PRESIDENTIAL CYCLING TOUR STARTS IN ISTANBUL
The 2009 Presidential Cycling Tour of Turkey started in Istanbul yesterday with the participation of 160 cyclists from 23 countries. A ceremony in Sultanahmet Square marking the start of the 45th annual tour was attended by President Abdullah Gul, State Minister for Youth and Sports Murat Basesgioglu, and Istanbul Governor Muammer Guler. Yesterday's 142-kilometer leg race was the tour's first stage, and will be followed by legs in Izmir-Kusadasi, Kusadasi-Bodrum, Bodrum-Marmaris, Marmaris-Fethiye, Fethiye-Finike, Finike-Antalya and Antalya-Alanya. /Today's Zaman/
US DEFENSE SEC'Y GATES TO VISIT TURKEY
On the heels of historic visits by US President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates is expected to visit Turkey soon. Gates' talks in Turkey will reportedly focus on Afghanistan and Iraq. The US administration is seeking Turkey's support for its troop withdrawal from Iraq, and Gates is expected to clarify plans for when and through what routes the troops will leave. Later, diplomats and military officers from the two countries will discuss the plans, and Turkey will convey its views to the US side. Gates is also expected to ask for more Turkish troops in NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan to counter the rising Taliban insurgency. While Turkey is cool towards sending combat troops to Afghanistan, it is expected to take over the helm of the ISAF's Kabul regional command in August and to boost the its troops presence as part of this takeover. Most of the Turkish force in Afghanistan is deployed in the Kabul area, where it provides local security as well as logistical and communications services. There is also a provincial reconstruction team working in the Wardak province. Turkish troops have so far been engaged solely in post-conflict reconstruction and nation-building activities in Afghanistan, such as training the new Afghan army and commanding the ISAF twice since its inception in 2002. /Turkiye/
SEZER STEPS DOWN FROM DSP HELM
Democratic Left Party (DSP) leader Zeki Sezer resigned the post yesterday. In his letter of resignation, Sezer said that he would continue to serve his party and Turkey as a DSP supporter. Former DSP Deputy Saffet Basaran will fill the party's top post until its extraordinary congress next month. /Milliyet/
YALCINTAS AWARDED SPECIAL TEACHERS CERTIFICATE
Political scientist Nevzat Yalcintas yesterday was awarded with a "teacher of teachers" certificate at a ceremony held by the Istanbul Economists Association. Giving the certificate to Professor Yalcintas, President Abdullah Gul said that Yalcintas had supported him during his academic studies and that they still consult. For his part, Yalcintas said that he was very proud to see one of his students become president. /Milliyet/
Pvts. Emre Anºin and Tuncay Türken, who were killed on Saturday in a clash with the terrorist PKK in mountains near the Iraqi border, were laid to rest in Istanbul yesterday. Attending the ceremony were President Abdullah Gul, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Deputy Premier Nazim Ekren, Istanbul Governor Muammer Guler, Deputy Chief of General Staff Ergin Saygun and Celalettin Cerrah, the head of the Istanbul Police Department. Anºin and Türken were killed Saturday afternoon in a clash in the Bestler Dereler area of Turkey's southeastern province of Sirnak, where Turkish soldiers have been battling members of the terrorist PKK for some time as part of an annual spring military crackdown. The clash began after soldiers detected a large group of PKK terrorists trying to infiltrate Turkey from northern Iraq. The General Staff announced that a security guard was injured and seven terrorists killed in the clash. The operation, conducted with the participation of hundreds of soldiers and village guards, is ongoing in the Cudi and Bestler Dereler areas. Prime Minister Erdogan also paid a visit to Ansin's house late on Saturday to express his condolences to his family. /Turkiye/
Energy and Natural Resources Minister Hilmi Guler said yesterday that Turkey expects to sign a deal on the Nabucco pipeline project by June. "We have sent a letter to EU countries which are part of the Nabucco gas pipeline project and expect their answers," he told reporters in Ankara. "We hope to sign deals by June if they send the answers by the end of April." Guler said the governments were discussing issues that they had already agreed upon and to avoid that, he sent a letter to EU countries that are members of the Nabucco project. Turkey wants to initiate the project, which would carry gas to European markets from fields in the Caucasus and Central Asia, as soon as possible, he added. Güler said that he would meet with his Italian, Greek and Azerbaijani counterparts in Istanbul by the end of this month to discuss the transportation of Azeri natural gas to Europe. Asked whether Turkey's efforts to normalize relations with Armenia would hurt Turkish-Azeri energy cooperation, Guler said it would not. Referring to Azeri discomfort over the possibility of Turkey opening its border with Armenia, Guler said that negotiations with Armenia were continuing but that no concrete steps had been taken by Turkey as a result of these talks. Last Friday, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, "We have been saying this very clearly: As long as the problems between Azerbaijan and Armenia remain in place, it will be difficult for us to make progress in talks with Armenia." Erdogan said the absence of a resolution between Armenia and Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh is hindering negotiations on normalizing ties between Yerevan and Ankara, calling on the UN and other international actors to help resolve the problem. /Sabah/