ANKARA - These are some of the major headlines and their summaries in Turkish press on April 15th, 2005. The Anadolu Agency does not verify these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
CLASH IN SIRNAK: FOUR PEOPLE FROM SECURITY FORCES KILLED
HURRIYET- A first lieutenant, two sergeants and a village guard died and 21 terrorists from the PKK organization were killed in an operation launched against the terrorist organization in Besta mountain.
Security forces, determining that terrorist groups, which infiltrated to Turkey from north of Iraq, began to gather in Cudi, Gabar, and Besta mountain, launched an operation.
COURT OF APPEALS RATIFIES CAGLAR'S SENTENCE
HURRIYET- Turkish Court of Appeals 11th Chamber has confirmed a decision of a lower court regarding the prison sentence given to former businessman and minister Cavit Caglar, his son Mustafa Caglar, uncle Sukru Sankaya, Senol Sankaya and Ergun Evcil. The defendants were charged with financial corruption.
DENKTAS' FAREWELL MANIFESTO
MILLIYET- Rauf Denktas, the President of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), gave critical messages to Turkey through Milliyet reporters only 48 hours before he leaves his office. Noting that Cyprus was not solely the problem of a single party, Denktas said, ''if you raise your voice after the flag is torn in Cyprus problem, you will be late.'' Denktas is preparing to leave his office after the presidential elections to be held on Sunday.
HERE IS HISTORIC LETTER
MILLIYET- In the letter he sent to Armenian President Robert Kocharian, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan mentioned 1915 incidents as ''hurting memories.'' This letter noted that there was difference in ''interpretation'' of views of Turkey and Armenia about those days.
''THERE WOULD BE SERIOUS CRISIS IF I HAD LEFT''
SABAH- Greek Foreign Minister Petros Molyviatis described his visit to Turkey as ''fruitful'' and said ''Turkey and Greece could experience a serious crisis if I had returned to Greece interrupting the talks in Turkey.''
Molyviatis, who met Greek Prime Minister Costas Caramanlis to give information about his visit to Turkey, described the visit as ''fruitful''.
When the journalists said why he did not cut the talks and departed from Ankara following the incident around Kardak, Molyviatis said, ''Turkish-Greek relations could deteriorate rapidly if I had departed. However, a potential incident was overcome through the style we discussed the incident. Now there is calmness.''
FORTIS CEO VOTRON: ''TURKEY SUCCEEDED IN MANY THINGS IN THE PAST FIVE YEARS''
SABAH- Jean Paul Votron, Ceo of Fortis that bought Disbank, said, ''Turkey gained many successes in the past five years. This is what we want.''
Stating that they wanted to further improve Disbank, Votron said, ''we hope to double our business volume within five years.''
THEY TAKE THE BRIBE, NATION PAYS THE PRICE
VATAN- It has been learned that bureaucrats were bribed, and presented with cars and jewelry as a gift regarding energy tenders. The indictment of the lawsuit filed against bureaucrats of the Energy & Natural Resources Ministry and businessmen is ready. According to the indictment, businessman Ibrahim Selcuk gave jewelry, watches, money, plane tickets to bureaucrats as gift; and paid their hotel, dinner, mobile phone and car costs.
ALSO, CAVIT CAGLAR TO BE IMPRISONED
VATAN- The Supreme Court of Appeals approved the punishments given to businessman Cavit Caglar and 34 other suspects in Interbank case. Caglar will serve 18 months in prison.
DIASPORA BEGINS INSULTS
CUMHURIYET- Two of the organizations which was set up by Armenians living in France, evaluated the proposal of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to set up a joint commission to investigate Armenian claims as ''clowning'' and called on European leaders not to be deceived by Turkey's trap.
TALAT READY TO COMPETE FOR LEADERSHIP
CUMHURIYET- Mehmet Ali Talat, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) Prime Minister and leader of the Republican Turkish Party (CTP), said policies pertaining to solution of Cyprus problem would be carried out with Turkey.
