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| These are some of the major headlines and their summaries in Turkish press on March 3, 2010. The Anadolu Agency does not verify these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. HURRIYET -------- AMERICAN JUSTICE Fikri Baryamoglu, a Turkish immigrant, moved to the United States in 1973. In 1980, his American girlfriend, Tracy Jones, left him. He asked her to return but she rejected. "So, I shot her. Then I put the gun to my own head and squeezed the trigger, but the gun did not fire," Bayramoglu says. He then tried to plunge a large kitchen knife into his heart. When Bayramoglu thought he heard Jones breathe, he ran across the street to get help for her. Jones was taken to hospital but she died. Bayramoglu was sentenced to state prison for a term of fifteen years to life. After 14 years in prison, guards found a knife under his locker. "It was not mine. The parole board kept me in prison giving this conspiracy as a pretext. American authorities learned that I could be pardoned if I was extradited to Turkey. So, they stopped it," Bayramoglu, who is now 60 years old, says. "NO EARLY ELECTION EVEN IF PEOPLE SAY 'NO' IN REFERENDUM" Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his government would not go for an early election even if constitutional amendments were rejected in referendum. "What we are going through is not a political revenge. It is the accounting of those who wanted to take revenge on the will of nation, the parliament and democratic system of law," he said. MILLIYET -------- ASYMMETRIC SITUATION Third Army General Gen. Saldiray Berk, who is accused of being the leader of terrorist organization under Erzincan indictment, will conduct 2010 Winter Military Exercise, which will be attended by tens of thousands of soldiers. One of the biggest military exercises of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) will start in Allahuekber Mountains in Sarikamis today. The two-day military exercise will be conducted under the responsibility of Gen. Saldiray Berk, accused as the number one accused in the indictment prepared by Erzurum High Criminal Court. BALYOZ MESSAGE FROM KRAL TV Under the military expert report investigating documents of Balyoz, those who prepared the plan thought of making use of the message tape recording system of Kral TV to start the actions. Report of the Staff Major Erdogan, who was designated as expert by the military Prosecutor's Office, was prepared assuming that the documents are real. In his report Erdogan said in 2003 First Army Command used Balyoz in the seminar despite the opposition of the General Staff. According to the report, those who prepared the plan focused on secret communication for management of actions from Istanbul. It also said the passwords that initiated the actions would be announced from radios and message tape system of Kral TV. FAREWELL MOMENT TO TENTS Following the decision of Council of State that saved 8 months time, TEKEL workers dismantled the tents in which they stayed for 76 days to protest privatization. Tek Gida-Is Union Chairman Mustafa Tukel said, "a thousand workers will come to Ankara on April 1 and stay one night. Struggle will continue as long as 4/C exists. We just gave a break to our protest." SABAH ----- HIGH LEVEL INVESTIGATION AGAINST CICEK The Military Prosecutor's office has extended the investigation on the "Action Plan" signed by Colonel Dursun Cicek. Testimonies of the military personnel of the disbanded 3rd Information Support Branch and the commanders of the Upper Branches will be taken. CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS PACKAGE Senior officials of the Justice and Development (AK) Party gave the final shape to the constitutional amendments package. Following are the main amendments proposed in the package: The decisions of the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) and the Supreme Military Council will be open the judiciary supervision. The number of seats at HSYK will be increased from 7 to 21, the members will be elected by the Justice Academy, the Parliament, the President, Supreme Court and Council of State. The Union Rights for civil servants will be secured under the constitution and those who face disciplinary punishment will be able to appeal to courts. VATAN ----- BATTLE OF SECRET WITNESSES 12 secret witnesses who accuse third army commander Gen. Saldiray Berk and Erzincan Chief Prosecutor Cihaner caused crisis in jurisdiction. The prosecutor, after determining that there was pressure on the witnesses to