VATAN
-- Dog shoots hunter
In an unusual hunting accident, Erdem Kayak, 39, was wounded when his party’s dog shot him with a rifle, daily Vatan reported Sunday. Kayak was hunting in the Central Anatolian province of Konya with his father, a friend and the dog.
Kayak, his father Mustafa Kayak and Ali İhsan Adıgüzel were eating lunch while out hunting in the district of Beyşehir when their hunting dog apparently walked over Kayak’s loaded rifle, which was on the ground. The action caused the trigger to be pulled, and Kayak was shot in the back.
According to reports, Kayak allegedly put the rifle on the ground while eating lunch. During the meal, Mustafa Kayak noticed that his son had put the rifle on the ground and asked whether he had put the safety on. Erdem Kayak replied that he had set the rifle’s safety catch. “While we were eating, we heard a shot,” Adıgüzel said. When they turned around, they saw the dog had walked over the rifle and presumably triggered the rifle. Adıgüzel said after the shot Kayak realized he had been shot in his back. Kayak was taken to Beyşehir Public Hospital by Adıgüzel and his father.
HABERTÜRK
-- Parliament staffers react to ‘influential contact’ employment
Staff members at Turkey’s Parliament protested the employment of a newlywed deputy’s spouse at the assembly.
Parliament staffers’ tolerance of the ever-increasing numbers of people employed at Parliament without undergoing examinations or other legal procedures due to their influential connections exceeded its limit when Aslı Arslan, the new wife of Osman Coşkun, a Parliament deputy from the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, got a job at the legislative body’s kindergarten.
Rahmi Güner, a deputy representing the Republican People’s Party, or CHP, handed Parliament Speaker Mehmet Ali Şahin a resolution that included a question: “Is Parliament turning into a relatives’ community?” Güner sent the resolution after receiving numerous letters of information by Parliament staffers.
Arslan used to be the owner of the private Ece Kindergarten in Yozgat. She married Coşkun in June 2009, and first stepped into the Parliament building as the “new bride.” Arslan soon, however, appeared to have been employed in the assembly’s kindergarten, without going through any examination or other related legal procedure.
BİRGÜN
-- Euphemia church forgotten in 2010
Officials with the 2010 European Capital of Culture agency forgot to restore the city’s decaying Euphemia church in Sultanahmet, daily BirGün reported Sunday. The church, which was reportedly constructed in the fifth or sixth century, is now mostly covered by a parking lot for the Sultanahmet Courthouse. The church includes paintings of St. Euphemia, reportedly one of just 18 saints whose works and hagiographies were immortalized in Byzantine archives. However, the paintings, which tell the story of how St. Euphemia was tortured by the Romans, can no longer be displayed because of the damage sustained to the church. Professor Engin Akyürek from Istanbul University’s Byzantine Art Department said St. Euphemia was also from Chalcedon, the former name of Istanbul’s Kadıköy district. “[The officials] could have set aside some of the budget to restore the church because the saint who gave her name to the church was from Istanbul,” said Akyürek. The professor also said the costs to restore the church would have been only 250,000 Turkish Liras and would have taken only a couple of months to complete. According to Akyürek, Russian pilgrims used to visit the church. “Christians have a feast in the name of St. Euphemia, she is a very important figure for [Orthodox] Christianity,” he said.
HÜRRİYET
-- Driver stand-in drunk as well
A drunk driver who thought he had cleverly eluded a police alcohol checkpoint in the Central Anatolian province of Konya on the last day of the year was shocked when the stand-in driver he picked up turned out to be drunk as well.
The driver asked a nearby pedestrian to drive his car through the alcohol control for him, but the stand-in was also drunk, the daily Hürriyet reported on Sunday.
“If you were drunk, why did you agree to drive the car? We could have run away [instead],” the driver of the car asked the stand-in, as the police were fining him. Police fined the stand-in, 26-year-old Haldun Torunoğlu, 590 Turkish Liras, and confiscated his driving license for six months. Torunoğlu argued the other driver should pay the fine.
“We were coming from a party with friends. I do not have my driving license; it was confiscated by police earlier,” said the original driver. “Since I was drunk, I asked a friend who was passing by to drive the car through the checkpoint. He did not turn us down, but he was drunk too. If he had not driven the car, we would have run away [from the police],” he said.
