ANKARA - These are some of the major headlines and their summaries in Turkish press on April 19th, 2005. The Anadolu Agency does not verify these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
THREE TERRORISTS KILLED
HURRIYET- During an operation in Kirkmerdiven region near Ovacik town of eastern city of Tunceli, two members of illegal Maoist & Communist Party (MKP) were killed. A security official was slightly injured in the same operation. Meanwhile, a member of the terrorist organization of PKK was killed near Omerli town of neighboring city of Mardin.
NSC MEETING FOCUSES ON SNATCH-AND-RUN THEFT
HURRIYET- Snatch-and-run theft, migration, terrorist organization of PKK, energy and recent developments in Cyprus were high on agenda of regular meeting of the Turkish National Security Council (NSC). During the meeting, Gendarmerie Forces Commander Gen. Fevzi Turkeri said that migration from rural areas to metropolises played an important role in increasing rates of crime.
''YOU ARE PRODUCTIVE''
HURRIYET- Michael Deppler, the director of the European Department of International Monetary Fund (IMF), said that Turkey achieved a substantial increase in growth rates and decrease in inflation, debt and interest rates. Noting that extraordinarily high productivity in the last three years was the most important reason of failure in decreasing the rate of jobless, Deppler said that the current increase in productivity was not sustainable and envisaged to stop this year.
DENKTAS HANDS OVER HIS POST TO TALAT
MILLIYET- TRNC President Rauf Denktas said that he would hand over his post to Mehmet Ali Talat with complete peace of mind, noting that ''our support would be one that would be based on the existence of the state.'' Congratulating Talat on his new post, Denktas said that ''Talat would have many difficulties and the way to overcome those difficulties is to be calm. As far as I see, Talat is calm and has the patience to deal with Greek Cypriots.''
HERE IS HISTORICAL PROTOCOL
MILLIYET- According to the Ankara Agreement harmony protocol, Greek Cypriot side will be a ''party'' to Ankara Agreement (between Turkey and the EU) with the name of the ''Cyprus Republic'' for Ankara which didn't recognize the government of Greek Cypriots for 40 years. The Greek Cypriot side threatened to veto entry talks of Turkey with the EU if Turkey didn't sign the protocol until October 3rd.
SHOCK IN EU
SABAH- The European Union (EU) reacted to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan who said that there were some efforts in the EU to divide Turkey. EU officials claimed that the statement of Prime Minister Erdogan triggered extreme nationalism. Meanwhile, ambassadors of the EU-member countries in Ankara discussed rising nationalism in Turkey during their monthly meeting on April 7th.
VILLAGE BURNT DOWN TO ASHES
SABAH- A fire broke out in Saraycik village in Kargi town of northern city of Corum. Almost whole village of 80 household was burnt down to ashes in the fire. There were not any immediate reports of casualties.
''IT IS A MATTER OF STATE''
VATAN- Turkish Justice Minister Cemil Cicek, who also acts as spokesman of the government said that the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) had not made any decision about Abdullah Ocalan, the head of terrorist organization of PKK, yet. Referring to recent arguments, Cicek said that it was meaningless to discuss the issue before the ECHR announced its decision.
SILK ROAD TRAIN TO SET OFF FROM ISTANBUL ON APRIL 23RD
VATAN- Silk Road Turkish Export Products Fair will be held on Istanbul-Astana railway line between April 24th and May 31st. The Silk Road Train will set off from Istanbul on April 23rd to promote Turkey and Turkish products in 7 countries including Iran, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, located on a route of 10,560 kilometers within 38 days. The fair aims to revive the Silk Road, one of the most important trade routes of the history, and to further improve commercial and cultural relations among regional countries.
'UNAKITAN CAN NOT BE A BURDEN FOR GOVERNMENT'
CUMHURIYET- Justice and Development Party (AKP) acting group leader Faruk Celik said regarding the accusations about Finance Minister Unakitan that ''if the resignation of Finance Minister comes into question, Unakitan can't be a burden for the government. If there is a problem, Mr. Unakitan will do whatever necessary.''
EXPLOSION IN PATNOS KILLS ONE TEENAGER
CUMHURIYET- When three children started playing with an iron bar they found buried in the soil, an explosion took place, killing one of the children. The two others were wounded in the explosion which took place near a brigade command in Patnos town of eastern Agri city. Agri Governor Yusuf Yavascan said that they could not determine what was the explosive.
NEW YORK TIMES GIVES PLACE TO TURKISH THESIS
RADIKAL- The New York Times, one of the leading dailies in the United States, gave place to the list of more than 523,000 Turks who were killed by Armenians in Turkey from 1910 to 1922. The list was released by the Turkish State Archive. The daily noted, ''Armenians plan to mark April 24th as the 90th anniversary of the start of the violence. Turkey is concerned that the issue could interfere with its plans to start talks with the European Union in October for possible membership.''
FROM TURKISH AND ARMENIAN COMPOSERS
RADIKAL- Tunes of Turkish and Armenian composers will be played at a concert in Haghia Eirene in Istanbul on April 22nd. At the concert ''Flowers of the Same Garden'', Istanbul State Turkish Music Society will play tunes of Turkish and Armenian composers.
OCALAN CASE IS ISSUE OF STATE
TURKIYE- Government Spokesman and Justice Minister Cemil Cicek said there was no decision whatsoever taken by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) about the case of terrorist organization leader Abdullah Ocalan. ''Certainly such a decision will be taken soon and we will examine the decision very carefully and decide the steps that should be taken by Turkey. We will do whatever necessary within the best interests of the country,'' said Cicek, noting that Ocalan case was a state issue, not only a problem of the government.
MANY ISSUES AT AGENDA OF NSC
TURKIYE- National Security Council (NSC) discussed the issues that were currently on the agenda of Turkey. Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Minister Hilmi Guler gave a briefing to the members of the cabinet at the meeting. Developments in the Middle East in respect of oil and Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline which is planned to start operating soon were discussed in the meeting. Other issues of Armenian claims, Turkey-US relations, the acts of politicization of PKK and relations with EU were also discussed in the meeting.
UNEMPLOYMENT DOES NOT DECREASE
ZAMAN- Although the economy grew by 9.9 percent in 2004, 2.5 million people are still looking for job. The first reason of that is that the number of people employed in the state sector decreases. The unemployment rate in 2004 is still 10.3 percent. Therefore the number one problem of the people is still unemployment despite the growth in economy.
PARLIAMENTARIANS UNION SENDS LETTER TO BUSH
ZAMAN- Turkish Parliamentarians Union (TPB) Chairman Hasan Korkmazcan sent a letter to U.S. President George Bush, and asked him to assume an objective attitude towards the fanatic campaigns carried out regarding Armenian genocide claims. The letter said that aggressive attitude assumed by the fanatic Armenian organizations for years, ignoring the historical realities, was still maintained, and this stance had a negative impact on bilateral relations between Turkey and Armenia.
OKYAY: ECHR ACTS POLITICALLY
YENI SAFAK- Turgut Okyay, the chief judge of the court which tried Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the terrorist organization PKK and which sentenced Ocalan, said that European Court of Human Rights acted politically in Ocalan case. ''The trial of Ocalan was fair, even if he is tried again, the judge of the court won't change,'' he noted.
TURKEY'S IMAGE CHANGES
YENI SAFAK- Turkey which had the image of a poor and sick country after the economic crisis in 2001, has started to overcome this image for a period of time. State Minister Ali Babacan said that ''as of 2005, Turkey entered a very different climate, we expect foreign capital worth of 15 billion dollars in three years.'' Meanwhile, IMF Director Deppler said that the unemployment in Turkey would lessen.