GOOD MORNING--TURKEY PRESS SCAN ON APR 10

HURRIYET
-- MAY DAY TO BECOME HOLIDAY
Labor Minister Faruk Celik said a bill to declare May Day a public holiday was sent to the Council of Ministers to be approved. But he did not give the green light for May 1 celebrations at Istanbul's Taksim Square.
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-- LIONS WIN EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP
The Galatasaray women's basketball team has won the FIBA EuroCup championship and brought the first European champions cup to Turkey. Galatasaray defeated Italy's Taranto Cras Basket in the final match.
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MILLIYET
-- EU'S CRITICISM IMPEDES COOPERATION
In an exclusive interview with the Financial Times, President Abdullah Gul said criticism against Turkey's opposition to former Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen's appointment as NATO secretary-general was "very dangerous." "The criticisms of the Europeans may hinder cooperation against threats to the West," Gul said.
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-- QUEENS OF EUROPE
Galatasaray women’s basketball team defeated Italian Taranto Cras Basket team 82-61 in Istanbul and became the European champions. The women basketballers were defeated by the Italian team in the first match.
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SABAH
-- ANKARA CONCERNED OVER EU REACTION

 President Abdullah Gul expressed his country's unease about the European Union’s reaction after Turkey briefly opposed Denmark's Anders Fogh Rasmussen’s bid for NATO secretary-general. "We are concerned that security cooperation might be hampered," Gul said.
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-- TURK TELEKOM TO PAY DIVIDEND WORTH 1.5 BLN LIRAS
Turkey's biggest fixed-lined telephone operator, Turk Telekom, is set to pay to its shareholders dividends worth 1.49 billion Turkish Liras out of its 1.75 billion net profit in 2008. The payment is the largest the company ever distributed in its history.

VATAN
-- CHANGE BEGINS
By displaying a different attitude about May Day, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan seemed to put into practice U.S. President Barack Obama's call to change. Earlier, he was totally opposed to the idea of declaring May Day a public holiday. In a surprise move, he gave directives to the relevant ministers. A draft law declaring May Day a public holiday was prepared and submitted to the Council of Ministers for approval.
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-- PILOT TO RETIRE AFTER LANDING AT WRONG AIRPORT
Mehmet Kesik, pilot of the Turkish Airlines, or THY, passenger plane that landed at a military base instead of the Tbilisi airport by mistake, applied for retirement as soon as he returned to Turkey. Kesik has been working for THY for 12 years.
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CUMHURIYET
-- MAY DAY TO BECOME HOLIDAY
Labor Minister Faruk Celik said a draft declaring May Day a public holiday was submitted to the Council of Ministers. Celik said May Day would be a broad scope formal holiday that would include all workers.
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-- VICTORY OF GALATASARAY'S WOMEN BASKETBALLERS
The Galatasaray women’s basketball team defeated the Italian Taranto team 82-61 in the Eurocup final. This was the first European cup that a Turkish women’s basketball team has won.
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RADIKAL
-- $45 BILLION COMING
In the light of State Minister for treasury Mehmet Simsek's statements, Turkey is likely to get nearly $45 billion of financing thanks to a three-year deal with the International Monetary Fund. Simsek, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn reached an agreement in principle. Simsek said one of the major principles under the deal was not to take additional measures to compensate for budget revenue loss caused by VAT and private consumption tax cuts. The deal is expected to be approved by the IMF in May.
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-- EUTHANASIA TRIP
Tugrul Cankurt, whose was paralyzed in a traffic accident in 2004, will go to Switzerland for euthanasia. Cankurt, who is also a teacher, said a euthanasia center in Switzerland accepted his application.

YENI SAFAK
-- HAPPY MAY DAY NEWS
A draft law declaring May Day as a public holiday in Turkey was submitted to the Council of Ministers for approval. Trade unions representing employees welcomed the draft, while the Confederation of Revolutionary Trade Unions of Turkey, or DISK, insisted on celebrating May Day in Istanbul’s Taksim Square.
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-- HAYAL SENTENCED TO THREE YEARS IN PRISON
Yasin Hayal, one of suspects in the killing of journalist Hrant Dink, was sentenced to three years and four months in prison after being convicted for his involvement in the bomb attack on a McDonald's restaurant in the northern province of Trabzon in which six people were injured.