ANKARA - These are some of the major headlines and their summaries in Turkish press on April 14th, 2005. The Anadolu Agency does not verify these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
''CASUS BELLI IS STILL VALID''
HURRIYET- Turkish General Staff Deputy Chief General Ilker Basbug said, ''our parliament unanimously decided in 1995 that Turkey could not accept Greece's extending its territorial waters in the Aegean from 6 miles to 12 miles. This decision is the expression of state policy which is still valid. Our policy aims to prevent any clashes instead of erupting clashes between the two countries.''
SWEDISH PLANE MAKES EMERGENCY LANDING AT TRABZON AIRPORT
HURRIYET- A Swedish Airways plane made an emergency landing at Trabzon Airport in northern part of Turkey after smoke appeared in the cockpit. The Boeing 767 plane had been on its way from Abu Dhabi to the Danish capital Copenhagen with 327 passengers and 9 crew members when it made the landing at the airport.
TURKEY CALLS ON ARMENIA TO AGREE ON JOINT RESEARCH
HURRIYET- Turkish Foreign Minister & Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul told at a special parliamentary session that his government was calling on Armenia to initiate a joint research on the killings during World War I. Gul said that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has sent a letter to Armenian President Robert Kocharian, inviting Armenia to help setting up of a joint research committee.
MAN OF HIS WORD
MILLIYET- Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer was greeted in Syria like a hero with these slogans: ''you Mr. President is a man of your word'', ''welcome honorary President'', ''Syria never forgets you'' and ''we love you''. Sezer said, ''Syrian President Bashar al-Asad said they would complete withdrawing their troops from Lebanon by the end of this month in line with UN Security Council resolution. We welcome this.''
FORTIS: ''WE SAW THE DYNAMISM''
MILLIYET- Jean - Paul Votron, CEO of Belgian-Dutch Fortis Bank which agreed with Dogan Group to buy Turkish Disbank, said, ''we have been aware of the dynamism of Turkish economy.'' Votron added, ''we are not politicians. Our strategy is focused on an enlarged EU, and countries which will join EU are included in this strategy.''
LETTER AGAINST 'BLUE BOOK'
SABAH- Turkish Parliamentary General Assembly discussed so-called Armenian genocide allegations. Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul called Armenian President Robert Kocharian to establish a joint committee and discuss the issue. General Assembly issued a declaration stating, ''we are not afraid of facing with our history.'' Leaders of Justice & Development Party (AKP) and Republican People's Party (CHP) wrote a letter to British Parliament and asked it to condemn Blue Book.
LAST TANGO IN ATHENS
SABAH- Efes Pilsen basketball team of Turkey and Panathinaikos of Greece will play for a place in Euroleague final four in Athens tonight. The game will be broadcast on Turkish Skyturk channel as well as TV channels of 11 different countries.
GENERAL STAFF TO OPEN ITS ARCHIVES
VATAN- Turkish General Staff made a historic decision to open its archives in order to support the recent initiative of the Turkish parliament against allegations of so-called Armenian genocide. All documents about activities of Armenians in the past will be published. The first two volumes of the documents will be put on the markets next week. They include nearly 300 documents about activities of Armenians between 1914 and 1918.
A DIALOGUE MECHANISM TO BE ESTABLISHED FOR AEGEAN
VATAN- Turkish Foreign Minister & Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul and Greek Foreign Minister Petros Molyviatis have initiated a new era in the bilateral relations between Turkey and Greece. Under an agreement they reached in Ankara, a new dialogue mechanism will be established for military and civilian flights over the Aegean.
NEW STRATEGY FROM ANKARA
CUMHURIYET- Turkish parliament convened to establish a national policy against so-called Armenian genocide and decided to pursue a more active policy by developing new strategies. A letter which was signed by deputies wanted British parliament to announce to the world that 'Blue Book' was prepared for propaganda. Also parliaments which adopted so-called Armenian genocide were condemned in the letter.
PARLIAMENT DEBATES ARMENIAN CLAIMS
RADIKAL- For the first time in its history, Turkish parliament debated allegations of so-called Armenian genocide. Foreign Minister & Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul said that Turkey would formally ask the British parliament to reject the so-called Blue Book, published in 1916, which uses eyewitness accounts to conclude that Armenians were systematically exterminated. ''We submit our request to the British parliament that it recognize the Blue Book as invalid and baseless as a historic document and to make that clear,'' he said. Gul said that Turkey had been too passive in the past in trying to counter the Armenian claims.
''THERE IS NOT ANY OFFICIAL INFORMATION ON RETRIAL OF OCALAN''
RADIKAL- Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that there was not any official information whether the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) decided to retry Abdullah Ocalan, the head of the terrorist organization PKK. Ocalan's lawyers lodged an application with the ECHR in 1999 claiming that their client had not received a fair trial.
55 YEARS OF THANK YOU VISIT
TURKIYE- Turkish troops landed in Korea on September 17th, 1950. They saved a nation but suffered a loss of 4,247 soldiers. Turkish soldiers stayed there for a while after the war and protected South Korea against communist world. 55 years have passed since this war. During this period many high-ranking officials visited South Korea and were welcomed with great interest. However, no South Korean leader has visited Turkey within that period. This situation ends today. South Korean President Moo-Hyun Roh will arrive in Ankara today. He will be accompanied by managers of 25 leading companies of South Korea.
SYRIA PROMISES
TURKIYE- Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer said Syria will withdraw from Lebanon by the end of this month. Sezer and Syrian President Bashar al-Asad held a bilateral meeting and discussed Iraq issue, Israeli-Palestinian dispute and developments about Lebanon. Sezer said, ''we agreed that it is necessary to pursue efforts to protect national unity and stability of Lebanon.
PRESIDENT SEZER CALLS ON EVERYONE TO ACT WITH COMMON-SENSE
ZAMAN- Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer called on everyone to act with common-sense upon recent social turmoil in several cities following burning of a Turkish flag during a demonstration in southern city of Mersin last month (March).
SOUTH KOREAN PRESIDENT DUE IN TURKEY
ZAMAN- President Roh Moo-hyun of South Korea will come to Ankara later today. He will be the first ever South Korean president paying a formal visit to Turkey. Issues such as commercial relations, investment, information technology, and recent developments in Iraq are expected to be high on agenda of meetings of President Roh Moo-hyun in Turkey.
CALL OF COMMON SENSE FROM STATE TO PEOPLE
YENI SAFAK- President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan underlined the provocative incidents which have occurred in recent weeks and wanted people not to allow and get deceived by such tricks.
GULER: ISTANBUL WILL FIND ITS FUTURE THROUGH TOURISM
YENI SAFAK- Istanbul Governor Muammer Guler said, ''we will use tourism potential of Istanbul which is a world capital. We hosted 5 million tourists in 2004 and we target to host 10 million tourists this year.''