Turkey press scan

These are some of the major headlines and their summaries in Turkish press on March 22nd, 2005. The Anadolu Agency does not verify these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.HURRIYET (LIBERAL)FLAG IS OUR HONORFormer Turkish deputies Leyla Zana and Orhan Dogan reacted to the attempt by a protestor to burn the Turkish flag in Mersin. Zana said, ''we have to respect our common values. Flag is an honorable symbol for which precious lives may be lost. We must eliminate such provocateurs peacefully and contribute to lasting peace.''    EACH YEAR 1.2 MILLION CHILDREN GET SOLDThe Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has announced that about 1.2 million children get sold or traded throughout the globe annually. According to OSCE's Helga Konrad, trading of children has especially risen in Eastern Europe within the past three years. Konrad indicated that most of those children work as farmers, house servants or sex slaves.    MILLIYET (LIBERAL)SERIOUS WARNING FROM EUROPERiza Turmen, a judge of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), said that if Turkey enacted laws without taking into consideration decisions of the ECHR, serious problems might emerge. Turmen criticized the new Turkish Penal Code (TCK) which envisaged heavy imprisonment terms for the press members.    ERDOGAN ENSURES CARAMANLISTurkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met Greek Prime Minister Costas Caramanlis at dinner in Brussels yesterday. The issues of tourism, economy, energy and Cyprus were high on agenda. Prime Minister Erdogan told Caramanlis that they would sign the Ankara Protocol before October 3rd when the entry negotiation between Turkey and the European Union would start.    ''THERE WAS NOT A GENOCIDE, BUT A WAR IN THOSE DAYS''Prof. Dr. Justin Mccarty, who came to Turkey upon invitation of the Republican People's Party (CHP), said about the allegation of so-called Armenian genocide that there was a war in those days, not genocide. Prof. Dr. Mccarty met CHP leader Deniz Baykal. Noting that some Armenians revolted against the Ottoman Empire, Prof. Dr. Mccarty said that the Ottoman government reacted to the uprising. Pointing out that Armenians died and some of them were killed by Turks, Prof. Dr. Mccarty said that however, also many more Turkish people died since there was a war in those days.    SABAH (LIBERAL)NO RETRIAL FOR OCALANTurkish Justice Minister Cemil Cicek said that they would not make any arrangement, which would pave the way for retrial of Abdullah Ocalan, the head of the terrorist organization of PKK.    AVIVI: ''WE REQUEST TURKEY'S ASSISTANCE''Israeli Ambassador to Turkey Pinhas Avivi said that they requested assistance of Turkey for several programs including Israel, Turkey and Palestine. Avivi paid a visit to Governor Kadir Calisici of central city of Eskisehir. ''We need a third party to assist us in taking confidence-building measures. During the talks in Spain, Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres told Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan that Israel wanted Turkey to be more influential in the peace process,'' Avivi added.CUMHURIYET (LEFT)DOUBLE STANDARDS BY EUWhile the European Union is encouraging Turkey to grant foreign nationals the right to vote, there are cases in the EU when such a behavior is not tolerated nor permitted. France, Germany and Greece are examples of EU countries that do not permit foreign residents to cast their ballots in elections.    REAL HOMEWORK IS THAT OF PARENTSThe effort to make homeworks pleasing and happy occasion depends on parents, said a Turkish academician. ''Children must be taught self-discipline, personal management and encouraged to make personal decisions so that they enjoy their homeworks and thus their lives.''    RADIKAL (LEFT)NEVRUZ FIRE EVERYWHERETurkey wholeheartedly celebrated the Nevruz Feast. About 250,000 residents of Diyarbakir joyfully celebrated Nevruz. Among the foreigners present in Diyarbakir were several EU representatives. Former Turkish deputy Leyla Zana remarked, ''we are partners in every field in this country, Turkey.''    HARD DAYS AHEAD FOR TURKEYAccording to New American Century Project, an American think-tank group, hard days are ahead for Turkey as it has not succeeded in establishing a solid national and geopolitical identity. The group asserted that the worsening situation in the Turkish ruling party (Justice and Development Party-AKP) is primarily due to anti-Americanism, anti-Europeanism and xenophobia.    TURKIYE (RIGHT)ERDOGAN MEETS CARAMANLISTurkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan met his Greek counterpart Caramanlis in Brussels. Erdogan discussed the issues of Turkish-Greek relations, and economic and commercial matters. Erdogan indicated that the current annual trade volume between Turkey and Greece, which is 1.8 billion U.S. dollars, must be increased to a level higher than 5 billion U.S. dollars.    THERE WAS NO GENOCIDE!Professor McCarty of the U.S. Louisville University stated that there was a war at the beginning of the last century. ''There was absolutely no genocide of the Armenians. There were citizens who allied with the enemies of the Ottoman Empire and tried to revolt. The government reacted to such brutal and ruthless anti-Ottoman efforts. Some Armenians died but the number of Turks who died was higher than that of the Armenians. What took place was a war and definitely not a genocide,'' remarked McCarty.    ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)'EFFORTS WILL SPEED UP FOR A SOLUTION IN CYPRUS AFTER APRIL 17TH''Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said during his meeting with Greek Prime Minister Costas Caramanlis in Brussels that efforts would speed up to find a solution to the Cyprus issue after the presidential elections in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus on April 17th.    10 THOUSAND PEOPLE PROTEST ATTEMPT TO BURN TURKISH FLAGNearly 10 thousand people held a demonstration in eastern city of Erzurum to protest the attempt to burn Turkish flag during Nevruz ceremonies in southern city of Mersin. Demonstrators carrying Turkish flags in their hands burned a puppet of Abdullah Ocalan, the head of the terrorist organization of PKK, and Kurdish flag.YENI SAFAK (CONSERVATIVE)ISTANBUL TO BECOME CENTER OF WORLD TRADEMurat Yalcintas, chairman of the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce, said that they targeted to make Istanbul, one of the oldest cities in the world, a center of world trade.Â