ANKARA (AA) - These are some of the major headlines and their summaries in Turkish press on November 23rd, 2004. The Anadolu Agency does not verify these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
HURRIYET (LIBERAL)
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GUL: U.S. HAS LOST PUBLIC SUPPORT IN TURKEY
Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul stated at the Iraq Summit in Egypt that the United States has lost public support in Turkey due to its unclear stance on the PKK/KONGRA-GEL issue. ''The U.S. must stop PKK/KONGRA-GEL activities in north of Iraq. Failure to stop the terrorist organization will have serious consequences. One obvious consequence is that the U.S. has already lost Turkish public support,'' said Gul.
EOKA CONFESSION
Andreas Dimitriu, a former EOKA militant of southern Cyprus, has confessed that they had attacked and killed innocent Turks 30 years ago. ''We have killed Turkish men and raped women in Taskent village. Whatever took place then was possible with the assistance and guidance of Greek Cypriot officials.''
MILLIYET (LIBERAL)
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''WE MASSACRED 89 TURKS''
Greek Cypriot Andreas Dimitriu, a former member of EOKA, confessed that they had killed Turkish Cypriot people in Taskent 30 years ago, and the officials were aware of it. Dimitriu said, ''we gathered Turkish Cypriot men in the village. I thought that they would have been used in exchange of captives. I did not know that the men would have been killed. Those men were taken away by soldiers coming from Hirokitia. The same soldiers raped some young women for revenge.'' A total of 89 Turkish Cypriots were killed on August 14th, 1974, and they were buried in mass graves.
TURKISH WRITER PRESENTED KLEIST AWARD OF GERMANY
Turkish writer Emine Sevgi Ozdamar was presented with ''Kleist Award'' by German Kleist Literature Association.
HEARING HELD IN QAEDA BOMB TRIAL
The court began the final testimony phase in the trial of 69 people accused of involvement in last year's deadly suicide bomb attacks in Istanbul. A cell with links to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network is accused of planning four truck bomb attacks on two synagogues, the British consulate and London-based HSBC bank. Sixty-one people, including the bombers, were killed and hundreds wounded in two days of violence in November 2003. The cell's suspected five leaders were among the 47 defendants who appeared in court to provide final testimony in the trial's fourth hearing. The group's leaders face life imprisonment, while the others face jail terms ranging from 4 and 22 years.
SABAH (LIBERAL)
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MERCEDES SUPPORTS TURKISH GIRLS
Mercedes Benz-Turk General Director Dr. Till Becker has stated that his company will support 200 girls annually for four years during their industrial high school education. ''Successful girls will be employed by Mercedes Benz Turk upon completion of their high school education,'' said Becker.
U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY GIVES SUPPORT TO TURKEY'S EU MEMBERSHIP
In a meeting with State Minister Ali Babacan at the G-20 Summit, U.S. Secretary of Treasury John Snow has stated that his country fully supports Turkey's EU membership. ''If we had a chance to vote, without hesitation, we would have voted in favor of full Turkey's EU membership,'' told Snow.
(To be continued)
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CUMHURIYET (LEFT)
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TSK: ''ATHENS ESCALATES TENSION''
The General Staff said, ''the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) refrains from practices that could escalate tension. We expect the same careful attention from the neighboring countries.'' A Turkish F-16 war plane had to use three flares to protect itself from a Greek war plane over Aegean.
TENSION IN FUNERAL OF TERRORIST
Tension escalated in funeral of a member of terrorist organization PKK/KONGRA-GEL who was killed in an operation in rural area near Besiri town of southeastern city of Batman. Clash erupted between security forces and supporters of the terrorist organization during the funeral in Diyarbakir. A policeman was injured. Six people were detained.
RADIKAL (LEFT)
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ZYPRIES VISITS CICEK
German Justice Minister Brigitte Zypries paid a visit to Justice Minister Cemil Cicek. During the meeting, Cicek said, ''we want to develop our judicial cooperation with Germany in parallel with our economic, political and commercial cooperation. We decided to sign the cooperation agreement in the spring.'' Meanwhile, Zypries said that Germany would continue supporting Turkey's EU membership bid.
RATE OF INCREASE IN POPULATION DROPS
Population experts announced that Turkey's population at the end of 2004 will be more than 71 million. According to 2003 Turkey Population and Health Research's preliminary report, 1,370,000 babies are expected to be born in 2004 and 456,000 individuals expected to pass away in Turkey. Experts estimate that Turkey's population in 2004 would be 71,813,000. Turkey will have a population of 72,774,000 in 2005.
TALAT RETURNS MISSION OF FORMING NEW GOVERNMENT
Republican Turkish Party (CTP) leader and Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Talat of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) returned the mission of forming new government to TRNC President Rauf Denktas. President Denktas designated Talat to form new government on November 8th.
TURKIYE (RIGHT)
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LAST HOPE FOR IRAQ
Participating in an international summit in Egypt on the issue of Iraq and its future, Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul has stated that Iraq's neighbors should have a better role in defining the future of Iraq. ''Turkey does not have a hidden agenda on Iraq but some countries do. We are not behaving behind the scene,'' said Gul. The Egyptian Summit is attended by neighbors of Iraq, G-8 nations, EU and UN representatives. On top of the agenda are issues such as the protection of territorial integrity of Iraq, end of occupation of Iraq and the upcoming Iraqi elections.
ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)
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ICY ROAD CLAIM LIVES OF FOUR STUDENTS
Four people were killed and 42 others were injured when a passenger bus fell off a bridge near Yerkoy town of central Anatolian city of Yozgat due to icy roads. The bus was carrying 46 people, most of them students returning from a tour to northwestern city of Canakkale.
NARCOTICS OPERATION IN ANKARA
Narcotics officials impounded 600 thousand drug pills in an operation in Ankara. Street value of the illicit drugs was about 4 trillion Turkish liras. Seven people were detained in the operation.
YENI SAFAK (CONSERVATIVE)
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SEZER AND ERDOGAN AT COMCEC
The 20th Session of the Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation (COMCEC) of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) and OIC Economic Conference are beginning today. The COMCEC meeting will be chaired by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will deliver a speech at the Business Forum.
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2004-11-23