According to a document retrieved from a CD seized from the office of retired Maj. Levent Bekta�, who is currently under arrest over sus-

pected links to a large arms cache unearthed in �stanbul's Poyrazköy district, an anti-democratic group within the Naval Forces Command was under the con-trol of Ergenekon, a clandestine criminal organization accused of plotting to overthrow the government. The CD was found along with many others in Bekta�'s office during a police raid in April, which came after the discovery of munitions on land owned by the �stek Foundation in Poyrazköy the same month. The CD exposed the group's plans to assassinate

Turkey's prominent non-Muslim figures and place the blame for the killings on the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) as part of an action plan called the Cage Operation Action Plan. The desired result of the killings was that an increase in internal and external pressure on the party would ensue, leading to dimin-ishing public support for the AK Party. A document titled “My Agendas” on the same CD revealed that the assassination plans were directed by retired Col. Levent Gökta�, who is in jail for suspected membership in Ergenekon, which suggests that the Naval Forces Command junta was under the control of Ergenekon. “Send what is in Dilek Bozkaya's posses-

sion to L. Gökta� through the lawyer Serdar Öztürk,” reads a directive on the said document. Both Bozkaya and Öztürk are currently imprisoned for suspected Ergenekon membership. Another note on the same document reads: “We have contacted the Fabricator. The movement for a more brilliant future needs to be more active.” Fabricator is an alias for the Workers' Party's (�P) jailed leader Do�u Perinçek. The document also men-tions another Ergenekon-linked plot to launch a bloody attack on students visiting the Rahmi M. Koç Museum in �stanbul. According to the document, the attack was to be launched at a time when many students were visiting the museum. CONTINUED ON PAGE 05

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Featuring news and articles from

Turkey and UN once more in quarrel over

Makhmour camp

The return of Turkish citizens of Kurdish descent from the Makhmour refugee

camp -- built by the United Nations for refu-gees in 1998 -- who went to Iraq in 1996 due to increasing acts of terrorism in southeastern Turkey, has placed the UN and Turkey at log-gerheads once again, as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is reportedly asking that the returnees be granted refugee rights as specified in international law, a request which Turkey strongly disagrees with. Information that Foreign Minister Ahmet Davuto�lu and Interior Minister Be�ir Atalay pro-vided regarding the latest developments on the Kurdish initiative revealed that Turkey and the UN are in the midst of a serious crisis due to the Makhmour refugee camp. Providing important information to the deputies of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) at the K�z�lcahamam meeting in Ankara, Davuto�lu said there are approximately 12,000 people living in the Makhmour refugee camp and that only half of them want to return to Turkey. Explaining that Turkey is experiencing serious problems with the UN, Davuto�lu said although UNCHR sup-ports the return of the people, they also want Turkey to treat them according to the standards international law with respect to refugees. This has seriously angered Turkey. CONTINUED ON PAGE 17

Talks over Do�an Yay�n tax fine get

under waySettlement talks between Do�an Yay�n Holding, Turkey's largest media company

which has been fined TL 4.8 billion for alleged tax fraud, and the Finance Ministry commenced yes-terday afternoon. Do�an Yay�n was slapped with a TL 693 mil-lion tax fine by tax authorities in February over the sale of a minority stake in subsidiary Do�an TV Holding to German publishing giant Axel Springer, which owns the renowned Bild and Welt dailies. After failing to provide proper collat-eral in the given time frame, tax authorities froze Do�an's bank accounts in March in a legal wran-gle over the tax dispute. After four months, some of the assets were released, while Do�an TV Holding shares held by the tax office under a pre-cautionary attachment rose to 53.9 percent. The company faced worse in September, when tax in-spectors fined firms controlled by Do�an TL 3.76 billion, twice the level of tax arrears, which officials assessed at TL 1.88 billion after examining ac-counts for 2005, 2006 and 2007. The amount rose to TL 4.8 billion including interest. CONTINUED ON PAGE 08

Armenia has said it could recognize the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region

as an independent state if Azerbaijan carries out its threat of military action to take back the mountain territory, raising tensions in the long-drawn-out conflict following the latest round of talks between leaders of the two countries. "It should be noted that Armenia so far has not recognized the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh for one reason -- so that it would not become an obstacle to peaceful negotiations,” Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan's spokesman Samvel Farmanyan said in a statement on Monday. "If peaceful negotiations break down and military action begins, then nothing stands in the way of Armenia recognizing the indepen-dence of Nagorno-Karabakh." CONTINUED ON PAGE 04

KARABAKH TENSION ESCALATES WITH YEREVAN THREAT OF RECOGNITION

Numerous confederations of Turkish civil servant unions are set to take part

in a one-day strike today to warn the govern-ment that it needs to listen to the demands of its civil servants. The strike was jointly orga-nized by the Turkish Public Workers' Labor Union (Kamu-Sen) and the Confederation of Public Sector Trade Unions (KESK). The Public Enterprises and Employers Union (Kamu-��), the Independent Public Workers' Union (BASK) and the Confederation of Public Workers' Rights Labor Union (HAKSEN) will also participate in the strike, which is supported by the Confederation of Turkish Trade Unions (Türk-��), the Confederation of Revolutionary Workers' Unions (D�SK) and trade unions such as Turkish Doctors Union (TTB) and the Turkish Union of Engineers and Architects' Chambers (TMMOB). CONTINUED ON PAGE 07

CIVIL SERVANTS GO ON 24-HOUR STRIKE TODAY

TO WARN GOVERNMENT

ERCAN YAVUZ, ANKARA

TWO GENDARMERIE OFFICERS ARRESTED IN ERGENEKON PROBE PAGE 05

Turkey marked Teachers' Day on Tuesday with events throughout the country, keeping the economic concerns of its teachers on agenda.

President Abdullah Gül received a group of teachers representing Turkey's 81 provinces at the Çankaya presidential residence yesterday. Education Minister Nimet Çubukçu visited An�tkabir, the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, with the group of teachers from 81 provinces and with Ankara Governor Kemal Önal as part of Teachers' Day celebrations. The

group laid a wreath at Atatürk's tomb. Writing in the An�tkabir guestbook, Çubukçu said she, Turkey's first female minister of education, is working hard, with commitment and determination and in accordance with the ide-als of the Republic of Turkey. The Ankara Metropolitan Municipality and the Ministry of Education also held a program marking Teachers' Day at the ministry. Successful teachers and students were given plaques and gifts. The program also included a concert by singer Kutsi. CONTINUED ON PAGE 06

TEACHERS' DAY CELEBRATED ACROSS THE NATION AMID ECONOMIC WOES

Naval junta under Ergenekon

control, document shows

Levent Bekta�

19 17 13 Ex-general, marginal party leader Osman Pamuko�lu threatened to 'burn down' private Samanyolu TV

Turkish artist Sevgi Ça�al depicts her feminine point of view through tulips in her new exhibition, ‘Seed’

Y o u r Wa y o f U n d e r s t a n d � n g T u r k e y

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Visa barriers with Libya abolished in historic visit page04

TAX EVASION

Eagles must beat Man United

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Students acknowledged their teachers with love and a bouquet of flowers as Turkey celebrated Nov. 24, Teachers' Day.

ERGENEKON DEFENDANT BALBAY SILENT ON NOTES PAGE 17

CMYK

‘F O O D F O R T H O U G H T

New orders should be established in the world. Iran, Brazil and Venezuela … can have determi-ning roles in … establishing these new orders.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

‘Q U O T E O F T H E D AY

I will not rest until businesses are in-vesting again and businesses are hiring again and people have work again.

US President Barack Obama

‘W O R D S O F W I S D O M

We are what we repea-tedly do; excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.

Aristotle

columns

The key to exiting the ‘cage’: justice for everyone STAR BERAT ÖZ�PEK

To call the “Kafes [Cage] Operation” plans bro-ught to light by the Taraf newspaper “horrible” is not suf� cient. According to these plans, killings of non-Muslim Turkish citizens were to be carried out and blamed on Islamic factions after which the message to the rest of the world would be “Christi-ans are being massacred under an Islamist govern-ment.” Thus the world would go along with any coups that then took place here, and the work wo-uld be covered up. In the above-mentioned plan the murders of Hrant Dink and Catholic priest [Andrea] Santoro as well the murders at a Malatya publishing house are all referred to as “operations.” If today we see that the pro-junta factions of Tur-key have not achieved their goals, the biggest rea-son for this is the determination and efforts of tho-se political actors within the ruling Justice and De-velopment Party (AK Party) who, despite the pre-sence of some status-quo supporting, nationalistic, natural-born bureaucrats within their ranks, per-sist in pursuing and emerging with a justice-based approach towards minorities in Turkey.

How can the ice melt? M�LL�YET SAM� KOHEN

Turkey does not have with Isra-el -- as it also does not have with Armenia and Greece, two neigh-boring countries with whom Tur-key has good relations, or is at le-ast trying to foster good relati-

ons -- any direct mutual problems. At the same time though, the whole Palestinian situation with Gaza at the forefront is beginning to become a de-� ning aspect of Turkish-Israeli relations. It seems that Ankara is starting to form this strong correla-tion when it comes to relations with Israel. It co-uld be asked just how much of an effect this po-licy is really going to have on the Netanyahu administration’s rigid stance when it comes to Gaza and Palestinian matters in general. It ap-pears that “Bibi” has absolutely no intent (des-pite pressure from Barack Obama) to chan-ge his stance on these matters. If re-activating Turkish-Israeli relations is now tied literally to developments on the Palestinian front, this will help neither bilateral relations nor the disputes between the Arabs and the Israelis.

Ston�ng the

DTP �n �zmir

As Turkey takes determined steps to resolve its long-standing Kurdish problem, with the go-vernment aiming to expand the scope of the rights enjoyed by Kurds, an unfortunate case which took place in the western province of �z-mir, where a pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) convoy was stoned by residents, has led to great disappointment. The fact that such an incident took place in �zmir, one of the cities with the highest number of migrants from the Kurdish-dominated cities of the East and known for its pro-secular identity, shows how fragile the Kurdish initiative process is and how open it is to provocation.

“The attack on the DTP convoy in �zmir is not a good sign, and some residents’ posing with stones in their hands for cameras is not a good sign, either,” says Vatan’s Okay Gönen-sin, who is very much concerned about the in-cident in �zmir. About �zmir, he says it has a democratic identity, where the secular and re-publican sensitivity is high, and it is one of the cities in Turkey where migrating Kurds seek safety and the means to support their liveli-hood. Gönensin af� rms that it is a democra-tic right for �zmir residents to have their views about social and political developments in the country and to make them public; however, the way that they exercise this right should not be through stoning. He says Turkey has entered a path toward a democratic solution to the Kurdish and terrorism problem; hence, it is very natural that some circles will try to block this process by laying the groundwork for civil con� ict. “The trap of a ‘civil con� ict’ is always set before the public. Neither �zmir re-sidents nor the DTP should be easily deceived by these traps,” says Gönensin.

Milliyet’s Taha Akyol says it is wrong to evince a hostile reaction to DTP gatherings like the one in �zmir because such reactions make coexistence more dif� cult by escalating Turkish-Kurdish tension. “What took place in �zmir is just one of the signs of danger,” he remarks.

Yeni �afak’s Akif Emre says the stoning of the DTP in �zmir is the picture of the way a minority that reduces nationhood to unity of blood and race, far from the values which make Turkey what it is, defends its homeland. “Those who claim that a modern nation could have been retrieved successfully by alienation from the values of Anatolia, which see diver-sity as a source of richness, should be asha-med of this picture,” suggests Emre.

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Parliament Speaker Mehmet Ali �ahin, who was in Moscow on Tuesday, visited the grave of renowned Turkish poet Naz�m Hikmet Ran, whose citizenship was restored by Cabinet decision earlier this year.

taraf: “Those who held Apo banner are not from among us,” the daily said in the headline of a front-page article yesterday, quoting remarks from a senior leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), Murat Karay�lan. Speaking to the Türkiye daily in an interview, Karay�lan said those who held banners in support of PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan as a group of PKK mem-bers were surrendering to Turkish security forces in October were not from the ranks of the PKK. “We investigated those who held such banners. They are not from us. The security forces investiga-ted them, too. Their identities were not released,” Karay�lan said.

bugün: The daily’s main story yesterday carried the headli-ne “Öymen quake.” It reported that statements of Republican People’s Party (CHP) Deputy Chairman Onur Öymen, who defen-ded the violent way the 1937 Dersim Rebellion was handled during

a speech in Parliament earlier this month, led to resignations from the CHP. A total of 300 CHP members in Tunceli on Monday anno-unced their resignation from the party due to Öymen’s remarks. CHP leader Deniz Baykal ignored calls for Öymen’s resignation and even voiced support for him, the daily said.

vatan: “The most courageous minister,” the daily said in the headline of its lead story yesterday, referring to Health Mi-nister Recep Akda�. Although Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Er-do�an said he would not get an H1N1 vaccination, Akda�, who launched the vaccination campaign, has not been demoralized. He continues to go door to door to get more people vaccinated against the H1N1 virus. Akda� called on everyone to have an H1N1 shot by Dec. 15 saying that getting more people vaccina-ted against the virus may slow down its spread.

CROSS READER

FATMA D��L� ZIBAKf.zibak@todayszaman.com

TODAY’S ZAMAN PRESS REVIEWW E D N E S DAY, N OV E M B E R 2 5 , 2 0 0 902

We learned our lessons, and now we’re memorizing them! BUGÜN NUH GÖNÜLTA�

These days, it is not the answer to the question “How was the republic formed?” that is important to us, but rather the “real responses” to the ques-tions of “Why did some of those events take place after the founding of the republic, and what really happened?” Some of the events that took place after the republic was established were actually a sort of war. One section of the nation’s people was embattled. And this clearly displays why it is that the structure of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) is based on an introspective plan. The coup plots that are being revealed nowadays show plans to force the people of this nation into various cages. After all, the newly formed structure was the re-sult of a revolution, which is why we refer to some of the changes of the new republic as the “Atatürk revolutions.” Revolutions: They destroy what pre-ceded them and replace them with other systems.

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BÜLENTKENE�

b.kenes@todayszaman.com

Caged med�a and

cry�ng consc�enceAhmet Altan, the founder and editor-in-chief of the Taraf newspaper, the pride of Turkish journalism, wrote the following in his Tuesday column: “Tur-key’s lock is the media. Without open-ing this lock, you cannot understand what happened throughout the history of the Turkish Republic. Be it the Der-sim massacre or the �zmir assassina-tion [an attempt to kill Atatürk] or the shooting of Ali �ükrü Bey or the murder of Topal Osman or the Kurdish rebel-lions or three military coups or the Feb. 28 incident. The bloody secrets of these incidents are hidden in ‘what the media did not report.’ With your permission, I would like to ask you a simple ques-tion: Would there have been any Feb. 28 without the involvement of the media? If there had not been TV channels which aired the images of a hundred Aczmen-dis every night, who would appear in one city after another with their long black robes, or the weird stories told by Fadime �ahin -- who disappeared after the memorandum -- about her love af-fairs with so-called sheiks or the strange raids made to catch them in the act, and if there had not been the newspapers who published news stories designed according to the memorandums, would the Feb. 28 generals and their support-ers have been able to attain their goals?

“Yesterday [Monday], in Hürriyet, Ahmet Hakan noted that three papers, Hürriyet, Milliyet and Sabah, ran the same headline, ‘Horrifying oath taken during Quran course,’ on the same day during the Feb. 28 period. The same title in three papers. Do you think it was a coincidence? Certainly not. Were there papers which revealed these unethical behaviors in the media? None, as far as I remember. Well, as for today, do you think that it is ‘coincidental’ that these papers and TV channels are silent about the Cage plan? The Cage plan is the most horrible plan this country has ever seen. They have even plotted to bomb children. The majority of those who pre-pared this plan are high-ranking military of� cers who are still on active duty. Sev-en of them were arrested. The weapons that were mentioned in the plan were found in the locations mentioned in the plan. Ten days after the chief of General Staff said that those weapons do not be-long to the army; it was found that they do belong to the army. The bomb placed in the Koç Museum with the intention of killing children was discovered. They have made preparations for killing non-Muslims. They have obtained the list of subscribers to the Agos newspaper, and included this list in the plans. With all of its details, the plan was seized on the computer of an Ergenekon defendant and was made part of the case � le. What is the media doing about this terrible plan? It remains silent.”

Altan continues: “Nobody in this country can set up a junta or conduct a coup without the help of the media. This is because those aspiring to overthrow the government � rst pave the way for it, and it is the media which assumes the primary task in laying the groundwork for the coup. They do this by showing something ‘bigger’ than they really are or by concealing something. Now, take a closer look at this media. Listen to their silence about the Cage. You will hear the hum of the junta inside that silence.”

Altan also wrote about this subject in his previous article: “If you wonder why this country has suffered from what

happened to it, then you should obtain and read carefully the newspapers for the last three days. These papers will tell you all of our recent history. All of these papers survive not by telling, but by not telling. They owe their current status to what they did not tell or write or see.

“Our past and our state of being are hidden in their ‘silence.’ For the last three days, we have been publishing the plans of a junta that intended to blow up dozens of children in a bomb attack, kill non-Muslims and human rights advo-cates and overthrow the government by creating chaos. Now glance at these pa-pers to see what they write about these plans. Have a look at Hürriyet, Sabah, Milliyet, Vatan, Radikal, Habertürk and Ak�am [you can include Star and Vakit on this list -- note by Bülent Kene�]. The people who read these papers exclu-sively do not know that there is a junta which had prepared such a terrible plan in this country just eight months ago and that the high-ranking members of that junta are still on active duty.

“See also the TV channels associ-ated with them. How many news chan-nels covered this news or questioned this matter? So why do they refrain from running news stories about this plan? Do these media organizations think that an action plan about killing dozens of children is ‘unimportant’? According to journalistic criteria, can they regard it as ‘unimportant’? Tell me a country where the media would treat such news as un-important. In France, the US, Nether-lands, the UK, Portugal, Poland, Japan or India? In which of them would such a plan be regarded as insigni� cant? We all know that in all of them, it would be treated as breaking news. So why is it not considered so in Turkey? What’s Turkey’s difference? The difference is that there is the ‘secret power’ of the military in this country, and this secret power � rmly controls the media. And the media attempt to boost nationalism in order to reinforce this power and con-ceal many truths. This is what happened as a rule throughout the history of the republic.”

How can one not share what Altan writes and the revolt he feels in the face of the silence of the caged media? But do you think that the powers-that-be in the junta media think like us or revolt against these developments? No, this is not the case in the least. These days, they are just busy undermining the credibility of the hair-rising conspiracy plans which some conscientious writers, such as Cengiz Çandar, Do�an Satm��, Hasan Cemal, Umur Talu, Emre Aköz, Hadi Uluengin and Mahmut Övür, whom they fail to silence, write about in their columns.

Although they refrain from publish-ing news about these junta plans, they do not hesitate a moment to immedi-ately publish all sorts of denials or state-ments from the General Staff. More-over, they tend to regard their readers or audience as stupid by publishing the General Staff’s refutations -- which in my opinion are not convincing in the least given the developments -- to the news stories and discussions they care-fully avoid. They do one more thing, to be fair. They do their best to discredit the media organizations which write about and question these conspiracies, juntas and networks. Apparently, this country will suffer more from these junta gener-als, the caged media and the journalists who voluntarily entered that cage.

CMYK

Relatives of Bilge suspects housed in K�rklareli

Heavy fog continues disruptions in �stanbul

24,000 signatures collected to eliminate Quran course age limit

Second arrest in investigation into 13-year-old’s murder

The Association of Human Rights and Solidarity for Oppressed Peoples (MA-

ZLUM-DER) has collected 24,000 signatures in a campaign to do away with the age limit imposed on children who wish to attend Quran courses offered for free at mosques in the summer months.

In Turkey, children younger than 12 are not allowed to attend those courses, a topic of heated debate in the country. According to most parents, 12 years is too old for children to learn to read the holy Quran. Courses offered at mosques are also an opportunity for children to socialize during the hot summer months.

MAZLUM-DER Kayseri branch deputy president Mustafa Delice complained that children who are below the age of 12 and want to learn to read the Quran are prevent-ed from doing so by inspectors in mosques.

Saying that obstacles to a religious educa-tion still stand in Turkey, Delice said: “At a time when Turkey is trying to improve its re-cord of human rights with a democratization initiative, unfortunately there are still ob-stacles to a religious education, and covered women are not allowed to have access to uni-versity education. According to current law, the age limit continues for Quran courses.”

Delice asked the government to expand the scope of its democratization initiative to get rid of the obstacles to a religious educa-tion and headscarves at universities. The sig-natures will be sent to Parliament by the head office of MAZLUM-DER. �stanbul Today’s Zaman

A second arrest has been made in con-nection with the kidnapping and mur-

der of 13-year-old Musa Kang in Erzurum earlier this month. The seventh-grader had left home for school on Nov. 3 and according to classmates had last been seen in tears as he was taken away by a young man. Six days later Kang’s body was found in an abandoned warehouse in the same province. His cousin S.K. was arrested in connection with the inci-dent, but police at the time said they were still investigating the case and possibly more sus-pects. According to reports yesterday, a second suspect, 16-year-old B.E., has also been taken into custody. B.E. reportedly said in his state-ment to case prosecutors that he was the man seen walking alongside Kang in security cam-era footage from the morning he disappeared.

