Turk news bg,english version

Basbug becomes new chief of Turkey's General Staff

04/08/2008

ANKARA, Turkey -- The country's General Staff announced on Monday (August 4th) the appointment of General Ilker Basbug as its new chief, media reported. The names of the new top commanders of the Turkish armed forces surfaced during a weekend meeting of the Supreme Military Council. President Abdullah Gul approved them on Monday. Basbug, the current land forces commander, will replace the chief of the General Staff, General Yasar Buyukanit, who is expected to retire on August 30th. Gendarmerie Commander General Isik Kosaner will replace Basbug, and General Atila Isik will head the gendarmerie. (Hurriyet, Sabah, Zaman, Vatan, Cumhuriyet, Milliyet, Radikal - 04/08/08, CNN Turk, Turkish Press - 03/08/08)

German intelligence doubts PKK involvement in Istanbul bombings

04/08/2008

BERLIN, Germany -- German intelligence services doubt the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) was involved in the July 27th twin bomb attacks in Istanbul, media reported on Monday (August 4th). "The PKK did not carry out the bombings," Ernst Uhrlau, president of the German intelligence agency BND, told the daily Bild. Uhrlau said the methods used in Istanbul do not fit those of the PKK, which has denied any involvement. "Considering the techniques and the setting, it is more likely that a state within a state or a radical Islamist organisation was responsible," Uhrlau added. On Saturday, Turkish Interior Minister Besir Atalay blamed the PKK for the attacks that killed 17 people and injured more than 150. He also announced the arrest of several PKK members.

In other news, Turkish troops killed eight PKK members in clashes in the southeast province of Sirnak, the General Staff said in a statement on its website Sunday. On Friday, PKK militants opened fire on village guards in a mountainous area along the Iraqi border, killing five and wounding five others. (Sabah, Zaman, Anadolu news agency, Bild - 04/08/08, AFP, Hurriyet, Turkish Press - 03/08/08)

Turkish hospital admits deaths of 27 babies

04/08/2008

ANKARA, Turkey -- The state Zekai Tahir Burak Hospital in Ankara admitted on Sunday (August 3rd) that 27 newborns have died in the past 15 days, media reported. The hospital's managers, who initially attributed about a third of the deaths to infections, later told a press conference that testing turned up no trace of infection. The babies, all prematurely born, died at the hospital for a variety of reasons, including hypertension, heart failure and complications at birth, doctors said. The hospital's trade unions, however, blamed poor sanitary conditions. (Milliyet, Radikal - 04/08/08, Hurriyet, AFP - 03/08/08)

Inform