change their deposition, warned the court saying, "listen to them urgently". Testimonies of secret witnesses having code names "munzur", "x" and "Erzincan" played key roles in the investigation launched by Erzurum Specially Authorized prosecutor Osman Sanal, who was stripped off of his authorities. WAYS OF JUDICIAL REMEDY TO DECISIONS OF SUPREME MILITARY COUNCIL Constitutional amendments package which the government thinks of submitting to referendum, is becoming clear gradually. The package which will be submitted to the parliament till the end of March includes these topics: "Judicial remedy can be asked only regarding dismissal decisions of Supreme Military Council; civil servants may appeal to jurisdiction for penalties like 'reprimand and warning'; 367 votes condition will be sought in the Parliament to bring closure suit to political parties; number of Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) members will be increased to 21." OTTOMAN PARTY IN BULGARIA Uzeyir and Ali Uzeyirov, two brothers who are businessmen, are getting ready to establish "Ottoman Party" in Bulgaria and have started to register members. The two brothers in the past wanted to found "Muslim Democrat Union" party, however, they were not allowed as parties having religion axis were banned in the country. CUMHURIYET ---------- ERDOGAN: I WON'T GIVE OUT NAMES, BUSINESS IS YOURS Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan who continued Tuesday to give advice to media bosses, asked them not to demand names from him to fire. "The business is yours, do whatever you like," Erdogan told the media bosses. ERDOGAN'S REMARKS STIR REACTION Columnists are protesting Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan's message to media bosses calling on them to control the columnists because they pay their salaries. Pro-government columnists are also among those who sign the petition prepared by Gulay Gokturk. SIGNIFICANT RISE IN UNEMPLOYMENT RATE TurkStat figures revealed that there had been a significant loss of jobs in 2009, the year of financial crisis. The unemployment rate in 2009 reached 14% with a 3% rise over 2008. The number of unemployed increased by 860,000 and reached 3,471,000. RADIKAL ------- ERDOGAN LAUNCHES CAMPAIGNS FOR REFERENDUM AND GENERAL ELECTIONS Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan launched propaganda campaigns for a referendum on constitutional amendment which will probably take place this year and general elections which would be held next year. Delivering a speech at his party's group meeting, Erdogan said, "there is no tension in the country and no fight between state organs. Turkey is only getting normalized." Erdogan also made harsh criticisms on the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP). UNEMPLOYMENT RATE BECOMES 14 PERCENT Unemployment rate became 14 percent in 2009. Economists said that a sharp decrease should not be expected in the unemployment rate. According to the figures of Turkish Board of Statistics, the number of unemployed people rose to 3.4 million. VATAN ----- BATTLE OF SECRET WITNESSES 12 secret witnesses who accuse third army commander Gen. Saldiray Berk and Erzincan Chief Prosecutor Cihaner caused crisis in jurisdiction. The prosecutor, after determining that there was pressure on the witnesses to change their deposition, warned the court saying, "listen to them urgently". Testimonies of secret witnesses having code names "munzur", "x" and "Erzincan" played key roles in the investigation launched by Erzurum Specially Authorized prosecutor Osman Sanal, who was stripped off of his authorities. WAYS OF JUDICIAL REMEDY TO DECISIONS OF SUPREME MILITARY COUNCIL Constitutional amendments package which the government thinks of submitting to referendum, is becoming clear gradually. The package which will be submitted to the parliament till the end of March includes these topics: "Judicial remedy can be asked only regarding dismissal decisions of Supreme Military Council; civil servants may appeal to jurisdiction for penalties like 'reprimand and warning'; 367 votes condition will be sought in the Parliament to bring closure suit to political parties; number of Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK) members will be increased to 21." OTTOMAN PARTY IN BULGARIA Uzeyir and Ali Uzeyirov, two brothers who are businessmen, are getting ready to establish "Ottoman Party" in Bulgaria and have started to register members. The two brothers in the past wanted to found "Muslim Democrat Union" party, however, they were not allowed as parties having religion