B.E. said he took Kang to the building where his body was found, where S.K. was waiting, but that he then left. B.E. said he did not know who committed the murder, but that Kang and S.K. were arguing when he left. A search of B.E.’s home yielded the dis-covery of the clothing worn by the young man in the security footage. B.E. reportedly already has more than 30 incidences of theft on his criminal record and is addicted to paint thin-ner. Following his testimony, he was sent to prison. �stanbul Today’s Zaman with wires

Relatives of suspects involved in what has become known as the

Bilge village massacre have moved to housing in K�rklareli provided by the Interior Ministry in an effort to protect them from attempts at revenge.

Previously housed in tempo-rary facilities in Mardin for about six months, the relatives of the sus-pects, more than 80 people, were taken to K�rklareli early Monday morning under heavy security.

The apartments where the sus-pects’ relatives are being housed are under constant surveillance by the K�rklareli Police Department, with

two cameras and safety fences placed 100 meters from the buildings, while police maintain a permanent pres-ence in front of the fences.

The group from Mardin was met by K�rklareli Deputy Governor �smail Gültekin, K�rklareli Police Chief Mehmet Behzat Canbazo�lu and offi-cials from the K�rklareli Social Services and Children Protection Agency.

The apartments were furnished with refrigerators, washing machines and dishwashers as well as books, toys and art supplies for the children. The homes range in size from 90 to 150 square meters. While one elderly

woman was happy to leave her vil-lage, another said there is no place like one’s home. The women and children congregated in the apartments, while the men carried the items they brought from Mardin into the houses.

Speaking to reporters, Gültekin said they will meet the needs of the people from the Bilge village and ensure their safety. Forty-four peo-ple were brutally murdered in Bilge, located in Mardin province, during an engagement ceremony on May 4. The cause of the bloodshed was reportedly an inter-family dispute. �stanbul Today’s Zaman with wires

Heavy fog continued to paralyze daily life in �stanbul, causing traffic accidents and flight de-lays early Tuesday. The fog caused a 15-vehicle

pile-up on the TEM highway near Bahçe�ehir Tuesday morning, leaving four people injured. The accident start-ed when a delivery truck driven by Yusuf Bezirci went out of control as its brakes failed, hitting several cars be-fore coming to a halt after colliding with another deliv-ery truck. The chain-reaction crash left Bezirci trapped in his truck until rescuers could extricate him. Including Bezirci, four people were injured in the pile-up.

The dense fog also led to flight delays at �stanbul Atatürk Airport early Tuesday morning. Nine airplanes which had been expected to land at Atatürk were redirected to nearby airports since

visibility had decreased to less than 100 meters, the State Airports Management General Directorate (DHM�) announced yesterday.

Four of these flights were sent to Ankara Esenbo�a Airport, while the other five were di-rected to Sabiha Gökçen Airport. Meanwhile, sev-eral flights to Stuttgart, Hamburg, Düsseldorf and Bucharest were cancelled. At 7 a.m. DHM� officials stated that the airport’s flight schedule was back to normal after visibility increased.

The �stanbul strait was closed by the coast guard to marine traffic in the morning to prevent any accidents from the fog at 7:05 a.m. and re-opened at midday, when the fog lifted. The city line ferries continued to operate without any delay or cancellation. �stanbul Today’s Zaman with wires

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Heavy fog continued to paralyze daily life in �stanbul, causing traffic accidents. A 15-vehicle pile-up occurred on the TEM highway near Bahçe�ehir Tuesday morning due to fog, leaving four people injured.

The apartments where the relatives of the Bilge massacre suspects are being housed are under constant surveillance by the K�rklareli police.

Swine flu rages on as death toll from epidemic reaches 112 across the nation

The Health Ministry announced on Monday that the number of deaths

caused by the H1N1 virus, which is wide-ly known as swine flu, has increased and now stands at 112 nationwide.

According to a statement from the ministry, 301 people have been treated for swine flu at hospitals, 59 of whom have been treated in intensive care units. Sixty-three of the swine flu victims thus far had a chronic disease, and two of them were pregnant women, the ministry said.

The ministry once again warned peo-ple in high-risk groups, in particular preg-nant women, children below the age of 2

and sufferers of chronic diseases, to go to a hospital when they begin to show symp-toms of swine flu. “Those not included in these groups should rest at home when swine flu symptoms emerge, but they should immediately consult a doctor if they have difficulty breathing, chest pain, a fever persisting for more than three days, constant vomiting or somnolence.”

The ministry also said the best precau-tion to take for those in high-risk groups is to receive a swine flu shot.

Meanwhile, the Samsun deputy pro-vincial health director, Erdinç Özo�lu, said everyone in Turkey will inevitably encoun-

ter the swine flu virus within two years either through the vaccine or through con-tact as it spreads rapidly. He also stressed that nearly 98 percent of all flu cases in Turkey are swine flu cases. Noting that since symptoms of seasonal influenza and those of H1N1 are almost the same, he said most people do not even notice he or she is suffering from swine flu. “Swine flu does not affect everyone seriously. The vi-rus can be overcome by eating fresh fruits and resting. So, although there are around 200 patients who are being treated at hos-pitals, there are most likely thousands of cases,” he said. �stanbul Today’s Zaman with wires

04 TODAY’S ZAMAN W E D N E S D AY, N O V E M B E R 2 5 , 2 0 0 9 NATIONAL

CMYK

Visa barriers with Libya abolished in historic visit

A new initiative or a breakthrough on the Cy-prus issue is not expected from Turkey, Turk-

ish Cypriot (KKTC) leader Mehmet Ali Talat told the Turkish Agency-Cyprus (TAK) on Tuesday, adding, “Turkey has done what it could do already.”

Any withdrawal of Turkish troops from northern Cy-prus will make Greek Cyprus more uncompromising dur-ing the peace talks on unifying the island, Talat said.

Talat also stated that the peace talks should be accelerated and intensive efforts are necessary to get tangible results from the negotiations, which aim to find a lasting solution to the protracted conflict in Cyprus. He also added that other states and institu-tions’ interest in and contributions to the peace pro-cess will certainly make a solution inescapable.

“The negotiations will not be halted if an extraor-dinary thing happens. If the negotiations fail, then it is important to see the treatment of both sides,” Talat not-ed. When asked of the prospects of a new initiative or a breakthrough from Turkey, Talat said Turkey will not start an initiative on Cyprus. “What else Turkey can do? The closed ports for Greek Cypriot ships are impossible to open. They talk about withdrawing the Turkish army. How does this relate to the peace process? In this stage, a withdrawal of the army will only harm the negotiation process.” �stanbul Today’s Zaman with wires

Turkey will not have a new initiative on Cyprus, Talat says

Gül tells Israel to rev�se settlement

pol�cy, prove comm�tment for peace

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PTurkey and Libya announced on Tuesday that they have mutually abolished visa require-

ments, opening a new era in once-strained ties.“We have agreed to end visa requirements,”

Libyan Prime Minister al-Baghdadi Ali al-Mah-moudi announced after talks with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo�an in Tripoli. “We have Eid al-Adha coming up. As of today, Turkish citizens can visit Libya and Libyan citizens can visit Tur-key without having to obtain visas.”

Erdo�an, the � rst Turkish prime minister to visit Libya in 13 years, also met with Libyan leader Muammar Gadda� . The prime minister is accom-panied by ministers of foreign affairs, foreign trade, energy and transportation in his three-day visit.

The lifting of the visa requirements came as Turkey works to strengthen trade ties with Libya. Speaking to the Anatolia news agency, Zafer Ça�layan, the minister for foreign trade, said Turkey has so far begun projects worth $21 billion in Libya. He added that Libya has promised to set aside business worth tens of billions of dollars to Turkish entrepreneurs.

Libya is a “country of opportunities,” Ça�layan said, emphasizing that there are several areas open for further cooperation between Turkey and Libya.

Erdo�an’s visit marks a turning page in re-

lations with Libya, which deteriorated sharply during the last prime ministerial visit 13 years ago. Then-Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan was given an unpleasant shock during his visit to Tripoli, when Gadda� reportedly lent support to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is listed as a terrorist organization by a

large majority of the international community. “The state of Kurdistan should take its place in

the spectrum of nations under the Middle Eastern sun. Turkey should not � ght against people seeking their independence,” Gadda� was quoted as say-ing at the time. Senior-level contacts between the two countries have been rare since then.

“I am not focusing on what happened 13 years ago; we are now assessing our current situation. We are trying to build a different future,” Prime Minister Erdo�an told reporters before departing for Libya. “This is the main purpose of my visit.” He said he would review the current situation in political and economic relations in talks with Libyan authorities.

Libya offers lucrative business opportuni-ties particularly for Turkey’s construction sec-tor. Erdal Eren, head of Turkey’s contractors’ association, said since 2005, Turkish companies have won projects worth $11 billion from Libya and added that Libya offers $8-10-billion projects every year. Eren was optimistic that Erdo�an’s three-day visit will soon have positive impacts on business cooperation with Libya. “For the past two years, we have been telling our prime minister that our business volume with Libya has increased and that political relations should also expand in parallel to the growth in the business ties,” he told Anatolia.

He said other countries, such as Italy and Russia, were already very active in expanding po-litical ties and business cooperation with Libya.

While in Libya, Erdo�an will attend a Lib-ya-Turkey business forum, which will be joint-ly organized by Libyan and Turkish business circles. �stanbul Today’s Zaman with wires

Turkish Parliament Speaker Mehmet Ali �ahin opened the new of� ce of the Dialogue Eurasia

Platform (DAP) in Moscow on Tuesday. Following the 34th general meeting of the Parliamen-

tary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (PABSEC) in Moscow, �ahin cut the ribbon at the open-ing of DAP’s Moscow of� ce. �ahin said there have been signi� cant developments since the foundation of DAP 11 years ago, while speaking yesterday at the of� cial opening of the Moscow of� ce of DAP before leaving for Turkey.

“DAP is a very important platform attempting to solve problems among different religions and peoples through dialogue,” �ahin said. “I am here to attend PABSEC’s meeting and also the opening of the DAP Moscow of� ce. I believe both of them have important symbolic meanings,” he added.

Noting that he believes DAP will continue to un-dertake important tasks, �ahin said he hopes this new venue will serve people successfully. “I am also particu-larly happy to see my Russian friends here. I hope to meet them again in Turkey,” �ahin stated.

Speaking during the opening ceremony, hon-orary chair of the DAP, Rostislav Rybakov, said the work of the founders and those contributing to the platform serve the people. “This will contribute to the education and morale of the new generation,” Rybakov said. �stanbul Today’s Zaman with wires

Parliament speaker opens Moscow office of Dialogue Eurasia Platform

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou is to re-spond today to a set of proposals put forward by his

Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdo�an, Greek media reports have said.

On Oct. 30, Erdo�an sent a letter to Papandreou, whose party came to power that same month, expressing Turkey’s readiness to resolve problems with Greece as part of his government’s policy of zero problems with neighbors and outlining a set of proposals for a settlement of Turkish-Greek disputes, including complicated territorial problems in the Aegean and Cyprus.

Papandreou has put the � nishing touches on his letter, and the docu-ment will reach Ankara by today, according to reports in the Greek media, which also claim the Greek pre-mier positively responds to Erdo�an’s call to resolve the problems but also outlines the Greek position on the issues of disagreement.

According to reports, citing Greek diplomatic sources, Papandreou will mostly repeat Greece’s traditional arguments concerning the Ae-gean disputes in his letter and will dismiss Erdo�an’s call for a comprehensive discussion of the territorial disagreements, arguing that efforts to resolve the disputes in the Aegean should be limited to resolving disagreements over the de� -nition of its continental shelf.

Often only a few kilometers separate the Turkish main-land from Greek islands in the Aegean, which has led to dif� culties in de� ning the two countries’ territory. Turkey says Greek attempts to extend its territorial waters would turn the Aegean into a Greek-dominated region.

The Aegean neighbors have a shaky relationship and came to the brink of war three times between 1974 and 1996 over Cyprus and territorial rights in the Aegean Sea. Papan-dreou championed rapprochement between Greece and Turkey when he served as foreign minister between 1999 and 2004. Improved relations followed devastating earth-quakes that hit both countries in 1999 and sparked mutual sympathy among Greeks and Turks. �stanbul Today’s Zaman

Papandreou to respond to Erdo�an’s letter today

Turkey yesterday gave a conditional go-ahead to efforts to mend strained ties with Israel, saying Israel’s hard-line government must prove that it is

committed to peace with the Palestinians.President Abdullah Gül, who met with vis-

iting Israeli Industry, Trade and Labor Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, urged Israel to withdraw to pre-1967 borders and revise its policy of expand-ing settlements in Palestine, warning that current peace in the region is precarious. “It is calm today, but this may not be lasting. There might be unde-sired developments in the future,” Gül was quot-ed as telling Ben-Eliezer by sources close to the meeting. Israel, Gül said, must prove that it is willing and sincere for peace, stating that the peaceful coexistence of an Israeli and a Palestinian state would also be the best way to address Israel’s security concerns.

Ben-Eliezer is the � rst Israeli minister to visit Turkey, once a close regional ally of Israel, since relations hit a low last winter follow-ing an Israeli offensive in Gaza that left more than 1,400 Palestinians dead in Gaza. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo�an walked out of a World Economic Forum session in January after a heated exchange with Israeli President Shimon Peres, and Turkish-mediated talks be-tween Israel and Syria collapsed after Ankara and Damascus said peace talks cannot proceed in the Israeli-Palestinian track as war rages on in Palestine. Relations continued to deteriorate af-ter Turkey canceled a military exercise last month in which Israeli pilots were planned to participate and after Turkey’s state-run TV aired a drama series that portrayed Israeli soldiers as cruel and repressive.

Ben-Eliezer, known as a proponent of close ties with Turkey, seeks to restore relations to the pre-Gaza offensive era and has stated a few times during his visit that a visit by Gül to Israel as soon as possible would help mend fences. But Turkish leaders were cautious towards the invita-tion, insisting that the humanitarian conditions in Gaza -- which has not changed much since the January offensive -- should improve � rst.

Yesterday, Gül told Ben-Eliezer that he would consider whether to visit Israel after a visit by Foreign Minister Ahmet Davuto�lu � rst. It was not immediately known when

Davuto�lu planned to go to Israel. Ankara also expects Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak to visit Turkey in the near future, sources said.

Ben-Eliezer has said he was in Turkey to clear up some of the issues over Israeli-Turkish ties and called on Turkey to resume mediation between Israel and Syria, but his mission appeared to be divisive within Israel. Israel’s hawkish Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Turkey could not be considered a mediator because it lost its impartiality. But Ben-Eliezer said while Lieber-man might have different thoughts, he was in Turkey representing the Israeli government.

Speaking late on Monday, Prime Minister Erdo�an said Turkey was ready to resume media-tion but called on Israel to improve the situation in Gaza. “If we are assigned once more with such a mission, we are determined to be mediators again and to give all the support of which we are capa-ble,” Erdo�an told reporters before departing for a visit to Libya. But he also complained that the situation in Gaza remains unchanged.

“Our aim is to make friends, not enemies,”

Erdo�an said. “But we are trying to do this by re-specting the principle of justice.” He added that Turkey wanted to help restructure Gaza’s destroyed infrastructure following the January offensive, but Israel denied this. “We invited Israel to have a more positive stance on these issues,” he said.

Optimistic about future of tiesSpeaking to a group of reporters at the conclu-sion of his visit in Ankara on Tuesday, Ben-Eliezer said he feels optimistic that relations will be repaired. He denied reports that new houses were being built in new settlements since the right-wing government took over the power in Israel. “We are ready to evacuate settle-ments and demolish homes built on Palestinian territories once we achieve peace,” he said.

Eliezer also dismissed reports that Turkish humanitarian aid was blocked at the border with Gaza and said more humanitarian aid is � owing to Gaza now than before the Gaza offensive.

He also stressed Israeli government would like to see more high level visits to his country

from Turkey but warned that any invitation ex-tended to the president, the prime minister or foreign minister of Turkey would not include a trip to Gaza. “They are welcome to visit Israel or West Bank but not Gaza,” he underlined.

As for the delays in delivery of Herons, he said the Israeli side is working hard to resolve problems with the unmanned aerial vehicles. “Once we solve problems, we will hand them over immediately,” he said.

Speaking at a meeting discussing economic cooperation in Ankara earlier in the day, Ben-Eliezer invited Turkish businessmen to invest in Israel. “I have felt at home since I came here. You come to Israel, too, and feel at home. You have friends in Israel,” Ben-Eliezer told the businessmen. Defense Minister Vecdi Gönül, who co-chaired the meeting on behalf of the Turkish side, said Turkey had a long-term perspective regarding its relations with Israel and that it is working to deep-en ties. “Israel has a special importance for Turkey. It is important that Turkey and Israel cooperate more extensively,” Gönül said.

Ben-Eliezer (L) and Gönül co-chaired a meeting of the Turkish-Israeli Joint Economic Commission in Ankara on Tuesday.

Sarksyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev had talks on Sunday in Munich on the Na-gorno-Karabakh con� ict, followed by statements from mediators that the two leaders achieved progress. “Some important progress has been reached,” French mediator Bernard Fassier told reporters after the talks. “At the same time we have identi� ed some dif� culties.”

There was speculation in the Turkish media that there was a breakthrough during Sunday’s talks, with Armenia agreeing to withdraw from regions adjacent to Nagorno-Karabakh. But Farmanyan dismissed the reports on Monday,

saying, “Such a question is not being discussed.” Fassier said he and his co-mediators from the

United States and Russia would start preparing the next meeting without specifying when it might take place. “We hope for additional progress in the fol-lowing weeks and beginning of next year.”

Tensions over the Armenian-populated re-gion, which broke away from Azerbaijan with Armenian backing in the early 1990s, are rising as Armenia pursues a historic thaw with Azer-baijan’s ally Turkey to the anger of oil-produc-ing Azerbaijan. In comments broadcast on Sat-urday, Aliyev warned that Azeri patience was running thin and that without a breakthrough

soon, Azeri troops were ready to take back the territory by force.

Fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh erupted as the Soviet Union headed towards its 1991col-lapse. Some 30,000 people died and more than 1 million were displaced before a cease� re in 1994. Ethnic Armenian forces took control of the territory of 100,000 people and seven surrounding Azeri dis-tricts, including a land corridor to Armenia.

With no peace deal, soldiers on the frontline continue to be picked off by land-mines and snipers. No state has recognized Nagorno-Karabakh as independent.

Turkey signed two protocols in October to nor-

malize its ties with Armenia, severed in 1993 due to the Nagorno-Karabakh con� ict, but wants progress in the Nagorno-Karabakh con� ict before taking any further steps to restore relations with Armenia.

In Russia, President Dmitry Medvedev was expected on Tuesday to urge Aliyev for a peaceful resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute. Aliyev was in Ulyanovsk, Russia, on Tuesday to attend a ceremony for naming the city square after former Azerbaijani President Haydar Aliyev and meet Medvedev for talks on energy cooperation and re-gional issues. Russia backs the Nagorno-Karabakh solution efforts and the Turkish-Armenian rap-prochement. �stanbul Today’s Zaman with wires

Karabakh tension escalates with Armenian threat of recognitioncont�nued from page 1

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo�an and Libyan Prime Minister Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi (L) cut the ribbon at a hotel opening ceremony in Tripoli, Libya, late at night Monday.

SÜLEYMAN KURT / ABDULLAH BOZKURT ANKARA

George Papandreou

Naval junta under Ergenekon control, document shows Plot colonel takes up new position at Naval Forces Command

Col. Dursun Çiçek, whose signature ap-pears on a military plot aimed at under-

mining the power of the Justice and Devel-opment Party (AK Party) and the faith-based Gülen movement, has started serving in a new capacity at the Naval Forces Command.

The colonel was appointed to the new position on Sept. 4, 2009. He was previously employed by the Information Support Unit of the General Staff.

Çiçek was arrested earlier this month for suspected membership in a clandestine terror-ist organization, but was released after a brief detention. He was also arrested and released in July. The colonel is believed to have drafted a plot which included Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) plans to destroy the AK Party and the faith-based Gülen movement.

According to the plot, the TSK had a sys-tematic plan to destroy the image of the AK Party government and the Gülen movement in the eyes of the public, to play down the Er-genekon investigation and to gather support for members of the military arrested as part of the investigation into Ergenekon, a criminal organization accused of plotting to overthrow the government. Dozens of Ergenekon mem-bers, including businessmen, members of the military and journalists, are currently incarcer-ated while standing trial.

A photocopied version of the plot was � rst published by a Turkish daily in June, but the General Staff denied responsibility for it, say-ing it was just a “piece of paper.” The original of the document, mailed by an unnamed mili-tary of� cer to an �stanbul prosecutor, put an end to all debates over the plot’s authenticity.

A military investigation is currently under way into the plot. �stanbul Today’s Zaman with wires

Two gendarmerie officers arrested in Ergenekon probe

Two of� cers serving in the Erzincan Pro-vincial Gendarmerie Command have

been arrested in the ongoing investigation into Ergenekon, a clandestine network charged with plotting to overthrow the government.

According to reports, the arrests came in the past few days during operations into gen-darmerie accommodation facilities in Erzincan. One of those arrested was identi� ed as E.E., a senior lieutenant who serves as the deputy chief of the gendarmerie intelligence depart-ment in Erzincan. Weapons and bullets were found in his home during the operation.

