TURKIYE
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AHMADINEJAD TO WATCH PERFORMANCE OF WHIRLING DERVISHES
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is expected to visit the central Turkish province of Konya to watch the performance of Whirling Dervishes as part of ceremonies to commemorate Mevlana Jalal al-Din Rumi.

TURKISH SEASON IN FRANCE
While discussions are continuing whether Turkey should become a full member of the EU or not, France is living through a Turkish season. The Eiffel Tower was lit up with the colors of the Turkish flag, kaftans which once belonged to the Ottoman sultans were on display at Louvre Museum and Turkish cuisine charmed French people.

ZAMAN
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"NOBODY IS IRRESPONSIBLE BEFORE LAWS"
Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin spoke with Zaman about hot topics of Turkey's agenda.
"Judicial independence does not remove obligations for judges and prosecutors to obey the rules. Supremacy of law does not mean supremacy of a legist," Ergin said.
"A person who commits a crime --either he/she is a police officer, a politician or a military personnel-- cannot be irresponsible before laws. Everyone has to account in courts," he said.

SWITZERLAND TO HOLD REFERENDUM ON "MINARET BAN"
Swiss people are going to ballot booths today to vote an unprecedented referendum in Europe. Swiss citizens will vote a proposed ban on the construction of minarets at mosques, a move of far-right political parties. Recent polls suggest that their motion is likely to fail by a narrow margin. Some 400,000 Muslims live in Switzerland that has a population of 8 million.

YENI SAFAK
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TURKEY TO HAVE ITS OWN INTERNET SEARCH ENGINE
Tayfun Acarer, chairman of Turkey's Information Technologies and Communication Board (BTK), said that Turkish engineers were working on developing an internet search engine and aiming to launch it in 2010. He added that every child would have an e-mail address written on his/her identity card since birth.

EDUCATION BRIDGE BETWEEN TUNCELI AND HOUSTON
An academic cooperation agreement was signed between the United States' Houston University and Turkey's Tunceli University. Under the agreement, 40 students each year will be given the opportunity to study at Houston University for a year.

VATAN
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TURKEY GOING THROUGH ISLAMIC RENAISSANCE
Prominent U.S. daily New york Times published an op-ed entitled "Turkey's shifting diplomacy" by Alastair Crooke.
"Most significantly, Turkey has finally shrugged off the straightjacket of a tight U.S. alliance, grown virtually indifferent to E.U. membership and turned its focus toward its former Ottoman neighbors in Asia and the Middle East," it said.
"Though not primarily meant as a snub to the West, this shift does nonetheless reflect growing discomfort and frustration with U.S. and E.U. policy, from the support of Israel?s action in Gaza to Iran to the frustrated impasse of the European accession process. It also resonates more closely with the Islamic renaissance that has been taking place within Turkey," the article said.
"If Turkey continues successfully down this path, it will be as strategically significant for the balance of power in the region as the emergence of Iran as a pre-eminent power thanks to the collapse of the Soviet Union and the later destruction of Sunni dominance in Iraq by the U.S. invasion," it added.

ARINC CONFUSES
Asked about Council of State ruling that cancelled the coefficient system in university exam, Arinc said he would speak up about it after the Eid al Adha holiday. In response to a reporter who said, "I understand you will be harsh", Arinc said, "harsh or not, I will say something." Arinc's remarks were interpreted by political analysts as "interesting things will happen after the holiday."

CUMHURIYET
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TURKEY TO EXPORT OLIVE OIL TO CHINA
Members of the Committee to Promote Olive and Olive Oil attended the Food and Hotel China 2009 Trade Fair. Kadri Gundes, a member of the committee, said that visitors from the Far Eastern countries showed great interest in their products. "We are aiming at increasing our exports of olive and olive oil to those countries," he added.

