NEWS SCAN for Turkey – July 11th, 2013

Down below you will find a summary of topics from major Turkish papers and internet sites.

Opposition responds positively to PM’s proposal  to approve 48 articles of new charter

Opposition parties have positively responded to a call from Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who on Wednesday called on them to join together to pass 48 constitutional articles from Parliament on which four political parties have reached a consensus, yet they said a constitutional package including more articles should be brought to Parliament.

Speaking at a fast-breaking dinner hosted by the Civil Servants’ Trade Union (Memur-Sen), Erdoğan said: “Let [the parliamentary Reconciliation Commission] work for five days a week vigorously. There are 48 articles on which there is consensus. Let’s increase this to 68 to 78. If you (meaning the commission) cannot do this, let’s pass the 48 articles immediately from Parliament. We can approve 48 articles in a week. Prove how sincere you are.”

Erdoğan’s statements came several hours after a meeting he held with Parliament Speaker Cemil Çiçek, who had a tour of party leaders this week as the head of the parliamentary Reconciliation Commission, which is working to draft the new charter.

Hundreds of Srebrenica victims buried

Bosnia buried 409 victims of the Srebrenica massacre today, including a newborn baby, on the 18th anniversary of the worst slaughter in post-war Europe.

More than 15,000 people travelled to Potocari, near Srebrenica to attend the mass funeral of victims whose remains were found in mass graves and only identified almost two decades after the 1995 killing. Among the 409 victims laid to rest, 44 were aged between 14 and 18, officials said.

The sombre ceremony fell on the same day as the UN Yugoslav war crimes court was set to rule on an appeal to drop a charge of genocide against Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic, who is accused of masterminding the Srebrenica massacre. Srebrenica was a UN-protected Muslim enclave until July 11, 1995, when it was overrun by Bosnian Serb forces.

Dutch peacekeepers in the so-called “safe area”, where thousands of Muslims from surrounding villages had gathered for protection, helplessly looked on as the massacre unfolded

Turkish FM Davutoglu convenes Turkish ambassadors to discuss regional developments

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu met Thursday with Turkish ambassadors to the Middle East and to some key capitals to discuss the latest developments in the region

Turkish ambassadors to United States, Russia, China, Britain, France,  United Nations, European Union and NATO along with Turkey’s ambassadors in the Middle East participated in the meeting at Ankara Palas.

Turkish deputy foreign minister Naci Koru, undersecretary of the Turkish foreign ministry Feridun Sinirlioglu and Turkish prime minister’s chief advisor Ibrahim Kalin also attended the meeting chaired by minister Davutoglu. The meeting which covered the general situation and the latest developments in the Middle East region with around 40 participants was closed to the press.

Turkish ‘walking woman’ keeps on walking

Aylin Kotil’s walk to protest the election threshold reached its fourth day on July 11, with the Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy arriving in the northwestern city of İzmit.

Kotil, dubbed the “walking woman,” said she had experienced no health problems so far on the road. Her plan means that she has to walk a total of about 24 kilometers every day.

“I walk about 14 kilometers, then rest for an hour or an hour and a half, and then walk about five more kilometers. I walk around 24 kilometers every day, and hope to finish the march in 21 days,” Kotil told Anadolu Agency. Kotil hopes to speak to party leaders when she arrives at her destination, Ankara, to serve petitions to all leaders regarding the election threshold in the country.

Fenerbahçe chairman Yıldırım gives five-hour testimony against UEFA match-fixing ban

Fenerbahçe chairman Aziz Yıldırım has given a five-hour testimony at a hearing to contest the suspension handed to the club by UEFA as a penalty for match-fixing. Yıldırım testified at the European football’s governing body’s headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland, as part of Fenerbahçe’s appeal against a two-year ban from continental competition.

Last month, Fenerbahçe, along with Istanbul rival Beşiktaş, was handed a suspension from European competitions for their involvement in the manipulation of Turkish football matches.

Yıldırım’s testimony reportedly lasted for around five hours. The club’s executives said that UEFA would adopt its definitive decision on July 15. “The Discipline Committee presented us with new evidences and we gave our defenses against it. It was a good and important hearing. We told them that we were confident with our own evidences,” Deniz Tolga Aytöre told reporters just after the end of the hearing.

If the appeal is not upheld, Fenerbahçe will apply to the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) as a last resort.

11.07.2013
SOURCE: MEDIA

We do not verify above stories neither do we vouch for their accuracy.