GOOD MORNING--TURKEY PRESS SCAN ON JAN 26

HURRIYET
-- WHITE DISASTER: 10 KILLED
Members of Trabzon Tennis, Mountaineering and Skiing Club were trapped under avalanche on Zigana passage in Torul town in the northeastern province of Gumushane. 10 mountaineers died and eight others were rescued. 18 members of the club, who were participating in Winter Festival in Zigana passage, left their hotel yesterday morning and went walking at Kadirga Plateau. The group was caught by a sudden avalanche at 11:00 a.m. Three women and three men in the group were able to escape from the avalanche at first moment while 12 people were caught by the avalanche and dragged by tons of snow for 1.5 kilometers. Search and rescue teams reached the scene. They pulled three mountaineers from the snow alive, but one of them died at the hospital.
       Â
-- GUNEY IS LYING
Carlos the Jackal responded the statements of Tuncay Guney with telephone from the prison. Guney, who spoke at state-run TRT channel, said that Carlos the Jackal came Istanbul in 1977 and spoke with a boy from Islamic world. Carlos the Jackal said, "I made a transit passage from Istanbul while I was travelling from Baghdad to Bucharest in January 1979. I was accompanied by my comrades. I am a revolutionist. The person, who claimed that I had spoken with a young leader in Istanbul, is lying." International terrorist Vladimir Ilich Ramirez Sanchez is known as Carlos the Jackal, and he is in Poissy Prison in France.
       Â
MILLIYET
-- ERGENEKON FROM EYE OF PEOPLE
A public survey carried out in 33 provinces with the participation of 2,407 people has revealed that 61.7 percent of Turkish people believed that the Ergenekon organization existed. 32.8 percent believed that everything in the trial process was in line with the law.
       Â
-- SNOWS OF ZIGANA CLAIM TEN LIVES
An avalanche slammed into a group of mountaineers during a climb to Mount Zigana in the northern province of Gumushane, killing ten of them. Eight members of the Trabzon Tennis, Mountaineering and Skiing Club survived the avalanche. "We looked up and there was nowhere to run. The snow took us and dragged us along," Kasim Keles, who was injured in the avalanche, said.
       Â
-- "BEING PERCEIVED AS A SUPPORTER OF HAMAS ISOLATES TURKEY"
Faruk Logoglu, a retired ambassador, said in an interview with the Milliyet daily, "The Jewish lobby is the strongest in the United States and the only one supporting Turkey. Therefore, the letter of disappointment sent to Erdogan is of great importance." He added that being perceived as a supporter of Hamas isolated Turkey in the international platform.
       Â
SABAH
-- AVALANCHE MASSACRE
A group of mountaineers who went out to hike in the Zigana pass in Gumushane were hit by an avalanche. 10 people were killed, three were wounded and four others survived unharmed. 17 members of the Trabzon Mountaineering and Tennis Club decided to take a hike instead of skiing when they saw that the snow was soft. The avalanche hit when the group arrived in Barutcu (2100 meters). The avalanche dragged the mountaineers for one kilometer. "The avalanche hit all of a sudden. We had nowhere to escape. I was dragged. My left arm was left under my body. I did not have enough strength to lift the snow. I cried for help," said Rasim Keles, one of the survivors.
       Â
-- GUNSHOT SUSPICION
Emel Simsek, another survivor of the avalanche, said she heard two gunshots before the avalanche hit. Officials said the noise caused by avalanche resembled gunshots, however they were looking into the allegations.

VATAN
-- ISRAEL PROVOKED HAMAS WITH SIEGE AND PRESSURE
Speaking to London-based Arabian Al-Hayat newspaper, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said, "Hamas emerged from occupation conditions. It joined elections in 2006, received the confidence of Palestinian people and won the elections. We, different from others, think that Hamas should not be excluded. Hamas certainly has some mistakes. However, while Israel did not meet the cease-fire conditions, Hamas abode the conditions for six months. Israel provoked Hamas with siege and pressure."
       Â
-- MINOR WARNING FROM KANDILLI
After a magnitude-4.2 earthquake which happened off the northwestern province of Tekirdag at 5:58 p.m. two days ago, a total of 14 aftershocks have been recorded till last night. Kandilli Observatory & Seismology Institute Director Prof. Gulay Altay said that those shocks were normal but the strengthening of hospital and school buildings should immediately be completed.
       Â
CUMHURIYET
-- AVALANCHE CLAIMS TEN LIVES
17 members of the Trabzon Mountaineering and Tennis Club, who were participating in the winter festival in the Zigana pass, were hit by an avalanche while hiking in the Kadirga plateau. 7 people, two of whom were wounded, were rescued by search and rescue squads. Officials said high temperatures, above seasonal normals, could have triggered the avalanche.
       Â
-- KANADOGLU: INDEPENDENCE OF JUDICIARY IS HARMED
Honorary chief judge of the Supreme Court, Sabih Kandoglu, said the luncheon that President Abdullah Gul hosted for the heads of the legislative, the executive and judiciary branches, was against the separation of powers principle. "This is an indirect attack on the independence of the judiciary. The problems of the country may be discussed when friends gather but not in a meeting where the executive and legislative branches are present," said Kanadoglu. Kanadoglu said the judiciary was not independent.
       Â
RADIKAL
-- UNFORGIVABLE NEGLIGENCE
An avalanche slammed into 18 mountaineers, killing ten and injuring two of them as they were climbing to Mount Zigana in the northern province of Gumushane. Six climbers survived and informed the local authorities. After hours of efforts, search and rescue teams pulled alive six people and found six bodies. Four mountaineers died in the hospital bringing the death toll to ten. AKUT Chairman Nasuh Mahruki said that mountaineers could have escaped disaster if they had made an avalanche test. He added that they, apparently, had not made that test.
       Â
-- ORHAN DURU PASSES AWAY
Prominent Turkish writer and journalist Orhan Duru has passed away at the age of 76. He will be laid to rest in Istanbul on Tuesday. Born in Istanbul in 1933, Duru graduated from Ankara University Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. He, later, began working as journalist and writing short stories. He won a number of prizes with his stories.

YENI SAFAK
-- AGREEMENT WITH IMF TO BE SIGNED BEFORE MARCH 29
Central Bank Governor Durmus Yilmaz said an agreement would be signed with IMF before the local elections on March 29. "Revised macro economic magnitudes will be revealed once the agreement is announced," said Yilmaz.
       Â
-- PREMIER INVITES OBAMA TO CIVILIZATIONS SUMMIT
Premier Tayyip Erdogan sent a congratulatory message to U.S. President Barack Obama and invited him to the Alliance of Civilizations summit in Istanbul on April 6 and 7. "The speech you delivered in your oath taking ceremony is encouraging for friends and allies. The importance you attach to dialogue is a great step taken in the name of world peace," said Erdogan in his message. Erdogan who stressed that enhancement of the strategic partnership between Turkey and the U.S. was important for stability.