TURKIYE
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FIRST STEP TO PEACE
Prior to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit to Athens in May, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu shook hands with Greek Alternate Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas in Ankara regarding several issues which will end the problems in Aegean. Among the issues which will boost cooperation; the two parties agreed to spend budget "for prosperity not for weapons".
INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION RISES 18 PERCENT
Industrial production, which is the leading indicator of growth, increased 18.1 percent in February 2010 when compared to February 2009, and thus supported the projections of double-digit growth.
TURKS MEET IN PARIS
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan explained constitutional amendments to more than 10,000 Turkish citizens who gathered in Zenith Hall in Paris. Erdogan said, "Turkey is passing through a historical period. We are changing the Constitution to bring a democracy on European and modern countries standards to our country. Nobody will be able to catch Turkey when we achieve it."
ZAMAN
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STATE COLLAPSES IF BALYOZ INVESTIGATION STOPS
Discussions have started on the claims that there had been an intervention in jurisdiction as prosecutors of the investigation into "coup plan Balyoz" were removed from office. Legists and intellectuals warned: "Efforts to stop the process will do great harm to Turkey's democratization process".
GENDARME EXAMINES EXPLOSION KILLING 7 SOLDIERS
Reactions rose after it has been revealed that the land mines that caused the death of 7 soldiers in Cukurca town of the southeastern Hakkari province belonged to Turkish Armed Forces (TSK). Following the news that was on the first page of daily Zaman yesterday and which was also confirmed by the Chief Prosecutor's Office in the eastern province of Van, another remarkable allegation was raised. Gendarme sergeant Ibrahim Kilinc, who was on duty in Uzundere-Hantepe region at the time, said that they had carried out the investigation regarding the land mine blast on May 27, 2009 without going to the scene of the incident. Kilinc also claimed that the crime scene investigation unit wrote its report at its office.
YENI SAFAK
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STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP WITH ATHENS
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who hosted Greek Alternate Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas in Ankara, said that a strategic partnership council would be established between Ankara and Athens. There will be ten ministers each from Turkey and Greece in the council. The first meeting of the council will be held in Greece under the chairmanship of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
LAND MINE WHICH KILLS SOLDIERS BELONGS TO TSK
Chief Prosecutor's Office in the eastern province of Van stated that the land mines --which killed seven soldiers in Cukurca town of the southeastern province of Hakkari on May 27, 2009-- were produced by Mechanical & Chemical Industry Corp. (MKE) and planted upon the orders of a commander. The file was sent to General Staff military prosecution.
VATAN
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LAND MINES WHICH KILL 7 SOLDIERS BELONG TO TSK
Chief Prosecutor's Office in the eastern province of Van reached a conclusion that the land mines --which caused the death of seven soldiers in Cukurca town of the southeastern province of Hakkari on May 27, 2009-- had been planted by Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) for security reasons. The file was sent to General Staff's Prosecution, seeking punishment to those who were responsible.
TWO INSPECTORS TO INVESTIGATE ATTACK ON BAYKAL
Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) chairman Deniz Baykal, who was thrown eggs during his visit to the eastern province of Van, had claimed that a group of supporters of Justice & Development (AK) Party was behind the attack. CHP members showed the video footage of attackers to press, and criticised the police. Four days later, Interior Ministry assigned two inspectors to investigate the claims.
CUMHURIYET
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WE WILL MAKE UP WITH AZERBAIJAN
The government is exerting efforts to make up with Azerbaijan prior to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit to the United States where he will meet with Armenian President Serzh Sargsian and U.S. President Barack Obama. Turkish Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioglu, who earlier visited Armenia, will today bring the letter of Erdogan to Baku. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said, "we are hoping to fulfill normalization."
STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP TO BE ESTABLISHED
Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Greek Alternate Foreign Minister Dimitris Droutsas said that they had decided to set up a high-level strategic cooperation council between the two countries. The first meeting of the council will be held in Athens during Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit in May. The two parties agreed on five confidence-building measures. Turkish and Greek soldiers and military students will pay mutual visits within that scope. During the meeting, Droutsas defended Greek theses, while Davutoglu talked about "peace vision".
RADIKAL
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PROCEDURE FIGHT ON PACKAGE
The discussions on the constitutional amendments package started with seat fights, arguments on procedure and allegations on non-conformity with the Constitution.
During the discussions at the parliament's Constitutional Committee, Republican People's Party (CHP) said that the proposal was against the Constitution. Upon a citation from his own book, head of the committee, Burhan Kuzu, said, "it was my personal opinion, now it is my legal opinion".
25 GENERALS TO BE INTERROGATED IN BALYOZ
Deputy Chief Prosecutor in Istanbul, Turan Colakkadi, said that the investigation regarding the "Action Plan Balyoz", which was paused after two prosecutors were discharged from the case, would continue and the military officers whose names were on the list would be questioned. There were a total of 78 military officers in the list including 25 admirals and generals.
HURRIYET
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MINE SHOCK IN DEATH OF 7 SOLDIERS
Chief Prosecutor's Office in the eastern province of Van said it had been understood that the land mines that caused the death of 7 soldiers in Cukurca town of the southeastern Hakkari province on May 27, 2009 had been planted by the military for security reasons.
Shortly after the blast that caused great sorrow all across Turkey, it was declared that the mines had been planted by the terrorist organization PKK.
HE CRITICIZES BALYOZ AT PRESIDENTIAL PALACE
During a tripartite summit at Cankaya Presidential Palace with President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, General Staff Chief Gen. Ilker Basbug has clearly stated that execution of the scenario, which had been discussed at the 1st Army plan seminar with real names and situations, was wrong.
According to military officials, Basbug, who has so far avoided hurting feelings of his colleagues but reiterated that he would not permit any anti-democratic ways either, said that he would not support those who had committed crime once the legal decision was announced.
MILLIYET
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DOGAN BECOMES RECORD-HOLDER FOR 7TH TIME AS TAX PAYER
Revenue Administration announced the record-holding tax payers of 2009. Accordingly, Dogan Holding's Honorary Chairman Aydin Dogan is on the top of the list again. Dogan, who paid 19.1 million Turkish lira of tax, became Turkey's record-holder as a tax payer for the fourth time in the last decade, and 7th time since 1994. Kurtulus Factoring's Executive Board Chairman Salvo Taragano is on the second place with 15.6 million TL, while Koc Holding's Honorary Chairman Rahmi Koc became the third with 11.1 million TL of tax payment.
GOOD NEWS ABOUT PRODUCTION
Industrial production index increased 18.1 percent in February 2010 when compared to February 2009, while it rose 0.5 percent when compared to January 2010. This figure increased the possibility of double-digit growth for the first quarter of 2010.
SABAH
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YES, MY NICKNAME IS "MOLE HILMI"
Former chief of General Staff retired gen. Hilmi Ozkok told daily Sabah about the story of his nickname "Mole", which was revealed by retired gen. Cetin Dogan.
"I captured a mole when I was at primary school. I used to tell my friends at the military high school how I followed and captured the mole. They started to call me 'Mole Hilmi' afterwards," Ozkok said.
Ozkok said Dogan had joined the military school when he was at the second grade and he told Dogan his story as well.
"TSK MINE" TURNS OUT TO BE TRUE
The prosecutor's office has decided that the land mines that killed 7 soldiers had been planted by Turkish Armed Forces (TSK).
Chief Prosecutor's Office in the eastern province of Van said that the investigation file, which was of the opinion that "those soldier suspects caused the death of more than one person due to conscious negligence", was sent to the military prosecutor's office of the General Staff.
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