ANKARA - These are some of the major headlines and their summaries in Turkish press on April 28th, 2005. The Anadolu Agency does not verify these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
PARIS CRITERIA
HURRIYET- The whole Europe had reacted strongly to the violence of Turkish police on women in Istanbul during demonstrations on Women's Day. EU had expressed its uneasiness over this violence. However, the same Europe did not take into consideration the French police who attacked youths with sticks and kicked and punched them during a recent demonstration. Thus, the double standard of the EU including its media and non-governmental organizations on Turkey is proven in police violence issue as well.
GENERAL STAFF: SEMINARY SHALL NOT BE OPENED
HURRIYET- General Staff conveyed its views to National Security Council about the National Security Political Document which is going to be updated. General Staff wanted the Patriarchate to continue having the same status and stated that demands about opening of Seminary shall be rejected. Greek-Pontus propaganda which will threaten Turkey's territorial integrity shall be prevented, noted General Staff.
REPROACH TO EU, PRAISE TO U.S.
MILLIYET- Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent warm messages to the United States after a long time of distant relations especially after Iraq War. Erdogan said that U.S. support to Turkey in fight against terrorism and cooperation in energy area cannot be forgotten. Erdogan also criticized the EU which did not keep its promises to Turkish Cypriots who voted for solution in Cyprus.
FINAL BECOMES DREAM AGAIN
MILLIYET- Ukraine's BC Kiev basketball team defeated Fenerbahce basketball team of Turkey 88-72 in FIBA (Federation of International Basketball Associations) Men's Europe League Final Four.
ONE MILLION STARVING PEOPLE WAIT FOR DERVIS
SABAH- The main mission of Kemal Dervis, who has been newly chosen as the head of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), will be to satisfy 500 million poor people in the world who have only one dollar in one day. UNDP targets to solve the problems of at least half of the 1.1 billion people living in the world. Unfortunately, 30 percent of the southeast region is also within this scope (who live on poor conditions).
GOVERNMENT DECIDES TO PARTIALLY POSTPONE TCK
SABAH- The Justice and Development Party (AKP) presented three bills to the parliament which foresaw amendment to certain laws. The party also wanted to partially postpone the implementation of general provisions of the new Turkish Penal Code (TCK).
LETTER OF INTENT SIGNED
VATAN- State Minister Ali Babacan said that the letter of intent which would be given to the IMF was signed the other evening and sent to IMF. Babacan stressed that they expected the IMF Executive Board to convene and discuss the letter after May 9th.
END OF ROAD FOR GOVERNMENT IN INDIRECT TAXES
VATAN- The daily comments that the government has come to the end of the road regarding indirect taxes as it constantly brought extra taxes on non-luxurious products like cosmetic products and mobile phones. The government says that it brings taxes on luxurious products, but an important part of these products are just daily used products.
SEMINARY IS ALSO ON THE LIST
CUMHURIYET- Due to the proposals of the General Staff about the National Security Politics document, Turkey will not base its threat perceptions according to countries. General Staff thinks that fundamentalist movements should also be included among internal threats. Besides, General Staff noted that the efforts for re-opening of the Greek Orthodox Seminary and those of Istanbul Patriarchate should be prevented from exceeding the status.
EUROPEAN SUPPORT TO TURKEY
CUMHURIYET- European parliamentarians who attended the general assembly meetings of the Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe (PACE) called Armenian President Robert Kocharian to respond positively to the call of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan who proposed formation of a joint commission to investigate the facts of 1915.
ERDOGAN: RELATIONS WITH U.S. IS MAIN PILLAR
RADIKAL- Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that relations with the United States continued to be one of the main pillars of Turkish foreign policy. ''We should be on alert against the efforts of various groups and lobbies who are uneasy about the development of Turkish-U.S. relations and we shouldn't permit them,'' told Erdogan. Erdogan stressed that Turkey would sign the additional protocol for EU, but the EU should keep its promises about TRNC.
ANKARA ANGRY WITH YEREVAN
RADIKAL- Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan reacted to Armenian President Kocharian's reply to his letter asking for ''setting up initial political dialogue between the two countries.'' Erdogan said that ''What we say is that we have a problem (which comes from the past) and it needs to be solved with Armenia. And we open all our archives and ask Armenia to do the same thing. We are not a country which denies its past, but we don't understand why Armenia does not want to show its archives.''
ERDOGAN: COME AND TRY
TURKIYE- Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan held a joint news conference with Premier Helen Clark of New Zealand after their meeting. Erdogan assessed Armenian President Robert Kocharian's conditional acceptance of Turkey's proposal to establish a joint commission to research so-called genocide claims. Erdogan said that Turkey opened all of its archives and expects the same from Armenia.
LETTER OF INTENT SENT
TURKIYE- Turkish State Minister Ali Babacan said that letter of intent regarding new stand-by deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was completed and sent to IMF. He added that the letter will be taken up during IMF Executive Directors Board on May 9th.
15,000 ARMENIANS VISITED TURKEY IN 2004
ZAMAN- The number of Armenian tourists is expected to increase in 2005. 15,000 Armenians visited Turkey last year. Turkish-Armenian Business Development Committee official Nazmi Gul said that at first Armenian tourists were uneasy about their safety but when they started dialogue with Turks, their uneasiness was removed.
ADMINISTRATORS OF 900 BILLION EURO DUE IN ISTANBUL
ZAMAN- International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Rodrigo de Rato, World Bank Vice President Shengman Zang, European Investment Bank (EIB) President Philippe Maystadt and high-ranking representatives of 19 multi-national companies will come to Turkey to attend the 2nd meeting of the Investment Advisory Council for Turkey which will be held in Istanbul tomorrow.
ERDOGAN: WE ARE PARTNERS WITH EU
YENI SAFAK- Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that relations between Turkey and the EU reached the highest level thanks to steps and determination of Turkey. He added that EU should also fulfill its responsibilities.
LETTER OF INTENT SENT TO IMF
YENI SAFAK- Turkish State Minister Ali Babacan said that the letter of intent to International Monetary Fund (IMF) was signed and sent late on Thursday.