GOOD MORNING--TURKEY PRESS SCAN ON APR 13

HURRIYET

-- THERE ARE BAD PEOPLE EVERYWHERE

Antonietta Pasqualino, the sister of an Italian artist Pippa Bacca--who was raped and killed in Gebze, Kocaeli, identified her sister. Pasqualino said such things may happen in any country. "There are bad people everywhere," she also said.

-- ENTHUSIASTIC DAY IN ANKARA

National Platforms Union organized "national sovereignty meeting" in Ankara. Police took tight security measures for the demonstration, which ended up without any incidents. People carried Turkish flags and posters of Ataturk during the demonstration. Demonstrators convened in front of the parliament and walked to Tandogan Square. In the enthusiastic demonstration, participants protested the government and made speeches backing national sovereignty, independence and secularism.

MILLIYET

-- ONLY MAJORITY IS NOT SUFFICIENT, REACH A COMPROMISE

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said closure of a ruling party with majority did not comply with democracy. Barroso also said the majority would not be solely sufficient and a compromise should be reached.

-- OUR PAIN IS HUGE

The murder of Italian artist Giuseppina Pasqualino di Marineo in Gebze, Turkey while she was travelling by hitchhiking from Milan to Tel Aviv for "world peace" shocked everyone in Turkey and Italy. The artist's sister Antonia Giueppina, who arrived in Turkey to identify the body, said such kind of incidents could happen anywhere in the world. Her mother Elena Manzoni said, "Turkish people are nice. My daughter was trying to prove that people are reliable".


SABAH

-- BARROSO: ETHNIC AND RELIGIOUS DIFFERENCES ARE YOUR WEALTH

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said if Turkey wants to be fully free, it has to accept "freedom". "A unity despite differences in your country is your biggest power," he also said.

-- USA: DO NOT CLOSE PARTIES FOR POLITICAL REASONS

On the closure case against the ruling Justice & Development Party (AKP), a U.S. Department of State spokesman said that laws and constitution of Turkey need to be interpreted in a way that is free from political influence.

VATAN

-- AFRICAN HEAT TAKES CONTROL

Hot weather coming from the north of Africa, raised the temperatures 7 degrees Celsius across Turkey. The temperature rose up to 30 degrees in Turkey's Marmara, Aegean and Mediterranean regions yesterday. The temperature will also increase 2-3 degrees today, meteorology experts said.

-- MEETING IN TANDOGAN

National Platforms Union's "National Sovereignty Meeting" held in Ankara yesterday was quite lively. Some MPs attended the demonstration as well. Police said there were 25,000 participants, while the organization committee said the number of people at the demonstration area was nearly 50,000.


CUMHURIYET

-- SIMSEK: WE ARE TOO GENEROUS TOWARDS THE RETIRED

Speaking in a conference at the George Washington University and Brookings Institute think-tank in Washington D.C., State Minister Mehmet Simsek claimed Turkey is "too generous" when paying pensions. Simsek said Turkey is an OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development) member country that has the highest pension rate.

-- HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS WARN AKP

Ankara once more experienced a Republican demonstration on Saturday. This was the biggest mass demonstration against the government since the Justice & Development Party (AKP) came to power after the July 22nd general elections. National Platforms Union organized the "national sovereignty meeting". Hundreds of thousands of people, who came to Ankara throughout Turkey, called on the government to resign.


RADIKAL

-- SENTENCE STRONGLY SECURING SECULARISM

The Justice & Development Party (AKP) first opposed the closure case against itself, then turned its face to the European Union (EU). Now, the party is discussing a new arrangement. According to this new arrangement, civil servants and public administrators cannot use religious symbols, and clothes--that are considered religious symbol--cannot be worn in elementary and secondary education.

-- PRESIDENTIAL PALACE CONCERNED ABOUT BILL ON ARTICLE 301

AKP's bill on amendment to Article 301 of Turkish Penal Code foresees the consent of the president to file a lawsuit under this
article. The Article 301 makes it a crime to insult "Turkishness". Therefore, it caused a problem within the party and at the Presidential Palace. Dengir Mir Firat, the deputy chairman of the AKP, says the bill may be changed, while Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan says it should not. The President is concerned that the new arrangement will turn the Presidential Palace into a court house.

YENI SAFAK

-- VESTEL CONQUERS RUSSIA

Turan Erdogan, Turkish durable goods manufacturer Vestel executive responsible for foreign trade, said Vestel's factory in Moscow was burned in 2005 however the company built a more modern and bigger one. Vestel today has 30 percent share in Russian TV market. Vestel's 32-inch LCD TV got the mostly-sold product award in Russia.

-- ISTANBUL TO HOST SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS

Turkey, which could not win its bid to host EXPO 2015, will host 2012 Short Course Swimming Championships. The International Swimming Federation (FINA) declared Istanbul as the venue of the championships. Turkish State Minister Murat Basesgioglu signed a contract with FINA's president, and said, "we will raise new champions."