ANKARA - These are some of the major headlines and their summaries in Turkish press on April 18th, 2005. The Anadolu Agency does not verify these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
TALAT BECOMES NEW PRESIDENT OF TRNC
HURRIYET- Republican Turkish Party (CTP) leader and Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Talat of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) was elected as new president. Talat received 55.6 percent of all votes in the elections. He said, ''a new Cyprus case has begun after we came to political power. Our target is not to consolidate the division in the island, but to remove the division, and to reach unification by providing equality between the two sides.''
''ARMENIAN GANGS MASSACRED 523 THOUSAND TURKS''
HURRIYET- While Armenian diaspora has been making propaganda in the world for so-called genocide, officials documents have revealed that Armenian gangs had massacred thousands of people in Anatolia. According to documents in Turkish Prime Ministry State Archives, 523 thousand Turks had been killed by Armenian gangs between 1910 and 1922.
BABACAN TO MEET WOLFOVITZ TODAY
MILLIYET- Turkish State Minister Ali Babacan for Economy who is currently in the United States to attend spring meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, will meet World Bank President James Wolfhenson, who will hand over his mission to Paul Wolfovitz, the former deputy secretary of defense, in June. Babacan welcomed appointment of Wolfovitz.
MIRACLE OF YERLIKAYA
MILLIYET- Hamza Yerlikaya of Turkey, competing in men's 96 kg category, won gold medal in the 52nd European Men's Greco-Roman Wrestling Championships in Varna, Bulgaria. Yerlikaya became the champion in his category after defeating his Swedish opponent Jimmy Lidberg. Yerlikaya became European champion for the seventh time.
ATHENS PROMISES TO EXPEL THOSE WHO DESECRATE TURKISH FLAG
SABAH- After Ankara harshly condemned the desecration against Turkish flag in the Greek War Academy, the Greek Land Forces Command has launched an urgent investigation into the event. The Greek Land Forces Command described it as heinous, and promised to expel those who desecrated Turkish flag.
''TURKEY HAS VERY BRILLIANT ECONOMIC FUTURE''
SABAH- Asian Development Bank President Haruhiko Kuroda said that Turkey would have a brilliant economic future. Kuroda stressed that the 38th Annual Meeting of the Board of Governors of the Asian Development Bank in Istanbul between May 4th and 6th would create a perfect opportunity to promote Turkey to the whole world.
''TURKEY MAY PAY COMPENSATION INSTEAD OF RETRYING OCALAN''
VATAN- Turkish Parliamentary Constitution Commission Chairman Prof. Dr. Burhan Kuzu said that Turkey might pay compensation instead of retrying Abdullah Ocalan, the head of the terrorist organization of PKK. ''I believe that retrial will not result in a different punishment. Release of Ocalan from prison is impossible even in dreams,'' he said.
GREECE APOLOGIZES
CUMHURIYET- Turkey demanded that Greece should formally apologize after a Turkish flag was defaced during a goodwill visit to the Greek army war college by Turkish officers and cadets. Turkish General Staff ordered the two army officers and five cadets to return home immediately after they found a Turkish flag with hostile words written in English on it in their room at the Greek Army War College in Athens. The Greek Land Forces Command apologized for the incident. Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Greek authorities have assured them that they will find and punish the culprits.
TALAT ERA IN TRNC
CUMHURIYET- Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Talat became the new president of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) after getting nearly 56 percent of the votes. Calling his electoral victory a silent revolution, Talat pledged to work toward solving the long-standing Cyprus issue. Stressing that isolation of Turkish Cypriot people should be ended, Talat said that he was ready to resume peace talks.
TEARS OF DENKTAS
RADIKAL- A new era has begun in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRCN) after Mehmet Ali Talat was elected as the new president. Rauf Denktas, who has been acting as the president of the TRNC for the last 22 years, burst into tears while casting his vote. Denktas stressed that the new president should be loyal to his presidential oath. He added that Turkish Cypriot people should not make any concession from their sovereignty and independence to become a member of the EU.
''OUR TARGET IS TO HOST 30 MILLION TOURISTS''
RADIKAL- Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at the inauguration of the Second Foreign Flights Terminal of the Antalya Airport, ''Turkey should host 30 million tourists in 2010. We make all these investments to reach this target. We should get rid of the triangle of sun, sand and sea in tourism, and launch initiatives to develop our congress tourism.''
IMPORTS RISE
TURKIYE- Turkey's imports rose 40 percent to 97.2 billion U.S. dollars in 2004. According to World Trade Organization (WTO), Turkey was ranked 22nd in the list of countries with the highest amount of imports.
NSC TO CONVENE TODAY
TURKIYE- The National Security Council (NSC) will convene today under the chairmanship of President Ahmet Necdet Sezer. The meeting is expected to focus on the latest incident in Kardak region, desecration against Turkish flag and recent social events in several cities.
''TURKEY IS THE MODEL OF HARMONY BETWEEN ISLAM AND DEMOCRACY''
ZAMAN- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that Turkey was the model of harmony between the Islam and democracy. Stressing that the Islam was a peaceful faith, Rice noted that killing people for the sake of the Islam was nothing but defaming the faith.
INVESTIGATION INTO BAKU-CEYHAN
YENI SAFAK- Turkish Prime Ministry Office has conducted a scrutiny after allegations of corruption in the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline project, and decided to launch six investigations into alleged corruption such as employment of personnel and purchase of equipment.
MEETING OF REGIONAL INITIATIVE FOR IRAQ POSTPONED
YENI SAFAK- The meeting of the Regional Initiative for Iraq has been postponed for a week. The meeting was scheduled to take place in Istanbul between April 18th and 19th, 2005. The postponement came after Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jafari called Turkish Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul and told him that the meeting should be delayed for a week as preparations have been continuing in Baghdad for the formation of the new cabinet.