GOOD MORNING--TURKEY PRESS SCAN ON DEC 2

HURRIYET
-- FEAST OF SACRIFICE HOLIDAY BECOMES NINE DAYS
The Council of Ministers decided that December 12 would be administrative leave for public workers. Therefore, the Feast of Sacrifice holiday will become nine days.

-- CENTRAL BANK SAYS INTEREST RATES COULD DROP
Central Bank Governor Durmus Yilmaz gave a briefing to the Council of Ministers. Yilmaz's presentation was posted on the website of the Central Bank. Yilmaz said the bank could cut technical interest rates at any time.

MILLIYET
-- BLAST IN AKP OFFICES IN ISTANBUL INJURES 10
There was a strong blast at the entrance to Justice and Development Party (AKP) offices in Sutluce district in Istanbul. 10 people, 4 of them policemen, were injured in the blast. Four of those injured were reported to have been in serious condition. Istanbul Governor Muammer Guler said a fragmentation bomb caused the explosion. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the attack.

-- DEATHS COULD BE PREVENTED
Report of the State Inspection Board who examined the dockyards upon directives of President Abdullah Gul, said Ministry of Labor had not made proper inspections. Commenting on the accidents in which 62 people died in 8 years, the report said the accidents and their causes could totally be prevented.

SABAH
-- VICTORY CANNOT BE WON BY BOMBS
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan condemned the bomb attack against the local headquarters of his AK Party in Istanbul. A bombed package that was left at AKP local branch went off after it gave signals at the x-ray device. Ten people, including four police officers, were wounded in the blast. Condemning the bomb attack, Erdogan said, "it is not possible to gain a democratic win with bombs."

-- MANNER OBSTACLE BEFORE CELL PHONE USE ABOARD PLANES
Turkish Airlines (THY) shelved its project to allow cell phone use on planes, which is a project on which it has worked for a long time. The company decided not to install a system which would allow use of cell phones aboard planes and was worth 200,000 USD. Executives of the company have given up this project for some time because they think some passengers may speak aloud and for a long time. "When the phones ring, other passengers would be disturbed. Discussions may occur and flight safety would be jeopardized," they also said. THY may only allow text messages with cell phones in the future. The company had agreed with AeroMobile company of Norway to install the system, which enables people to speak with cell phones through a small base station.

VATAN
-- DECLINE IN EXPORTS
An economic recession in the EU countries caused a remarkable decline in Turkish exports. The country's exports decreased by 22.3 percent to $8.6 billion in November 2008 when compared to November 2007.

-- BOMB IN AKP BUILDING
A bomb hidden in a package went off in local headquarters building of Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Sutluce, Istanbul. 10 people including two policemen and two security guards were injured in the blast. Prime Minister and AKP chairman Tayyip Erdogan condemned the attack and said it was not possible to gain a democratic win with terrorist acts.

CUMHURIYET
-- COMPETITION OF CANDIDATES
The Republican People's Party (CHP) administration has nominated its candidate mayors for some provinces, 22 towns in Istanbul and 12 towns in Ankara. Ercan Karakas, Cem Kozlu, Gursel Tekin, Mehmet Sevigen are the most possible candidates in Istanbul, Hakan Tartan and Mehmet Ali Susam in Izmir and Professor Mustafa Akaydin in Izmir. The AKP will most probably nominate Mehmet Ozhaseki as mayor in Kayseri again and Menderes Turel as mayor in Antalya. Also, the party thinks of going on with the mayors of Bursa, Konya, Gaziantep and Kocaeli. Premier Tayyip Erdogan will announce candidate mayors of Ankara and Istanbul later.

-- ZAP REGION HIT
The General Staff said that Turkish jets hit "efficiently" the terrorist organization PKK targets in the north of Iraq. A General Staff statement said that they had showed necessary sensitivity to avoid harming civilians.

RADIKAL
-- EXPORTS DROP, CITRUS FRUITS COULD NOT BE HARVESTED AND NUMBER OF UNEMPLOYED RISES
Global crisis hit exports. Turkish exports went down to $8.6 billion by 22.03 percent in November 2008 when compared to November 2007. Drop in automotive industry is 38 percent. Chairman of Chamber of Agriculture, Semsi Bayraktar, said, "when exports dropped and demand lessened, citrus fruits remained on the branches. If it continues so, we would face a very big food crisis. The government should take emergency measures." The crisis could also be felt in employment. Number of unemployed applying to employment agency (ISKUR) rose 134 percent.

-- ATTACK ON AKP BUILDING
10 people, 4 of them policemen, were injured in a blast in front of AKP building in Istanbul. The bomb was reported to be a fragmentation bomb. Istanbul Governor Muammer Guler said there was no security weakness.

YENI SAFAK
-- NOTHING WILL HAPPEN EVEN IF YOU THROW AN ENCYCLOPEDIA
Finance Minister Kemal Unakitan said that stability was being ensured thanks to financial discipline. "A copy of Constitution deteriorated the economy in 2001. Nothing will happen today even if you throw an encyclopedia," he said. In February 2001, Ahmet Necdet Sezer, the then president, showed a copy of Constitution to Bulent Ecevit, the then prime minister, during a National Security Council meeting and told Ecevit, who made several remarks criticizing inspections of a state board in the banking regulation & supervision agency, that it was not right to make criticisms without knowing laws. Husamettin Ozkan, the then deputy prime minister, was also involved and Sezer threw a copy of Constitution before Ecevit and Ozkan. One of the severest economic crisis in Turkey occurred hours after that event. Unakitan said, "if there had not been financial discipline and if we had not tried to keep to the primary surplus target, we would have been affected more by the economic crisis."

-- FEAST OF SACRIFICE HOLIDAY TO BE NINE DAYS
The government decided to raise the Feast of Sacrifice holiday to nine days. Government spokesman Cemil Cicek said public laborers would be considered on administrative leave on December 12 (the day after the four-day Eid al-Adha), and thus the holiday would be nine days, including the week-ends before and after the Eid al-Adha.