The other of� cer detained in the operation was identi� ed as O.E., also from the Erzincan Gendarmerie Command’s intelligence depart-ment. Although they served in Erzincan, a special prosecutor from Erzurum is conducting the probe.

Neither man chose to speak in their initial interrogations. They have been placed in the Er-zurum Military Prison after being arrested on charges of membership in a terrorist organization.

The specially authorized Erzurum Prosecu-tor’s Of� ce announced that three guns whose origins are yet to be established, bullets for said weapons as well as a large number of bullets for Kalashnikov ri� es were found in the homes of the two men. Documents, CDs and external hard disks of the two men were also ceased in the investigation. �stanbul Today’s Zaman with wires

The plan was exposed in May after a large num-ber of explosives were discovered in a submarine at the museum during the investigation into Ergenekon.

After an investigation by the military, they an-nounced that the explosives at the bottom of the submarine had been forgotten by commandos.

Ergenekon prosecutors, however, decided that the � ndings of the military investigation were too weak to ease concerns over the discovery of explosives at the museum. The prosecutors examined the submarine in the museum and reached the conclusion that it was not possible for the commandos to forget that a large amount of explosives were in a submarine.

The same document also includes con� dential information about the private lives, wives, children

or girlfriends of a number of high-ranking members of the military. The document suggests that some of those members of the military were blackmailed with that information and urged to work in line with the ambitions of the Naval Forces Command junta.

Part of the document was dedicated to the jun-ta’s “friend” organizations. Among those organiza-tions were groups such as Hizb ut-Tahrir and their leaders, including �skender Evreneso�lu, Haydar Ba�, Abdullah A�ar and �smail Yavuz. Most of those � gures are known to be members of hard-core reli-gious fundamentalist groups.

What is the Cage Plan?The plan was signed by Lt. Col. Ercan Kireçtepe and was planned to be put into operation by a team

comprising 41 members of the Naval Forces Com-mand. The hoped-for result from the assassinations of prominent non-Muslim � gures and related pro-paganda would be an increase in internal and exter-nal pressure on the AK Party, leading to its political demise, according to the plan.

The action plan would be implemented to lend support to the suspects arrested so far as part of the Ergenekon investigation; render ineffective the so-called psychological warfare waged by the AK Party and its supporters (against the military); change the course of the agenda in Turkey; boost the morale of the junta within the Naval Forces Command; and win the appreciation and support of the public. The blame for each of the assassinations by the junta would be put on the AK Party.

The plan was divided into four phases; “Prepa-ration,” “Raising Fear,” “Shaping Public Opinion” and “Action.”

The action plan also called the killings of Arme-nian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink, Catholic priest Andrea Santoro and three Christians in Malatya an “operation.” The group aimed to generate chaos in society with those killings, but complained that the plan failed when large groups protested the killings in mass demonstrations.

The plan also revealed that the anti-democratic formation within the Naval Forces Command was be-ing led by three admirals, identi� ed with their initials F.Ö., K.S. and M.F.�. Bekta�, Kireçtepe, Gökta� and Maj. Emre Onat also worked for the junta. All of them were arrested as part of the ongoing Ergenekon probe.

CMYK

Suspicion persists over suicide of retired navy colonel

Several unanswered questions still remain over the suspicious suicide of Belgütay Var�ml�, a retired colonel who killed him-

self by jumping off the balcony of his apartment in �stanbul’s Kad�köy district on Nov. 20.

Retired Lt. Col. Tev� k Diker, a close friend of the late colonel, said the documents under Var�ml�’s possession should be protected. “My friend was against anti-democratic formations. He had knowledge about many things as he served in critical positions. He was patriotic enough to not be afraid of deciphering what he knew. He would never work with anyone who saw himself as superior to the public. … He was always suspicious. He used to claim that his phone conversations were being wiretapped. He often asked me to unplug my phone when we were chatting,” Diker remarked.

Var�ml� threw himself off his balcony while his wife and mother were at home. He hit the concrete pavement below and died at the scene. His body was taken to the Göztepe Teaching and Research Hospital after police and prosecutors examined it.

Star daily columnist �amil Tayyar also ques-tioned the suspicious suicide of Belgütay Var�ml�. The columnist suggested in his latest column on Monday that the colonel was not the kind of person to commit suicide as he was a devout Muslim. Committing suicide is one of the great-est sins in Islam. “Let’s see what his colleague retired Lt. Col. Tev� k Diker says: ‘Var�ml� was killed by Ergenekon. He knew about the Turk-ish Armed Forces [TSK] secrets. He knew coup plans. He informed [former chief of General Staff Gen.] Hilmi Özkök about those plans. Prosecu-tor Zekeriya Öz should investigate Var�ml�’s al-leged suicide,” Tayyar wrote.

According to Tayyar, Var�ml� played a signif-icant role in the exposure of the Ergenekon ter-rorist organization, a clandestine group accused of plotting to topple the government. “One day, the colonel gave me a phone call and expressed his desire to meet with me. We met in my of� ce

at the newspaper. What had drawn my attrac-tion was that he changed the appointment date three times before and called me from different phone numbers. He also changed the vehicle he was traveling in several times before he reached my of� ce. When we met, he asked whether we could talk in a different room. We changed the room. We left our mobile phones in my of� ce and he checked whether there was any bugging device anywhere. I must confess, he appeared paranoid at the time,” the columnist noted.

Tayyar went on to give details of his meet-ing with the late colonel. “He told me about his success in an investigation into Naval Forces Commander Adm. �lhami Erdil, his role in the prevention of the Sar�k�z [Blonde

Girl] coup attempt, and how he informed Gen. Özkök about the attempt. … He then said he would give me very important documents in the future. Before he left, he asked where he could pray the noon prayer. He prayed in a room we showed him and left,” Tayyar stated.

The columnist said the two met for a sec-ond time and later a third time. The colonel said he warned the government (without specify-ing which government) about the coup plans. “Var�ml� came to visit me once again and asked me if I could help him meet with Prime Minister [Recep Tayyip] Erdo�an and Prosecutor Zekeriya Öz. I told him that I did not have the power to help him do that and recommended that he leave a note with the prime minister’s secretary about

his desire to meet with Erdo�an. … Then there was a period of silence. He did not call me for a while. When he called again, he asked me if I had Öz’s phone number. I said no. He said there was a big ambush. That was our last talk,” Tayyar said.

According to Tayyar, the claims that Var�ml�’s suspicious suicide could be the work of Ergenekon need to be addressed.

In the meantime, claims appeared on a number of Turkish Web sites that Var�ml� was the “anonymous military of� cer” who sent let-ters and documents to Ergenekon prosecutors about a devious military plot to undermine the Justice and Development Party (AK Party). Three letters were sent to the prosecutors in October and November. �stanbul Today’s Zaman

NATIONAL W E D N E S DAY, N OV E M B E R 2 5 , 2 0 0 9 TODAY’S ZAMAN05

Suspicions surround the suicide of Belgütay Var�ml�, a retired colonel who killed himself by jumping off the balcony of his apartment in �stanbul’s Kad�köy district on Nov. 20.

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‘Republic on its way to becoming real republic now’

Teachers’ Day celebrated across Turkey with joy

Turkey, EU negotiating visa issuance ease in return for immigrant deal

Turkey and the European Union are negotiating a readmission agreement

for illegal immigrants in exchange for the fa-cilitation of visa issuance for Turkish citizens seeking to visit EU countries, a top diplomat from the European Commission has said.

“Once we have a readmission agreement we will be very open to negotiating visa fa-cilitation for [Turkish] journalists, academics, businesspeople and scientists to travel easily to the EU,” the diplomat, who asked not to be named, told a group of Turkish journalists who are on a trip organized by the Delega-tion of the European Commission to Turkey.

It is estimated that every year almost 72,000 illegal immigrants go to Europe via Turkey, although Turkey apprehended ap-proximately 65,000 illegal immigrants in 2008. The readmission agreement envisages sending immigrants back to their countries of origin via Turkey.

“This is certainly a critical issue,” said the EU of� cial.

The EU and Turkey have long been at odds over the critical issue. The EU alleges that Turkey is not doing enough to tackle il-legal immigration coming from the East, es-pecially from Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Middle East, claiming the country has failed to ful� ll its promises to repatriate illegal im-migrants who pass through Turkey and are later detained in EU member states.

Turkey needs the assistance of the EU to establish a reliable system and to ease wor-ries of whether all detained immigrants will be sent back after the agreement is signed.

On the other hand, Turkish of� cials have repeatedly stated that the EU is not offering any substantive plan to share the � nancial costs.

But according to the same of� cial a new round of discussions will be held on Dec. 4 in Ankara for signing the readmission agree-ment between Turkey and the EU.

The of� cial stated that the EU as a whole, not individual member-states, is negotiating for the readmission agreement and that the EU is ready to share the burden.

“This is certainly a critical issue. The EU will grant support to Turkey to tackle the problem. We have expressed our readiness to look into all ways and means to help Tur-key face this problem. Of course, we have budgetary limitations, but we are ready to help Turkey,” the EU of� cial said.

The Turkish side complains that � nan-cial assistance from the EU for the repa-triation of illegal immigrants heavily favors the Greek government. Approximately 70 euros are provided to Turkey per person to offset the cost of readmission, hosting, processing and deporting to the country of origin. However, the EU gives 1,000 euros per person to the Greeks.

The discussion of illegal immigration has also strained Turkish-Greek relations, as Greece naturally is the � rst country en-tered by people who seek refuge after tran-siting Turkish territory. Turkey and Greece signed a readmission agreement in 2001 to manage the � ow of people, but Athens claims the treaty is not working. Brussels siding with Greece on the issue recently re-ceived a harsh rebuke from Ankara.

Another point of contention between Ankara and the EU over illegal immigra-tion is that Turkey is excluded from treaties signed by the EU with third countries. For example, the EU’s ongoing negotiations for a readmission treaty with Pakistan would impact Turkey, as most illegal immigrants from Pakistan choose to cross Turkey in their passage to the EU.

Some experts underline that once there is a readmission agreement between Turkey and the EU, the � ow of illegal immigrants to Turkey will decline since there will be the possibility of being sent back to Turkey if they are not accepted in Europe.

According to the same top-ranking of� -cial there will be more advantages for Turkey if it signs the readmission agreement with the EU, the most important one being visa issuance facilitation for Turkish citizens.

“As soon as the readmission agreement is signed, we will offer many new opportu-nities in terms of visas for your compatriots wishing to travel to the EU,” he underlined.

The same source indicated that some member-states say they cannot consider any visa issuance facilitation with Turkey if there is no readmission agreement between the EU and Turkey.

“This issue will affect our bilateral rela-tions,” the of� cial said.

German Green Party co-chair Cem Özdemir has stated that the Turkish Republic has al-

ways exploited the state’s laic structure to stall de-mocratization, adding that the republic is now be-coming a real republic thanks to recent reforms.

Speaking to Today’s Zaman about a recent plot devised by some military of� cers called the Cage Action Plan that aimed to assassinate minority lead-ers, Özdemir said it was impossible for a country that eliminates its religious minorities to be laic. “If

Turkey today was a country which still had its [non-Muslim] minorities, maybe its membership in the EU would have gone smoothly.”

Criticizing the application of the principle of laicism in Turkey, Özdemir said that the republic has always abused this principle. Noting that the Cage plan was despicable, he added that there still remained many questions to be answered such as whether those who have been spreading a fear of religious fundamentalism until now have used laicism to intervene in politics.

He also shared his opinion on the murder

of his close friend Turkish Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, who was killed on Jan. 19, 2007 in broad daylight by an ultra-nationalist teenager. Saying that he has been following the mur-der trial closely, Özdemir stated that there was a deeper structure behind the murder. He said Turkey has lost a lot of its values due to atrocities such as the killing of Hrant Dink, the killing of an Italian Priest in 2006, the incidents of Sept. 6-7 [1955], the exodus of the Greeks and the as-sets tax [imposed on non-Muslims in the early republican era]. “What kind of laicité is this?

How can a Turkey purged from its non-Muslims possibly be laic?” he said.

He said Turkey was just beginning to emerge from the legacy of the Sept. 12 [1980] coup d’état. “Turkey has always been ruled with fear. There have always been fear mongers speaking of trai-tors, external enemies and other forces trying to destroy Turkey. From now on, the republic is on its way to becoming a real republic. They tried to hold the republic together with fear. But a country cannot stand on its feet with fear, but with a Con-stitution, rule of law and justice.”

A ceremony marking Teachers’ Day was held at the Taksim Republic Monument in �stanbul with the participation of �stanbul Deputy Governor Mustafa Alt�nta�, �stanbul Education Department head Muammer Y�ld�z and teachers from the northern province of Ordu. Following a laying of wreathes at the monument, one minute of silence was observed for teachers and Atatürk. Y�ld�z also wrote a message in the monument’s memorial guestbook.

A concert was held in Bursa by the orches-tra of the Bursa Metropolitan Municipality to celebrate the Teachers’ Day of retired teachers in the province with the participation of Bursa authorities, including Bursa Mayor Recep Alte-pe and Deputy Governor Ali Kamil Ba�ar. The concert brought Mayor Altepe with one of his teachers as a surprise to Altepe.

The �zmir Metropolitan Municipality gave gifts to teachers in the province, including a note from �zmir Mayor Aziz Kocao�lu, in honor of Teachers’ Day.

In a program held at the Konevi Cultural Cen-ter in Konya, an educational association, the Gaye Education Volunteers’ Association, brought teach-ers together. Artist �brahim Sadri read poems and sang his songs during the program.

Meanwhile, Democrat Party (DP) leader Hüsamettin Cindoruk stressed in a message that the profession of teaching had never been fully appreciated in Turkey. He also con-gratulated all of Turkey’s teachers. Nov. 24 marks the day when Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the founder of the Turkish Republic, was de-clared the nation’s head teacher 81 years ago and the day was adopted as Teachers’ Day nationwide. �stanbul Today’s Zaman with wires

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Hakkari c�t�zens protest DTP

bash�ng by �zmir demonstratorsCitizens in the southeastern province of Hakkari have protested against an at-tack on a convoy carrying Democratic

Society Party (DTP) members in the western province of �zmir.

In 11 districts in Hakkari, citizens started pro-tests late on Monday night. Police had to inter-vene, and � ve protestors were detained. Security has been tightened in the province as a result.

The protest was against what the deputy chairmen of the DTP Selahattin Demirta� and Gültan K��anak called the “continuation of or-ganized lynching attempts directed at the DTP and Kurds.” The two of� cials made the state-ment on Monday regarding the attack on Sun-day in �zmir against a DTP convoy.

Residents stoned the DTP members in �zmir, one of the cities with the highest number of migrants from the Kurdish-dominated cities of the East.

A DTP convoy of 200 vehicles returning to party headquarters from Adnan Menderes Air-port, where they greeted DTP leader Ahmet Türk, who had paid a surprise visit, was stoned by a group of people. The attackers, a group of residents holding Turkish � ags as well as sticks and stones, blocked the convoy when it reached the Üçyol crossroads and harassed the drivers whom they believed were also Kurdish.

Most Turkish dailies reported the protests in �zmir, showing the photographs of modern, well-dressed women and men holding stones to throw at the convoy.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo�an said yes-terday before leaving for Libya that such scenes act as a negative in� uence on the democratic initiative. He was referring to the government’s democratiza-tion initiative which involves granting more citizen-ship rights to the country’s Kurds.

“If there is a terrorist organization’s � ag and the posters of the terrorists’ leader in a bus which belongs to a party, this can’t be sanc-tioned. Our judiciary is doing what is necessary in that regard. Such scenes affect the process negatively,” he said.

Some witnesses in �zmir claimed that the group attacked when vehicles in the DTP convoy unfurled � ags of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). However, some have expressed the opinion that the violent protest might have been planned ahead as the attack occurred along a road where the Nationalist Movement Party’s (MHP) �zmir of� ce is located. MHP members and members of the Idealist Hearths, an MHP-af� liated youth group, � ocked to the scene.

Most of the vehicles’ windows were shattered during the protestor’s attack.

MHP �zmir province head Müsavat Dervi�o�lu said after the events that the MHP had acted correctly in the face of such “provoca-tions.” Speaking at the place where the attacks occurred, Dervi�o�lu warned ultranationalists.

“The events in �zmir could have been used to ignite a � re. We will not be a tool for that. We will never allow it,” he said.

Prime Minister Erdo�an also said that he had discussed the issue with Interior Minister Be�ir Atalay.

“We cannot allow such scenes anywhere. We will intervene. You also realize what the protes-tors represent, what their signs and symbols say. I don’t have to say it. There is an effort to develop an environment of con� ict,” Erdo�an said.

The police had � red into the air in �zmir to disperse the crowd. However, members of the DTP have complained that the police were late in their intervention. They also stated that small-sized gas tanks and other heavy items were tossed from the windows of nearby build-ings. The group did not disperse after the convoy

passed through, and they blocked traf� c singing the national anthem. Meanwhile, residents of nearby buildings hung Turkish � ags from their windows, observers noted.

Hürriyet daily columnist Y�lmaz Özdil wrote in his column on Tuesday that the protest in �zmir was just a “warning” and that “the worst might be yet to come.”

In response to a reporter’s question, Erdo�an said at the airport that more people from the Makhmour camp in northern Iraq and where most of the PKK members are located will return to Tur-key as long as they are not involved in terrorism.

The interior minister had recently stressed that the public will not see “welcome home celebrations” for members of the PKK who sur-render to Turkish security forces. Atalay had previously lambasted the pro-Kurdish DTP for organizing such a demonstration and celebra-tion. The return of 34 people -- eight from a PKK camp, the others from Makhmour -- in late Oc-tober turned into a show for PKK sympathizers and supporters in Turkey. The government then slammed the DTP for blocking the democratic initiative process. �stanbul Today’s Zaman with wires

Students in the eastern province of Hakkari did not have the luxury of going to the town center, 10 kilometers from their school, so their present to their teachers was walnuts filled with love.

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Some �zmir residents’ violent protests against a convoy of DTP members drew harsh reactions in the eastern city of Hakkari.

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Bahçeli responds to DTP with potentially menacing remarkNationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahçeli yesterday re-sponded to the Democratic Soci-ety Party’s (DTP) declaration that residents of Kurdish-dominated Diyarbak�r would reciprocate an attack on their convoy in the western city of �zmir, saying, he would confidently go to Diyarbak�r “when the time comes.”

Bahçeli was responding to a jour-nalist’s question yesterday on DTP leader Ahmet Türk’s comment that Diyarbak�r residents might respond to MHP activities in their city the same way as some MHP members in �zmir did on Sunday when they attacked a DTP convoy with stones. Bahçeli said Türk’s approach was “very inappropriate,” saying, “They [the DTP] should understand that they are falling into the trap of the Justice and Development Party [AK Party]. I know I will go to Diyarbak�r when the time comes,” but he did not elaborate on the details of the circumstances of the time.

He said the events in �zmir on Sunday were also a trap set by the AK Party. “Two days ago, I sent orga-nizational administrators a directive warning them about the AK Party’s possible ploys. The first of which was seen in �zmir. The MHP doesn’t have time to throw eggs at people.”

On Sunday, a DTP convoy of 2,000 vehicles driving back to party headquarters from the Adnan Mend-eres Airport, where they greeted DTP leader Ahmet Türk, who paid a sur-prise visit, was stoned by a group of people. The attackers, a group of resi-dents holding Turkish flags as well as sticks and stones, blocked the convoy when it reached the Üçyol intersection and harassed the drivers, whom they believed were Kurdish. Members of the MHP and the Idealist Hearths, an MHP-affiliated youth group, flocked to the scene, witnesses said. Most of the windows of the vehicles in the convoy were shattered during the at-tack. �stanbul Today’s Zaman with wires

SELÇUK GÜLTA�LI BRUSSELS

cont�nued from page 1

CMYK

BUSINESS W E D N E S DAY, N OV E M B E R 2 5 , 2 0 0 9 TODAY’S ZAMAN07

Taking advantage of President Obama’s visit to China, I focused on the nature of recent discus-sions around “correcting global imbalances” in my last column.

In the � rst article I con� ned my attention to the abnormalities of the US in correcting global imbalances. Today I want to shift my emphasis more on Asia, and more speci� cally on China.

The following three tables are reproduced from the paper of Eswar S. Prasad’s article, published in May, 2009. (“Rebalancing Growth In Asia,” http://www.nber.org/papers/w15169, NBER, Working Paper 15169, July 2009.)

In this paper he discusses the issue of re-balancing growth in Asia. In addition to the deathly ill economy of the US, as discussed in previous column, another extreme opposite case is taking place in Asia. The current global problems, abnormalities in Asia, symbolized mostly by China, can be put as follows:

·The share of � nal consumption in overall GDP is not suf� cient. Its share in Turkey’s GDP is 35 percent, whereas its share in the US’ GDP is 71 percent. Under the current conditions, this is a net welfare transfer to the residents in the US, provided that this is sustainable.

·Another striking aspect of growth is the over emphasis on capital-based investment with less contribution from employment front. The rate of real growth in China between 2000 and 2008 is 10.2 percent. Almost 0.9 percent came from employment whereas 5 percentage points came from investment and 1.1 from net exports.