Police teams across Turkey stepped up anti-drunk-driving measures on New Year’s Eve to keep the roads safe from revelers who’d over-imbibed. Switching drivers is not an uncommon method to escape police detection, but it is usually preferred to switch out at the wheel with a friend who did not drink.
From Anatolia news agency:
HÜRRİYET
-- ERZURUM HAPPY TO RECEIVE SNOW
Heavy snowfall on Saturday hit the northeastern province of Erzurum, host of the 2011 Winter Universiade. Around 15 centimeters of snow fell in downtown Erzurum, and snow piled as high as 50 centimeters at the Palandöken Skiing Center. The Universiade games will take place between Jan. 27 and Feb. 6.
-- 'YÜKSEK SADAKAT' TO REPRESENT TURKEY AT EUROVISION COMPETITION
Rock band "Yüksek Sadakat" will represent Turkey at the Eurovision 2011 Song Contest. The competition will take place in Germany.
-- TURKEY TO RECEIVE $2.9 BILLION LOAN FOR 6 SUBMARINES
Turkey will receive a loan of $2.9 billion for the production of six new submarines. The submarines will be made in Turkey.
-- FRENCH NEWSPAPER CHOOSES ERMAN KUNTER AS 'MAN OF THE YEAR IN BASKETBALL'
French newspaper L'Equipe has chosen the Erman Kunter, the Turkish coach of the Cholet basketball team, as the "Man of the Year in Basketball." Kunter led his team to a league championship in France.
MİLLİYET
-- MEXICAN WALL ON GREEK BORDER
Greece, which has failed to stop the entry of illegal migrants from Turkey, will construct a wall on parts of the Turkish-Greek border. The country will construct the wall along the Maritza River in Thrace, where migrants most frequently cross the border. Greek Minister of Citizen Protection Christos Papoutsis said the wall would be 12.5 kilometers long and would resemble the fence at the U.S.-Mexican border.
-- ISTANBUL, FAVORITE HOLIDAY DESTINATION
In a poll conducted among the readers of The New York Times, Istanbul was selected as the "best place to go in 2011." Colombia, Seoul and Costa Rica followed the Turkish city in the ranking.
SABAH
-- WALL ON TURKISH-GREEK BORDER
In an effort to curb the flow of illegal migrants, Greece will build a barricade along its border with Turkey just like the U.S.-Mexican border fence. Greek Minister of Citizen Protection Christos Papoutsis said his country would put into practice its plan on the construction of a fence along the 206-kilometer Turkish-Greek border in a couple of days. Papoutsis said Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou was determined about the plan, adding that all the illegal migrants in Greece would soon be deported.
-- ERDOĞAN, MAN OF THE YEAR
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was selected "Man of the Year" in a poll by readers of CNN Arabic's website. Erdoğan got 74 percent of the vote; Syrian President Bashar al-Assad followed the Turkish leader in the ranking. Sources said the result proved Erdoğan's rising position in the recent term.
VATAN
-- I SOLD 2,000 FLATS IN A WEEK, AĞAOĞLU SAYS
Ağaoğlu Group board Chairman Ali Ağaoğlu said he sold 2,000 flats in Istanbul in a week. Ağaoğlu said that Istanbul needs 2 million new residences annually.
-- 'YÜKSEK SADAKAT' RIGHT CHOICE, EXPERTS SAY
Rock band "Yüksek Sadakat" was chosen to represent Turkey at the Eurovision 2011 Song Contest in Germany. Experts in the music industry said "Yüksek Sadakat" was the right choice and that they would be successful regardless of the language of their song.
-- CONSTITUTION MUST BE AMENDED AFTER ELECTIONS, ÇİÇEK SAYS
Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Çiçek said the Turkish Constitution must be amended after the elections in June. "The current Constitution is the reason for certain tensions in society," he said. "It definitely must be amended after the elections."
-- GERMAN DOCTOR IN PKK CAMP
One of the most prominent U.S. newspapers, The New York Times, went to Mt. Kandil and conducted an interview with one of the leaders of the terrorist PKK, Murat Karayılan. Journalist Steven Lee Myers' article said that a German doctor served in the PKK camp at Mount Kandil.
