on January 13th, 2004 resigned on Wednesday.
TURKIYE (RIGHT)
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GENOCIDE LESSON
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave important messages to Europe. Erdogan said, ''let you examine the Ottoman archives. We want friendship, but you continuously want enmity. You need to examine the Ottoman archives to convince me to accept genocide issue. If you don't examine these archives, you can't be objective. There are Armenian administrators in my party. I haven't received any single complaint from my Armenian citizens so far. So, what are you trying to do?'' Erdogan added, ''you don't have the right to agitate the issue from outside. Let us not turn these issues into a matter of resentment, but let's establish friendships. We are discussing Armenian border at the moment, and you are prolonging the process. Armenian planes land at Turkish airport in the present day. But, we can't see the same approach to these matters in Armenia.''
TURKISH SOLDIER WILL ALWAYS STAY IN ISLAND
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, ''Turkey will not withdraw its soldiers from Cyprus because we became the unjustly treated party although we said 'yes' (to the Annan plan) in the (April 24th simultaneous) referenda in the island. The Greek Cypriots voted 'no', and they became an EU (European Union) member. Isn't this a contradiction? Don't try to put more pressure on us.''
ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)
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LABOR UNIONS DECIDES TO HOLD MASS DEMONSTRATIONS
Confederation of Turkish Labor Unions (Turk-Is) Board of Chairmen decided to hold mass demonstrations in the cities of Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir, Adana and Bursa to protest the handing over of hospitals belonging to Social Security Agency (SSK) to the Ministry of Health.
''TURKEY IS AT CROSSROADS''
The Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) said in its periodic report for Turkey, ''Turkey is at crossroads. If it overcomes some traps, it can enter into a sustained period of strong growth.'' The report says, ''the recent recommendation by the EU commission to start accession talks - if confirmed by the European Council in December - promises to strengthen the international anchors and could underpin Turkey's shift to a stronger growth path.''
YENI SAFAK (CONSERVATIVE)
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THREE TRAPS IN ECONOMY
This year's report of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on Turkey drew attention to the current balance. The report considered confidence trap, governance trap and informality trap as the ''three main traps''. The OECD stated that the current (balance) deficit might exceed 4 percent this year, and noted that in case this deficit was financed by additional foreign debts, international circles would have concerns over sustainability of these debts. The report forecast inflation rate for 2005 as 8-9 percent.
EROGLU DESIGNATED TO FORM TRNC GOVERNMENT
Rauf Denktas, the President of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), designated Dervis Eroglu, the leader of the National Unity Party (UBP), to form the new government. The coalition government formed by Republican Turkish Party (CTP led by Mehmet Ali Talat) and Democrat Party (DP led by Serdar Denktas) submitted its resignation the previous day. CTP-DP coalition government was formed on January 13th, 2004.
(UK-BRC-AÖ) 22.10.2004