GOOD MORNING--TURKEY PRESS SCAN ON SEPT 24

These are some of the major headlines and their summaries in the Turkish press on Sept. 24, 2008. Hurriyet English does not verify these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

HURRIYET
--14 MORE DETAINED IN ERGENEKON INVESTIGATION
In the eighth wing of operation Ergenekon, journalist Tuncay Ozkan, former mayor of Esenyurt Gurbuz Capan, and former police chief Adil Serdar Sacan were detained. Also, forensic medicine experts Safak Akbas, Yildirim Basaran, Mustafa Tavsan and Mustafa Aga; and retired colonel Tanju Guvendiren were among the detainees. Guvendiren was the former state security court (DGM) prosecutor in Ankara and the honorary member of the Military Court of Appeals.

--ERUYGUR OPENS HIS EYE, UNDERGOES SURGERY
Retired general Sener Eruygur, who fell in the prison and had a cerebral hemorrhage, opened his eyes for the first time in six days. Eruygur was in prison within the scope of operation Ergenekon. Eruygur underwent a surgery, and doctors implanted a device in his head that regulates blood pressure. Eruygur will be anaesthetized for a few more days.

MILLIYET
--EUROPE'S MOST CROWDED CITY: ISTANBUL
European Union's statistics institution, Eurostat, announced that Istanbul is Europe's most crowded city with a population of 9,898,000 people. With its 3,402,000 people, Ankara ranked the fourth biggest city in Europe.

--TOFAS SUSPENDS PRODUCTION FOR A BRIEF TIME
Turkish Automotive Factory, TOFAS, announced that it would suspend production for a period of two weeks, beginning on September 24, due to the economic recession in Europe and falling sales. Auto production will resume on October 8.

SABAH
--PRESIDENT GUL: THE GAP SHOULD BE CLOSED
President Abdullah Gul extended support to calls for reform at the UN General Assembly meeting and said the greatest task laying ahead of the international community was closing the gap between the richest and poorest countries as fast as possible.

--FORMER POLICE CHIEF IN POLICE CUSTODY
The ninth wave of Ergenekon investigation came yesterday. 14 people including journalist Tuncay Ozkan, former police Chief Adil Serdar Sacan, former State Security Court prosecutor Ret. Col. Tanju Guvendiren, former mayor Gurbuz Capan, surgeons and forensic experts were taken into police custody.

VATAN
--IMPORTANT DEVELOPMENTS IN ERGENEKON AND DENIZ FENERI CASES
Police raided houses of 14 well-known people early on Tuesday in the eighth wing of operation Ergenekon. Journalist Tuncay Ozkan; former Esenyurt mayor Gurbuz Capan; Adil Serdar Sacan, the former chief of Istanbul Organized Crimes Department; former prosecutor and retired colonel Tanju Guvendiren; former editor-in-chief of Kanalturk Adnan Bulut; and Ozkan's doctor and a cardiologist Mesut Ozcan were detained in simultaneous operations carried out in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir.

Judicial expert Mahir Akkar was also taken into custody. He was a person who filed a complaint against the administrators of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) to the Supreme Court of Appeals Chief Prosecutor's Office. For AK Party administrators, Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan and former parliament speaker Bulent Arinc, Akkar lodged a complaint, saying that "they were targeting at the secular state and were in actions resembling the Shariah."

--850 MILLION YTL TO SINPAS FOR ATAKOY COAST
Sinpas-Kat consortium won the auction for 124,980 square-meter plot of the Housing Development Administration of Turkey (TOKI) in Istanbul's Atakoy coast. TOKI put the plot to sale with an estimated value of 650 million new Turkish liras (YTL). Sinpas-Kat offered 850 million YTL.

CUMHURIYET
--NINTH WAVE IN ERGENEKON
16 people including former Esenyurt mayor Gurbuz Capan, journalist Tuncay Ozkan and former police chief Adil Serdar Capan were taken into police custody on Tuesday in simultaneous operations waged in Ankara, Izmir and Istanbul. Former State Security Court Judge Ret. Col. Tanju Guvendiren and Tuncay Ozkan's physician, cardiologist Mesut Ozcan, who were taken into custody in Ankara, were brought to Istanbul for interrogation.

Leader of the "Biz Kac Kisiyiz" platform, Ozkan said what they were face to face with was "Recep fascism". Former Police Chief Sacan was known for police investigations regarding corruption allegations in Istanbul during the time Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan was the mayor of Istanbul. Mahir Akkar, who is also among the people who were arrested, had sued AK Party officials in the past.

--HISARCIKLIOGLU WARNS: NOOSE ON OUR NECK
Rifat Hisarciklioglu, the chair of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) who said "free market economy collapsed", said the greatest risk for Turkey was the debt load of the real sector. Hisarciklioglu said, "everybody should watch out for their balance sheet. If anyone falls, this will trigger others."

RADIKAL
--SMOKING BAN EFFECTIVE IN REDUCING CIGARETTES CONSUMPTION
The smoking ban that went into effect indoors on May 19 has had a great impact on smokers throughout Turkey. Cigarette consumption went down significantly.

--GUL PRESIDENT UNTIL 2014
If a draft law of the ruling AKP was adopted, Turkish President Abdullah Gul would remain as the president until 2014. According to the draft law on the "Presidential Election Law", the president will be elected by popular vote and serve for a period of five years. Individuals will be eligible to get elected for a second period. In order to get elected as the president, an individual must be at least 40 years old and be a university graduate. The presidential election will be a two-round one. In the first round, an individual must have received more than half of the votes to get elected as the president. If a candidate does not receive more than half of the votes, then a second round of election will take place in which the candidate with the majority of the votes will get elected as the president.

YENI SAFAK
--THEY ARE ALSO DETAINING ME
Gurbuz Capan, Tuncay Ozkan and Adil Serdar Sacan are detained within the scope of operation Ergenekon. When he saw the police, Ozkan called Sahin Mengu, an MP from the Republican People's Party (CHP), just like retired general Hursit Tolon, and told him that police were detaining him.

--400 MLN DOLLARS TO TMSF
Cukurova Group agreed with the Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) on its debts stemming from the Interbank. Mehmet Emin Karamehmet will pay $400 million to the fund. $249 million of this amount is the debt itself, and the rest is the interest rate.

--FEAST IN THE AIR
The Feast of Ramadan has pleased airline companies. The companies have increased their flights to meet the demand of people who want to go on a vacation during the nine-day holiday. Onur Air's director general Sahabettin Bolukcu said, "there is a significant demand for flights to the Southeastern Anatolia Region. We will meet the demand working 24 hours a day."

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