ANKARA (A.A) - April 25 - These are some of the major headlines and their brief stories in Turkey's press on April 25, 2002. The Anadolu Agency does not verify these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
HURRIYET (LIBERAL)
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CEM AND PAPANDREOU IN MIDDLE EAST
Foreign Minister Ismail Cem and his Greek counterpart George Papandreou went to Jerusalem. The two foreign ministers, who will call Israelis and Palestinians for ceasefire today, met with peace supporters from both sides yesterday. The two noted that they came to the region not to ''give a lesson, but to give an inspiration.'' Cem and Papandreou attended a meeting at the American Colony Hotel in Jerusalem, which was organized by the Israel and Palestine peace volunteers representatives last night. Cem said in the meeting that their visit was a result of joint efforts of him and Papandreou and they aimed to contribute to decrease the tension in the Middle East. Noting that they targeted to bring a new point of view and approach to both sides with their visit, Cem said that their visit was at the same time a ''display of solidarity'' with those who want peace and who exert efforts for peace.
CPT TALKS ABOUT OCALAN'S TOILET!
The report of the Council of Europe (COE) Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) about a CPT's delegation's visit to Turkey between 2-14 September and the response of Turkey to the report was officially announced on Wednesday. CPT said in the report about head terrorist Ocalan that the CPT's delegation received no evidence of any form of physical ill-treatment of Abdullah Ocalan, the head terrorist and his material conditions of detention remain on the whole very good. ''Nevertheless, the CPT emphasises that he should at the earliest opportunity be integrated into a setting where contact with other prisoners and a wider range of activities are possible. The material conditions of detention of Ocalan remained on the whole very good. However, the screening of the sanitary facilities in his cell only covered the shower, not the toilet. The CPT recommends that the waist-level partition be extended so that the toilet is also screened from the direct view of prison staff,'' it was noted in the report.
MILLIYET (LIBERAL)
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WHO CAN FORGIVE YOU?
The parliamentary justice commission adopted the bill which amended the conditional release law in line with the view of the Constitutional Court yesterday. The bill foresees a ten-year reduction for prisoners who have punishments restricting their personal liberty. The reduction will be made for once and it will be valid for all the punishments given to the convicted persons. Those who don't have any days left to serve in prison after the ten-year reduction, will be immediately released from prison. Therefore, criminals such as Mehmet Ali Agca and Haluk Kýrcý can be forgiven.
BAYAR COMES TO TURKEY
Mehmet Ali Bayar, who will run candidacy to be the leader of the Democratic Turkey Party (DTP), returned to Turkey from the U.S. yesterday. Bayar was the Undesecretary at the Turkish Embassy in Washington D.C. and he had resigned from his post in the Foreign Ministry in order to practice politics. Bayar told journalists at the airport that he came to Turkey to make a change in Turkish politics as a young man.
SABAH (LIBERAL)
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MILITARY LODGES COMPLAINT ABOUT ERDOGAN
General Staff lodged a complaint about AK Party leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan for the speech he issued in Rize on May 22, 1992. The General Staff noted in its petition that the speech of Erdogan was against Articles 159 (insulting Turkish military) and 312 (provoking people to hatred) of Turkish Penal Code. Meanwhile, State Security Court (DGM) Prosecutor Nuh Mete Yuksel issued a notification on Wednesday in order to interrogate AK Party leader Erdogan regarding his speech. Yuksel sent the notification to Ankara Security Directorate and asked officials to convey the letter to Erdogan.
CILLER SAYS TWO-ROUND ELECTIONS HAVE TO BE ADOPTED IN TURKEY
True Path Party (DYP) leader Tansu Ciller proposed to start a two-round election system in Turkey that would ''unite central right and central left and maintain political stability.'' Ciller said that ''certain marginal reflexes could sometimes gain power in countries, but Turkey can never be left to such movements. We should take a number of systematic measures to this end. We should start two-round election system to accomplish this in Turkey.''
CUMHURIYET (LEFT)
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FRIENDSHIP OVERSHADOWED
Foreign Minister Ismail Cem and Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou who were successful in taking up the problems between Turkey and Greece through dialogue are in Jerusalem due to the developments in the Middle East. Cem and Papandreou will ask Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to prevent the acts of terrorism and ask Israel to withdraw from Palestine. However, Greek Defense Minister Yannos Papantoniu told the Defense News magazine that the number one threat for his country was Turkey. He also claimed that Turkey had an eye on Greek territory. Papantoniu added that Greece would buy many weapons as a measure to prevent such threats. National Defense Minister Sabahattin Cakmakoglu said in his part that ''if needed, we can seperately respond to Greek Defense Minister's statements.''
MCCARTHY:ARMENIANS ARE GUILTY
Prof. Dr. Justin McCarty from Louisville University in the U.S. said that it was not Turks who attacked Armenians, it was the latter who attacked Turks and Turks defended themselves. Addressing a conference on Armenian claims in Yeditepe University in Istanbul, Prof. Dr. McCarthy said that those who speak about Armenian claims without studying the issue are hypocritical. He stressed that the historical documents and information show that the Armenian claims saying ''Turks attacked us all of a sudden'' were not real. ''Turks didn't steal the land of Armenians, Armenians stole the land of Turks. Armenians were the aggressor side and Turks defended themselves,'' he stressed.
RADIKAL (LEFT)
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KIVRIKOGLU: THERE IS NO DISCUSSION ON EU
Responding to questions of journalists except those related to broadcasting and education in mother tongue at the April 23 national reception, Chief of General Staff Gen. Kývrýkoglu said that ''the army does not even discuss EU membership as EU membership will bring many benefits to Turkey. The Turkish people and bureaucracy will be disciplined if Turkey joins the EU. There will be many freedoms in the county when Turkey joins EU, yet freedoms should not violate democracy and human rights.''
EU COMMISSION EXPECTS FURTHER RECOVERY IN TURKISH ECONOMY
EU Commission has announced that Turkey's efforts to recover from one of its biggest economic crises started yielding its fruits. In its spring term report recently announced, the EU Commission said it expected a decrease in the inflation rate and an increase in Turkey's economic growth rate. The report which briefed the Turkish government's economic reforms and measures, indicated that the Turkish economy was affected by the international environment. It said that the positive developments that are expected in the EU would reflect to the Turkish economy, and similarly, a possible fight in Iraq would weaken the economy. The report estimated inflation as 51 percent in 2002 and 33 percent in 2003. It estimated economic growth rate as 2.5 percent in 2002 and 3.7 percent in 2003. Turkish economy had shrunk by 9.4 percent last year.
TURKIYE (RIGHT)
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GREAT GATHERING OF TURKISH BUSINESSMEN
The Fourth Congress of World Turkish Businessmen will start in Istanbul today. The Congress will bring together nearly two thousand Turkish businessmen from many countries like Germany, Russia, Australia and the United States. According to a report on ''Entrepreneurs of Turkish Origin in Germany and Europe'' prepared by the Association of Turkish Industrialists and Businessmen in Europe (ATIAD), the number of entrepreneurs of Turkish origin in European Union countries is estimated to increase to 140 thousand, the number of people they will employ is estimated to rise to 810 thousand and their annual sales is estimated to reach 122.7 billion Euro in 2010.
ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)
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ERDOGAN CRITICIZES BOTH HIMSELF AND KIVRIKOGLU
AK Party leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the statements of Gen. Huseyin Kivrikoglu, the Chief of General Staff about him have cast a shadow on Turkish democracy. Erdogan claimed that he can't be held responsible for the speech he delivered ten years ago. Erdogan said that he does not support today the ideas he voiced during his speech in Rize in 1992.