There will be no new year's party and celebrations at Istanbul's Taksim square. The celebrations at Taksim were cancelled due to Israel's attacks on Gaza that have left at least 300 people dead and hundreds of others injured.
Source: Radikal (Turkey), December 30, 2008
Premier Tayyip Erdogan will speak a few words in the Kurdish language on state run TRT's new Kurdish channel on January 1. Giving an exclusive interview to the TRT-6 channel, Erdogan wished the new channel success.
Source: Radikal (Turkey), December 30, 2008
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has given up all mediation efforts between Israel and Syria.
Source: Hurriyet (Turkey), December 30, 2008
The deputy chairman of Turkey's ruling AKP, Egemen Bagis, resigned Monday from the Turkish-Israeli interparliamentary friendship group over the Israeli attacks on Gaza.
A Turkish court sentenced Monday a man to four years and seven months in jail for stabbing an Italian Catholic priest last year.
A court in the Aegean port city of Izmir in western Turkey found 19-year-old Ramazan Bay guilty of stabbing and wounding a 65-year-old Italian priest, Adriano Franchini.
In the December 2007 attack, Bay stabbed Franchini in the abdomen after attending Sunday mass at Saint Anthony’s Church in Izmir.
Source: Hurriyet (Turkey), December 30, 2008
New Constitutional Court Reserve Justice Recep Komurcu yesterday took his oath of office. The swearing-in ceremony was attended by President Abdullah Gul, Parliament Speaker Koksal Toptan, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Deputy Prime Ministers Cemil Cicek and Hayati Yazici, Justice Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin, Constitutional Court Chief Justice Hasim Kilic, Supreme Court of Appeals President Hasan Gerceker, Council of State Chief Justice Mustafa Birden, Court of Accounts Chief Justice Mehmet Damar, and other top jurists and guests. Speaking at the ceremony, Kilic said that he had no doubt that Komurcu would fulfill his duties in compliance with the Constitution and the law.
Source: Turkiye (Turkey), December 30, 2008
After test broadcasts last week, TRT 6, the first Kurdish channel of the state-owned Turkish Radio and Television Corporation (TRT), will start full broadcasts on Thursday with an inaugural speech by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Source: Star (Turkey), December 30, 2008
Speaking after yesterday's Cabinet meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek said that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is set tomorrow to begin a tour of Middle East countries including Syria, Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia as part of diplomatic efforts to halt Israel's attacks on the Gaza Strip.
Source: Cumhuriyet (Turkey), December 30, 2008
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad yesterday telephoned his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul about Israel's attacks on the Gaza Strip, the Presidential Press Center announced. "Gul underlined how Turkey places great importance on implementing a cease-fire between the two parties, and providing humanitarian aid to the people affected by the attacks," the center added.
Source: Star (Turkey), December 30, 2008
Speaking about the initiative to issue an apology for World War I-era killings of Armenians at the hands of the Ottomans, Foreign Minister Ali Babacan over the weekend said that Turkey has freedom of speech and that he cannot stand against this liberty.
He added, however, that the campaign, conducted in the midst of Turkey's European Union negotiation process, could weaken Ankara's hand and even harm the process.
Source: Cumhuriyet (Turkey), December 29, 2008