IZNIK TILES IN SHOP WINDOWS OF HERMES
Shop windows of the main building of the prominent French fashion-house Hermes were decorated with Iznik tiles. Under an agreement between the Hermes and the Iznik Foundation, the shop windows of the Hermes' main building at 24 rue du Faubourg St. Honore were covered with Iznik tiles for the Christmas.

RADIKAL
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MAJOR ARRESTED
Director of the intelligence department of the Provincial Gendarmerie Command in the northern province of Erzincan was arrested under the Ergenekon probe. The major was detained on November 25. After being interrogated by an authorized prosecutor, the major was arrested by the court and sent to the military prison in the neighboring province of Erzurum.

CRISIS LEADS TO AN INCREASE IN E-TRADE
Economic crisis lead to an 18 percent increase in e-trade. People preferred remaining at home because of the economic crisis, and began shopping in internet, experts said.

HURRIYET
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"DREJ ALI HAD SENT HIM"
Mehmet Ozbay has come to the fore again when Turcay Guney, one the key figures of Ergenekon case, started talking. When Guney was sent to New York in 2001, Mehmet Ozbay welcomed him "because Drej Ali had sent him."
When asked if he was the one watching over Guney in New York, Ozbay said, "a friend of mine said (I heard that this guy was under your guard). I told his that I have never seen him in my life. Then I remembered that this guy was that guy."
"Drej Ali (Ali Yasak) sent Tuncay Guney to me from Turkey. He is a good friend of mine. I had a rental apartment at The Marmara Mahmattan. I rented a room next to mine. I paid the rent, gave him some 2,000 or 3,000 dollars. I told him that I had to go to London. I was not supposed to leave at that moment but I was ashamed of walking down the streets with him. He was a dishonest, sexless, stateless and a spineless person," Ozbay said.
On Abdullah Catli, Ozbay said, "we were very good friends. I was having the same ideologies with him. He asked me to give my identity card. He said (state officials are ok with it. I have to travel with a decent id card. Do you mind if I use yours?). I said (be my guest)."

TURKEY BREAK FLIGHT RECORD EVEN DURING CRISIS
150 million people travel by bus and trains carry 55 million people annually. But airlines are breaking records over and over again these days. Turkey's airlines increased the number of passengers by nine times over the past ten years to reach 73.5 million. Domestic passengers grew 11 percent even during economic crisis. Cheap tickets at early reservations and launch of new airports paved the way for this increase.

MILLIYET
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TURKISH COMPANY TO JOIN TENDER FOR BUILDING OF AN AIRPORT IN KOSOVO
Turkish Company, which holds the licence to operate Istanbul's second biggest airport Sabiha Gokcen for the next 20 years, will join a tender for building of an airport in Kosovo. Ebru Ozdemir, executive member of the Limak Holding, said that the airport would have a capacity of five million passengers.

TURKISH INTERNET SEARCH ENGINE
Tayfun Acarer, chairman of Turkey's Information Technologies and Communication Board (BTK), said that they were working on developing an internet search engine and aiming to launch it in 2010. He added that every child would have an e-mail address written on his/her identity card since birth.

SABAH
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RAPISTS TO BE CASTRATED
"Chemical castration" penalty is on the agenda back again to avoid sexual harassment and rape crimes against children.
Just after the Eid al Adha holiday, the parliamentary group of the ruling Justice & Development (AK) Party is expected to discuss a draft law to be submitted by two woman lawmakers, Alev Dedegil and Askin Asan.
The draft law allows release of a criminal, who served part of his sentence, on condition that he accepts to be castrated chemically.

10,000 TURKISH WORKERS FEAR JOBLESS FUTURE IN DUBAI
Financial crisis in Dubai has hit Turkish contractors as well. Ali Bayramoglu, chairman of Turkish-Saudi Business Council, said Turkish contractors and Turkish workers in Dubai were about to face the risk of getting in a difficult position. Around 10,000 Turkish workers in Dubai's finance, construction and tourism sectors are on the verge of becoming jobless.

AA