axis were banned in the country. CUMHURIYET ---------- ERDOGAN: I WON'T GIVE OUT NAMES, BUSINESS IS YOURS Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan who continued Tuesday to give advice to media bosses, asked them not to demand names from him to fire. "The business is yours, do whatever you like," Erdogan told the media bosses. ERDOGAN'S REMARKS STIR REACTION Columnists are protesting Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan's message to media bosses calling on them to control the columnists because they pay their salaries. Pro-government columnists are also among those who sign the petition prepared by Gulay Gokturk. SIGNIFICANT RISE IN UNEMPLOYMENT RATE TurkStat figures revealed that there had been a significant loss of jobs in 2009, the year of financial crisis. The unemployment rate in 2009 reached 14% with a 3% rise over 2008. The number of unemployed increased by 860,000 and reached 3,471,000. RADIKAL ------- ERDOGAN LAUNCHES CAMPAIGNS FOR REFERENDUM AND GENERAL ELECTIONS Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan launched propaganda campaigns for a referendum on constitutional amendment which will probably take place this year and general elections which would be held next year. Delivering a speech at his party's group meeting, Erdogan said, "there is no tension in the country and no fight between state organs. Turkey is only getting normalized." Erdogan also made harsh criticisms on the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP). UNEMPLOYMENT RATE BECOMES 14 PERCENT Unemployment rate became 14 percent in 2009. Economists said that a sharp decrease should not be expected in the unemployment rate. According to the figures of Turkish Board of Statistics, the number of unemployed people rose to 3.4 million. TURKIYE ------- "WHAT HAPPENS TODAY IS NOT REVENGE" Responding to those who said Ergenekon and Balyoz probes are kind of a political revenge, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said what has been happening in Turkey is normalization and improvement of democracy. Turkey has been passing through a great transformation with the Justice and Development (AK) Party government, he said. "We are not after a political revenge. There is no blood feud in a state of law," Erdogan said. ARMENIAN GAME ON STAGE AGAIN The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs will vote a resolution on incidents of 1915 on March 4. Turkish delegation has been working to spoil the game of Armenians once again. Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Commission Chairman Murat Mercan said national assemblies could never make a decision or a judgement on so-called genocide. This is, of course, a decision that international courts could make. ZAMAN ----- SERIOUS ACCUSATION TO GEN. BERK AND CHIEF PROSECUTOR CIHANER Ergenekon indictment in Erzurum revealed that "plot to nation" plan bearing the signature of Colonel Dursun Cicek, which was also admitted by General Staff, was put into practice in Erzincan province. Evidences and testimonies of the witnesses showed that formidable false operations were conducted to show innocent people as guilty. Third Army Commander Gen. Saldiray Berk, who is accused of being the head of the Erzincan branch of the Ergenekon terrorist organization, was shown as the person organizing the members of the organization who work in different public institutions. Testimonies of the witnesses said the organization made plans to put weapons, ammunition and drugs in houses of pious people. NATIONAL TEAM TO HOST HONDURAS Turkish national team will take on Honduras in a friendly match at Istanbul's Inonu Stadium under Oguz Cetin's coaching as new coach Guus Hiddink will take over the mission in August. YENI SAFAK ---------- GENOCIDE WARNING TO U.S. Turkish lawmakers went to United States to lobby against the Armenian resolution to be voted in Foreign Affairs Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives. Murat Mercan, head of Turkish lawmakers, said, "I do not think it would be debated at the general assembly even if the committee passes the resolution." Another Turkish lawmaker Sukru Elekdag said that they would tell U.S. Congressmen not to lose Turkey's trust. Meanwhile, JINSA, a Jewish institute in the United States, said it was against the resolution. "GEN. BERK IS LEADER" 3rd Army Commander Gen. Saldiray Berk was indicted to be the leader of Ergenekon in the eastern province of Erzincan. He is also the number 1 suspect in the indictment. It also says, "the illegal organization acted under the leadership of Gen. Berk." |