·Excessive savings that stem from the sys-temic limitations and pressures. Gross national saving rate to GDP exceeds 50 percent. Net saving is also well above 40 percent.

Therefore, it is obvious that there must be a “correction” both in the US as well as in China in order to prevent a meltdown in the global economic architecture. In that regard, therefore, the rate of saving must be reduced in China in order to provide more contribu-tions to GDP from domestic consumption and motivate more imports.

Although I agree with this perspective, Americans should also stop being an abnor-mal country as much as China. For instance, if a country such as the US has such big de� -cits, as mentioned above, the cost of life should be higher in parallel to that. This means that Americans should save more and consume less.

To sum up, leaving the paradigm of “lots of talk and doing nothing in reality” aside, a real reform should start, with sincere feelings, in order to create a new and multilateral global economic structure that works.

Edited by | İHSAN DAĞI Middle East Technical University, Ankara

Published by | SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research

The Emergence of the ‘Government’s Perspective on the Kurdish Issue Ü M İ T C İ Z R E

The Rise and Decline of the Turkish “Deep State”: The Ergenekon Case S E R D A R K AYA

A Research Note on Islam, Democracy, and Secularism A H M E T T. K U R U

Peacemaking between America and the Muslim World: A New Beginning?N AT H A N C . F U N K

Turkey in the UN Security Council: Its Elections and Performance B E R D A L A R A L

Mapping the Pathways: Public Perception and Kurdish Question C E M A L E T T İ N H A Ş İ M İ

The Kurdish Question: The Reasons and Fortunes of the ‘Opening’ C E N G İ Z Ç A N D A R

Globalization and the Crisis of Authoritarian Modernization in Turkey H A S A N K Ö S E B A L A B A N

Democracy in Muslim Contexts: What Africa Can Bring to the Discussion? L E O N A R D O A . V I L L A L Ó N

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New Kurdish Initiative: Ready for a Solution?

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w w w. i n s i g h t t u r k e y. c o m

Correct�ng global

�mbalances (2)

Civil servants go on 24-hour strike today

The only civil servant union that announced that it would not participate in the one-day strike is the Civil Servants’ Trade Union (Memur-Sen). The groups participating in the strike, which com-bined have roughly 630,000 members, have called on every civil servant, whether a member of a union or not, to participate in today’s strike.

The one-day strike is expected to disrupt vari-ous public services especially in the areas of pub-lic transportation, education, health and � nance. The administration of the confederations that will participate asked people to show patience if any possible disruption to public services occurred, announcing that the strike also aimed at securing higher quality public services for free. They also asked people to support the strike by not sending their children to school and by trying not to go to hospitals for non-emergency situations.

The civil servant confederations’ main de-mand is for civil servants to have the right to be a member of a union, to go on strike and to engage in collective bargaining. Confederations contend that the government always made the � nal de-cision during previous collective bargaining ses-sions and that this had led to the growth of prob-lems which have been accumulating for years.

Erdo�an: Going on strike is illegalMeanwhile, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo�an warned civil servants on Monday to not commit an illegal act. “This action is not legal. [If they par-ticipate in the strike] then they will have to bear the consequences,” he said. Legally, civil servants do not have the right to strike for any reason, and such an action is grounds for dismissal.

Asked whether the government has a plan to make an amendment to grant civil servants the right to participate in strikes, Erdo�an noted that Turkey is a state of law and that every citizen is free to exercise his/her rights; however, the prime minister added that this labor action is illegal. The issues should be solved through talks, and the government will take action ac-cording to the decisions made during talks, he said.

As a response to Erdo�an’s assessments, KESK General Director Sami Evren stated that they did not expect the prime minister to under-stand the concerns of civil servants. “It is not le-gal to use state authority to threaten a democratic act. It is the prime minister who does not comply with international agreements and Article 90 of the Turkish Constitution.” �stanbul Today’s Zaman

Ergün: Export problems stem from

lack of relat�ons, not qual�ty or pr�ce

Minister of Trade and Industry Nihat Ergün has said business and diplomatic relations are

key for bettering Turkey’s trade, add-ing that Turkey’s export problems are not due to low quality goods or un-competitive prices.

Speaking at the 2010 Trade and In-dustry Roadmap breakfast organized by the Business Life Cooperation As-sociation (��HAD), Ergün spoke about the importance of civil society organi-zations in bettering Turkey’s economic situation, especially noting that the pri-vate sector, civil society organizations and government ministries have an im-portant part to play in creating stronger business relations between countries to open up new markets for Turkey.

Ergün, speaking about his minis-try’s strategy of creating an economic and political environment with its

neighbors that involved “zero prob-lems, maximum business cooperation,” stressed that “[Turkish businessmen] need to analyze the outside market well. Hungary currently imports $107 billion and exports $107 billion, so it doesn’t have a trade de� cit. On the other hand, Turkey has a trade de� -cit and only makes up $600 million of Hungary’s exports. Who are they buy-ing from, and why are they buying it from there? We produce according to and meet European Union quality stan-dards, have competitive prices and are a very nearby market. We produce just as well as any other country, but countries who are exporting to places like Hun-gary have better relations with them. It’s easy to see that good relations with � rms, nongovernmental organizations and politicians will lead to better trade.”

Ergün also spoke about the impor-tance of research and development for Turkey’s future and stated that “the

development of knowledge and tech-nology is the most important factor for improving the welfare of a nation.” He reminded the audience of the soon to be revealed Strategic Plan for Industry that his ministry is preparing, a plan that will aim to increase the production and exports of medium and high technol-ogy sectors as well as increase the share of goods with high value-added for low technology sectors.

In regards to supporting young technology entrepreneurs, Ergün not-ed that his ministry was providing TL 100,000 for youths who want to pro-duce high technology products through the Technological Entrepreneurship Support program. “Many people ask me ‘What if these youths burn through all of this money?’ My answer is always, ‘If anybody is to lose our money, let it be our youth’,” Ergün said, adding that since April 2009, 159 applications have been submitted and 78 approved.

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Minister: New bids will determine nuclear energy tender modelEnergy and Natural Resources Minister Taner Y�ld�z has said the make-up of bids for the con-

struction and operation tender of Turkey’s � rst nucle-ar energy power plant will be created by the demands of the interested parties. “If the bids require a system with public partnership in the plant -- in the best in-terests of the country -- we have the adequate infra-structure to form the basis for such a possibility. If not, we already have a private sector,” the minister noted.

Speaking to reporters in Tripoli on Tuesday, where he was participating in an of� cial visit as

part of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo�an’s delegation to Libya, Y�ld�z shared his assess-ment of the possible direction Turkey will take in acquiring nuclear energy.

He said the eventual decision on whether to in-clude the state as a partner within the new arrange-ment will be determined at a later stage depending on the requests of the interested parties.

Last week, the Turkish Electricity Trading and Contracting Company (TETA�) scrapped the pre-vious tender process by rejecting the bid from a

consortium composed of Russian companies At-omstroyexport and Inter RAO UES and the Ciner Group’s Park Teknik, which was the sole bidder in the tender on Sept. 24, 2008. Turkey has had to cancel � ve tenders since it � rst started its attempts to have a nuclear plant in the late 1950s.

The new model must be in compliance with the law and it has to be ef� cient, the minister noted.

When asked if the Council of State’s verdict several weeks ago which invalidated some inte-gral articles in the regulation of nuclear energy

power plants helped TETA� to scrap the tender process, Y�ld�z said: “We don’t think this is true. We don’t believe TETA�’s decision was easier to make after the Council of State’s decision.”

In response to questions over what Russia is thinking about the renewed tender process, the minister said the Russians were also closely track-ing the developments. “We are planning to orga-nize an of� cial visit to Russia in December,” he said, although the date has not yet been set and may be delayed until January. �stanbul Today’s Zaman

MEHMET �EFLEK ÝSTANBUL

contýnued from page 1

Minister of Trade and Industry Nihat Ergün is seen speaking at the 2010 Trade and Industry Roadmap organized by ��HAD.

�BRAH�M ÖZTÜRK

i.ozturk@todayszaman.com

CMYK

TL / €

TL / $

US$/JP¥

EU/JP¥

EU/US$

88,96

133,3

1,498

Light C. Oil

Gold

Copper

79,46

1166,00

317,05

Native Native ForeignForeign

Number of SharesM.capNumber of SharesM.cap

8,5

26,1

9.6

51.5

47.03

33.67

52.97

66.33

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Price ($) Way Change (%) High Low

DailyChange (%)

MonthlyChange (%)

YearlyChange (%)

TurkDEX

US$/JP¥

EU€/JP¥

CloseDaily

Change (%)Monthly

Change (%)Yearly

Change (%)YTD

Change (%)1-Y

Av.VolumMCAP

(million TL)Country Change

(%)Level

EGGUB 65,50 8,26%

RYSAS 3,42 8,23%

GSDHO 0,86 7,50%

KOZAA 4,82 7,11%

TEKST 0,95 6,74%

Daily Change (%)Price (TL)Ticker

GRUND 0,52 -7,14%

NTTUR 1,26 -5,26%

CLEBI 12,70 -3,79%

YKSGR 9,00 -3,74%

FENER 45,00 -3,23%

Daily Change (%) Yearly Change (%)Price Price (TL)Ticker

GARAN 133,7 5,4 110,23

KOZAA 131,2 4,8 447,73

ISCTR 129,7 5,4 48,17

ARCLK 65,9 4,8 213,06

AKBNK 65,6 8,3 77,02

Ticker

P/E: Share price divided by earnings per share is a measure of the price paid for a share relative to the income or profit earned by the firm per share.EV/EBITDA: Enterprise value divided by earnings before interest, tax and amortization; “t” stands for trailer and means the data over the last four quarters.(*) Yesterday's closing(**) Updated at 6 p.m. by GMT+2Disclaimer: The information in this report has been prepared by BMD, Bizim Securities from sources believed to be reliable. All the information, interpretations and recommendations covered herein relating to investment actions are not within the scope of investment consultancy. Therefore investment decisions based only on the information covered herein may not bring expected results.

Mcap TL

P/E 2006/12

P/E 2007/06t

P/E 2007/09t

EV/EBITDA 2006/12*

EV/EBITDA 2007/03t*

EV/EBITDA 2007/06t*

ÝMKB 100 ÝMKB 30 ÝMKB IND RETAILER BIMAS CARFA BOYNR KIPA

1,41 22.771,4

-0,54 9.497,7

2,48 3.821,9

2,60 5.810,4

2,30 5.372,4

1,62 10.470,0

2,01 1.799,9

1,79 1.111,0

1,41 67.264,2

Hang Seng H.Kong

Nikkei 225 Japan

Cac 40 France

DAX Germany

FTSE 100 UK

Dow USA

NASDAQ USA

S&P USA

BOVESPA Brasil

İMKB-100

İMKB-30

İMKB-IND

İMKB-BANK

DJIMT

45.801 1,3% -2,9% 89,8% 70,5% 258.719 1.555

58.003 1,4% -2,7% 86,5% 65,7% 211.238 1.177

33.394 1,1% -4,3% 79,0% 68,8% 69.129 484

102.022 1,7% -3,0% 110,3% 82,2% 120.415 724

9,80 0,0% -4,4% 50,8% 38,0% - 0,44

57,850 1,58%

1,504 -0,20%

2,225 0,6%

1,486 -0,1%

-- -- -- 6.613,1 4.630 1.157 94 732

13,9x 13,1x 11,0x 240,8x 64,3x -85,6x 14,9x -19,6x

9,9x 9,4x 8,3x 298,2x 57,4x -487,6x 5,8x -10,1x

9,5x 9,1x 8,3x 325,7x 51,1x -185,8x 4,9x -8,8x

6,1x 4,9x 7,5x 28,9x 42,6x 14,2x 6,0x 40,1x

6,8x 5,4x 7,4x 30,4x 39,6x 17,1x 5,5x 72,1x

6,5x 5,3x 7,5x 27,7x 37,5x 17,6x 4,8x 34,4x

2,9% 79,58 77,55

2,1% 1166,00 1166,00

2,0% 317,90 312,80

VolumesNo data expectedCALENDAR AT A GLANCE

08 TODAY’S ZAMAN W E D N E S DAY, N OV E M B E R 2 5 , 2 0 0 9 BUSINESS

gold pr�ces spark �ncent�ve to cash

�n ‘under-the-p�llow’ �nvestmentsThe price of gold, which is reach-ing record levels virtually every day, has attracted the attention of inves-

tors and triggered questions as to how long it will keep rising.

In yesterday’s trading in the global mar-kets, an ounce of gold was worth $1,170. While a number of analysts believe the surge in gold will gradually wane in the coming days, many still believe it will continue for some time to come. The current levels have also led to com-ments that the state has to introduce a strat-egy to convince individuals to turn the large amounts of gold in their possession into cash. These assets are called “under-the-pillow sav-ings” in Turkish investment literature to refer to any kind of valuable asset that is withheld from the registered investment environment such banks or the stock exchange.

The president of the �stanbul Gold Re� n-ery (�AR), Özcan Halaç, estimates there are nearly 5,000 tons of gold in under-the-pillow savings, which corresponds to a fortune of $180 billion at current market prices. “Such savings that are kept under the pillow is mon-ey ‘smuggled’ from the economy,” he said, adding that this hidden treasury would create jobs for millions and an extra dynamism to the economy if not kept away.

Speaking to the Anatolia news agency, Halaç said soaring gold prices are making Turks richer but causing damage to the Turk-ish gold and jewelry market. People usually tend to purchase gold as jewelry or as an in-vestment tool, he noted and underlined that the gold trade has recently been for invest-ment concerns. The price of a quarter gold coin, which is usually chosen as a gift and which has 1.6 grams of pure gold in it, has reached TL 100, and therefore, demand has shifted to small 1 gram gold bars, which are generally chosen for investment purposes, Halaç noted.

For Halaç, the major reasons behind the soaring gold prices are the global economic crisis, the dollar’s rapid depreciation, falling interest rates, declining production and con-sumption of gold, and investors’ search for al-ternative and more attractive investment op-portunities. Alaattin Kamero�lu, the president of �stanbul Chamber of Jewelers (�KO), said it was quite hard to predict precisely where gold prices are heading. “Gold prices are moving

one step back and two steps forward,” he commented. The upswing in prices has not stemmed from an improvement in the jewelry business but from the investors’ increased ap-petite for gold and the central bank’s decisions to increase gold reserves in the search for a safe haven amidst the crisis.

Buying gold in the form accessories is signi� cant for the jewelry sector, Kamero�lu said, arguing that the increase in gold prices will damage the business. “We really wish gold prices would start falling again and that people would start buying jewelry,” he added. Jewelers are only working at around 10 to 20 percent of capacity, he said, underlining that this sluggish performance is not sustainable.

�stanbul Gold Bourse (�AB) President Os-man Saraç, too, mentions the waning dollar and the ambiguities in the global � nancial markets as major drivers pushing up gold prices. Given that adverse conditions in the global markets are dif� cult to correct, he be-

lieves gold prices will keep increasing in the coming year, too.

Saraç argued that the global crisis has caused “a structural change in investor be-havior” in favor of gold, which is commonly regarded as a safe haven in times of war and economic meltdown. The dollar, � oating at its lowest level for the last 15 months is also con-tributing to the surge in gold prices, he assert-ed. “Besides, investors are estimating that the fear of in� ation will evaporate in the long run as a result of the recent quantitative expansion in monetary policies worldwide, and this is causing a boost in the demand for gold, which is widely perceived as a hedge against in� a-tion,” Kamero�lu added. Gold prices, which have gained over 30 percent since the begin-ning of the year, are also supported by the ex-pectation that US interest rates will continue to stay at low levels for a long time ahead, he said.

In light of these assessments, Saraç said he believed gold prices will keep increasing next

year to new record heights, citing a recent es-timate by the London Bullion Market Associa-tion that prices will shortly reach $1,200 per ounce. He also claimed that booming com-modity prices are also having a positive affect on global prices.

Mehmet Ali Y�ld�r�mtürk, an expert in the gold and money markets, points out that peo-ple usually tend to consider their investment decisions in the winter months and that this behavior is a part of seasonal factors explain-ing the recent rise in gold prices. He said the demand for gold usually climbs in the summer seasons in countries such as Turkey, India and Egypt due to wedding ceremonies, in which relatives mostly present gold and jewelry as wedding gifts. “However, since the fasting month of Ramadan coincided with summer this year, people delayed wedding ceremonies until October and November, and this played a role in the rise of the demand for gold in these countries,” he argued. �stanbul Today’s Zaman

Talks over Do�an Yay�n tax fine get under way

‘New mall joint project of Turkey, northern Iraq’

The tax of� ce requested that Do�an Holding units Do�an TV Holding, D Yapim Reklamc�l�k, Do�an Produksiyon and Alp Görsel Communica-tions put up a guarantee equal to the total � ne of TL 4.8 billion. Do�an reacted by launching a court chal-lenge to the guarantee requirement. In mid-October, Do�an Yay�n said it had provided collateral in the form of shares in Do�an units and 44 properties to the tax of� ce to cover the � ne. The tax of� ce then im-posed a preliminary injunction on the sale of shares in three of Do�an’s units, and one day after this, Do�an Yay�n said the tax of� ce had rejected the guarantees. On Oct. 30, Do�an said the company had received an invitation from the Finance Ministry to hold talks on settling the tax � nes. On Nov. 4, Do�an Yay�n said its units Do�an TV Holding, Do�an Prodüksiyon, Alp Görsel �leti�im and D Yap�m Reklamc�l�k would have talks with the Finance Min-istry on Nov. 24 to discuss a possible settlement. Do�an Yay�n also said that if there was no agreement, the court process for the stay of execution would continue from where it was.

The tax � ne, which is larger than the combined market value of Do�an Yay�n and the � rm’s parent company, Do�an Hold-ing, threatens the survival of the Do�an media group.

Meanwhile, Do�an Yay�n reported a TL 147.14 million consolidated net loss for the � rst nine months of the year, a � gure 242 percent higher than that posted for the � rst three quarters of 2008.

Moreover, the Capital Markets Board (SPK), Tur-key’s exchanges watchdog, announced in September that it will � le an of� cial complaint against Do�an and three other executives for deliberately causing � nancial losses to Do�an Holding. The SPK accused several Do�an Holding executives, including Do�an himself, of the same charge last year as well.

‘Do�an Yay�n’s innocence will be shown’On the other hand, Do�an Yay�n CFO Soner Gedik asserted on Nov. 12 in an interview with CNBC-e that his company has been treated unjustly. Do�an Yay�n’s participation in tax settlement talks did not prevent the company from appealing to the tax court, he recalled, continuing by saying that they expect the tax settlement talks to reveal the compa-ny’s innocence and that they hope for an apology.

The company also announced yesterday that the agreed sale of a 29 percent stake of Do�an Yay�n to Axel Springer, which was announced last week, will take place providing the tax proceedings and the regulatory proceedings from the Radio and Tele-vision Supreme Council (RTÜK) Law are resolved successfully. Do�an Yay�n had been accused of vio-lating the law in its sale of ownership shares to Axel Springer in 2006. RTÜK announced last month that it has given Do�an Yay�n Holding three months to comply with a law limiting foreign ownership of a private radio or TV station. �stanbul Today’s Zaman

Barham Salih, the prime minister of Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government, on Tuesday

inaugurated the Majidi Mall, one of the most mod-ern shopping malls in Iraq, noting that the mall is a joint effort of Turkey and the region.

Delivering a speech during the opening ceremony of the mall in Arbil, Salih said the region has good rela-tions with Turkey and will work to develop them further. The mall is a good sign of improved relations, he said, adding: “This is a joint work of art of Turkey and the region. Several Turkish brands will be sold in the mall, and the architectural plan of the building was drawn up by Turkish architects, who did a phenomenal job.”

The HEWA Group constructed and heavily in-vested in the mall, the only shopping center in the region. Arbil Chamber of Commerce Chairman Dara Jalil Khayat, speaking during the opening, said the commercial importance of the region has been steadily increasing and that the mall will ease the lives of locals.

The Majidi Mall is situated on 130,000 square meters of land. Its parking lot can accommodate 2,500 vehicles. �stanbul Today’s Zaman

Grand Bazaar hit with massive increase in price of goldThe record increase of the price of an ounce of gold in international markets to

TL 1,170 has adversely affected shop owners in the Grand Bazaar, who are coming face-to-face with the possibility of closing their shops.

The decrease in sales of gold due to the spike in prices along with rent contracts based on the price of gold have left jewelers located in the bazaar in a dif� cult position.

According to Mehmet Ali Y�ld�r�mtürk, a money and gold markets expert with a

jewelry shop in the bazaar, who spoke with Today’s Zaman on Monday, nearly all shops on the busier streets in the bazaar are faced with the problem of gold-based rent con-tracts, and many are thinking of closing their shops. Shop owners signed rent agreements in January 2008 when a kilogram of gold was TL 25,000, but since it has increased to TL 37,000, many are left without many op-tions until their rent contracts are renewed in January 2010. However, there isn’t much hope that the situation will change or that it can change quickly enough to save them

from closure. Y�ld�r�mtürk also stated that on top of this rent problem, the jewelers’ business has decreased almost 75 percent because of the increase in prices, and the transaction volume of gold has dropped more than 50 percent. “There needs to be a middle ground to this issue. If these shop owners leave, then in this environment peo-ple will not be � lling in the vacancies.”

