ANKARA - These are some of the major headlines and their summaries in Turkish press on February 16, 2009. The Anadolu Agency does not verify these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

TURKIYE
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"WE UNTIE ALL THOSE DEADLOCKS ONE BY ONE"
President Abdullah Gul paid state visits to Russia and Tatarstan. On his way back to Turkey, President Gul said, "a number of dead-ends were surrounding Turkey. Now, we are untying all those deadlocks one by one. We are determined to set up good neighborly relations with al adjacent countries." Meanwhile, President Gul was presented with "honorary doctorate" by the Kazan State University of Tatarstan.

"THEY CANNOT CATCH US EVEN IN THEIR DREAMS"
Addressing residents of the northern province of Samsun, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, "our understanding is to serve each citizen throughout Turkey. The opposition cannot catch us even in its dreams."

ZAMAN
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THIRD AIRPORT IN ISTANBUL
The Municipality of Istanbul has decided to build a third airport in Istanbul. The new airport will be constructed in Silivri town of Istanbul.

LEBANESE YOUTH HOLD RALLY IN SUPPORT OF PRIME MINISTER ERDOGAN
Hundreds of Lebanese youth held a rally in front of the Turkish Embassy in Beirut to express their support to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his recent stance in Davos, Switzerland. The young Lebanese presented Ambassador Serdar Kilic with a letter to be sent to Erdogan.

YENI SAFAK
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"GARIH WAS KILLED IN A TEMPLE"
Yener Yermez, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for killing businessman Uzeyir Garih, claimed that Garih was killed during a special ritual in a secret temple. During his interrogation by prosecutor Zekeriya Oz, who has been carrying out the Ergenekon probe, Yermez said, "Meral (a woman) and a man picked up the body of a man covered all in blood. They forced me to claim the killing. I watched video footage of his killing. It looked like a religious ritual in a secret temple. They offered me some 1.5 million USD. The body was brought to the graveyard where it was found later."

CIGARETTE CONSUMPTION DECREASES IN TURKEY AFTER BAN
Cigarette consumption decreased in Turkey after the ban. Mehmet Kucuk, the deputy chairman of Tobacco & Alcohol Market Regulation Agency (TAPDK), said, "cigarette sales were down 1.1 percent in the second half of 2008 after the cigarette ban entered into force." Last year, a wide smoking ban was introduced in Turkey. Under the new law passed in January 2008, smoking was banned in all enclosed public places. The ban will be in effect at restaurants and bars as of July 19, 2009.

VATAN
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COLORED WATER AGAINST FIRE-BOMBS
February 15 was the tenth anniversary of capture of Abdullah Ocalan, head of terrorist organization PKK. Clashes erupted between security forces and protestors in the southeastern provinces of Diyarbakir, Batman, Sirnak, Cizre and Idil. Police sprayed colored water and used tear-gas to disperse protesters who threw fire-bombs and stones at them.

SNOWFALL IN ISTANBUL
Heavy snowfall is expected in Istanbul throughout this week. Meteorology officials said that northwestern and southern parts of Turkey would live the coldest week of this winter. Meanwhile, flood waters triggered by torrential rains inundated a number of houses and business places in the southern province of Antalya.

CUMHURIYET
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OZILHAN SAYS UPTURN COULD BE POSSIBLE IN 2010 EARLIEST
A leading businessman, Tuncay Ozilhan, warned that an economic upturn could be possible in 2010 the earliest. "Such an upturn is likely for neither Turkey nor the world for the time being. We should not expect any packages. Our resources are not adequate. On the other hand, no one has the will to use the existing resources," he warned.

TORNADO KILLS FOUR
Heavy snowfall and cold weather have paralyzed daily life and traffic throughout Turkey. Driver of a minibus lost control of the vehicle because of a tornado in the southeastern province of Gaziantep and collided with a lorry. Four people lost their lives and two others were injured in the accident. Cold weather will continue affecting daily life till the weekend.

RADIKAL
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TURKISH AND ARMENIAN STUDENTS MAKE A JOINT STATEMENT
The "Turkish-Armenian Students Dialogue Camp" took place in central Anatolian province of Nevsehir's Urgup town. After the camp, the students issued a joint statement and said that they were against efforts that could make Turks and Armenians enemies of each other.

ISRAEL: PERSONAL VIEWS
The Israeli military has issued a statement after Turkey gave a note to this country due to recent remarks by the Israeli Ground Forces Commander Avi Mizrahi. The Israeli military said in its statement that comments made by Mizrahi did not represent the views of the Israeli military and that those comments were the personal views of Mizrahi.

HURRIYET
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SECOND PERMISSION FOR ARMENIAN
The Turkish Higher Board of Education (YOK) had earlier approved the establishment of an Armenian language teaching department at Nevsehir University in central Anatolia province of Nevsehir. YOK issued another permission for the establishment of an Armenian department. This time the Armenian department will be founded at Erciyes University in central Anatolia province of Kayseri.

10 HOSPITALS TO BE OPENED IN MARCH
The President of the Executive Board of German Hospitals, Azmi Ofluoglu, said that they would open 10 new hospitals in Turkey after making an investment of 650 million USD. "Those 10 hospitals will be opened in March. We will then focus on making investments overseas," Ofluoglu said.

MILLIYET
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PARLIAMENT TO ENACT CRISIS PACKAGE
The parliament is expected to debate and enact a package to combat economic crisis this week. The package includes a series of measures to minimize the impacts of the crisis.

PKK BOMBER CAPTURED IN ISTANBUL
Police captured a PKK terrorist who was planning to stage a bomb attack in Istanbul on the 10th anniversary of the capture of Abdullah Ocalan, head of the terrorist organization. Police also arrested six other people who were aiding and abetting to that terrorist.

SABAH
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TURKEY HAS BECOME A COUNTRY THAT SOLVES PROBLEMS, PRESIDENT GUL
President Abdullah Gul said that Turkey had taken important steps in foreign policy area. "Turkey has become a country that solves problems," Gul said.

WINTER ARRIVES FROM WEST
Winter has arrived in Turkey from the West. Temperatures in Turkey are expected to go down by 6 degrees Celsius on Monday. Heavy snowfall has paralyzed daily life in eastern and Thrace regions of Turkey.

(SOL-UK-MS)