GOOD MORNING--TURKEY PRESS SCAN ON SEPT 15

These are some of the major headlines and their summaries in the Turkish press on September 15, 2008. Hurriyet English does not verify these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
HURRIYET--THE BEST RESPONSE TO PRIME MINISTERA pro-government daily newspaper in Greece has published the document of a corruption incident related with an abbot which put the Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis on the spot, at a time, while Turkish Prime Minister put his effort to silence journalists in Turkey.
--BULGARIAN PM INAUGURATES CHURCH IN EDIRNEBulgarian Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev and Turkish Tourism Minister Ertugrul Gunay opened 140-year-old Eleni church which was repaired by paying 500 million euro in northwestern province of Edirne. 3,000 people came from Bulgaria to attend the ceremony. Gunay said this second church in Edirne was the sign of positive relations with Bulgaria.
--THERE WAS A TURK IN PLANE WHERE RUSSIAN COMMANDER DIEDA Boeing 737 type passenger plane belonging to Russian Airlines Aeroflot burst into fire in the air and crashed into Ural Mountains in city of Perm early on Sunday while travelling from Moscow to Perm killing all 88 people aboard. There was a Turkish citizen, Levent Nuri Kocak, in the plane.
MILLIYET--RUSSIAN ACT COST TURKISH EXPORTERS $1 BILLION Turkish State Minister Kursad Tuzmen said that procedures applied by Russia to block the entry of Turkish goods into this country have already cost Turkish exporters $500 million. "By the end of Ramadan, Russian act on Turkish exports would cost Turkish exporters $1 billion," Tuzmen said.
--JAPANESE MUJI IN TURKEYJapanese department stores chain Muji will open its Istanbul branch in Nisantasi in October. Muji has 400 stores in five continents. The company sells quality goods whose trade marks are not well known.
SABAH--RO-RO CALAMITY IN BANDIRMAHayat N., a Ro-Ro ship listed shortly after departing from Bandirma port and sank while heading to Istanbul. There was 101 people, 25 of them crew members, in the ro-ro ship. Most of the passengers dived into the sea in panic. 66 passengers were rescued, however Ozer Erdogan (42) died. One of the 31 injured passengers were reported to be in serious condition. 34 passengers were reported to be missing.
--PLANE CRASH IN RUSSIA: 88 PEOPLE DIEDNuri Kocak, a Turkish citizen, was among the passengers of the Boeing 737 plane which crashed in Russia. Plane of the Russian airlines company Aeroflot, heading from Moscow to city of Perm, exploded in the air as it was about to land. Turkish Embassy launched initiatives to get the body of Levent Nuri Kocak.
VATAN--SENER MAKES A CALL ON TURKISH GOVERNMENTFormer Turkish State Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullatif Sener said that "whatever resource has been allocated to any one or group should be publicized on the internet site of the Turkish Prime Ministry." Speaking to reporters in southern province of Gaziantep, Sener stressed that one of the foremost problems of Turkey is terror. "Turkey lost 78 security officers due to terrorist activities in a year," Sener said. "50,000 companies or shops have gone out of business in the past eight months in Turkey. Those managing Turkey have no concerns about Turkey," Sener said. Had those in the government had concerns about Turkey, they would not have had time for fighting with others, Sener also said.
--GOOD NEWS FROM RUSSIARussian authorities made a statement on a possible natural gas crisis with Turkey. Russia announced that it will not cut down the amount of natural gas being sent to Turkey. "We will continue to be a reliable suppplier of natural gas," Russian officials said.
CUMHURIYET--GETTING EDUCATED IS VERY EXPENSIVEUniversity students in Turkey have to spend somewhere between 2,131 new Turkish liras (YTL) and 2,954 YTL at the beginning of the new academic year. This amount includes tuition fees, transportation, food expenses, social activities, course equipment, photocopy expenses and books. On a monthly basis, each university student has to spend 715 YTL.
RADIKAL--TURKEY IS AWAY TO MAASTRICHT CRITERIA IN INFLATION AND INTEREST
Turkey, a candidate for EU full membership, met half of the Maastrict criteria, including economic principles of the EU. The weak part of Turkish economy is interest rates and inflation. With 8.8 percent in inflation, Turkey exceeded EU criteria which was 2.8 percent. Deviation from the EU criteria in interest is more than three times: Interest rates are around 18.3 percent in Turkey, however, the EU criteria is 5.3 percent.
--PLANE CRASHES IN RUSSIA KILLING 88, ONE OF THEM A TURKISH CITIZENA Boeing 737 plane, belonging to Russian Airlines, crashed as it was about to land near Perm city of Russia. None of the 82 passengers or 6 crew members could rescue. There were 8 Azerbaijanis, 5 Ukrainian, one Turk, one Swiss, a German, A Latvian, and an American among the passengers.
YENI SAFAK--35 STUDENTS OUT OF EVERY 100 ARE SUBSTANCE ADDICTSA report prepared by the Turkish Police says that, out of every 100 secondary and high school students, 35 students are substance addicts. Among the substances being heavily used by students are cigarettes, alcohol and hashish.
--TURKISH CONSUMER LOANS REACH 110 BLN YTLThe amount of loans used by Turkish consumers reached 110 billion YTL in 2008. Loans utilized by Turkish consumers were worth 35 billion YTL in 2005.

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