Speaking to Today’s Zaman on Monday, Nedim Altay of Bircan Jewelry in the bazaar said the market was “horrible. Since the price of gold increased we can only buy gold, not sell it.

Gold just isn’t selling.” The increasing price of gold has affected jewelers outside of the Grand Bazaar even more, according to Cevdet Balaban, owner of Balaban Kuyumculuk in Ba�c�lar. Bala-ban, who previously owned a shop in the bazaar, moved out six years ago. “I closed my shop and am following the spot market for gold on foot. By working on foot, I try to cover my daily costs with a few transactions.” This spot market for gold has about 30 salesmen who are all in bad shape due to this increase. He noted that in a week he used to sell 250 “quarters,” or 1.60 grams of gold, and now that number had fallen to 50.

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A jeweler is seen placing gold bracelets in a storefront display. Gold has increased to $1,170 per ounce and Turks now prefer it over foreign currencies as a means of saving.

AR�F BAYRAKTAR �STANBUL

Ayd�n Do�an

contýnued from page 1

TRAVEL W E D N E S DAY, N OV E M B E R 2 5 , 2 0 0 9 TODAY’S ZAMAN09

CMYK

Toby Rawlinson was no ordinary traveller. In 1918, fol-lowing the defeat of Ottoman Turkey in World War I, this British army colonel was one of the of� cers tasked

by Britain to ensure that the terms of the recently signed armistice were adhered to in the Caucasus and Eastern Anatolia. It was mission impossible. Britain, exhausted by the four-year con� ict, lacked both the resources and the will to enforce a largely un-willing population, inhabiting what was then a remote, under-developed part of the globe, to submit to its demands. None-theless, Rawlinson’s memoir of his post-wartime experiences, “Adventures in the Near East,” paints a vivid picture of a Tur-key undergoing the transition from empire to republic.

Across Europe to �stanbulRawlinson left Britain in mid-February, crossing a wintry Europe in a “coupe-lit” train compartment shared with a French medical of� -cer, a Transylvanian bishop and a Russian general. In Salonika (now Thessalonica in northern Greece), where he changed trains, his machine guns and suitcase went missing and were only found with much dif� culty. The 61-hour journey onto �stanbul (which he refers to by its old name of Constantinople, or “Constant,” British-forces slang for the imperial capital) was hellish. There was no glass in the windows of the packed compartments; the weather was either cold, snowy, rainy or a mixture of all three. Worse was the indignity of having the contents of a tin of condensed milk “horribly sticky stuff it is too” leak all over him one night from the netting rack above him. The next morning there was a “somewhat animated conversation” between Rawlinson and the fellow-of� cer who had placed it there.

�stanbul, then under British occupation, impressed Rawlinson when viewed from the Sea of Marmara. “The situation of the city is certainly unique throughout the world … it offers a spectacle of unrivalled splendour … and appears, when the rays of the setting sun strike its countless golden mosques and minarets, to be a veri-table city of palaces.” The reality on the ground he found less at-tractive, though. “On landing … the disillusionment is both sudden and complete. Filth and squalour are to be seen everywhere, and the city of palaces … becomes a collection of hovels and ruins, crop-ping up from a sea of mud.” Although the old walled quarter of the city disappointed him, Pera (modern Beyo�lu) was more to his taste. “Here are � ne, though steep, streets, pavements, electric lights and trams, � ne buildings, all the evidence of prosperity and enterprise which distinguish a modern European capital.”

From the Caucasus to TrabzonIn early March he took a steamer from �stanbul to Batumi (in modern Georgia), then a train onto the Georgian capital, Tbili-si. The train was guarded by a hundred British infantrymen, as “the country was infested by bands of Bolshevik and other classes of brigands capable of any atrocity.” In Tbilisi, Raw-linson picked up two Ford cars, which he quickly kitted out with the guns he’d brought from Britain, and hand picked 14 men to accompany him on his mission. After a brief foray into the much-disputed and snow-bound province of Kars (now

a part of Turkey), Rawlinson returned to Batumi and took a ship to Trebizond (modern Trabzon). His mission now was to cross the Pontic Alps -- the lofty mountain range parallel-ing the eastern Black Sea coast of Turkey -- and liaise with his commander-in-chief in the strategically crucial northeastern Anatolian city of Erzerum (Erzurum). The city was the base of the Turkish 9th Army and, under the terms of the 1918 armi-stice, the British were supposed to oversee the demobilization and disarmament of these (and indeed all Ottoman Turkish) troops. But although Rawlinson was armed with a “� rman” issued by the sultan to ensure the Turkish military complied with his requests, the Turkish nationalist revolution was, un-of� cially, already underway -- making his task nigh on im-possible given the limited resources at his disposal.

Over the Pontic Alps to Erzerum Although it was by now mid-April, the famous 2,010-meter Zi-gana Pass was still snow-bound. Today a � ne asphalt road and tunnel have tamed the pass, a mere 110 kilometers from Trab-zon, but it took Rawlinson and his men a day and a half to cross. He was captivated by the view from the top of Zigana. “We had our � rst view of Anato-lia, and a very marvelous and beautiful one it was. In the bright morning sun range after range of snow-capped mountains appeared on every side. …The impression produced by this remarkable scene was of an incred-ibly rocky and rugged country, of precipices and narrow, deep valleys.” Descending the far side, Rawlinson’s team bivouacked in Gumu�hane, the next day crossing the Vavok Pass (Vavuk Pass) to Bayburt. Ahead of them lay the most notorious pass of all, the Kop (2,302 meters), where “no winter season ever passes without many lives being lost … from expo-sure.” New snow, a savage wind and the steep slope made prog-ress up the Kop painstaking. Eventually they unloaded their � eet of six cars and comman-deered some local Turkish troops and 40 oxen to help drag them up the slope. At last they summited and “en-joyed a view which is unsur-passable in any country.”

Given the ravages of war, its high, exposed position and the fact that he came down with dysentery here, it is unsurprising that Rawlinson had a somewhat jaundiced view of Erzerum. “It is a particularly uninviting spot, which no one who is familiar with that country

would ever voluntarily select as his residence. The wind there blows with terri� c force, and piercing cold de� es all furs. … No tree or shrub of any sort can be found within over 50 miles, either to afford fuel or shelter of any kind, and the words ‘dis-mal,’ ‘dreary,’ ‘desolate’ and ‘damnable’ suggest themselves irresistibly as a concise description of the whole locality.” He did, however, get to meet Kaz�m Karabekir, who would go on to become a hero of the Turkish War of Independence. He de-scribed Karabekir as “the most genuine example of a � rst-class Turkish of� cer that it has been my good fortune to meet … although it was my fate to be his prisoner for a long time … he has never ceased to command my respect as an individual, and my appreciation as a thoroughly competent Commander.” “Mustapha Kemal Pasha” arrived in Erzerum whilst Rawlinson was there, and if anything he was even more impressed by the man who would eventually carve the Turkish Republic from the carcass of the Ottoman Em-pire, writing, “A man of great strength of character and very definite and practical views as to the rightful posi-tion of his people in the comity of nations … no seeker

after personal fame or advancement, he is imbued with a deep sense of duty which causes him to place his country’s interests before all others.”

On the borderFor the next four months Rawlinson traveled around the unstable frontier zone between the incipient Armenian and Turkish republics. Kars at that time (the spring of 1919) was under Ar-menian control -- a control sanctioned by the terms of the 1918 armistice. The Armenian com-manders interviewed by Rawlinson were insis-tent this permission made it an “absolute neces-sity that they should disarm the Tartar [Turkish]

Moslem population.” This could only by done by force and Rawlinson commented,

with a feeling of hopelessness, “This obviously led to � ghting; and � ghting, as between Moslem and Armenian, of necessity led to massacres and atrocities of all kinds.” Rawlinson also met the local Kurdish tribal chieftains, one of whom made it clear that “if it was decided (by the victorious European powers) to endeavor to put them under Arme-nian government, and if European troops were to support the Arme-

nians, they would evacuate the coun-try with all their goods and herds, and

go bodily over to their kinsmen beyond the Turkish frontier.” Like many Brit-

ons of his period and upper-class, military background, Rawlinson was enamored with

the tribal Kurds; in the same way that Lawrence of Arabia was with the Bedouin Arabs, calling them “the � nest men it has ever been my privilege to meet.” He later, however, conceded “they are brigands by descent as well as by inclination and training.”

Rawlinson was on the Armenian side of the frontier when he heard that “the conference then proceeding at Erzerum, where has assembled representatives of the Young Turkish Party … were organizing a revolution with the eventual object of estab-lishing a Turkish Republic.” He made haste to Erzerum and was received cordially by Karabekir, and later by Kemal himself. He told him the outcome of the conference -- that a national “pact” had been formed; aimed at ridding Anatolia of the occupying al-lied forces and establishing an independent Turkish state. Raw-linson’s task was hopeless, and went to Sar�kam��, then under Armenian occupation, to rejoin his men. He describes this re-mote East Anatolian town, which now boasts one of Turkey’s best ski resorts, as thus, “This district … much resembles some parts of Switzerland, the mountains being heavily wooded and the valleys green and fertile.” From Sar�kam�� he returned to Tbilisi by rail, then took an American destroyer from Batumi to “Constant” -- and then, after debrie� ng, back to Britain.

Go back to Turkey, go straight to jailRawlinson, though, was not done with Turkey, nor it with him. An interview with the Foreign Of� ce in London left him with no doubt that they were skeptical about his reports on the strength and determination of the Turkish nationalists. Despite this, he was given a new mission -- to return to Anatolia and contact Mustafa Kemal indirectly and � nd out what his real aims and ob-jectives were. He returned to “Constant” by boat. His return to the east was delayed by inclement weather and he “enjoyed sev-eral days of hunting with the army hounds, and several rounds of golf on the links which had been established on the hills to the north-west of Pera.” Re-crossing the passes between Trab-zon and Erzerum in freezing winter conditions, Rawlinson and his men reached their goal on Boxing Day and were put up in a house belonging to the 9th Army -- a house where “we were destined afterwards to remain so long and suffer so severely.” Victims of political circumstance and diplomatic wrangling be-tween the Allies and the new de facto Turkish Republican gov-ernment, Rawlinson and his men ended up under house arrest, and then in prison, from March 1920 until October 1921.

In spite of his incarceration, Rawlinson, who had formed such a good impression of fellow military men Kaz�m Karabekir and Mustafa Kemal, wrote near the end of his memoirs: “I am … of the opinion that the inevitable policy of our country must always be to establish friendly relations with Turkey. … I had no idea of allowing our experiences to be made use of by any anti-Turkish party.” Rawlinson later was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his sterling wartime service.

TERRY RICHARDSON ANTALYA

[TURKEY THROUGH A TRAVELER’S EYES]

ON ACTIVE SERVICE IN EASTERN TURKEY: 1918-1921

Beyo�lu, �stanbul

The historic Rüstem Pa�a Bedesten

The Pontic Alps, Trabzon

The Bosporus, �stanbul.

British army Col. Toby Rawlinson’s

memoir of his post-wartime experiences, ‘Adventures in the

Near East,’ paints a vivid picture of a Turkey undergoing the transition

from empire to republic. At the time of his journey the Turkish nationalist

revolution was already underway -- making his task nigh on

impossible given the limited resources at his disposal

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TODAY’S ZAMAN WORLDW E D N E S DAY, N OV E M B E R 2 5 , 2 0 0 910

CRACKDOWN

Spain arrests 36 from group linked to ETASpanish police have arrested 36 members of Segi, an outlawed youth group linked to the Basque guerrilla organization ETA, in a sweep which is still underway, court of� cials said on Tuesday. The operation was carried out across the Basque Country and Navarra, northern Spain, on the orders of a High Court judge. Leaders of Segi, which was declared a terror-ist group by the Supreme Court in 2007, were among those arrested, the of� cials said. ETA was founded 50 years ago during the dictator-ship of Francisco Franco and has killed more than 800 people in its campaign for an indepen-dent Basque Country. Security forces believe it has been substantially weakened by hundreds of arrests in recent years in France and Spain but that it is still capable of � ghting. Madrid Reuters

PLEA

Brazil urges West to work with IranIran’s leader got a welcoming bear hug from the Brazilian president, who urged Western nations to drop threats of punishment over the Iranian nu-clear program and instead negotiate a fair solution. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who also called for diplomacy to push for peace in the Middle East and ease tensions between Iran, the US and other nations, again defended Iran’s right to have a peaceful nuclear program. Commenting after talking privately for three hours Monday with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad -- the � rst Ira-nian leader to visit Brazil since pro-US Shah Mo-hammad Reza Pahlavi came in 1965 -- Silva also said Iran should negotiate with the West to � nd a “just and balanced” solution to concerns over its nuclear program. Ahmadinejad made no prom-ises and de� antly said Iran would try to improve its uranium-enrichment technology if it can’t buy enriched uranium abroad. “If the people ask us to produce ourselves, we should do it, and the oppor-tunity we tried to create for the other side will be lost,” said Ahmadinejad, who has repeatedly de-nied allegations by Washington and its European allies that Iran is trying to build atomic weapons. Iran insists its program is aimed only at generating electricity with nuclear reactors. Brasilia AP

CLIMATE

Denmark minister tapped for EU postDenmark on Tuesday proposed Climate Min-ister Connie Hedegaard as its next European Commissioner and said it expects her to handle climate issues at the EU executive. Prime Min-ister Lars Loekke Rasmussen told reporters He-degaard’s nomination was made with “the clear expectation” she would take on the EU climate portfolio. A � nal decision, however, lies with Eu-ropean Commission President Jose Manuel Bar-roso who will shortly distribute portfolios in his next executive that is to take of� ce in late January or early February. All incoming EU commission-ers face con� rmation hearings in the European Parliament. Hedegaard is currently climate min-ister in Rasmussen’s center-right government. Rasmussen sounded upbeat about Hedegaard’s chance of assuming the EU climate portfolio saying Barroso “con� rmed to me that Connie Hedegaard will get a position that matches her experience and her competence.” He said Hede-gaard will leave her post in the Danish Cabinet immediately to take charge of the UN-sponsored conference on climate change in Copenhagen next month. Hedegaard was appointed climate minister in 2007 and her main task has been to prepare for the summit. Copenhagen AP

‘TERRORISM’

UK police under fire over arrestsThe British government’s terrorism watchdog on Tuesday criticized counter-terrorism police who arrested and then released without charge 12 men seized in April raids to foil a suspected al-Qaeda plot. Lord Carlile, the government’s independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, said Greater Man-chester Police should have sought comprehensive advice from Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) lawyers about the operation in advance. The raids were launched several hours ahead of schedule in daylight after a document on the operation being carried by Britain’s senior counter-terrorism of� cer Bob Quick into Downing Street was photographed. Quick resigned the next day. “It was unwise of the police in this case not to actively seek legal advice from the CPS during the process of planning the arrests,” Carlile said. The 11 Pakistanis and one Briton were arrested in northwest England on April 8 in an operation aimed at preventing what Prime Minister Gordon Brown called a “very big terrorist plot.” Prosecutors said there was insuf� -cient evidence to hold them or bring charges. Po-lice did not meet CPS lawyers in person until April 15, a week after the arrests and Carlile said advice might have led to fewer arrests. London Reuters

Netanyahu says Hamas prisoner deal might not happen

US pitches unique F-35 fighter jet to Israel

An Israeli prisoner exchange with Hamas has not yet been agreed and might not

happen, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday after a cabinet colleague pre-dicted a breakthrough in the near future. “There is still no deal, and I do not know if there will be one,” Netanyahu, whose refusal to disclose de-tails of the state of the Egyptian- and German-mediated negotiations has helped stoked specu-lation about imminent progress, told reporters.

Leaders of Hamas, the group ruling the Gaza Strip, were in Cairo to discuss the pro-posed swap of captive Israeli soldier Gilad Sha-lit for hundreds of jailed Palestinians.

Of� cials close to the talks said on Mon-day that Israel had dropped its objections to some 160 prisoners that Hamas wants included on the release roster. But both sides have de-

murred at anticipation, disseminated by Arab media, of an exchange being in place as soon as Friday, the Muslim feast of Eid al-Adha.

Israel had long balked at granting amnes-ty to Palestinians jailed for attacks that killed its citizens. While signaling � exibility in its bid to recover Shalit, the Israeli government is wary of a domestic backlash.

“Should there be such [a swap] we will not be sparing with a public discussion. We will not do it as a fait accompli. We will allow the cabinet ministers, and the public in general, to discuss the issue,” Netanyahu said.

Earlier on Tuesday, Industry and Trade Min-ister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, who is not a member of the Israeli security cabinet deliberating the pris-oner swap, said a deal was “moving toward com-pletion in the very near future.” Jerusalem Reuters

The United States has offered to add Is-raeli systems and munitions to a new US-

built � ghter jet and deliver it to Israel by 2015, provided a deal is sealed in coming months.

Lockheed Martin Corp, maker of the ra-dar-evading F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, would tie in Israeli-built command, control, com-munications, computer and intelligence sys-tems for a unique version of the jet for sale to Israel, Jon Schreiber, a senior Pentagon pro-gram of� cial, told Reuters Monday.

The United States also would integrate bombs that use an Israeli precision guid-ance kit called Spice along with Python 5 air-to-air missiles made by Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd., Schreiber said in an interview.

In addition, he said, Israel would get a relatively inexpensive path for hardware and software upgrades to add future weapons.

On the other hand, the United States does not plan for now to put an Israeli elec-tronic warfare system aboard the F-35, which is in early stages of production.

“Some time in the future, if policy changes, or things change, that could change as well,” said Schreiber, who heads the F-35 program’s international program for the Pentagon.

Dropping plans for incorporating elec-tronic warfare systems would be a signi� -cant switch for Israel, which bought modi-� ed US-built F-15s and F-16s to incorporate such know-how. The Pentagon and Lock-heed Martin are eager to wrap up an F-35

deal with Israel, which is tentatively plan-ning to buy an initial 25 F-35s in � scal 2012 with an option for 50 more.

The single-engine aircraft, designed to avoid detection by radar, could play a role in any Israeli effort to knock out what it regards as the threat to its existence posed by Iran’s nuclear program.

Schreiber said he met Israeli procurement of� cials in New York last week to discuss a “roadmap” for the proposed government-to-government F-35 sale. The United States co-developed the F-35 with eight foreign part-ners -- Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Turkey, Canada, Australia, Denmark and Norway. Together, the core group is projected to buy about 730 aircraft. Washington Reuters

Ph�l�pp�nes declares

emergency after 46

k�lled �n poll v�olenceThe Philippine president placed two southern provinces under emergen-cy rule on Tuesday as security forces

unearthed more bodies from one of the worst incidents of election violence in the nation’s history, pushing the death toll to 46.

Police and soldiers found 22 bodies in a hillside mass grave on Tuesday, adding to the 24 bullet-riddled bodies recovered near the scene of Monday’s massacre in Maguindanao province, said Chief Superintendent Jose� no Cataluna of the Central Mindanao region.

This southern region of the Philip-pines is wracked by violent political rival-ries, in addition to a long-running Islamic insurgency, but the killings have shocked this Southeast Asian nation. One adviser to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has described the massacre as the worst in the country’s recent history. A media rights watchdog also says that it appears to be the world’s worst mass killing of journalists, with as many as 23 feared dead.

Dozens of gunmen abducted the group of journalists, supporters and relatives of a gubernatorial candidate as they traveled through Amputuan township Monday to � le candidacy documents in the provincial capital for May 2010 elections.

The gubernatorial candidate, Ismael Mangudadatu, who was not a part of the convoy, accused a powerful political rival from the Amputuan clan of being behind the slayings. There is a longstanding bitter-ness between the two families.

Mangudadatu’s wife, Genalyn, and his two sisters were among the dead.

The bodies found in the grave, about six feet (two meters) deep, were dumped on top of one another. They included a pregnant woman. Grieving relatives helped identify their loved ones before they were given the bodies, covered by banana leaves, for burial.

Of� cials were still trying to determine the exact number of people intercepted by the gunmen and whether any had survived.

Authorities have said the convoy comprised about 40 people, but Cataluna said at least � ve other people were still missing.

Arroyo declared an emergency in the provinces of Maguindanao and nearby Sultan Kudarat, allowing security forces to conduct random searches and set up checkpoints to pursue the gunmen.

Arroyo said she ordered police and the military “to conduct immediate, relentless pursuit against the perpetrators to secure the affected areas.” The emergency will remain in place until the president is con� dent that law and order have been restored in the re-gion, her spokesman Cerge Remonde said.

Police and Joy Sonza, head of a small private TV station, UNTV, identi� ed at least three journalists among the dead.

Noynoy Espina, vice chairman of the Na-tional Union of Journalists of the Philippines, said at least 20 other journalists were believed to be among those killed, based on reports from union chapters in the area. Ampatuan AP

The �rres�st�ble

r�se of the

renm�nb�

BEIJING -- China is making a big push to encour-age greater international use of its currency, the ren-minbi. It has an agreement with Brazil to facilitate use of the two countries’ currencies in bilateral trade transactions. It has signed renminbi swap agree-ments with Argentina, Belarus, Hong Kong, Indo-nesia, South Korea and Malaysia. Last summer, it expanded renminbi settlement agreements between Hong Kong and � ve mainland cities, and authorized HSBC Holdings to sell renminbi bonds in Hong Kong. Then, in September, the Chinese government issued in Hong Kong about $1 billion worth of its own renminbi-denominated bonds.

