GOOD MORNING--TURKEY PRESS SCAN ON APR 9

HURRIYET
-- HISTORIC PLUNGE IN INDUSTRY: 23.7 PCT
Industrial production, which had been declining for the past seven months, broke a new record with a 23.7 percent fall in February. The biggest fall in industrial production was in the automotive sector with 58.7 percent. Textiles production declined by 28.9 percent, manufacturing by 25.9 percent, mining and quarrying by 16.8 percent, and the gas and water sector by 9.7 percent.
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-- ERGENEKON SPREADS TO CYPRUS
Turkish Cypriot Prime Minister Ferdi Sabit Soyer filed a criminal complaint with the chief prosecutor's office about former Turkish Cypriot President Rauf Denktas and National Unity Party leader Dervis Eroglu. Soyer said he filed a criminal complaint because the said figures were mentioned in the Ergenekon indictment. Denktas said the criminal complaint was an election maneuver.
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MILLIYET
-- HEYBELIADA ISSUE
U.S. President Barack Obama, in a speech delivered at the Turkish Parliament at the beginning of this week, said the Heybeliada Seminary should be re-opened. Reacting to Obama's comments, Turkish State Minister Said Yazicioglu said: "Obama's remarks will change nothing. This (Heybeliada) is our domestic issue."
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-- THY PILOT MISTAKENLY LANDS AT MILITARY AIRPORT

The pilot of a Turkish Airlines, or THY, passenger jet carrying 69 passengers landed at a military airport in Tbilisi because of confusion. Right after landing at the Tbilisi Military Airport, the plane was surrounded by military and police vehicles and personnel. Georgian authorities said the pilot could have accidentally landed the plane at the military airport because it was only 15 kilometers from the civilian airport.
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-- TURKEY'S INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION DROPS 23.7 PCT
Turkey's industrial production dropped 23.7 percent in February when compared to the same term last year. There have been sharp declines in production in fields such as automotive, electronics and textile goods.
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-- ERDOGAN: THERE IS NO NEW ECONOMIC PACKAGE
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said that there was no new economic package on their agenda. Erdogan, Industry and Trade Minister Zafer Caglayan, Labor and Social Security Minister Faruk Celik and State Minister Egemen Bagis held an economic meeting that lasted three hours in Istanbul. The leaders discussed Turkey's industrial production figures during their meeting.
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SABAH
-- SIBEL SIMSEK BECOMES EUROPEAN CHAMPION
Sibel Simsek of Turkey competed in the women's 63-kilogram category in the European Weightlifting Championships and won three gold medals in snatch, clean & jerk, and in total. She became the European champion.
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-- RECORD PROFIT FROM THY IN 2008
The consolidated net profit of Turkish Airlines, or THY, increased 327 percent in 2008 when compared with 2007. Its profit reached 1.13 billion. (1 USD = 1.612 TL)
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-- PROBATION ON FOREIGN-FLAGGED YACHTS
The Finance Ministry has begun investigating yachts that hoist foreign flags to evade taxes. The ministry’s Revenue Administration wrote letters to insurance companies and wanted their customers’ identity information to find the owners of 40,000 yachts that have foreign flags. The ministry is also investigating whether the owners of foreign-flagged yachts commit double tax evasion by writing off their expenses in Turkish companies.

VATAN
-- THEY SHAKE HANDS
A German newspaper has reported that Turkey's Fenerbahce soccer club had offered a three-year contract to their former coach Christoph Daum and received a positive response. Luis Aragones of Spain is currently coaching Fenerbahce. However, Aragones could not meet the expectations of Fenerbahce, and he is expected to be sacked at the end of the 2008-2009 soccer season.
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-- MAY 1 TO BECOME A HOLIDAY IN TURKEY
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan gave directives so that May 1 would be celebrated as a holiday. Erdogan met with three of his ministers and discussed various economic issues. During the meeting, Erdogan and the ministers agreed on making May 1 a national holiday.
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-- SIMSEK WINS 3 GOLD MEDALS IN WEIGHLIFTING CHAMPIONSHIPS
Sibel Simsek of Turkey won three gold medals at the 22nd Women's European Weightlifting Championships in Romanian capital of Bucharest. Simsek, competing in the 63-kilogram category, lifted 108 kilograms in the snatch and 128 kilograms in the clean and jerk, reaching 236 kilograms in total. She won three gold medals and became the second Turkish female weight-lifter winning gold medals in snatch, clean and jerk and total behind Nurcan Taylan.
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-- DENMARK AGAIN, CRISIS AGAIN
Copies of a cartoon insulting the Prophet Muhammad have been put on sale in Denmark. In 2005, 12 cartoons insulting the Prophet Muhammad were published in a Danish newspaper, receiving harsh reaction from the Islamic world. A copy of the cartoon will sell for around 400 Turkish Liras.
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CUMHURIYET
-- DIFFERENT OPINIONS ABOUT ‘MODEL PARTNERSHIP’
Experts made different comments about the "model partnership" concept spelled out by U.S. President Barack Obama when referring to Turkey-America relations. Professor Hasan Koni said a new era in relations had begun where dialogue would be given prominence and negotiations would be left behind. Professor Ilter Turan, on the other hand, said the term did not imply anything different from "strategic partnership" and such a term did not exist in the international politics. Retired Ambassador Inal Batu interpreted the term as implying friendly relations carried out in harmony that would set an example to other countries.
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-- INDUSTRY HITS BOTTOM
Turkey's industrial production hit the bottom with a record 23.7 percent fall in February. The industrial production, which had been falling since May 2008, showed the sharpest decline in February. The index, which was 123.9 points 10 months ago, dropped as low as 84.8 percent.
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RADIKAL
-- CYPRIOTS DON'T HAVE HOPE FOR PEACE
A research by the European Consortium for Political Research, a think-tank organization, showed that Cypriots did not have hopes for peace. According to 61 percent of Turkish Cypriots and 59 percent of Greek Cypriots, peace talks would not end positively.
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-- SEZER TO RESIGN
Democratic Left Party, or DSP, leader Zeki Sezer – who was hit hard by his party’s failure in the local elections and by the support that five DSP deputies gave to the Republican People's Party, or CHP, candidate in Istanbul – said that he would announce his resignation Sunday.
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-- PILOT LANDS AT WRONG PLACE
A Turkish Airlines, or THY, plane – on its Istanbul-Tbilisi flight – landed at Vaziani Military Airport instead of Tbilisi Airport, which is 7 kilometers away. It was revealed that the pilot wanted to make a manual landing.

YENI SAFAK
-- ERDOGAN SAYS MAY 1 WILL BE OFFICIAL HOLIDAY
May 1, which was stopped being celebrated as an official holiday under the September 12 military coup, will be redesignated an official holiday. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said, "I have given directives to my colleagues to redesignate May 1 as an official holiday. They will start procedures today."
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-- TURKEY HITS BOTTOM, TIME FOR RECOVERY
Turkey's industrial production contracted by 23.7 percent, a few points above the market’s expectations, and broke a record on monthly basis. The biggest decline in industrial production was recorded in the automotive sector with 58.7 percent.