Talat said, ''however, if Turkey makes a mistake, we can not follow her blindly. We can not fall to the swap after her if Turkey can not see some dangers.''
POLITICAL GANG IN ENERGY
RADIKAL- Ankara prosecutor's office has filed a lawsuit against the file regarding the tenders opened by the Energy & Natural Resources Ministry. The indictment accuses 18 people, including secretary Sahin of (ruling) AKP (Justice & Development Party), and Kaya, a parliamentarian who resigned from AKP and joined (main opposition Republican People's Party) CHP. The indictment says that ''a gang was formed by political power''. According to this indictment, Sahin pressed on bureaucrats to hush up the corruption.
LOCAL BOSS OF MCDONALD'S
RADIKAL- License right of McDonald's Turkey and its farm in (Aegean city of) Izmir was granted to Anadolu Holding, belonging to famous businessman Tuncay Ozilhan. The holding plans to open 15 new shops in three years.
WE WENT FOR PEACE
TURKIYE- Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer said, ''my visit to Syria will stabilize regional peace.'' As a response to criticisms, Sezer, who completed his visit to Syria and returned to Turkey, said, ''Syria is not only an important neighbor for us, but also an important Middle Eastern country. My visit will not only further improve Ankara-Damascus relations but also stabilize regional peace.''
YEAR OF RECORD IN FOREIGN INVESTMENTS
TURKIYE- Turkey, which could only attract 20 billion USD in 14 years, has drawn 4.3 billion USD of foreign investments in the first four months of this year. Economic stability has made Turkey an attractive country for foreign investors. 4.6 billion USD of foreign investments was forecast for this year, and Turkey has already reached this target.
NEGOTIATIONS WITH TURKEY WILL BE LAUNCHED DESPITE ''NO'' VOTES
ZAMAN- French President Jacques Chirac, who addressed his nation on the television, said that negotiations with Turkey would be launched even though ''no'' came out of the referendum to be held on European Constitutional Treaty.
IMPORTANT MESSAGES FROM ERDOGAN
ZAMAN- Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan received Zaman editors and made important statements about foreign and domestic matters. On headscarf issue, Erdogan said, ''there is social compromise on headscarf. But, there should also be compromise in the parliament for solution of this problem. (Main opposition CHP leader) Baykal should also see this.'' Regarding trial of Abdullah Ocalan, the head of the terrorist organization, Erdogan said, ''there is nothing official. It is judiciary's turn after the ECHR (European Court of Human Rights) declared its decision. Why do we cause tension if we trust Turkish judiciary?'' On media organs under the control of Savings Deposits Insurance Fund (SDIF), Erdogan said, ''media under state control will be sold as soon as possible. We will bring numerical limitation for foreigners. Only one-fourth of national channels can be sold to foreigners.''
Referring to provocations, Erdogan said, ''we know the names behind the incidents, but we don't announce their names since it will cause us difficulty to take measures.''
FIRST CONTACT WITH YEREVAN OVER TBILISI
YENI SAFAK- As Armenia speeds up ceremonies to commemorate so-called genocide, Turkey made the first step with the letter which Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent to Yerevan via Tbilisi.
Turkish Ambassador in Tbilisi Ertan Tezgor conveyed Erdogan's letter to Armenia's Ambassador in Tbilisi.
Yerevan is expected to reply the letter in a similar method.
Erdogan, in the letter, proposed Armenian Head of State Robert Kocharian to investigate the so-called allegations by a joint commission.
SEZER: SYRIA IS A BIG COUNTRY
YENI SAFAK- Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, who was welcomed by Syrian people cheerfully and with Turkish and Syrian flags, stressed his ''happiness'' for four times. Sezer talked about Syria saying ''big country''.
Sezer said his visit to Syria made ''positive contributions'' on the way to improve economic and trade relations with Syria.