All of these initiatives are aimed at reducing de-pendence on the dollar both at home and abroad by encouraging importers, exporters and investors to make more use of China’s currency. The ultimate goal is to ensure that China eventually gains the � exibility and � nancial prerogatives that come with being a reserve-currency country.

No one questions that the renminbi is on the rise. For the same reasons that the global econo-my has become more multipolar, the international monetary system will become more multipolar, with several currencies sharing reserve-currency sta-tus. And no one questions, given China’s size and growth prospects, that one day the renminbi will be an important international currency.

The question is when. Cautious observers warn that making the renminbi a true international cur-rency will take time. Making it attractive for private and of� cial international use will require China to build deep and liquid � nancial markets. This will mean the development of more reliable and trans-parent clearing and settlement systems. It will re-quire a benchmark asset, a well-de� ned yield curve, and a critical mass of market participants. All of these dimensions of liquid markets take time to build.

Moreover, those markets will have to be open to the rest of the world. In other words, China will have to fully open its capital account before the renminbi can become a true international currency. This will re-quire putting banks and state-owned enterprises on a fully commercial footing, and moving to a more � ex-ible exchange rate. In short, it will entail fundamental changes in the Chinese growth model. All this is a re-minder that the task will not be completed overnight.

But the United States’ own history suggests that the process can be completed more quickly than is sometimes supposed. As late as 1914, the dollar played absolutely no international role. No central bank held its foreign reserves in dollars. No one issued foreign bonds in dollars. Instead, they all went to London, al-lowing British banks to underwrite their transactions and conducting their business in sterling. Even US im-porters and exporters requiring trade credits obtained them in London rather than New York and did their business in sterling rather than dollars.

That London rather than New York still domi-nated in 1914, when the US economy was already more than twice the size of Britain’s, re� ected the latter’s head start as an industrial power, an exporter and a foreign investor. This is a reminder that in-cumbency is a considerable advantage in the com-petition for reserve-currency status.

But this situation also re� ected the fact that the US lacked the market infrastructure needed for the dollar to play an international role. In particular, the US lacked a liquid market in trade acceptances, the instrument used to � nance imports and exports. And it lacked a central bank to backstop that market.

This changed in 1914 with the creation of the Fed-eral Reserve System. One of the new central bank’s � rst actions was to encourage the development of a market in trade acceptances. It did so by using repur-chase agreements to buy for its own account the ma-jority of trade acceptances issued in New York. This ensured that spreads were low and prices were stable.

As a result of this of� cial support, private inves-tors gained con� dence in the new instrument. And, with their growing participation, the market in trade acceptances became more liquid.

New York surpassed London as a source of trade � nance by the mid-1920s. At this point, the Fed could curtail its intervention and give the market over to pri-vate investors. And where private investors led, central banks followed. In the second half of the 1920s they held more of their reserves in dollars than sterling. Thus, it took barely a decade, from a standing start, for the new international currency to overtake the incumbent.

Chinese of� cials have targeted 2020 as the date by which both Beijing and Shanghai should become lead-ing international � nancial centers, with deep and liq-uid � nancial markets open to the rest of the world. By implication, that is the date by which they want to see the renminbi become a leading international currency.

Can the renminbi become a major international currency in as little as a decade? Only time will tell. But US history suggests that this schedule, while ambitious, is not impossible.

*Barry Eichengreen is professor of economics and political science at the University of California, Berkeley. © Project Syndicate 2009.

OPINION

TODAY’S ZAMAN

Barry Eichengreen

Benjamin Netanyahu

Filipino villagers search for victims at the scene of a massacre of a political convoy, which included two dozen journalists, on the out-skirts of Ampatuan, Maguindanao in the southern Philippines on Tuesday.

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11TODAY’S ZAMANW E D N E S D A Y, N O V E M B E R 2 5 , 2 0 0 9WORLD

CMYK

From commun�ty

to secur�ty �n As�a

MANILA -- Visitors are often catalysts for change. Barack Obama’s just-concluded visit to Asia may be no different, for his trip left Asia and its leaders wondering just what sort of regional community they are building.

The modern sense of building a pan-Asian com-munity began with the traumatic East Asian � nancial and economic crisis of 1997, when all the countries of the Asia-Paci� c region learned the hard way that national reforms and protections could turn out to be woefully inadequate. Soon afterwards, a consensus formed among many Asian leaders that broader coop-eration and coordination was needed.

Even during that 1997 crisis, this lesson was al-ready being recognized, for the members of the Asia-Paci� c Economic Community (APEC) remained com-mitted to trade liberalization, one of the key forces that helped restart growth in Asia’s economies. Indeed, the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in 1997 designated 15 major sectors -- including automobiles, chemicals, energy assets, and environmental measures -- for early liberalization. Looking back at Asia’s economic growth over the past 12 years, it is clear that liberalization of trade and investment paid off.

Realizing that economics cannot be neatly separat-ed from politics, APEC soon began to include security issues in its agenda. In 2002, APEC’s leaders launched the STAR initiative, establishing a “Secure Trade Area in the APEC Region.”

STAR safeguards the � ow of goods and people through measures that secure ships, aviation, and travelers -- thereby enhancing cross-border secu-rity, customs networking, and protection of corporate supply chains. This was followed, in 2003-2004, by heightening security cooperation through the Coun-ter-Terrorism Task Force as well as the Asian Devel-opment Bank’s Trade and Financial Security Initiative.

These initiatives have undoubtedly deepened Asia’s sense of community. But now that community must con-front its greatest challenge: the rise of China. As China grows mightier economically and politically, how can long-term stability in the Asia-Paci� c be ensured?

I believe that a shift from Pax Americana to Pax Asia-Paci� ca could be the answer. Just as the nations of Western Europe exploited the Cold War stalemate to build the European Union, Asia must exploit the common interests that the United States, Japan, Chi-na, India, South Korea, Russia, Australia, New Zea-land and all the Southeast Asian countries have in securing a peaceful and stable Asia-Paci� c.

Under the Cold War “balance of terror,” Western Europe organized an economic, political, and cultural community that has now brought about a modern era of “perpetual peace” on that continent. APEC members, too, should use the existing umbrella of Pax Americana to accelerate economic, security, and political integration before new rivalries emerge to thwart their efforts.

Many of the instruments for greater integration al-ready exist. There is, to start, the Association of South-east Asian Nations (ASEAN). But larger groupings -- “ASEAN plus China” and a future “ASEAN plus Japan, South Korea, and India” -- are being negotiated.

Among the political tasks these broader groups are beginning to broach are strategies to defeat terrorism without alienating the region’s large, indigenous Muslim population. Somehow, too, Asia’s leaders must manage the pace of globalization. Just as Southeast Asia’s peasant rebellions of the 1930s were a reaction to the breakdown of an earlier episode of globalization, so Islamism in Asia is a response to our new secularist/consumerist societies.

Across Asia, APEC is playing the central role in creat-ing a Pax Asia-Paci� ca. Unlike Pax Americana, which has been imposed by US military force, this will be a peace among virtual equals. The new Asia-Paci� c security ar-chitecture should emanate from cooperation based not on a “balance of power” but on burden-sharing to bring about a “balance of mutual bene� t.”

Clearly, Pax Asia-Paci� ca must be built on an un-swerving commitment to peace among APEC’s most powerful countries -- the US, China, and Japan. A productive Chinese contribution would demonstrate its commitment to being a responsible stakeholder in the wider world community.

Japan, too, must play an active role in security and peace-keeping. A crucial factor in ensuring Pax Asia-Paci� ca is the synergistic relationship between China and Japan. In the interest of regional peace, both ma-jor powers must stop letting historical resentments obstruct a more harmonious and prosperous future for the Asia-Paci� c region.

Once these political shifts begin, APEC can begin to transform itself into an Asia-Paci� c Community for Eco-nomic Cooperation and Security. The strategic test will be for regional organizations -- such as APEC -- to en-sure that the spirit of cooperation always outweighs the member states’ competitive impulses. European nations recognized this a half-century ago, and Asia’s countries must make that same, self-restricting choice now.

Whatever our shared endeavors, Asians must take care that they are undertaken through shared responsi-bilities, shared burdens, shared values, and shared ben-e� ts. Only in this way will Asia achieve a higher quality of life and greater security for all its peoples.

* Fidel V. Ramos is a former president of the Philippines. © Project Syndicate, 2009

OPINION

TODAY’S ZAMAN

Fidel V. Ramos

President Barack Obama held a “rigorous � nal meeting” with his Afghanistan war

council and is expected to announce his revised strategy for the eight-year-old con� ict early next week. Military of� cials and others expect Obama to settle on a middle-ground option that would de-ploy an eventual 32,000 to 35,000 US forces. That rough � gure has stood as the most likely option since before Obama’s last large war council meet-ing earlier this month, when he tasked military planners with rearranging the timing and makeup of some of the deployments. The president has said with increasing frequency in recent days that a big piece of the rethinking of options that he ordered had to do with building an exit strategy into the an-

nouncement -- in other words, revising the options presented to him to clarify when US troops would turn over responsibility to the Afghan government and under what conditions. As White House press secretary Robert Gibbs put it to reporters on Mon-day, it’s “not just how we get people there, but what’s the strategy for getting them out.” Obama held the 10th meeting of his Afghanistan strategy review since mid-September on Monday night, with a large cast of foreign policy and military ad-visers, to go over that revised information from war planners. The two-hour Situation Room session was aimed at discussing “some of the questions that the president had, some additional answers to what he’d asked for,” Gibbs said. Washington AP

Iran said on Tuesday it was ready to exchange its low-enriched uranium

with a higher enriched material, but only on its own soil, to guarantee the West follows through with promises to give the fuel. The Iranian terms mean an effective rejection of a UN-brokered plan designed to delay its ability to build a nuclear weapon. Under the plan, Iran would export its uranium for enrichment in Russia and France where it would be converted into fuel rods, which would be returned to Iran about a year later. Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehm-anparast said Iran had sent its response on the proposal to the � ve permanent members

of the UN Security Council plus Germany, saying it wants a simultaneous exchange on Iranian soil. “Iran’s answer is given. I think the other side has received it,” said Mehm-anparast. “The creation of a 100 percent guarantee for delivery of the fuel is important for Iran.” Another Iranian of� cial, Ali Akbar Salehi, head of Iran’s atomic energy agency, con� rmed the details, saying that in Iran’s view such an exchange was an “objective guarantee.” Iranian of� cials have accused the West of breaking past promises to supply it technology. They say they don’t trust the West will eventually send back the fuel rods if Tehran lets its uranium abroad. Tehran AP

Afghanistan announcement expected next week, US President Obama says

Iran says it is ready for low-enriched uranium exchange only on its own soil

SAUDI ARABIA SEEKS TO CURB FLU AND STOP

PROTEST AT HAJJ More than 2 million Muslims gather this week for the annual hajj pilgrimage to Islam’s holy city

of Mecca, where Saudi authorities hope to minimize the spread of the H1N1 virus and prevent any political demonstration.

The hajj, one of the world’s biggest dis-plays of mass religious devotion and a duty for Muslims who can perform it, has been marred in the past by � res, hotel collapses, police clashes with protesters and deadly stampedes. This year, the mainly Sunni Muslim kingdom is battling Shiite Yemeni rebels after they raided its territory, an issue that raises fears of possible protests by fel-low Shiite Muslims during the rituals. Saudi Arabia bans public protests.

In 1987, a rally by pilgrims against Israel and the United States led to clashes with Saudi security forces in which 402 people, mostly Iranians, died. Saudi Arabia, a US ally which sees itself as Sunni Islam’s guard-ian, has often been at odds with Shiite Iran, mainly after the 1979 Iranian revolution.

Riyadh warned earlier this month against any attempt to politicize the pil-grimage. The warning followed remarks by Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to departing Shiite pilgrims

that they could not ignore con� ict in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Palestinian territories and Pakistan. The hajj should “display the � rm resolve of the Muslim nation to confront attempts that damage its unity and progress,” Khamenei said.

Interior Minister Prince Nayef, whose country has been battling al-Qaeda mili-tants since 2003, said late on Sunday about 100,000 men are deployed to en-sure security at holy sites. “We hope we will not have to resort to force.”

Flu spreadRiyadh is also trying to prevent a spread of the H1N1 virus as the crowded rituals pro-vide an environment for transmission of the disease. At least four pilgrims have died of the virus since the beginning of the hajj season. Since the World Health Organiza-tion (WHO) declared H1N1 a pandemic in June, experts fear pilgrims from some 160 countries would carry the virus initiating waves of outbreaks worldwide.

The Arabian Peninsula kingdom, the birthplace of Islam, has urged Muslims over 65 and under 12 as well as people with chronic diseases and pregnant women to not perform the ritual this year. Several countries have put restrictions on their pil-grims and Tunisia has banned citizens from going altogether. Riyadh has installed devic-es to detect infections at points of entry and set up a 300-bed clinic in the Red Sea port of Jeddah, where most foreign pilgrims arrive.

On the climax of the hajj on Thurs-day, worshipers spend the day gathered en masse at Arafat near Mecca. The fol-lowing day pilgrims begin casting stones at pillars over three days in a symbolic renunciation of the devil’s temptation.

Authorities have improved facilities to ease the � ow of pilgrims, particularly around the area where crowds gather to throw stones at the pillars. In 2006, 362 peo-ple were crushed to death there, the worst hajj tragedy in 16 years. Saudi Arabia has built a four-story platform around the pillars to expand the access area. Riyadh Reuters

British panel begins inquiry on Iraq war ‘deception’In the most sweeping inquiry on the Iraq war, a panel investigating Britain’s role

in the con� ict began questioning witnesses on Tuesday in hearings that critics hope will humble ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair and expose alleged deception in the buildup to � ghting.

The panel, which opened with a moment of silence for those who died, will question dozens of of� cials over several months -- including military of� cials and spy agency chiefs. It will also seek evi-dence from ex-White House staff.

Among the most prominent witnesses will be Blair, who will be questioned on whether he secretly backed US President George W. Bush plan’s for invasion a year before Parliament au-

thorized military involvement in 2003. Critics of the con� ict hope to take Blair to task for publicly promoting a policy of containment even at a mo-ment he considered regime change inevitable.

“We want to examine the evidence,” said John Chilcot, the commission’s chair. “We will approach our task in a way that is thorough, rigorous, fair and frank.” Bereaved families and anti-war activists have long called for a compre-hensive study to consider Britain’s role in a con-� ict that left 179 British soldiers dead and trig-gered massive public protests. But some worry the hearings will do little to answer lingering doubts about Britain’s rush to join the war.

Led by a panel appointed by Prime Minis-

ter Gordon Brown, the inquiry won’t apportion blame, or establish criminal or civil liability -- only offer reprimand and recommendations in hopes mistakes won’t be repeated in the future.

In the United States, the 9/11 Commission examined some issues around prewar intelli-gence, and a Senate select committee identi� ed failures in intelligence gathering in a July 2004 report on prewar intelligence assessments.

But the Iraq inquiry is envisioned to be a comprehensive look at the war. Brown set up the inquiry to address public criticism of three key as-pects of the con� ict: the case made for war; the chaotic planning for the invasion; and the failure to prepare for reconstruction. London AP

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Anti-war protesters from the “Stop the War” group, wearing masks pose for the photographers, outside the conference cen-ter where the Iraq war inquiry is taking place, in central London.

Muslim pilgrims pray around the Kaaba inside the Grand Mosque in the holy city of Mecca at dawn be-fore the start of this year’s hajj pilgrimage on Tuesday.

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A Muslim pilgrim sits outside the Grand Mosque in the holy city of Mecca on Tuesday.

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TODAY’S ZAMAN EXPAT ZONEW E D N E S D AY, N O V E M B E R 2 5 , 2 0 0 912

CMYK

In part one of this article I mentioned an interesting ar-ticle I read in Today’s Zaman. It was about the Supreme Court of Appeals and how it has issued a number of con-troversial verdicts. Many people believe these verdicts contradict various international and domestic laws, in-cluding a constitutional article that ensures equality be-tween men and women. So is this really the case? Would it be correct to see the Supreme Court of Appeals as a trendsetter? One of the court’s decisions takes the virgin-ity of a woman as the most important thing in a marriage. Will the court also say that a man must be a virgin, too?

Supreme Court of Appeals and private lifeThe story is hidden in the details of a recent court decision of the Supreme Court of Appeals. Let’s read the lines from Today’s Zaman: “Last week, a 2007 ruling of the Second Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals annulling a marriage on the grounds that the woman was not a ‘virgin’ on her wedding night became public, resulting in outrage and confusion. Jurists also stated that the second chamber had ignored a medical report attesting to the woman’s vir-ginity and made its ruling solely based on the man’s testi-mony. With this decision, the Supreme Court of Appeals overruled a local court decision that had refused to grant an annulment of the marriage. The 2007 ruling regarding the case of a Bolu couple unashamedly reads: ‘Evidence compiled in the case makes it understood that on the � rst night of the marriage the woman was not a virgin. For this reason, on the grounds that a characteristic that needs to be present in a woman was lacking, ruling against the hus-band’s case instead of ruling in favor of it was a wrong de-cision.’ The second chamber also ruled for an annulment of the marriage contract rather than a divorce.”

What is the annulment of a marriage?Under Turkish law there are three possible ways to end a marriage. The � rst is if one or both spouses die. In the event of a death of one spouse, the marriage shall end and the birth registration of� ce shall register the liv-ing spouse as a widow(er). The second way for a mar-riage to end is through divorce. The third avenue is for a marriage to be annulled.

The annulment of a marriage is a very extraordinary way to end a marriage as it limited and only applies if cer-tain conditions are met. Let me give you a few examples. A marriage is to be terminated if the following circumstances are met: If one of the spouses is already married at the time of marriage, only the second marriage can be terminated, and there will be no divorce; if one of the spouses is de-velopmentally disabled and the marriage still takes place, the marriage can be terminated; if the spouses are found to be close relatives; if one of the spouses gets married to the other spouse without knowing a very important fact, then the marriage can be terminated. This fact should be of such a nature that the spouse calling for the annulment of the marriage would have certainly not gotten married to the spouse if s/he had known this fact. This is the grounds on which the Supreme Court of Appeals’ decision is based.

What does the high court really want to say? What should the court have emphasized to avoid misunder-standings? What went wrong when making the decision?

NOTE: Today’s Zaman intends to provide a lively forum for expatriates living in Turkey. We encourage you to contact us at voice@todayszaman.com and share your experiences, questions and problems in all walks of life for publication in Today’s Zaman.

‘Supreme court of

the M�ddle Ages’? A

d�fferent approach

to ‘women and the

h�gh jud�c�ary’ (2)

There are a few popular Web sites available to help foreigners learn more about Turkish and Turkey. These Web sites discuss topics ranging from property to poetry and culture, etc. One of the most popular Web sites for expats who want to start learning Turkish can be found on the Internet at www.turkishclass.com

Here are some comments received this past week from To-day’s Zaman readers related to the piece “Traces of Ottoman Turks” (Nov. 21, 2009):

A Hungarian lady on turkishclass.com wrote this: “Even my name, Ákos, has Turkish origin. Somewhere I’ve read it means ‘white bird’ in old Turkish, as ak-kush.”

Here’s another great item mentioned on the Web site. This story is told by the composer A. Adnan Saygun in his article “Bartók in Turkey” (The Musical Quarterly, Jan. 1951, pp. 5-9):

“Bartók had set to work for some time studying the Turkish lan-guage. The words common to the two languages repeatedly became the subject of our conversation. Having encountered considerable dif-� culties in convincing not only the women to sing but also the men, whether young or old (for they had a vague apprehension before a stranger who did not speak their language), I proposed to the Master that we make up a sentence that would be almost the same in Hungar-

ian and Turkish. Then whenever we again met some people who were intimidated by the presence of a stranger, I would take over and give them a little talk about the history of the two peoples in which I would say that the Hungarians were only Turks who had settled somewhere else, that they always had spoken Turkish, but that evidently in the course of the centuries their accent had become more or less different. After that I would ask the composer to repeat the sentence we concoct-ed. Bartók would repeat it readily with an anxious smile barely visible on his lips. Of course, everyone understood it, and after several dis-quisitions on this subject we quietly set to work. Here is the sentence:

In Hungarian: Pamuk tarlón sok árpa, alma, teve, sátor,

balta, csizma, kicsi kecske van.In Turkish: Pamuk tarlasinda çok arpa, alma, deve, çadir, balta,

çizme, küçük keçi var.(Translation: In the cotton � eld are much barley and many apples,

camels, tents, axes, boots, and young goats.)”Another comment on Turkish Class by a Hungarian reads: “I have

to tell you that the Hungarian word for gate is ‘kapu,’ what we got from the Turkish language from ‘kapisi.’”

More interesting comments from Turkish Class:An Estonian wrote that grammar for the use of verbs and personal

pronouns is similar in that in Turkish you do not need to write the personal pronouns before the verb to indicate who did the action. For example: You don’t have to say: sen okuyorsun; you can just say okuy-orsun and in Estonian: loed, not sina loed. By the way, the word you (singular) in turkish is “sen” and in Estonian “sina.”

