TURKISH PRESS REVIEW FEB 25

Wednesday's dailies mostly covered the death of four air force pilots who died in a training accident, a bitter war of words over the removal of Turkey's Suleyman Shah tomb in Syria, plus fallout over the interest rate cut by the Turkish Central Bank.

TURKISH PRESS REVIEW FEB 25
The Anadolu Agency does not verify these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

Wednesday's dailies mostly covered the death of four Turkish pilots as two fighter jets suffered a fatal accident. Papers also focused on the Turkish Central Bank’s interest rate cut plus a bitter exchange between Turkey’s chief of staff, President Erdogan and a nationalist opposition party leader.

The fallout from Turkey's snap military operation to relocate its exclave inside Syria has continued in Ankara. Leader of the opposition Nationalist Movement Party, Devlet Bahceli, blamed the Turkish chief of staff Necdet Ozel for being unpatriotic, calling the weekend’s removal of the tomb of Suleyman Shah "cowardly."

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan slammed Bahceli's words, saying the opposition leader was "not even worth" a piece of the chief of staff’s fingernail."

"Necdet Ozel duel," was HURRIYET’S front-page headline. Top soldier Ozel replied in a statement, saying Bahceli had no right to criticize his loyalty to his country.

In other news, MILLIYET ran the headline "Crashed into the mountain," as two RF-4E military jet planes crashed in central Malatya province, killing four pilots, during a training exercise.

Witnesses said they saw a fireball in the sky on Tuesday evening and heard an explosion, increasing the possibility that the two planes collided in mid-air, according to the daily.

SABAH said rescue teams reached the debris around 15 km away from the Malatya 7th Main Jet Base.

In political news, VATAN used the headline "Mexican Model," in a story covering a heated debate as President Erdogan pointed to Mexico's system as an example for Turkey to follow.

Mexico is ruled by a presidential system, in which the head of state has wide powers above parliament, without a prime minister or deputy president. He can also appoint constitutional court board members and security officials, according to the daily.

In Turkish economic news, the highly anticipated Central Bank decision over interest rates came Tuesday with a moderate cut. The benchmark policy rate was cut to 7.50 percent from 7.75 percent, while the overnight lending rate was reduced to 10.75 percent from 11.25 percent. 

"Cut in right dose from the Central Bank," said HABERTURK; there has been no major market reaction to the cut.

STAR quoted Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu's remarks where he said "interest rates should be reduced further," adding that he sees the cut as a positive step.

HURRIYET reported that "consumers are glad" with the decision, while SABAH described the move as "a quarter step from the Central Bank."

 

Güncelleme Tarihi: 25 Şubat 2015, 11:39
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