GOOD MORNING--TURKEY PRESS SCAN ON MAY 6

HURRIYET
-- WE WOULD ROOT OUT VILLAGE
Spine-chilling statements from Abdulkadir Celebi, one of the killers of 44 people in Bilge village in the southeastern province of Mardin: "I don't know how many people we killed. We planned to kill all members of that family so that they would not wage a blood feud and kill our family members."
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-- EU: WE ARE IN DEEP SHOCK
EU Commissioner for enlargement Olli Rehn stated that they were in deep shock and were saddened over the murder of 44 people in Bilge village in the southeastern province of Mardin. The incident received widespread condemnation across Turkey.
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-- DOLLAR DROPS TO 1.55 TL
When the inflation rate for April recorded lower than the predicted, markets expected that the Central Bank would drop the interest rates. Investors grabbed bonds yesterday, dropping interest rates to 11.83 percent. The positive course of the foreign markets also became effective and the USD fell to 1.553 TL.
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MILLIYET
-- PAIN AND SHAME
This time, the Celebi family paid the bitter price of tradition in a village of the southeastern province of Mardin. Some members of the same family raided the religious wedding ceremony of Sevgi Celebi and killed 44 people including 6 children and 16 women. Three of the women were pregnant. Neighbors thought the 15 minutes of shooting was an expression of joy at the union. The murderers were seen fleeing from the scene and clashed with village guards for 20 minutes. Security forces detained 12 people whose surnames were all Celebi. There are different assertions that the massacre was over the marriage and revenge for a rape.
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-- "WE DON'T WANT SEPARATION ANYMORE"
Murat Karayilan, number one of the terrorist organization PKK, said, "The PKK is not the old PKK." "The PKK is in a more reasonable position when compared to past. The PKK demanded an independent Kurdish state before. It was in the past. I mean, the PKK is not separatist anymore," Karayilan said in an interview with Milliyet. "We do not want an independent state. We do not want federation either. We seek a solution which would not damage the unitary structure of the state," he said.
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SABAH
-- ONE BRIDE 44 FUNERALS
Security forces detained eight armed men for their alleged involvement in the killing of 44 people during a wedding party in the southeastern province of Mardin. The bride and bridegroom were killed in the armed attack which also claimed the lives of six children. The eight suspects, who were said to have been close relatives of the victims, reportedly carried out the massacre over a blood feud.
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-- SOLDIER KILLED IN MINE EXPLOSION
A senior sergeant was killed and a private was injured when a land mine went off in the eastern province of Bitlis. Sergeant Aygun Bulut stepped on the mine that had been planted by PKK terrorists.

VATAN
-- NO SUPPORT FROM MHP THIS TIME
Nationalist Movement Party, or MHP, Chairman Devlet Bahceli said, "If the constitutional amendment package includes an arrangement about the term of the president and deputies, we are out of it." Bahceli clearly drew his party's red line yesterday; "the mission term of the president was reduced from seven to five years, and the deputy election term was reduced from five to four years. Thus, general elections will take place in 2011 and the presidential election will be held in 2012. I would like to tell everybody that MHP will not be included in a coercion regarding the extension of mission terms."
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-- AKMAN INTERROGATED FOR 1.5 HOURS
Supreme Board of Radio and Television, or RTUK, Chairman Zahid Akman who was fingered as the "principal actor" by Germany, testified at Public Prosecutor's office regarding Deniz Feneri e.V. corruption. Akman, whose name appeared in the Deniz Feneri e.V. indictment many times, appeared before the prosecutor for the first time, eight months after the case was tried in Germany. Prosecutor Nadi Turkaslan interrogated Akman at an Ankara court yesterday.
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CUMHURIYET
-- SHOOTING FOR 15 MINUTES
Turkey's bloodiest massacre caused indignation in the country. In Mardin, a group of village guards threw bombs and opened fire at the crowd for minutes at a wedding ceremony of a hostile family. A total of 44 people, including 6 children and 16 women, were killed in the violence. It was claimed that the massacre was a result of a blood feud.
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-- CINDORUK RUNS AS DP LEADER
Husamettin Cindoruk, former Parliament Speaker and leader of True Path Party, or DYP, has decided to announce his candidacy for the leadership of the Democrat Party, or DP. Cindoruk will compete in the party congress on May 16.      Â

RADIKAL
-- SENIOR JUDGE FILES COMPLAINT OVER PHONE TAPPING IN ERGENEKON CASE
Osman Paksut, a member of Turkey's Constitutional Court, filed a formal complaint against prosecutors investigating the Ergenekon case for alleged tapping of his phone lines. Another senior judge warned that phone tapping had become widespread. "Phone tapping and listening have reached a level which disturbs everyone now," said Hasan Gerceker, head of the High Court of Appeals.
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-- ISTANBUL TO WELCOME BIG NAMES OF JAZZ MUSIC
Istanbul is set to meet this summer the legendry names of jazz music in a festival scheduled for July. The 16th International Istanbul Jazz Festival will feature great musicians like Marcus Miller, Stanley Clark and Joe Sample.Â

YENI SAFAK
-- ERDOGAN TO TALK AT AZERBAIJANI PARLIAMENT
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan will leave for Azerbaijan on May 13. He will meet with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and also deliver a speech in the Azerbaijani Parliament.
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-- WORLD TALKING ABOUT VIOLENCE IN MARDIN
Death toll in the massacre in Bilge village of the southeastern province of Mardin increased to 47. Six children and 16 women were among the victims. Three of the murdered women were pregnant. Masked assailants --who opened fire with automatic rifles on a wedding house and killed everybody including the bride and bridegroom -- were revealed to be from the same family. The 12 assailants were captured and their weapons were seized.

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