Quoting eestlane, a user from www.turkishclass.com, said: “The � rst thing I noticed when studying Turkish was that the ending of in-� nitive forms of verbs (-mak) is similar with Estonian because in Es-tonian the equivalent for -mak is -ma. The second thing was that the verb ‘olmak’ -- in Estonian is ‘olma’ (actually ‘olEma’ but this is not so important). The Turkish verb, olmak was actually bolmak in old Turk-

ish; whereas, in Hungarian uses vol- for bol- similarly.”One of the things I love about watching folk dance when I visit

another country is that in its primitive, tribal or ethnic way it expresses ancient ceremony and tradition. Nearly every country has its own folk dance as a part of its heritage.

Dear Charlotte: In your piece on similarities between Hungarian and Turkish culture you mentioned folk music. Here is some interesting in-formation I thought you’d like to see. I got this off the Turkish Class Web site. According to A. Andan Saygun and Laszlo Vikar in their research on “Béla Bartok’s Folk Music Research in Turkey” (Budapest 1976) it reports: “Bartok also did � eld work in Turkey and during his short visit in 1936 he collected 87 folk songs, of which twenty were related to the Hungarian folk songs. … Bartok pointed out in his conclusion that this discovery of his has international signi� cance, and it shows that the Turkish and the Hungarian music has a common origin, which is from Central Asia and the surrounding area.” From: RuthD (Cambridge)

Language forces us to perceive the world as man presents it to us. ~ Julia Penelope

Note: Charlotte McPherson is the author of “Culture Smart: Turkey, 2005.” Please keep your questions and observations coming: I want to ensure this column is a help to you, Today’s Zaman’s readers. Email: c.mcpherson@todayszaman.com

CULTURAL CORNER

McPHERSONCHARLOTTE

Interest in natural healing, wellness and beauty care is increasing around the world, and this trend de� nitely

doesn’t stop at Turkey. Just the opposite, the country has been famous for its natural heal-ing and relaxation practices for thousands of years and has continued to attract visitors

and residents with an amaz-ing range of health and well-ness opportunities. This week, Today’s Zaman provides you with an overview.

Thus, � rst of all, one can de� nitely not be in Turkey without visiting at least one of its world-famous thermal baths. According to the Cul-ture and Tourism Ministry, Turkey -- due to its advanta-geous location atop a major geothermal belt -- has more than 1,300 of these natural baths and hot springs and thus, is among the world’s top seven countries for quality and quantity of thermal resources.

And although only a small percentage of this po-tential is actually used today, public and private investors

are investing more and more to match the country’s health and wellness tourism re-sources to the rising demand. Currently, a good 190 thermal resorts can be found in 49 Turkish cities. All together they attract a rate of 500,000 “thermal tourists” a year. Moreover, the Thermal Tourism Cities Project (TTCP), launched by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism last year, aims to make Turkey the top destination in the world for thermal tourism by 2023.

Wanna give it a try? Well, from Afyon to Yozgat, the ministry’s Web site (www.tourismturkey.org) lists already more than 30 recommended destinations, where you can not only give your body and health a natural boost but also experience a very special part of Turkey’s history and culture.

Online travel guides like the Turkey Trav-el Planner (www.turkeytravelplanner.com) or the British forum Turkey Travels www.turkey-travels.co.uk include broad sections on Turkish spa and wellness tourism. So does the domestic-run online magazine Spa & Wellness (www.spawellnessturkey.com) and the (commercial) forum Spa and Health Ser-vices (www.shsturkey.com). Just have a look and get a picture of what is available.

Take a mud bath in Dalyan...Most of Turkey’s historic thermal locations are in Aegean region, like the ancient city of Hieropolis, which was built upon the rich mineral waters of today’s Pamukkale. Dalyan, once the ancient Lydian city of Kaunos, still offers the visitor the great fun of taking a bath in the rich mineral mud of Lake Köyce�iz. Furthermore, Bursa, Canakkale or Yalova, all located in the Marmara region, have always been very famous for their hot springs. The small town of Termal, near Yalova, for in-stance, was popular for its pool already in Ro-man times, then rebuilt by the Ottoman sul-tans and later even favored by Kemal Atatürk.

Not forgetting, as well, the hot spring bathing in the town of Ayder on the Black Sea coast.

And the best news: All of these baths are known to have healing properties and thera-peutic effects. Indeed, the spring waters con-tain loads of mineral salts, such as calcium, sodium, sulfur, � uoride, magnesium and its warm temperatures -- which can range from 20 up to 110 degrees Celsius -- have been proven to naturally cure illnesses and ailments such as rheumatism, arthritis, skin problems, digestive disorders, circulatory and heart dis-eases, gynecological diseases, and liver and kidney diseases among many others.

...or swim with the doctor fish in SivasThe so-called doctor � sh, which can be found in Sivas, are very special. They swim right next to you and nibble at your skin when you take a bath in the thermal pool -- an effective treatment for skin problems, it is said.

Being a predetermined hot spot for tra-ditional health and wellness practices, it is no surprise that along with the global rise of health and wellness trends, other ap-proaches to healing and wellness have be-come popular. Natural healing techniques, which can be found in Turkey today, in-clude an almost unimaginably wide range of practices many of which are as old as mankind and stem from all over the globe.

You have probably already stumbled across a � ood of ads for private clinics in newspapers or on Web pages. Indeed, a sheer endless range of hotels, beauty centers or health clubs offer natural healing treatments and relaxation strategies, ranging from acu-puncture and chiropractic to aromatherapy, ayurvedic massage, yoga and reiki. Gyms and sport centers offer additional solarium, skin and hair care, diet and � tness programs.

If interested, check the expat Web site MyMerhaba (www.mymerhaba.com), which provides an extensive database of health and beauty centers in its yellow pages. Search through its member forums, in particular, for comments, recommenda-tions, prices and reviews.

Health, however, is surely a matter of trust, and it goes without saying that you don’t want your wellness to be in the hands of an unquali� ed therapist. Don’t forget: “Natu-ral” does not necessarily mean “risk free.”

Experts disagree about the actual effec-tiveness of some alternative approaches to healing. And while some claim that they are the future of medicine, others attribute their popularity to the placebo effect and, more-over, warn about possible, incalculable side effects. Take into account also that, accord-ing to World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines and their de� nitions of alternative medicine, only the practice of acupuncture is regulated in Turkey. Other approaches to natural healing are currently not legally rec-ognized or further regulated by the Turkish Ministry of Health. Thus, you should always � nd out about international certi� cation and carefully check what kind of education and training your physician has undergone.

And last but not least, if you suffer from any health problem, it is always strongly recommended that you see a doctor you trust in order to talk openly about the tech-niques you might want to try.

KRISTINA KAMP �STANBUL

LEGAL CORNER

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NOTE: Berk Çektir is a licensed attorney at law and available to answer questions on the legal aspects of living in Turkey. Send enquiries to b.cektir@todayszaman.com The names of the readers are disclosed only upon written approval of the sender.DISCLAIMER: The information provided here is intended to give basic legal in-formation. You should get legal assistance from a licensed attorney at law while conducting legal transactions and not just rely on the information in this corner.

Language and dance

EXPERIENCE WELLNESS IN TURKEY

While in Turkey, one must visit at least one

of its world-famous thermal baths. Turkey

-- due to its location atop a major geothermal

belt -- has more than 1,300 natural baths and hot springs and

is among the world’s top seven countries for quality and quantity of

thermal resources

Currently, a good 190 thermal resorts can be found in 49 Turkish cities, attracting a rate of 500,000 “thermal tourists” a year.

CULTURE&ARTS W E D N E S DAY, N OV E M B E R 2 5 , 2 0 0 9 TODAY’S ZAMAN13

CMYK

U2 will headline Glastonbury, Britain’s leading summer music festival, the Associated Press re-ported. Quoting festival boss Michael Eavis, AP said the Irish rockers will play the festival’s main stage on June 25. It will be U2’s � rst appearance at the event, and comes as Glastonbury celebra-tes its 40th anniversary. Glastonbury was foun-ded in 1970 and is held on Eavis’ farm in south-west England. The festival runs June 23 to 27.

U2 to headline UK’s Glastonbury festival

“Don Pasquale,” Gaetano Donizetti’s well-known comic opera in three acts, is being staged in two per-formances this week at �stanbul’s Süreyya Ope-ra House. The �stanbul State Opera production, di-rected by Recep Ayy�lmaz, features a rotating cast of Ayten Telek, Hande Soner and Özlem Soydan in the role of Norina and Ali �hsan Onat and Kenan Da�a�an in the role of Don Pasquale. The perfor-mances take place 8 p.m. today and tomorrow.

Donizetti’s ‘Don Pasquale’ at Süreyya Opera House

Gallery Nev, which has been dominating the arts scene in Ankara since it opened in 1984, has been celebrating its 25th anniversary with a se-ries of exhibitions at its original venue in the ca-pital since May 2008. The newest and � nal show in the series features a collection of mathematics-themed canvases inspired by the “number 25” by artist Serhat Kiraz, who is mainly known for his installations. The exhibition runs until Dec. 16.

Kiraz’s paintings mark Gallery Nev anniversary

Famous Russian cellist Natalia Gutman will be in the Turkish capital early next month for two appe-arances as soloist with the Presidential Symphony Orchestra (CSO). Under the baton of maestro Cem Mansur, the CSO will accompany Gutman, best known for her performances of contemporary composers, in a program of symphonies by Pro-ko� ef and Borodin. The concerts are scheduled for Dec. 3-4 at 8 p.m. at the CSO Concert Hall in Ulus.

Gutman to perform with Presidential Symphony

Over the weekend I went to see the newest sequel in the “Valley of the Wolves” franchi-

se. The minute my friend and I stepped into the the-ater, we realized that we were the only women in the audience. The testosterone levels manifesting in the form of guffaws and sweat in the crowded the-ater made us think twice as to whether we should just go back home and perhaps wait for the DVD release of “Valley of the Wolves: Gladio.” The men folk were gazing at us with curious eyes, probably wondering themselves what we were doing there; after all, we only very remotely resemble avid fans of the rating monster TV show the movie is based on. That infamous show, which delves into political conspiracy theories, has formed into the main hub for many young nationalist Turkish men nestled in the comfort of homogenous cultural values, who are more than ready to believe that foreign powers and local sellouts want to divide the country.

Watching “Gladio” and all other cinematic clo-nes, one would primarily wonder, is Turkey so high up on the list of political global power threats that keeping it weak and provoking more internal conf-lict is the primary way to keep it on a leash? Even if it were as such, what’s the point of in� icting a cultu-re of paranoia, fear and retaliatory violence?

If the makers of “Gladio” provided a stronger script and a coherent story line that made sense instead of a jumble of enigmatic political conspi-racies, then perhaps it would have been easier to analyze the � lm as a work providing a distinctive perspective of current affairs; however, the only thing that seems consistent in the movie is the Bruce Willis attitude of its main character, who feels that of� ng anyone in his way is legit.

The � lm starts in a courtroom, where special agent �skender Büyük (Musa Uzunlar) -- a name that basically alludes to Alexander the Great -- is on trial for treason. It’s not an easy thing to put �s-kender on the stand -- he shouts at the judges, gets rid of all his publicly appointed lawyers and cons-tantly bellows that no one is as patriotic as he is. Oh, he’s a hero that we all want to be, taking none of it and talking back like he’s an Olympic god. He starts to tell his story about how he was deceived by his superiors: He was a good soldier, so back when he was young he was recruited by the Turkish di-vision of Gladio, an international paramilitary or-ganization � rst founded by the NATO states in or-der to prevent Soviet communism from spreading throughout Europe. Sure, �skender thinks he’s be-ing a good patriot for his country, as he is sent to covert operations to stop the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the ’90s, only later to realize that his superior Fuat Aras (Mehmet Aras, who looks like Professor Xavier from “X-Men”) is working for pe-ople who have other plans for Turkey. It’s a bit too late when he notices this small fact -- he’s already assassinated President Turgut Özal, since he was told that Özal was also trying to divide the country.

Now things get even more muddled up, as we have a hard time deciphering who’s working for who, what this Gladio organization is really after and what the agenda of the Turkish military is. The � lm refuses to take any political side, but seems to very well take advantage of the current political situation by transforming �skender into the simplistic repre-sentation of the current Ergenekon trials. Every piece of information given throughout the � lm is so cryptic that the viewer has a hard time following the plot.

The only consistent element of the � lm is �sken-der, who is so comfortable in his gung-ho tough guy mode that he can personally confront the president and shout at him in public, physically abuse military generals or simply anyone he feels he should talk to.

Of course, let’s not forget the supremely shot ac-tion scenes in which �skender jumps around like a gazelle and uses his weapons like a ninja. This man knows no bounds, his sole mission is to protect his country, he’s a hero, and if it wasn’t for him, how wo-uld all the other young boisterous men in our country feel safe? An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

“Valley of the Wolves: Gladio” is a perfect ci-nematic package -- probably millions of Turkish lira were spent on the production. Throughout its 90-minute run it provides all the visceral sensati-ons to verify the paranoid mind’s political delu-sions without providing an ounce of logical sen-se. All we can understand is: There are people out there who want political power, we don’t know who they are and what they’re going to do. But wait a minute; at least we have the right to unleash our brutal instincts on anyone who doesn’t agree with us. Don’t you feel better already?

The chronicles of a Turkish special agentSevgi Ça�al spreads seeds

of love with new exhibitionGrowing up abroad as the daughter of a Turkish family in the 1960s: This can be the starting point of the story of Sevgi Ça-

�al, who has an exquisite and feminine point of view and who depicts her own world of images in her newest exhibition titled “Tohum” (Seed).

Moving with her family to New York at a very young age, Ça�al grew up as a stranger in a fore-ign country during a time when much change oc-curred. “It was so hard to be a member of a Tur-kish family in a foreign country; I’m talking about the ’60s,” says Ça�al in an interview with Today’s Zaman. “It was totally a period of turmoil, whe-reas my family was very traditional.” This period was hard in many respects, which also further inf-luenced Ça�al’s professional choices. “On the one hand, I had to adapt to the external world, and on the other hand, there was another world at home. It was forbidden to speak in English, for instance. And I was a very introverted child.”

From turmoil to tulipsListening to her intuition, Ça�al began painting, using art as a means to deal with her parent’s repres-sion. “I began painting when I was 3 years old. I was a very successful student at school, but I had a broad inner world,” says Ça�al. “I painted without stop-ping. Painting is what saved me.” Now, meeting her audience during her exhibition at dem-art art gal-lery, Ça�al says she has used her childhood experi-ences as inspiration for her delicate artwork. “I grew up during a period in the United States when there was a lot of drug use, when there were con� icts bet-ween black and white people and when there was the tension of Vietnam,” states Ça�al when discus-sing what the US was like growing up. “But painting always saved me from these issues.” However, she faced many challenges when she decided to paint. “My family was also aware that I painted a lot, but my father, my beloved one, never wanted me to be-come an artist. He wanted me to work at the United Nations, but that was his dream, not mine.”

Nevertheless, Ça�al gained the support of her family by working as a translator. “Families are fearful when they hear their children want to become artists,” says Ça�al. “My parents always wanted to protect me from the external world in the US. They always feared that I would go to extremes, and that they would lose me.” But molds were not for Ça�al, and her passion for art never died. “I could never � t into those patterns that were offered to me,” she says. Despite her struggle, Ça�al seems to be content with how her life has turned out. “I am very lucky becau-se I can express something, I can do something.”

Tulips for signature and signature for inspirationHaving opened 25 solo shows as well as having par-ticipated in more than 40 group exhibitions, Ça�al

has worked in her own workshop since 1998 after working with many prominent artists. “My main theme is fertility and woman,” notes Ça�al, while showing the vivacious and mysterious tulips in her paintings. “Why tulips? Because they belong to Tur-key. Besides, the tulip form has always attracted me because it is so feminine, and the woman is so im-portant for nature considering there has always been the concept of a goddess in history.” In this sense, tulips are symbols in Ça�al’s art. “A person who grows up in another country feels closer to his home country. Everybody knows that tulips belong to the Netherlands. No. Tulips belong to Turkey, and pe-ople should know this,” explains Ça�al. “Tulips exist in Su� sm, in miniature, in tezhip. It is a � ower that coincides with our own identity.”

Ça�al also uses her own name, which is the Turkish word for love, in her paintings. “I wri-te love everywhere,” notes Ça�al. “We lack so much tolerance and love. When I sign a pain-ting, I want to shout this; that’s why I do it this way. I integrate tradition into my own art, and this is how my art evolves.”

“If you look at my � rst paintings, you will see some curves that are reminiscent of the human skin,” explains Ça�al. “A human being is not se-parated from nature. S/he is a part of it. And in or-der to maintain this entity, we need love. But as we

get farther from nature and focus on formalism, we lose this essence. Actually, this exists in Rumi’s phi-losophy as well. We are all bound to each other.”

The bronze sculptures of Ça�al, despite the hard and cold material, seem warm and friendly. “In my sculptures, my main theme is also woman and love. The woman is the world, and the world is the woman. The golden balls symbolize love. And you can see the little tulips as my signature,” expla-ins Ça�al. “And there are no edges on my sculptu-res; they are very soft, pure and curvy. I believe that I can re� ect that warmth in my work.”

“Love, mother and child, fertility,” these are what Ça�al depicts in her sculptures. “My con-cerns are about human beings and the world,” she says. “If I only do work in order for people to like them, then I can’t question anything.”

Maintaining identityAfter Ça�al returned to Turkey in 1985, she wit-nessed many shifts in Turkish daily life. “We used to come to Turkey during the holidays every year since the 1960s, and I used to adore Turkey. There was no television, but there was family. But when I came back to live, it was dif� cult for me,” she exp-lains. “The conditions were much harder, but at the same time items began being imported, and peop-le were astonished. Turkey has changed a lot, and

nowadays I miss the naivety of the people in the old days.” Raising her children, Ça�al realizes how the mentality remains the same despite the chan-ges in society. “The world is changing, but here the mentality is the same. When you look at appearan-ces, they seem very civilized. But the mentality is so much the same, and identity is being lost. There’s adoration for foreigners. The � rst thing that we ask a foreigner who comes to Turkey is: Did you like the Turkish people? Only a person who does not have self-con� dence asks this question.”

“We are now in a period of transition, and this has lasted a long time. But a good outcome of this process is in the hands of the youth and the artists. Every kind of art should be practiced. Some do gilding, some make sculptures. There can be nothing more naive and natural than exp-ressing himself/herself.”

Despite all, Ça�al is still positive and keeps her hopes up. “I am a visionary, and my paintings are my dreams,” she says. “I am hopeful that some day love will be understood, and people will get along regardless of race and religion. Indeed, how easy it is to be a human being, but how hard it is as well. When I say this, people tell me to return to reality. What is reality, is it materiality?”

“Seed” is on view through Friday at the dem-art art gallery in �stanbul’s Arnavutköy neighborhood.

HAT�CE AHSEN UTKU �STANBUL

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Sevgi Ça�al depicts her own world of images in her newest exhibition titled “Tohum,” on view through Friday at the dem-art Art Gallery in �stanbul’s Arnavutköy.

CMYK

dagistancetinkaya@todayszaman.com.trDaðýstan Çetinkaya

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TODAY’S ZAMAN OPINIONW E D N E S DAY, N OV E M B E R 2 5 , 2 0 0 914

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Established on January 16, 2007 NO: 0924Wednesday, November 25, 2009

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WOULD YOU DARE TO SAY THIS TO BARTHOLOMEW AND DINK?

Last Saturday, The New York Times published a news story ti-tled “In Turkey, Trial Casts Wide Net of Mistrust.” It was about the Ergenekon gang, our infamous “deep state,” and the case opened against it. Unfortunately, the story was a completely distorted account of what really is happening in Turkey.

We all know which sources of “information” are behind this coverage. They are, before anybody else, Mr. Soner Ça�aptay from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and Mr. Ga-reth H. Jenkins, a freelance British journalist based in �stanbul. Mr. Jenkins was in Washington last week, giving brie� ngs on Ergenekon and claiming “there is no such organization.”

The New York Times article, which referred to the views of not just Mr. Jenkins but also a few Turks who fully agree with him, began with this sentence: “The question many are asking, inside and outside Turkey, is whether the Islamic-inspired government is exaggerating the threat in order to wage a much larger battle against this moderate Muslim nation’s secular establishment.”

Who are these many people? There is, of course, a huge division between different segments of Turkish society about this case. There is a huge propaganda war to white-wash Ergenekon. If you talk to people who are linked to or sympathetic to this organization, of course they will convey this propaganda to you. Why, one wonders, do The New York Times reporters not talk with human rights defenders or with the representatives of minorities in Turkey?

Just to point out the mind-boggling pro-Ergenekon line The New York Times piece had, let me give you an example. The article mentioned “Ergün Poyraz, who has written more than � ve books critical of the government.” It then said that this “critical” voice had been silenced by the case.

Well, wouldn’t it be interesting to know exactly what sorts

of books this “critical” Mr. Poyraz wrote? Let me tell you. Some titles of his books read: “The Rose of Moses --Abdullah Gül,” “The Children of Moses -- Tayyip Erdo�an” and “The AK Party of Moses.” In all these, the crazy argument is that Gül, Erdo�an and other Justice and Development Party (AK Party) personalities are actually secret Jews working for the “elders of Zion” and the state of Israel to destroy Atatürk’s republic. (For more, see: Mustafa Akyol, “The Protocols of the Elders of Turkey,” Washington Post, Oct. 7, 2007.)

