The Intra-Universities Board of Presidents, acting independently from YOK [High Education Board] now headed by a pro-AKP professor recently appointed by Abdullah Gul, will soon meet to discuss the “turban” issue. The University Presidents Committee is strongly opposed to lifting the ban on Islamic headscarf, and considers it a religious and political symbol that could undermine the secular character of both the universities and the Republic.

The Turkish Bar Association [TBB] also stated that the changes proposed by the AKP and the MHP violate the Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights. In its statement, the Association asked “What can be said to a student in a Law Faculty who will become a judge or a lawyer in Turkey? That they are free to wear the turban, black chador or bourqa?” and added that they have grave concerns, which are shared [even] by some AKP voters, about having Islamic rules dominate every aspect of life in Turkey.

Source: Cumhuriyet, Milliyet, Turkish Daily News, January 30, 2008

CHP leader Deniz Baykal slammed the AKP-MHP agreement on lifting the turban-ban in universities and said that religious values and innocent demands were being exploited for political gains, and that this process was steering the country to unforeseeable direction.

Baykal said that with the founding of the modern Republic of Turkey a new and unique concept of Islam was formed – specific to Turkey. He said, “We [the Turks] decided that our form of governance and our legal system will never be based on religious foundations. We made the choice that religion belonged to individuals and our state would have no religion. Until this government came to power no one ever demanded to change this principle of secularism. What is being freed now is not the traditional headscarf of Anatolian women, but a product of Abbasid-Umayyad-Wahabi type of Islamic interpretation, imposed on Turkey as a foreign, political uniform.”

Source: Zaman, and all Turkish dailies, January 30, 2008

The Islamist Fethullah Gulen affiliated, pro-AKP daily Zaman reported that the Prime Ministry’s Information Center released today a statement denying as “false and baseless” [Hurriyet’s] report that said AKP had asked the U.S. administration not to use the word “secular” when referring to Turkey. The statement said that publishing such claims based on non-existing [U.S.] and unverifiable source is an example of irresponsible conduct and an intentional act of disinformation.

Source: Zaman, Turkey, January 30, 2008

Ankara expressed regret at recent statements by two U.S. Democratic presidential candidates, who pledged to officially recognize the controversial World War I-era killings of Anatolian Armenians as ‘genocide’ if they became president.

In a written statement the Turkish Foreign Ministry said, "Efforts to cast a shadow over our history in the name of an internal struggle within the party are offending the Turkish nation and increasing our sadness. Politicians who run for the U.S. presidency should act in a more responsible manner with regard to both the history and the future; they should take pains not to offend a friendly and ally country and its people with groundless accusations; and they should keep in mind the sensitivities of the Turkish-American relations”.

Source: Zaman, Turkey, January 28, 2008

A U.S. warning to scrutinize the activities of Turkey-based Iranian Bank Mellat has not been welcomed by Ankara. Turkey says it cannot simply suspend Iranian Bank Mellat’s operations in the country upon a U.S. request. 'What binds Turkey are the resolutions of the United Nations and not U.S. presidential decrees or congress decisions,' a diplomat told the Turkish Daily News, adding that Ankara's negative reaction does not mean Turkey is any less cautious about Iranian nuclear prospects.

Source: Turkish Daily News, January 30, 2008

Based on an unidentified and “important” U.S. source, Turkey’s top selling, mainstream daily Hurriyet reported that the ruling AKP requested from the U.S. administration not to use the term “secular” when referring to Turkey; and President Bush indeed omitted the word during Turkish President Abdullah Gul’s recent visit in the U.S.

According to the same U.S. source that spoke to Hurriyet, AKP government expressed its discomfort from Washington’s emphasis on the term “secular democracy” and told the U.S. administration that the word “democracy” should suffice.

Source: Hurriyet, Turkey, January 30, 2008

The undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence at the U.S. Treasury, Stuart Levey, has urged Turkish banks and financial regulators to scrutinize agreements with Iran to make sure its neighbor is not “abusing” them in pursuit of nuclear ambitions. After his meeting with Turkish Finance Ministry officials in Ankara, Levey said, “Special vigilance is required as Iran is being cut off from major banks in Europe. Because of geography, because of history, because of the relationship between the peoples of Turkey and Iran, this is a place in which there is a need for vigilance”.

He especially cautioned against [Iranian] Bank Mellat that has branches in Turkey, and is the 37th biggest - out of 46 lenders in Turkey - in terms of assets. The bank had $184 million in assets as of September 30, according to Turkey's Banks' Association. Levey said the bank handles significant sums of money that are used to assist in the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

Source: Turkish Daily News, January 29, 2008

A Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) rapporteur is scheduled to visit Turkey next week, PACE said on its website. The rapporteur is working on a report on religious freedoms and other human rights of non-Muslim minorities in Turkey, and the Muslim minorities in Greece's Western Thrace region.

Source: Zaman, Turkey, January 29, 2008

Islamist Turkish daily Yeni Asya’s editorial board believes that the agreement reached between the AKP and MHP to abolish the ban on wearing Islamic headscarf in universities is not enough and that the headscarf should gain its freedom everywhere, including the state institutions.

Islamist columnist Ahmet Tasgetiren, of Fethullah Gulen affiliated daily Bugün, told Yeni Asya, “The problem won’t be solved only by giving freedom to university students. People who wear the headscarf in accordance with their religion want to be able to wear it everywhere”.

Source: Yeni Asya, Turkey, January 28, 2008

Palestinian Ambassador to Turkey Nabil Maarouf said that the Palestinian ambassadors from around the world will gather in Ankara next month to assess Palestine's foreign policy. Maarouf told the Islamist daily Zaman that holding the internal meeting of the Palestinian Foreign Ministry in Ankara was a Palestinian initiative and was welcomed by Turkey.

Palestinian ambassadors are expected to arrive in Ankara on February 14 for a three-day meeting and they will be hosted by the Turkish Foreign Ministry. Turkish FM Ali Babacan will deliver the welcoming remarks and the visitors will also meet with President Abdullah Gül and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Source: Zaman, Turkey, January 29, 2008