GOOD MORNING--TURKEY PRESS SCAN ON DEC 23

HURRIYET
-- TAKE THEM FROM MOUNTAINS TO THEIR HOUSES NOT TO PRISONS
Iraq's President Jalal Talabani gave signs of PKK's dissolution by saying that PKK should lay down arms. In an interview with CNN Turk, Talabani said, "our constitution is against presence of armed forces. Iraqi territories can not be used for attacks on neighboring countries. We are against violence and we think that armed struggle was left in the past. Kurdish groups will ask PKK to put an end to armed fighting. Solution of the problem will not be through the method of PKK but through the method of Democratic Society Party (DTP). The aim of (Massoud) Barzani and myself is to convince the men on the mountains to give chance to ceasefire."

Talabani said there were two demands to lay down arms, "one is better living conditions in Turkey, and the other is respect to Kurdish language. While we say they should lay down arms and return to their houses, we do not mean prisons."
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-- ZEYNEP KUBRA WAITS FOR SUPPORT FROM TURKS
Zeynep Kubra Sever of Turkish descent will attend the beauty contest in Charleoi city in Belgium. Spectators will send SMS during the contest and will choose the most beautiful woman of Belgium together with the jury. 19-year-old Sever, who will join the contest, believes that she would win the contest with the support of Turks.
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MILLIYET
-- SANTA CLAUS OF ANATOLIA DISCUSSION IN ANTALYA
A new sculpture of Santa Claus sculpture will be opened in Demre town of southern province of Antalya on December 25. Necdet Can, the sculptor of the new statue, said, "I was careful while making the features of the face and tried to make it look like Turks." Another sculptor Eray Okkan said, "this sculpture does not suit any style. It looks like 'uncle Nail' of today, not Saint Nicholas who lived in the 6th century."
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-- WARNING AGAINST SNOW AND COLD WEATHER
Turkey will be affected by cold weather wave coming over the Balkans. Temperatures are expected to drop by 4-6 degrees Celsius.
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-- MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH IN AEGEAN
Five divers who set sail with a zodiac boat from northwestern province of Canakkale got lost in the Aegean as the boat was dragged because of heavy storm. The divers were found hours after on Tavsan Island near Bozcaada.
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SABAH
-- CRISIS TO TAKE BREAK ON NEW YEAR'S DAY
Despite the fallout from a global economic crisis, luxury hotels in Istanbul are booked by a 90 percent occupancy rate for the new year's day. Prices for holiday packages vary between 275 euros to 25 thousand euros as one hotel offers 1000 euro gift voucher to its customers who would pay a bill of 9 thousand euros for the new year's day.
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-- SUSPECTED MOSQUE ARSONIST DETAINED
Police detained a man who was suspected to have set 19 mosques ablaze in Istanbul. The fires over the last couple of weeks made material damage to the mosques. The suspect said he set the fires to cover up traces of theft.

VATAN
-- PLAN TO DISSOLVE PKK
In an interview with CNN Turk, Jalal Talabani said administration in north of Iraq would not allow its territories to be used as a base against Turkey from now on. Statements of Talabani were interpreted as a pressure on PKK to isolate it from the mountains, which is the first stage of the plan. Talabani confirmed the plan that appeared in U.S. media by saying "terrorism period has ended from now on". A call will be made to PKK soon to lay down arms."
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-- GET PREPARED, IT WILL SNOW TODAY
Turkey will see a new wave of cold weather coming over the Balkans. Western and central Mediterranean shores will be rainy, and snow is expected in Central Anatolia, northern parts of eastern Anatolia and western Black Sea region.
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CUMHURIYET
-- CALL TO PARTIES
Sabih Kanadoglu, the honorary Chief Prosecutor of Supreme Court of Appeals, made a statement about rise of 6 million in number of voters and "imaginary voters". Kanadoglu said political parties may apply to Council of State with a call to annul the protocol signed between Interior Ministry and Higher Election Board (YSK).
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-- 2009 WISH IN CYPRUS
President Mehmet Ali Talat of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) has met with the leader of the Greek Cypriot administration Demetris Christofias for the 13th time under the full-fledged talks aiming at finding a permanent solution to the Cyprus issue. Alexander Downer, U.N. Special Adviser to the U.N. Secretary-General on Cyprus, who also attended the meeting in the buffer zone in Lefkosa, read out a joint statement after 3-hour meeting of Talat and Christofias. The statement said progress made in negotiation process was not sufficient and wished 2009 would bring peace to "common motherland" Cyprus and to the whole world.
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RADIKAL
-- TALABANI: "IRAQ IS AWARE OF THE IMPORTANCE OF TURKEY"
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said, "Iraq had come to understand the importance of Turkey." Talabani said the problems with the northern Iraqi administration had been overcome. "Barzani is a friend of Turkey and the only way to struggle against the PKK is dialogue," Talabani told an interview with CNN Turk.
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-- WEATHER TO GET COLDER
Turkey will be affected by a cold front this week and temperatures are expected to drop further by 4-6 degrees Celsius. Central and eastern parts of the country will see snowfall as the cold front enters in from the Balkans.

YENI SAFAK
-- IRAQI PRESIDENT CITES "NEW ERA" IN RELATIONS WITH TURKEY
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said "a new era" had begun in relations between Turkey and Iraq. "I do not see any obstacle before a strategic alliance between the two countries. Kurds, Arabs, Sunnis and Shiites agree on having good relations with Turkey," Talabani told CNN Turk. Talabani also called the terrorist organization PKK to lay down arms. "We believe that the time of armed struggle has passed. Now is the time for dialogue and diplomacy," he said.
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-- STATE-RUN TV CHANNEL TO BEGIN BROADCASTING IN KURDISH
Turkey's state-run television and radio network, TRT, is set to begin broadcasting on January 1, 2009. TRT 6 channel will feature a concert by Kurdish folk singer Civan Haco. The channel will broadcast round the clock in the Kurdish dialects of Kurmanji, Zazaki and Sorani.