GOOD MORNING--TURKEY PRESS SCAN ON DEC 6

HURRIYET

-- CONFUSION ON ELECTORAL REGISTERS

Turkish Statistical Institute (TURKSTAT) issued a notice for the destruction of the documents regarding the address-based census system which was the source of the new electoral registers. The documents were destroyed after the notice. The representatives of the political parties say with the destruction of the documents, some errors such as "switching voters" or "casting vote in more than one point" cannot be prevented. The deputy head of TURKSTAT stepped in to alleviate such concerns.

 

-- PEACE WINDS IN SUMMIT

Winds of peace blew in the trilateral summit held among Turkey, Afghanistan and Pakistan in Istanbul. Turkey's President Abdullah Gul, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari held meetings with each other. During the summit, the leaders took a significant step for solution of the confidence problem between Afghanistan and Pakistan. They signed a cooperation agreement on fight against terrorism and illicit drug trafficking, and education and military issues.

 

-- CRISIS HITS INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION

The global financial crisis has been affecting the industry since August, however its negative impact reached the peak in October. The industrial production of Turkey made a record fall of 8.5 percent in October. In November, the capacity utilization in manufacturing industry was down 72.9 percent.

        

 

MILLIYET

-- QUESTION MARKS IN BALLOT BOX

The controversy that started with 6 million rise in the number of electors grows. Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Chairman Deniz Baykal said, "electoral rolls are out of judiciary's control. This election will be very controversial."

 

-- SIGNAL OF LAST TURN WITH IMF

Reuters wrote that Turkish government would cut a 25-billion-dollars stand-by deal with the International Monetary Fund, however, Treasury denied the report in the evening.

 Reuters said the deal would cover an 18-month period. It also said the IMF asks the government to take measures to retrench 8-10 billion YTL and increase the VAT to 18 percent from 8 percent.      Â

 

 

SABAH

-- IMF LOAN IS ABOUT TO COME

Turkish State Minister Mehmet Simsek said that Turkey and the

International Monetary Fund (IMF) were about to reach a deal. According to Reuters, the fund will grant 25 billion dollars to Turkey. Simsek said, "We are about to reach an agreement with the IMF on the measures to be taken." The IMF foresees zero growth in 2009, and asks Turkey to limit expenditures by 8-10 billion YTL. The IMF deal will be for one-and-a-half or two years.

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-- WINTER COMES BACK DURING FEAST

Mehmet Caglar, the director general of Turkey's Meteorology Department, said that temperature would decrease by six to eight degrees Celsius during the Feast of Sacrifice. Caglar said that the first and second days of the feast would be rainy, and the precipitation would be seen in the east of Turkey on the third day of the feast.

 

 

VATAN
-- PERMISSION TO HOUSES TO GENERATE ELECTRICITY

Energy Minister Hilmi Guler gave good news. He said, "citizens can use the electricity they generate through solar energy free of charge." Guler said citizens were granted this right under an article added to energy law in August. "We have drawn the solar map of Turkey to generate electricity. Citizens who are willing can generate their own electricity with this system working with solar batteries. Citizens do not need to get a permission for electricity generated up to 500 kw/hr," Guler said. 500 kw/hr electricity meets electricity need of a 150-apartment housing complex. The state will give incentives for the project which is expected to cost about 10,000 euros for each apartment.
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-- SUMMIT AGAINST TALIBAN ON ISTANBUL STRAIT

The Bosphorus hosted an important summit on Friday. Turkey's President Abdullah Gul met Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari at the Four Seasons Hotel in Besiktas neighborhood. In the summit, leaders debated how two neighboring countries (Pakistan and Afghanistan) could join their forces against Taliban and al-Qaida and the security of 2,430-kilometer border. The leaders took a photograph on the bank of the Bosporus, and chatted about Istanbul for a while.

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CUMHURIYET
-- IT WILL BE THE MOST CONTROVERSIAL ELECTION

Deniz Baykal, the chairman of the Republican People's Party (CHP), said that March 29, 2009 local elections would be the most controversial election in Turkey's political history. Baykal said that his party applied to the Higher Board of Election (YSK) for electoral rolls. "Voters have been up by six million, which can no way be explained. There is a systematic mistake," he said.
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-- NO VISIT TO DIYARBAKIR
President Abdullah Gul, who was planning to visit the southeastern province of Diyarbakir on the first day of the Feast of Sacrifice, decided not to pay this visit in the last minute. Gul's press office said Gul had to delay the visit as his ear problem occurred again and he had to be treated for 15 days.