Turkey press scan

HURRIYET (LIBERAL)

4,500 DEATH WEAPONS: Gendarmery, acting on a tip off, seized 362 packages of death raki in a lorry near Yesilkaraman Village on main Isparta-Antalya highway. There were 4,500 bottles of fake raki hidden under the fruit cases in the lorry. Mehmet Duran, driver of the lorry, was detained. Experts said the rakis were fake.
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SEZER VETOES STUDENT PARDON: President Ahmet Necdet Sezer has vetoed a law, publicly known as the student pardon. The law allows the university students who were banned or suspended from their schools to resume their education.

The Presidency Press Center said President Sezer returned the law
for reconsideration at the Turkish parliament.President Sezer said that the law is within the purview of pardon, thus it has to be adopted at parliament with majority.

MILLIYET (LIBERAL)

OPEN YOUR EMBASSY AND TURKEY WILL HELP WITH THE RENT: Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan has stated that Turkey is ready to assist the Ethiopian government in opening an embassy in the Turkish capital of Ankara. ''The Ethiopian authorities have informed us Turks that they could not open an embassy in Ankara previously due to their insufficient financial and economic resources.  We did inform the Ethiopian government that Turkey is ready to pay the Ethiopian embassy's rent for some time, if the Ethiopians wish to establish a permanent embassy in Turkey.''
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TURKEY NO LONGER A NUMBER ONE THREAT FOR GREECE: The improvement of relations between Turkey and Greece have resulted in the Greek government's decision to make Turkey a number two threat.

Formerly, the Greek government saw Turkey as the number one threat and had based its diplomacy around the world accordingly.

SABAH (LIBERAL)

FOUR TURKS KILLED IN IRAQ:Ansar al-Sunnah organization said they killed two Turkish drivers-Turan Unsal and Huseyin Aytag-on charges that they were transporting cement to the US forces.

The two Turkish drivers had been abducted on February 25th in Kirkuk.
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HIGH TRIBUNAL ADJOURNS TOPCU CASE TILL MARCH 28TH: The High Tribunal rejected the procedural objections submitted by the former Public Works & Settlement Minister Yasar Topcu, and adjourned the trial until March 28th.

Topcu requested time to prepare his defense in written, stating that he did not commit a crime.

Topcu has been charged with corruption during his term in office.

CUMHURIYET (LEFT)

EUROPEANS ALSO RELY ON ARMY: European Commission carried out a survey in Turkey which it had been carrying out in European countries for 30 years.

According to the results of the survey, army is the most reliable institution for people in Turkey and in Europe.

Hansjoerg Kretschmer, the head of the Delegation of the European Commission to Turkey, said, ''I was also amazed to see that people of EU member countries see the armed forces as the most reliable institution.''

According to the survey, 89 percent of Turkish people and 69 percent of EU people see the armed forces is the most reliable institution.
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US COMMANDER DUE IN TURKEY: The commander of the US Army in Europe, General Burwell Bell, will pay a visit to Ankara today.

Bell will be the guest of Turkish Land Forces Commander Gen. Yasar Buyukanit.

During his two-day visit to Turkey, bilateral military relations and logistic use of Incirlik are expected to be discussed.
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RADIKAL (LEFT)

VERBAL ARGUMENT WITH EU: Turkish Foreign Ministry responded to the statements of Hansjoerg Kretschmer, the head of the Delegation of the European Commission to Turkey,  that Ankara 'slowed down' after December 17th Brussels Summit.

Turkish Foreign Ministry said ''Turkey fulfills its responsibilities,'' adding that the EU also has some responsibilities.The ministry noted that Turkey expected the EU to be more active regarding those responsibilities.

A COURAGEOUS PROSECUTOR IS SEARCHED FOR IN TURKEY AGAINST FAKE RAKI PRODUCERS: Turkish security forces have seized more than 5,000 bottles of fake Raki across the country yesterday.  A Turkish judicial expert said that Turkey is now looking forward to a courageous prosecutor who can bring all the producers and suppliers of fake Raki to justice.
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TURKIYE (RIGHT)

TURKEY DECLARES 2005 AS THE YEAR OF AFRICA: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has given very important and timely messages from Ethiopia where he is for a five day official visit.  ''The trade volume between Turkey and Ethiopia is presently around 100 million U.S. dollars.  We, as Turks of Anatolia, have declared 2005 as the year of Africa.  We began our journey in Africa stopping first at Ethiopia.  Turkey wants to share its experiences with the Ethiopian society in all fields, including tourism, banking, telecommunications, education, construction and diplomacy.''
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ANKARA REPLIES TO KRETSCHMER: Turkish Foreign Ministry Spokesman Namik Tan has stated that his ministry does not agree with the comments made recently by the EU Commission's Turkey Delegation President Hans Jorg Kretschmer that Turkey's efforts vis-a-vis the upcoming accession talks have slowed down.  ''The European Union is our number one priority.  We have made very important reforms in the past three years.  Turkey will continue to do its homework and continue efforts to reach the EU standards in every field,'' told Tan.

ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)

TURKEY TO SET SAIL TO CENTRAL AFRICAN MARKET THROUGH ETHIOPIA:  The Turkish government, which announced 2005 as ''Africa Year'', started the initiatives in the continent from Ethiopia.

During the visit which is considered as a turning point in bilateral relations, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi extended full support to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Cyprus and UN Security Council membership.

Erdogan opened Program Coordination Office of Turkish International Cooperation Agency (TIKA) in Ethiopia.

With the Program Coordination Office, Turkey both aims to improve relations and to use this country base to open to Central Africa.
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TURKEY FEAR OF GREECE FOR THE FIRST TIME REGRESSES: For the first time after more than 30 years, Greece in its annual defense report excluded Turkey from being the biggest threat for its security.

The report which was approved by the Defense Committee and the government, stated that the biggest threat to Greece came from the north and included terrorism, weapons, international crimes and instability.
 
YENI SAFAK (CONSERVATIVE)

ETHIOPIA TO BECOME TURKEY'S GATE TO AFRICA: Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan was greeted by thousands of Ethiopians with great joy yesterday in Addis Ababa.  ''Turkey has declared 2005 as the year of Africa.  We found out that our Ethiopian friends want to help Turkey in Africa in all fields, including health,education and commercial related matters.  While Ethiopia will be Turkey's gate to the east, central and south Africa, Turkey will be Ethiopia's gate to the European Union and Asia.''

TURKISH MAJORITY OPTIMISTIC ABOUT JOINING THE EUROPEAN UNION: In a survey conducted by a private research group in Europe, the majority of Turkish participants favored a full membership in the EU. ''48 percent of Turks indicated that they want to join the EU for economic reasons.  34 percent of the survey participants want to enter the EU due to social security benefits.  About 30 percent want the EU membership for the free movement of labor.''