Turkey press scan

HURRIYET (LIBERAL)
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INSTRUCTION TO PULL THE PLUG

Hamza Keles, the acting chief prosecutor responsible for the Broadened Criminal Courts, instructed officials to stop tapping telephone lines till March 31st. Keles told intelligence officials of the National Intelligence Organization (MIT), Directorate General of Security and Gendarme General Command in a secret summit to stop tapping telephone lines before the new Turkish Penal Code (TCK) was put into force. Keles said, ''the law is obvious. I will punish those who tap telephones irregularly.''
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FIVE MORE DIE DUE TO COUNTERFEIT RAKI

Five more people, who were poisoned by the bootleg raki, died in Istanbul. Sezai Palavan, Ekrem Atici, Bayram Sirma and Orhan Canur died at hospitals, while 41-year-old civil servant Atilla Ozturk died at his house, increasing the death toll to 22 according to the figures of the Istanbul Health Directorate.
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MILLIYET (LIBERAL)
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SEZER'S REACTION

President Ahmet Necdet Sezer was scheduled to pay a state visit to Finland between March 14th and 16th. However, President Tarja Halonen of Finland invited the Greek Cypriot Ambassador in Helsinki to the banquet to be hosted on March 15th in honor of President Sezer and his wife. Turkey harshly reacted it, and informed Finland that Turkish
delegation would not partake in the dinner. It was the first crisis. Later, the EU criticized police intervention in a demonstration in Istanbul on Sunday. Upon all these developments, President Sezer decided to cancel his visit to Finland.Â
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ARMENIA REJECTS ERDOGAN'S PROPOSAL

Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanyan rejected the proposal of Prime Minister Erdogan. Earlier, Prime Minister Erdogan called for an impartial study to be carried out by historians about Armenian allegations that their people were exposed to genocide during the World War I, saying, ''we have opened our archives to those people who
claim there was genocide. If they are sincere they should also open their archives. Teams of historians from both sides should conduct studies in these archives.''
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SABAH (LIBERAL)
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CYPRUS VETO

The reason why Turkish President Ahmet Necdet Sezer postponed his visit to Finland has become obvious. As the Finnish President invited the Greek Cypriot ambassador to the dinner he will host in honor of Sezer, Sezer did not accept it.
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DEATH TOLL RISES TO 30

The death toll rose to 30 due to bootleg raki as five more people who drank counterfeit raki died yesterday (Wednesday).
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MUMCU SAYS ''CONDITIONAL'' YES TO ANAP

Erkan Mumcu, who resigned from the ruling Justice & Development Party (AKP), met a group of members of the Motherland Party (ANAP of which he had been a member of). Mumcu told ANAP group, ''I will declare my candidacy for ANAP leadership if you openly declare that you have adopted restructuring principles I have been defending for 10 years.'' And, the group promised to do so.
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CUMHURIYET (LEFT)
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'TURKS FELT SLIGHTED BY FACT THAT WASHINGTON LAUNCHED IRAQ WAR''

The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, one of the prominent think-tank organizations in the United States, said in a report ''many Turks believe that the United States is not treating them with respect''. The report said that most Turks felt slighted by
the fact that Washington launched the Iraq war despite the vote in parliament against such a campaign.  ''Their resentment increased when U.S. troops arrested Turkish soldiers in northern Iraq on July 4th, 2003. The lack of U.S. action against the PKK, present in northern Iraq, has only exacerbated such feelings. If Washington does not take a step, U.S.-Turkish ties may remain strained,'' the report added.
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EP WANTS A DETAILED REPORT

The European Parliament (EP) wants Turkey to prepare a detailed report about police intervention in Sunday's demonstration in Istanbul. The draft resolution, which will be put to vote at the EP today, will condemn acts of police during the demonstration.  

RADIKAL (LEFT)
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USD CAN'T BE STOPPED BY BRAKES

Despite the intervention of the Central Bank of Turkey, which reduced short-term interest rates by one percent, the USD closed the day at 1.2740 New Turkish Lira (YTL), with only 0.7 New Kurus (YKr) increase. USD did not increase despite the intervention because of great deal of sale by foreigners.
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OUR LESSON IS MARILYN MONROE

The first daily history book prepared for the high schools is telling about Marilyn Monroe and Lenin. After the National Education Ministry increased high school education to four years and decided to include ''history of world and Turkey in the 20th century'' in the
curriculum of high schools, the first ''daily history'' book was published. The aim of the book, prepared by the History Foundation with the support of the European Union (EU), is to teach the concepts that can be used in daily life and increase interest of students in
history. The book will narrate topics like dictators after 1929, EU and Iraq War, and Turkish and foreign famous dignities like Orhan Gencebay (Turkish singer), Nazim Hikmet (Turkish author and poet), Aziz Nesin (Turkish author), Marilyn Monroe, Lenin and Che Guevara.
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TURKIYE (RIGHT)
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MIGRATION INCREASED CRIMES

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan answered questions of Fuat Bol, Mehmet Soysal and Ismail Kapan in a program live broadcast on TGRT Haber TV. PM Erdogan said that migration of desperate people of Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia regions to metropolises caused many problems, and added, ''particularly children below 18 years old are used by some circles. They are forced to commit crimes.''
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TALAT'S EYE ON THE TOP

Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Talat of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) claimed that he would most probably win the presidential elections due on April 17th. Talat said that in case he was elected as the new TRNC president, he would be the negotiator in Cyprus talks, and he would carry out these negotiations in cooperation and
coordination with the government.
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ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)
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BAYKAL INVITES MCCARTHY TO TURKEY

Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal said that they had invited Prof. Justin McCarthy from the University of Louisville to Turkey. Prof. McCarthy is expected to come to Turkey in the coming days to hold a series of meetings on allegations of so-called Armenian genocide. He will also attend conferences at the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs Strategic Studies Center, the Bilkent University and the Marmara University.
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U.S. SOLDIER CAPTURED WITH A WEAPON IN DIYARBAKIR

U.S. soldier Cristopher Franz Pipes was captured with a weapon in his luggage. Together with his Australian brother in arm Ross Milosevic, Pipes came to Turkey from Iraq. They arrived in Diyarbakir Airport to go to Istanbul. During the routine check, security forces
found a hand-gun hidden in the luggage of Pipes. Pipes and Milosevic were transferred to the court with the accusation of carrying fire arms without a license. However, they were released by the judge, and they will be tried without detention.Â
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YENI SAFAK (CONSERVATIVE)
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'WE WILL NOT OPEN OUR AIR SPACE TO GREEK CYPRIOTS''

Turkish Transportation Minister Binali Yildirim reacted to the European Union (EU) which called on Turkey to open its air space unilaterally by allowing the Greek Cypriot side to use it. Yildirim said that such a thing was not possible.
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DEATH TOLL FROM BOOTLEG RAKI RISES TO 21

Three more people died in Istanbul after drinking bootleg raki, bringing the death toll to 21. Meanwhile, several others remained hospitalized after drinking fake raki, which was apparently made using methyl alcohol. Police have raided underground distilleries in
Istanbul and other cities, confiscating thousands of bottles of illegally produced raki last week.
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