ANKARA - These are some of the major headlines and their summaries in Turkish press on February 28th, 2005.
EUROPEAN UNION IS NOT INDISPENSABLE
HURRIYET- Turkish Foreign Minister & Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul, to made an interview with Chinese state run tv CCTV, said European Union (EU) was not indispensable for Turkey.
Gul said Europe felt uneasiness about Turkey because of its 99 percent Muslim population.
Stating that the hesitations of the EU were unnecessary, Gul said Turkish people began to look at the EU from a different point of view because of this skeptical structure of the EU.
MARCH SNOW TO ISTANBUL
HURRIYET- Snow is expected in Istanbul on Wednesday where temperatures are expected to drop between 0-3 degrees Celsius.
There is both the spring and winter in Turkey. Snow is expected in eastern regions and in Thrace whereas there is spring in the Aegean and Mediterranean regions.
According to the General Directorate of Meteorology, temperatures will drop 7 degrees Celsius at the beginning of the week in Thrace.
ECHR AWAITS HIM
MILLIYET- Family of a nine-year-old boy who was transferred HIV-positive blood, applied to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) after their lawsuit against the Ministry of Health was not concluded within seven years. ECHR accepted their application. Their lawyer requested ECHR to sentence Turkey to pay a compensation of 2 million euro to his family for violating the right to fair trial.
INVESTIGATION INTO ALLEGED CORRUPTION AT TSE
MILLIYET- Industry & Trade Minister Ali Coskun said that the investigation into the alleged corruption at the Turkish Standards Institution (TSE) had been completed. Ministry of Industry & Trade Inspection Board finalized its report about 16 high-level bureaucrats of the Ministry. The report was sent to Ankara Chief Prosecutor's Office. Coskun said that corruption at TSE harmed the concepts of confidence and quality.
ERDOGAN ANNOUNCES 2005 AS ''AFRICAN YEAR''
SABAH- Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced 2005 as ''African Year'' and will pay official visits to Ethiopia and South Africa between March 2nd and 5th, 2005.
The visit, which was earlier expected to last for 8 days, decreased to 5 days after Kenya was excluded from the tour.
The visit, which is a part of ''Africa Plan'', had earlier been planned, but could not take place. Countries like Morocco and Tunisia will be within the scope of the visit in April.
SPECIAL CEREMONY FOR TURKEY IN KOREA
SABAH- South Korea congratulated Hyundai Assan because of its performance last year. Hyundai Motors Deputy Chairman Kim invited Hyundai Assan Executive Board Director Ali Kibar to South Korea and a ceremony was held there.
Kim awarded Hyundai Assan with a plaquette which increased the sales in 2003 and reiterated confidence in them.
Thus, Hyundai Assan became the company who got the most market share in European markets of Hyundai.
AL-JAAFARI: PKK CAN NOT SHELTER IN IRAQ
CUMHURIYET- Ibrahim al-Jaafari, who is running for Prime Ministry of Iraq, said ''any organization who launches activities in Iraq against our neighbors, can not shelter here.''
Al-Jaafari made the statements after meeting four U.S. senators.
He said PKK would have to leave the Iraqi territories in case it does not end its activities.
ERDOGAN DUE TO AFRICA
RADIKAL- Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will pay official visits to Ethiopia and South Africa between March 2nd and 5th, 2005. Erdogan will leave for Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on March 1st. Prime Minister Erdogan and Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia will preside meetings between Turkish and Ethiopian delegations. Several agreements will be signed during the meetings. Erdogan is scheduled to attend opening of Program Coordination Office of Turkish Cooperation & Development Authority (TIKA) in Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. Prime Minister Erdogan will proceed to South Africa late on March 2nd to meet Deputy President Jacob Zuma of South Africa.
''WE SHOULD SPEED UP OUR EFFORTS''
RADIKAL- Turkey's Secretary General for the European Union (EU) Murat Sungar said that only 15 percent of EU regulations was translated into Turkish. ''We should speed up our efforts to adjust Turkey to economic criteria and to translate EU regulations into Turkish,'' he said.
DANGEROUS GAME OF PESHMERGA FIGHTERS
TURKIYE- The most serious warning came from the United States about plans to found an independent ''Kurdistan'', and failure in efforts to take armed peshmerga fighters under control. The New York Times newspaper quoted Massoud Barzani, the leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, as saying, ''we want to keep our peshmerga because they are a symbol of resistance. It's not a matter to be discussed or negotiated.''
The newspaper also quoted Larry Diamond, a former adviser to the Coalition Provisional Authority, as saying, ''what I see happening now in Iraq is the potential drift toward warlordism. If things go bad, if ethnic and regional divisions are not well and carefully managed by the country's political leaders, then the existence of all these militias could facilitate the descent of the country into some kind of Lebanon-style civil war.''
The newspaper said that there was a map in office of Mehdi Dosky, the commander of one of training camps for militias, showing the theoretical pan-Kurdish nation that Kurds in the Middle East hope to carve out one day - a huge territory stretching from the Mediterranean to western Iran and taking in large parts of Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran.
TURKISH SECURITY DEPARTMENT TO OPEN AN OFFICE IN AFGHANISTAN
ZAMAN- Turkish Security Department has taken action to open an office in Afghanistan, the global center of illicit drug trafficking. Officials of the Security Department held a series of talks with Afghan government, U.S. and British forces. According to a report of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Afghan people have been raising opium poppy in 28 out of 32 provinces throughout country. Afghanistan gained an income of 2.8 billion U.S. dollars from illicit drug trafficking last year.
STOP SNATCH AND RUN TERRORISM
YENI SAFAK- Snatch and run theft, which Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan also felt uneasiness, and which became an organized crime, can not be stopped.
Snatch and run terrorism, which triggered by poverty and unemployment, frightens people and can not be stopped as necessary measures can not be taken and as the criminals work like organized gangs.
TUZMEN:''A SECOND BORDER CROSSING SHOULD BE OPENED WITH IRAQ''
YENI SAFAK- Turkish State Minister Kursad Tuzmen said a second border crossing should be opened between Turkey and Iraq.
Tuzmen and Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu visited Habur border crossing in Silopi town of southeastern city of Sirnak.
Sirnak Governor Osman Gunes briefed the ministers.
Following the briefing, Tuzmen told reporters, ''we have been expending efforts to increase our trade with Iraq and the other neighboring countries. We have experienced difficulties after the elections in Iraq. They stemmed from lack of authority in Iraq.''