ANKARA - These are some of the major headlines and their summaries in Turkish press on April 20th, 2005. The Anadolu Agency does not verify these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
CARDINAL WHO DOES NOT WANT TURKEY
HURRIYET- Joseph Ratzinger, the 265th Pope of Catholic world, is a German conservative who clearly announced that he is against Turkey's EU membership. He believes that secularism harms religious freedom, and besides he was a member of youth wings of Hitler. Ratzinger who is the first German Pope chosen in the last one thousand year said in one of his articles that EU is a Christian formation and he was against Turkey's accession to the EU.
SPY PLANE GESTURE
HURRIYET- Turkey will buy 10 'Heron' spy planes from Israel worth of 183 million USD. The bargaining which has been continuing for 6 years between the two countries ended with agreement prior to Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit to Israel. Turkey did not want US Predator spy planes.
VATICAN CRITERIA
MILLIYET- German cardinal Ratzinger, who strongly opposes to Turkey's European Union (EU) membership and says that it (Turkey's membership) would cause loss of wealth and culture, was elected the 265th Pope.
CEMAL KAYA RESIGNS
MILLIYET- Cemal Kaya, a parliamentarian from the ruling Justice & Development Party (AKP) who is accused of corruption in tenders in the energy indictment (prepared by the prosecutor's office), resigned from deputyship.
MANTI (TURKISH RAVIOLI) DIPLOMACY
MILLIYET- Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul's wife Hayrunnisa Gul cooked Turkish food for Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga, who is visiting Ankara, since she learned that Vike-Freiberga earlier said, ''I would like to taste Turkish food.'' Hayrunnisa Gul cooked manti (Turkish ravioli) for Vike-Freiberga, who was the guest of FM Gul at luncheon yesterday.
NEW POPE AGAINST TURKS
SABAH- Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany, an old Nazi member, became Pope Benedict XVI yesterday. Ratzinger is against the admission of Turkey to the EU due to cultural and religious reasons. Ratzinger will face important problems in his post, and one of those issues is the need of making dialogue with the Islam.
ERDOGAN: DOESN'T CHP SUPPORT EU?
SABAH- Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the attitude of the opposition party CHP which tried to show as if Turkey's relations with the EU were breaking off, would cause problems. ''Doesn't CHP support EU?,'' asked Erdogan who addressed his party yesterday. ''Those who say that they are friends of Turkey should think well about this issue and make statements according to that,'' said Erdogan.
TURKISH GUANTANAMO PRISONER DRAFT-EVADER
VATAN- Guantanamo prisoner Salih Uyar who was brought to Turkey is a draft-evader as he left Turkey when he was 19. Uyar is one of the three Turks who were kept in Guantanamo after U.S. operation on Afghanistan. After questioned by Prosecutor's Office in southern city of Adana, Uyar was released without filing criminal charges.
EU SUPPORT FROM LATVIA
VATAN- Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga was welcomed by Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer with full military honors at Cankaya Presidential Palace. Vike-Freiberga said, ''Latvia is ready to support and contribute to Turkey's EU accession process and share its experiences.''
TURKEY OPPONENT POPE
CUMHURIYET- Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany was elected Catholic Pope yesterday. The 78-year-old new Pope is known with his ideas against Turkey. In an interview with the French magazine Le Figaro in 2004, Ratzinger strongly opposed Turkey's EU bid. He had even claimed that Turkey had to join Arab League, stressing that Turkey would always constitute a contradiction for Europe and Turkey's admission into EU would be a mistake.
ISRAEL'S SUPPORT TO TURKEY
CUMHURIYET- Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom met important members of the Jewish institutions in the US and asked for support to Turkey against the US resolution on Armenian genocide claims. Israeli diplomatic sources said that Shalom warned that the adoption of the resolution by the US Congress would harm the 'special relations' among the US, Turkey and Israel.
SYNTHETIC RISK AT HIGH SCHOOL
RADIKAL- According to a survey carried out among students of secondary grade of high school, use of cigarette and alcohol by this age group decreased in 2004 when compared to the rate in 2001. On the other hand, these students have started to use more ecstasy, illicit pills and thinners. The number of teenagers using illicit drugs rose by 184.6 percent while the increase in the number of teenagers using thinners was 40.5 percent in 2004 when compared with 2001. The rise in number of teenagers using medicines that are sold upon a special permission of doctors (a special prescription) was 15.8 percent in the mentioned period.
BARROSO: SIGNING IS NOT ''RECOGNITION''
RADIKAL- European Commission President Barroso gave a message to Ankara in (Greek capital of) Athens: ''If Turkey signs the protocol of the Customs Union, negotiations will be launched. But, recognition of the Greek Cypriots is not a precondition of negotiations.''
WORLD HAS FORGOTTEN THESE FACTS
TURKIYE- The world has already forgotten the fact that Turkey gave shelter in the past to many people from Hungarians to Poles, from Russians to Kurds and Iranians throughout the history. But now the world believes in the genocide lie of Armenians.
CEMAL KAYA RESIGNS FOR ACQUITTAL
TURKIYE- Cemal Kaya, Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputy from eastern city of Agri, resigned from deputyship yesterday. Kaya said that he resigned in order to prove himself innocent before the court and to defend himself better, adding that he would continue to serve AKP.
TURKISH GUANTANAMO PRISONER UYAR TO JOIN ARMY
ZAMAN- Salih Uyar, one of the three Turks kept in US base Guantanamo in Cuba after U.S. operation on Afghanistan, was released by Adana Prosecutor's Office. Uyar, who went to Iran and then to Afghanistan via Pakistan, was arrested in Kabul by US forces in 2000 with suspect of ties to al-Qaeda. He spent three years and four months in Guantanamo and then was handed over to officials of Adana Police Department in Incirlik Airbase. After questioned by prosecutors, Uyar was released without filing criminal charges. He will be handed over to military authorities due to draft evasion.
TOUR OPERATOR TUI TO BRING 1,5 MILLION TOURISTS
ZAMAN- Michael Kimmer, director general of TUI Turkey said, ''we expect that the number of tourists visiting Turkey would increase by 20-25 percent in 2005 and exceed 1,5 million.'' TUI AG is one of the biggest tourism companies of Europe.
WE WERE THIRD IN GROWTH IN EUROPE
YENI SAFAK- According to temporary figures of the report entitled ''World Economic Outlook'', Turkey was ranked the third in growth rate in Europe, recording a 8.9 percent growth rate in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2004. Turkey became the 16th in the world with the same growth rate.
OTTOMANS EXECUTED 63 PEOPLE FOR HARMING ARMENIANS
YENI SAFAK- The Ottoman government executed 63 people for attacking and harming Armenians during the relocation days, according to a research carried out within Turkish Prime Ministry State Archives. 471,000 Ottoman soldiers and a few times more Armenians and Turks died of epidemics during these years, according to hospital records in the last years of the Ottoman Empire.