GOOD MORNING--TURKEY PRESS SCAN ON JUNE 2

HURRIYET

--EXPORTS BREAK HISTORIC RECORD

Turkish exports in May grew 34.48 percent over the same period last year to climb to $12.2 million, the highest figure that the country had ever reached in exports. The overall exports amounted to some $120.6 billion in twelve months, and the annual increase rose to 28.42 percent.

--TURKEY PLANS OPENING UNIVERSITY IN KOSOVOÂ

A number of Turkish universities are planning to jointly found a university in newly the independent Kosovo. The new university will be built in Pristina with the contributions of three Turkish universities.
 
Turkey's TOBB University of Economics and Technology, the Middle East Technical University and Bahcesehir University will make the fastest university investment in Kosovo with project support from the U.S..

 

MILLIYET

--NO PERMISSION FOR GENDARMERIE FORCES

The National Intelligence Agency (MIT) and the Gendarmerie Forces have been granted similar authority after the Security Department was allowed to carry out technical activities over the entire communication system in Turkey. However, the permission given to the Gendarmerie forces was cancelled by a court verdict upon complaints filed by the Directorate General of Telekom Communication.

--"MENTAL HEALTH" PUNISHMENT

The Ministry of Interior Affairs has been sentenced to pay compensation of 100,000 YTL (nearly $81,000) to Aynur Demir, the wife of Dursun Demir, one of two policemen who were killed by their colleague Emre Sen in Istanbul five years ago. Aynur Demir accused the ministry of assigning Sen without testing his mental health.

--AN ALTERNATIVE TO IRAN

In his article about recent round of Israeli-Syrian talks, David Ignatius, a columnist of the Washington Post, wrote, "The Bush administration was dubious about the Turkish negotiating channel, just as it had balked at the air strike. But here again, the Israelis ignored their superpower patron. They want to exploit tensions between Syria and Hezbollah, open at least a small gap between Syria and Iran -- and in the process enhance the clout of Turkey as an alternative to a rising Iran."

 

SABAH

--WE DO WANT PEOPLE TO DIE, DTP'S PIGEON

Aysel Tugluk, an MP from the Democratic Society Party (DTP), said that Turkey was going through a critical period. "Either the conflict is solved or a period of disaster would start," Tugluk said.

"The society wants a solution. Let us not hurt each other anymore. Nobody should use the death of Turkish-Kurdish children as a tool for politics," she added.

--THIS SONG WILL NOT END NOW, PM

Delivering a speech in Kizilcahamam town of Ankara, Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan said some people thought that Justice and Development Party (AKP) would collapse in the first quake. "A party which has the public as its basis will never shake. This song will not end now," Erdogan said.

 

VATAN

--TURKISH COURT REJECTS AUTHORIZING GENDARMERIE TO TAP ALL COMMUNICATIONS

A Turkish court dismissed an appeal by the gendarmerie forces to monitor all telephone and internet communications in Turkey where it has recently been revealed that the same had given police and the country's intelligence agency the authorization to tap all telephone, SMS, e-mail and fax communications. The court said that the gendarmerie could only use the authorization within its jurisdiction.

--EXPORTS REACH $12.2 BLN IN MAY

Turkish exports in May increased by 34.4 percent when compared to the same term in 2007 and reached $12.2 billion, Turkish Exporters Assembly (TIM) said. Chairman of TIM, Oguz Satici, made public export figures for May in a press conference held in the eastern province of Ardahan.

According to Satici, Turkish exports between January and May increased by 36.6 percent compared to the same term last year and reached a value of $55.7 billion. Turkey's exports between May 2007 and May 2008 reached $120.6 billion.

 

CUMHURIYET

--ONE SOLDIER KILLED IN YUKSEKOVA

A land mine, which was placed by PKK terrorists in a mountainous region near Yuksekova town of the southeastern province of Hakkari, detonated during a mine-sweeping. One soldier died and another was wounded in the blast.

--MARDIN AMBITIOUS IN TOURISM

Turkey's southern province of Mardin, which is one of the oldest cities of Upper Mesopotamia and an open-air museum with its architectural, ethnographic, historical and archeological characteristics, is turning into a center of attraction.

Mardin draws the attention of investors and leading companies such as Greenpark, Sabanci, Kosifler, Dedeman and Koc. They are preparing to open hotels in the province.

 

RADIKAL

--GENDARMERIE FORCES ALSO GRANTED AUTHORITY OF TECHNICAL PURSUIT

After the high criminal court in Ankara rejected the authority granted to the Gendarmerie Forces to monitor internet and telephone communication in Turkey, the Ministry of Justice has taken action. The Supreme Court of Appeals admitted the ministry's request.

--MARDIN TO BECOME A CENTER OF ATTRACTION

The southeastern province of Mardin, which is also known as the city of stone and faith, will become Turkey's new center of attraction. The Ministry of Culture & Tourism has taken action to turn Mardin into a destination for foreign tourists.

 

YENI SAFAK

--SURVEY SHOWS VOTER SUPPORT FOR ERDOGAN

A poll has said that 48.8 percent of the supporters of the ruling AKP would again vote for its leader, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, even if Turkey's highest court shut down the party.

The poll, conducted by Metropoll Strategic and Social Research Center, also said 65.9 percent of voters of the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) did not want to see Deniz Baykal as the leader of the party.

--TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER SAYS HIS COUNTRY WILL BE READY FOR EU BY 2013

Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said Turkey would meet all requirements to join the European Union by 2013. "But we do not know when the Union will be ready to allow Turkey's accession," Babacan told German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung. The Turkish foreign minister also said that Turkey's European Union (EU) membership would not be like the memberships of other countries.