CUMHURİYET
-- DEBTS, PRICE INCREASES TO MAKE CITIZENS SWEAT
Citizens entered 2011 with a debt of 469 billion Turkish Liras. In the new year, price increases in areas such as public transportation and communication will hit citizens with low and fixed-income who are already struggling with the pressure of debt.
-- TURKMEN NAMES FOR VICE PRESIDENT
Before Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's visit to Iraq, some circles voiced claims that one of the vice president posts in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, which was earlier expected to be given to a Kurdish official, will be given to Turkmens. Some leading Turkmen leaders' names are being considered for the post, sources said.
RADİKAL
-- HISTORICAL PENINSULA NOW BELONGS TO PEDESTRIANS
A total of 90 avenues and streets located in Istanbul's historical peninsula have been closed to traffic. According to a decision by the Istanbul Municipality's Transportation Coordination Center, these streets will be open to pedestrians only between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. In the remaining hours, only official vehicles such as vehicles belonging to embassies, police forces, the postal service, banks, the fire brigade and emergency services will be allowed to enter the area.
-- ERDOĞAN: WE WILL NOT LET ANYBODY CARRY OUT ANY OPERATIONS
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said nobody would be "allowed to carry out any operations on Turkey." Speaking to TRT Radio-1 and TRT FM during the first minutes of 2011, Erdoğan assessed 2010 and revealed the policies to be implemented in 2011.
"Our nation can feel relieved. Nobody can do anything to our flag or our country," Erdoğan said.
TÜRKİYE
-- 2011 TO BE YEAR OF FOREIGN INVESTMENTS IN TURKEY, ERDOĞAN SAYS
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said: "2011 will be the year of foreign investments in Turkey. ... Unemployment rates in Turkey will go down in the new year. Our goal is to make Turkey one of the 10 biggest economies in the world by 2023, the year when Turkey will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Republic."
-- FREE TICKET TO LAST AND FIRST PASSENGER
Turkish Airlines' (THY) last passenger in 2010, en route to Italy, received a free two-way ticket. THY's first passenger in 2011, coming from Canada, was also presented with a free two-way ticket.
-- FIRST MURDER, FIRST ACCIDENT, FIRST TOURISTS
The new year's first deadly traffic accident took place in Istanbul. The new year's first murder took place in the central Anatolian province of Eskişehir. A group of Germans visiting the southwestern province of Antalya were the first tourists visiting Turkey in the new year.
-- JOBS FOR 26,000 PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
The Turkish government will employ 26,625 people with disabilities for various positions in 2011. By the end of 2011, the number of disabled individuals working for the Turkish government will reach 48,000.
ZAMAN
-- VISA LIBERALIZATION AGREEMENT MAY BE SIGNED IN 2011, AZERBAIJANI ENVOY SAYS
Azerbaijani Ambassador in Ankara Faig Bagirov said Turkey and Azerbaijan may sign a visa liberalization agreement in 2011. "Certain circles who do not like Turkey and Azerbaijan are trying to hurt the relations between Turkey and Azerbaijan," Bagirov said. "We should not let them have the opportunity to hurt our relations."
-- '12 GIANT MEN' TARGET EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP, OLYMPICS
After coming in second place at the 2010 World Basketball Championship, the Turkish national basketball team wants to win the European Championship in 2011. The team's manager, Harun Erdenay, said the group wanted to finish the European Championship in the top two spots in order to qualify for the 2012 Olympics.
-- SUPER LEAGUE TEAMS PREFER ANTALYA FOR CAMPS
Eighteen soccer teams competing in the Spor Toto Super League will have their camps in the southwestern province of Antalya during the winter recess. Antalya is a favorite destination for sports teams because of its good weather and excellent facilities.
YENİ ŞAFAK
-- 'YÜKSEK SADAKAT' AT EUROVISION
Turkish rock band "Yüksek Sadakat" will represent Turkey at the 56th Eurovision Song Contest hosted by Germany. The semi-finals will be held in Dusseldorf from May 10 to 12, and the finals will take place on May 14.
-- PRODUCTION GIANT CHINA WINKS AT TURKEY
China, the world's biggest automotive manufacturer, is seeking ways to invest in Turkey. The marketing manager of Chinese JAC Motors said his company wanted to open up to the world via Turkey. The manager said JAC was currently holding talks with Turkish companies and that it had sent two trial vehicles to Turkey.
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