GOOD MORNING--TURKEY PRESS SCAN ON AUGUST 15

These are some of the major headlines and their summaries in the Turkish press on August 15, 2008. Hurriyet English does not verify these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

HURRIYET

TURKEY WILL HELP GEORGIA HEAL WOUNDS

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who met with Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili in Tbilisi, said "Georgia's tranquility and prosperity closely interest Turkey. We will do our best to help Georgians heal their wounds."

Saakashvili thanked for Turkey's support and assistance and said they would be in an effort to restore peace and put an end to the occupation.

--SECOND OLYMPIC MEDAL

Turkish wrestler Nazmi Avluca won second medal for Turkey in Olympic Games in Beijing. Nazmi Avluca won a bronze medal in men's 84 kg category after toppling China's Mai Sanyi.

MILLIYET

--NEVER SEEN BEFORE

Traffic and daily life have been paralyzed in Istanbul due to extremely tight measures for the visit of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. A ring road was completely closed to traffic and 5 thousand police officers were deployed. Thousands of people were stranded in traffic.

Those who were trying to reach the airport for their scheduled flights, had to walk for hours. People protested President Ahmadinejad by waving photographs of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

--ERDOGAN PLEDGES TO SUPPORT GEORGIA

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili in Tbilisi as a part of his efforts to find a solution to the recent crisis in Caucasus. Erdogan pledged to support Georgia and highlighted importance of the country's territorial integrity. He proposed to establish a regional cooperation platform and added that Russia welcomed his proposal.

SABAH

--TURKEY IS A GREAT PLAYER FROM NOW ON

Ankara conducts an active diplomacy regarding the developments in the region. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's visit to Istanbul, which is closely monitored by the world, has begun on Thursday.

Speaking on nuclear negotiations, President Abdullah Gul relayed the message that, "also you (Iran) should take steps for continuation of diplomacy."

Separately, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's visit to the Caucasus continued also on Thursday. Erdogan, who proceeded from Moscow to Tbilisi, met Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili.

Erdogan conveyed Saakashvili his proposal for establishment of a Caucasus stability and cooperation forum.

--MEETING BY THE STRAIT

President Abdullah Gul and his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had a tete-a-tete meeting in Istanbul. Speaking at a joint news conference, Gul said, "regarding Iran's nuclear program, we want a solution which relieves the concerns of international community and also protects Iran's rights."

VATAN

--IMPUDENTS

It was revealed that owners of the dormitory in the central city of Konya, which collapsed a few weeks ago, applied to get a language school licence to cover their illegal courses to teach holy Koran while children were dying under debris.

The Governor's Office wrote a report about the collapse of the dormitory. According to the report, a blast due to gas leak occurred in the illegal dormitory at around 4:00 o'clock in the morning, killing 18 girls.

--LATEST QUAKE SCENARIO

Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality prepared a report together with Japanese scientists. According to the scary report, if a magnitude-7.5 or magnitude-7.7 earthquake strikes Istanbul, it would probably kill some 90 thousand people, and such a quake would cause a damage of nearly $40 billion.

--GAS AGREEMENT CANCELLED

Both the nuclear crisis and the natural gas agreement were high on agenda of the meeting between President Abdullah Gul and his guest Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran. Gul said, "we support Iran's right to use nuclear energy for civilian purposes. But Iran should cooperate with the western world and resolve the issue through diplomatic ways."

Meanwhile, the natural gas agreement of $600 million was not signed.

CUMHURIYET

--SUPPORT FROM ERDOGAN TO GEORGIA

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili in Tbilisi. Erdogan said at a joint news conference, "Turkey is in favor of preserving Georgia's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity recognized by the international laws and the UN Security Council."

--NEW CLAIMS AND NEW DETENTIONS UNDER ERGENEKON

Retired colonel Arif Dogan and two people have been detained in Ankara and in Istanbul under the Ergenekon probe. During a search in Dogan's house, police seized a truckload of documents believed to have been from the archives of the Gendarmerie Intelligence Unit (JITEM), 280 grenades, weapons and ammunitions.

Meanwhile, an arrest warrant was issued for retired Gen. Levent Ersoz and former deputy Turan Comez of the Justice and Development Party (AKP).

RADIKAL

--THEY HAVE EYES IN KONYA BUT THEY DON'T SEE, THEY HAVE EARS BUT THEY DON'T HEAR

17 girls died in a building in central Anatolian province of Konya on August 1 after a LPG tank exploded early in the morning.

Report of a delegation from Konya Governor's Office said 17 girl students and a teacher were in the building for cleaning. "There is no information and evidence that Koran courses were given in the collapsed building," the report said.

Head of the delegation, Deputy Governor Abdullah Etil said, "we got testimony of 25 people. All those girls were there for cleaning."

Children who survived the explosion and collapse, residents of the near-by villages, National Education Directorate in Konya, Directorate of Religious Affairs and State Minister Said Yazicioglu earlier confirmed that illegal courses to teach Koran had been given in the building.

--CONSOLATION FROM AVLUCA

Turkey won its second medal in Beijing in men's 84 kg category in Greco-Roman wrestling. Turkish wrestler Nazmi Avluca won a bronze medal in men's 84 kg after toppling China's Mai Sanyi in Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

YENI SAFAK

--TURKEY'S EXPERIENCE BRINGS PEACE TO CAUCASUS

Ankara became a hope for peace in the Caucasus after intervening in Russian-Georgian war. Moscow and Tbilisi supported proposal of Turkey for an alliance in the Caucasus.

Proposal by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who went to Moscow on Wednesday evening, for "Caucasus Alliance" received support. Erdogan will meet Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev next week.

--ENERGY SUMMIT AT CIRAGAN

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad came to Istanbul for a formal visit. President Abdullah Gul and Ahmadinejad will participate in Turish-Iranian Business Forum on Friday.

As the United States feels concerned over a new energy agreement, it is considered as certain that there would be a rise in quantity of natural gas that Turkey purchases from Iran.

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