Moreover, documents unearthed in the Ergenekon inves-tigation have shown that Mr. Poyraz, the anti-Semitic lunatic, has written all these books with the materials provided him by the Turkish gendarmerie intelligence, and he was regularly paid by the same organization to continue with his “studies.” His ties with gendarmerie intelligence are now a well-documented fact.

That’s not all. Ergün Poyraz wrote another book titled “Six Months Among the Missionaries,” which is simply hatemon-gering rubbish against evangelizing Christians in Turkey. The book created such an effect and caused a chain of horri� c events: Three missionaries were brutally killed in Malatya in 2007. In other places, there were lynching attempts against Protestants.

So, the favorite “AK Party critic” of The New York Times is an anti-Semitic, anti-Christian extremist who gets paid by the deep state for carrying out hate propaganda. Isn’t this bizarre?

Here, Ergenekon is playing a dubious game. While

they were trying to convince the Turkish public that the AK Party is “a puppet of American imperialism,” at the same time they are lobbying in America and Europe to convince them that the AK Party indeed has “a hidden agen-da,” and its whole purpose is to bring Shariah to Turkey.

If Western journalists really want to understand what Ergenekon is, they should talk to people other than its sympathizers. Why doesn’t The New York Times talk to Turkey’s Christians, for example? They very well know what Ergenekon is and what purpose it has.

Let me ask Mr. Jenkins and Mr. Ça�aptay: Do you have the courage to face His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and tell him that there is no Ergenekon? Can you do that?

Minorities in Turkey know the evils here so well. Would you dare to tell Rakel Dink, the widowed spouse of the slain Hrant Dink, that Ergenekon is just an urban legend? Do you have enough courage to say this to the face of these people?

Hrant Dink knew his murderers very well. After re-tired Gen. Veli Küçük paid a visit to the court in which Hrant Dink was being tried for “insulting Turkishness,” Hrant said to his friends that this was not a good sign. Soon after he was murdered by a 17-year-old nationalist apparatchik used by the deep state.

Do you know who Küçük is? Do you know J�TEM? Have you heard about the three thousand villages burnt and destroyed in south eastern Turkey? Have you heard that we have 17,500 murders attributed to J�TEM? Küçük is the founder of this organization. And he is the one of the prime suspects in the Ergenekon trial.

Is The New York Times really happy to have contributed to the whitewashing of this army of fascists?

The � ndings from surveys conducted by MetroPOLL in August and November show that policies pursued by the ruling party as

well as opposition parties have not attracted the support and approval of voters. People � nd the performance of the administration and op-position leaders lacking. It seems that the advancement of the process depends on responsible action on the part of the ruling party along with Democratic Society Party (DTP) support. Undoubt-edly, the success of the process will require the support of the masses. Public support is secured via convincing the people by relying on the effective use of channels of communication.

Army tested by authentic signatureHow democratic can the political regime of a country that fails to face and question the military coups it suffered be? There are two responses to this question: A coup is staged in countries such as Turkey to pre-serve the regime. For this reason, we have to get accustomed to coups. This means those concerned about the fate of the regime are recog-nized as having the right to stage a coup any time they want. Second, a coup attempt should be effectively addressed and prevented regardless of who leads it and what methods are employed to execute it.

The � ght for democracy and rule of law in Turkey in recent times has been shaped in accordance with the two responses; this struggle takes on concrete dimensions in discussions over the ongoing Er-genekon investigation and the democratic initiative. This discussion became particularly concrete and visible with a controversy surround-ing an authentic signature, a controversy brought on by a signature found on a military document detailing a plot to illegally under-mine the governing Justice and Development Party (AK Party), believed to belong to Ergenekon suspect Col. Dursun Çiçek.

This document, originally a piece of paper, turned into a genu-ine instrument in three months; it has become a valuable asset over which the military and civilian prosecutors are � ghting. Aside from who penned the document and other technical and formal discus-sions, including whether the signature on the paper is authentic or not, the content of the paper and the venue where it was drafted should be discussed. The said document is an action plan to � ght reactionaryism; by reactionary movements, the paper refers to the AK Party and the Gülen movement.

The content of the document, whose authenticity was con� rmed by a forensic report, features detailed action plans. In sum, the overall objective of this plan is to plot sensational actions to undermine the image and prestige of the AK Party and the Gülen movement.

This document in fact eroded the image and reliability of the chief of General Staff and the military. The � ndings of the survey state that one-third of respondents were negatively in� uenced by the document and that they developed negative sentiments towards the military. Aside from the discourse demanding the resignation of the chief of General Staff and calling for governmental action to remove him from of� ce, the research � ndings show that half of respondents favor the chief of General Staff retaining his post, whereas 32 percent of survey participants think he should resign. I think the General Staff and all political actors should think about this growing public opposition to the increased involvement of the military in political affairs. The image of the military and the chief of General Staff were eroded during this process. Thirty-seven percent of survey participants stated that they do not believe the military will take adequate measures to purge illegal and pro-coup actors and entities from itself.

The reference to the Gülen movement in the document should also be extensively considered. Because the discussion is being made with reference to civilian-military relations within the context of the row between the AK Party and the General Staff, the planned actions against the Gülen movement have remained relatively insigni� cant. The revelation of the action plan seeking to eliminate the Gülen move-ment, the largest civil society organization in Turkey, contributed to the elimination of probable social upheavals. Thanks to recent develop-ments, members of this movement are now relieved.

Following the revelation of this coup document, illegal memos drafted to call for action in an attempt to address alleged reaction-ary movements as well as the Cage Action Plan, an alleged anti-democratic formation within the Naval Forces Command planning to destroy the governing AK Party by assassinating prominent non-Muslim � gures in Turkey and putting the blame for the kill-ings on the party, the loyalty of the military to democracy and the rule of law will be questioned further. Regardless of whether these and other similar documents are authentic, the actual question that needs to be asked is whether the military will keep interfering in political affairs. We will get the answer to this question by expe-riencing developments that will take place in the years to come.

*Professor S�tk� Y�ld�z is an instructor at K�r�kkale University’s department of sociology.

A publ�c survey:

democrat�c �n�t�at�ve

and coup document (2)

SITKI YILDIZ*

ORHAN KEMALCENG�Z

o.cengiz@todayszaman.com

If Western journalists really want to understand what Ergenekon is, they should talk to people other than its sym-pathizers. Why doesn’t The New York Times talk to Turkey’s Christians, for example? They very well know what Ergenekon is and what purpose it has. Let me ask Mr. Jenkins and Mr. Ça�aptay: Do you have the courage to face His All Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and tell him that there is no Ergenekon? Can you do that?

The lastest development in the Ergenekon case is called the Cage Operation Action Plan, allegedly aimed to intimidate the country’s non-Muslim population by assassinating some of its prominent figures, a move which would be instrumental in undermining the popularity of the ruling Justice and Development Party.

CMYK

COLUMNS W E D N E S D AY , N OV E M B E R 2 5 , 2 0 0 9 TODAY’S ZAMAN 15

We are open�ng up;

or are we?

Turk�sh-Arab d�alogue

Homework for The

New York T�mes

The Turkish-Arab Dialogue Forum, organized jointly by the �stanbul Kültür University Global Political Trends Center (GPoT) and the Arab Democracy Foundation, took place last weekend. Several academics, his-torians and diplomats from Turkey and from many Arab countries par-ticipated in this scholarly meeting marked by intense and long debates.

At the meeting, in which the Turkish participants chose not to talk too much, the analyses focused on the probable regional devel-opments of Turkey’s recent initiatives. While some Arab participants have said that Turkey must be engaged more in the Middle East, others have claimed that Turkish efforts are seen as interference in the Arab countries’ domestic politics. They discussed whether or not the Turkish system can constitute a model for the Arab world, whether the secular system is a modernization factor or just a reference for the authoritarian system which obstructs the country’s democratization. Turkey’s rela-tions with Israel were vaguely mentioned; however, its relations with

Iran were scrutinized. Some participants expressed the opinion that Turkey may become the “holder of balance” between Iran and Arab countries, while others said they believe Turkey will increase its regional power by expanding its in� uence to the detriment of Iran’s.

Even if Arab and Islamic identities are often mentioned as common values, the Arab participants spent a lot of their time displaying their dif-ferences and demonstrated that the main common denominator in this region of the world is to have the feeling of being permanent “victims.”

Almost all participants pointed out the US or Israel as responsible for the region’s instability. A few of them added Iran and even the EU to that list. This common anti-imperialistic language constitutes an important vari-able in understanding their perception of Turkey. Some participants are convinced that Turkey’s new approach is simply a role given by the US to Ankara, and not the latter’s own initiative. Additionally, some discussants emphasized that if Turkey becomes an EU member, it will have to change its Middle East policy, anyway, and act in harmony with the imperialistic European powers. However, some of the researchers believe that Tur-key’s recent actions and its relations with the US and the EU create a positive impact in helping to unlock the situation in the region, allowing the Arab countries to join the international system through Turkey.

All these debates gave us the impression that the Arab countries’ doubtful and mistrustful view of Turkey is not emanating from Turkey per se. In fact, the academics from the Arab countries have chosen to

discuss the political balances, authoritarian institutions and feudal rela-tions of their countries through Turkey. This reminds us of Turkish aca-demics at the beginning of the 1990s, who preferred to discuss Turkey’s problems through the EU process. If one is not able to handle publicly one’s country’s problems or is not able to decide which parameters will help to explain those problems, it’s a good start to conduct the discus-sion through neighbors’ policies. That’s why the Turkish participants’ taciturnity was quite understandable.

Despite the existence of many historical and sometimes bottled-up problems, Turkey has decided to handle its relations with its near geography and with all its neighbors simultaneously. This is not some kind of pressure or imperialism directed against the Arab countries. This is Turkey’s quest for stability. If human rights or fundamental lib-erties were adopted as basic values, it would be easier to build con� -dence between Turkey and Arab countries.

A frequently asked question these days is whether the govern-ments’s democratization initiative will create the expected results. Those who ask this question should be given the response “What do your expectations of this cover? What do you think will be opened and to what extent?” Once a clear answer is given to this question, the frame and content of the opening will also be clari� ed. However, there is no such clarity yet on this matter. There is much ambiguity rather than confusion because this opening, which will shape the future of the entire society, started as the initiative of certain and limited leadership and a section in that society. Removal of this am-biguity is vital for the future of Turkish politics as well as the political career of the Justice and Development Party (AK Party).

However, I should note at this point that the need for an open-ing in politics should be appreciated, that a strong political will should take action to this end and that the matter should be thoroughly dis-cussed in Parliament. Once a healthy and ef� cient discussion is held in Parliament and an agreement is reached during the deliberations over the normalization of the regime, if this happens, the renewal and transformation process will take place rapidly. However, this did not happen and the AK Party, which has masterfully used the pressure of the change, realized that it needed to resort to people.

Two things will happen when the opening succeeds. The places of the state and the nation will be switched. The era of the state’s nation will be over and it will be replaced by the nation’s state. Secondly, the dominant powers failing to appreciate their local realities, viewing the outer change as a conspiracy reacting to any demands on the system, will be replaced by visionary actors and an approach seeking to inte-grate with the world and appreciating the needs of the current world.

Turkish political tradition has been shaped by a process where the state was the central actor. All laws and practices from the Con-stitution to the bill on political parties ask the people as well as the political parties to all be the same. The pro-state tradition has im-posed its own approach and understanding, and for this reason, diversities remained unnoticed and change was seen as extraordi-nary and unusual. In such an environment, alternatives were not considered at all. This led to the isolation of the country and created an authoritarian regime resistant to change.

Considering that Turkey did not lose a battle, the actor that would lead to change could not be an external one. This could be an internal player unwanted by the regime. There is a nice statement suggesting that those who control the past will also control the future. Up un-til now, the founding actors have interpreted and written the history as they wanted. They have tried to administer and shape the future relying on that teaching. It shaped the conscience of the people and determined their lifestyles and worldviews. However, this arti� cial per-ception became outdated in the current conditions because it failed to meet the needs of the current world and made it impossible for the people to understand the realities surrounding the globe.

The peripheral actors have become more visible in the politi-cal space thanks to the accelerating migrations towards urban cities since the 1960s. They are large in numbers; besides, because they owed nothing to the state, they were not in� uenced by the au-thoritarian secularism and the of� cial culture of the nationalism that praised the state rather than the nation. They � rst became in� uential in economic life and they acquired the strongholds of the political elites; this situation was announced as a coming danger posing a threat to the regime; the holders of this view argued that the repub-lican regime was slipping away from their hands.

There are two dimensions to the de� nition of consensual citizen-ship in Turkey: � rst, you have to be a Turk in ethnic origin; secondly, you have to be part of Sunni Islam. We fail to understand the grave consequences of this approach because of the of� cial practices for those who fall outside of these de� nitions and categories.

We have come to the conclusion based on these internal con� icts and tensions that our republic’s project of nationalization has failed because of its major aspects and features that exclude the differences and diversities. In fact, despite all calls for unity and togetherness, we are part of a society and nation comprised of smaller communities con� icting with each other and holding suspicions of others.

Turkey also fears the possibility that democratization may be an ex-ternal program imposed by external actors. Some of the holders of this view are absolutely positive that Western actors are trying to plot a con-spiracy against our country by making references to democratization in Turkey. If a nation has become fearful of democracy and now views it as an external phenomenon, it means that it is ready to surrender its will and determination to powerful actors. This is even worse than tyranny. In that case, reason is surrendered to fear and intimidation.

Peace means that enmities will be over. Peace means democ-ratization and normalization. It also means that relations should be based on consent and agreement. In short, it means the humaniza-tion of everything distorted by ideology. We have to drop skepticism and hopelessness; instead, we must roll up our sleeves to accelerate the process. This is our debt to ourselves, to the people we made suffer in the past and to our children who will build our future.

If you spend a long time as a news ombudsman, as I did, you recognize a biased story in a snap if you see one. In almost no time, the curtain is raised intentionally and a tendentious news piece screams into your face.

Such was the case with a story published on Monday. Titled “In Turkey, Trial Casts Wide Net of Mistrust,” the article told of a country gripped by widespread panic, due to an ongoing judicial case. The element that made the story interesting was the fact that it was found “� t” to print by The New York Times.

It came as a less of a surprise to me. The quality of the reporting in general on Turkey by The New York Times has declined lately, particular-ly since its hardworking and knowledgeable reporter, Sabrina Tavernise, was dispatched elsewhere.

Intense care and meticulousness to understand and convey the com-plexities of Turkey to the international reader left its place to simplistic, partial and sloppy reporting. The coverage, for example, of the tax eva-sion case of the powerful Do�an Media Group was a journalistic disaster, so full of oversimpli� cations and distortions on the state of journalism in Turkey that one wondered whether the editors back home in New York had left for an extended vacation.

The latest story, signed by Dan Bilefsky, on the Ergenekon case, makes for a similar reading, leaving a bitter taste. When a reporter is sent to a country he or she has no clue about, and is deliberately misled, the result often edges toward propaganda, for this or that cause. Facts are twisted and, with a shallow analysis, the poor reader is misled, too.

The story smells badly of a homework assignment ignored. It de-scribes a Turkey experiencing widespread fear and anxiety because the “Islamic-inspired” government may be “exaggerating” the threat of a coup. Its formulations are done as if to suit those “fears.” Take this, for example: “The case has brought into relief the larger strains in Turkey between a secular elite seeking to hold on to its waning in-� uence and a growing, increasingly assertive population of observant Muslims. The case is being watched closely in Brussels, headquar-ters of the European Union, as a barometer of Turkey’s adherence to Western standards of justice. It comes as the country’s prospects for joining the bloc seem to be diminishing.”

One may blame the reporter for being manipulated into twisting the truth. But an editor should warn him that the European Commission takes the Ergenekon case very, very seriously (as it now does the latest report on the clandestine military plan, called “Cage”) although it is very clear and nuanced on its critique over proceedings.

The story’s bias is clearly visible by an almost complete lack of sources who would be able to explain the real content of the case and others who are hopeful about its outcome. The reporter obviously did not bother to speak to the lawyers of the assassinated Hrant Dink’s family, or for exam-ple, Ak�n Birdal, a human rights activist (now a deputy of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party [DTP]), who barely survived with 10 bullets in his body (the perpetrators are members of Ergenekon).

Since this unfortunate story shines with its lack of the question “why?” I will suf� ce to ask some of the questions to the reporter, with the hope that when he addresses the subject he may do justice to his readers and no longer insult the highly experienced and deeply scarred journalists of this country.

Why do the opinion polls suggest that the majority of people here believe that there is a “lethal deep state” within the state? Why are the liberal, socialist, democratic, Kurdish, non-Muslim, and “silent” Sunnis and Alevis segments of society so supportive of the investigation? How many people have been subjected to investigation and interrogation so far? How many have been detained?

What are the arguments of lawyers such as Ergin Cinmen or Kezban Hatemi or Sezgin Tanr�kulu, or other human rights lawyers, about the signi� cance of the case?

How do you measure a “wide net of mistrust??” How wide is it? What is the common denominator of those who mistrust? How do they de� ne themselves? Is the mistrust false or disguising something else?

If Ergenekon case is -- almost -- false and � ctitious, why, then, do independent and staunchly secular papers such as Taraf continue to uncover, segment after segment, plans and subversive structures within the army? Are they stupid?

If Ergenekon is a tool for the government to impose Islamic rule by silencing the opposition, why, then there is a “wide net of hope” among those who would not vote for it?

Assume that prosecutors are politicized. There are some 40 indepen-dent judges supervising the case. They are randomly chosen for duty. If the detentions are unjusti� ed, wrong or too long; are the judges all bi-ased? Are they all idiots or lackeys?

Finally, this question: Ergenekon, without a doubt, a ma� a-like network, that is yet to be exposed. How did the judicial sys-tem in the US � ght organized crime, what were the proceedings, how long were the detentions?

If The New York Times is keen on democratization and hu-man rights in Turkey, it can certainly do better than news un� t for print. Its readers need all the facts; all of them.

After months of speculation, gossip and squab-bling the decision by EU leaders to hire Belgian Prime Minister Herman Van Rompuy as Euro-pean Council president and Britain’s Catherine Ashton as the body’s foreign policy chief was met with shock and disappointment across Brussels and other European capitals, with most people feeling somewhat � abbergasted at the decision to pick a team unlikely to project Eu-rope’s voice on the global stage.

All the charismatic, well-known, and dynamic personalities like Carl Bildt, Jean-Claude Junker and Tony Blair who could really have promoted the EU in the world were shelved -- too ambitious, too high-pro� le or simply from the wrong politi-cal party. Instead the EU selected two low-pro� le, uninspiring personalities. Although I am sure both of them are very hard working and nice people, at the same time they are virtually unknown outside of their countries of birth and their selection says a great deal about the EU and its vision for the future.

Van Rompuy was selected as Belgian prime minister just over a year ago. He was chosen for his reputation as a peace builder who helped stop Belgium from breaking up. Indeed, being EU president should be an easier job -- and far better paid -- as he will no longer have to deal with the bickering Walloons and Flemish. His new tasks will be much less demanding, involv-ing organizing the bloc’s summits, keeping EU leaders from engaging in unseemly quarrels and representing the bloc on the global stage.

As for Ashton, who is presently European commissioner for trade, she was selected as a seemingly last-minute compromise, and has no foreign policy experience other than what she has picked up through her present job. She has never held a government position and has never been elected. But let’s look on the positive side, at least she’s a woman! Following in Javier Solana’s steps will also be far from easy because everybody loves him. Solana is charming and charismatic as well as being respected across the globe. Through this job and his previous position as secretary-general of NATO he cultivated friends and allies across the world. He will be sorely missed and if Ashton is going to go even half way to � lling his shoes she is going to have her work cut out. She could

start, as many women before have done, by get-ting a makeover and re-style so at least she will look reasonably stylish!

However, with these two at the EU helm it would seem that domestic politics will have more importance than international ambitions, as it is highly unlikely that either Van Rompuy or Ashton will be able to dominate the global stage. They will be more like lackeys than leaders. Of course this will be good news for European Commission President Barroso, who may have been worried about being sidelined by the new additions. He should certainly be sleeping easier in his bed now, content in the knowledge that he will continue to have a considerable role on the world stage. At least the world knows who he is. It is also clear that EU member states will continue to remain in charge for the near future with national lead-ers continuing to be in control and call the shots. Sarkozy and Merkel will remain very much in the driving seat and continue to have considerable in-� uence over the direction of the EU. Furthermore the choice spotlights a newly powerful role of the European parliament. The two biggest groups in the EU assembly -- the centre-right European People’s Party and the centre-left Socialists -- had insisted on a political balance between the two new appointments.

As for how these two new appointments will affect Turkey’s EU membership talks, I doubt very much there will be much impact at all given the process has already been hobbled so much it is vir-tually at a standstill any way. Furthermore, while Van Rompuy may have declared himself to be opposed to Turkish membership a few years ago, making it very clear that he believed the EU to be a Christian club with no vacancies for any large Mus-lim states, he is unlikely to repeat such statements but rather toe the EU line on the issue. As he him-self has said in the past days, he has no intention of expressing his personal views on any issues.

As for Ashton, Turkey has nothing to fear from her. The UK is loyal to the end when it comes to backing Turkish membership in the EU.

Regrettably it all seems like something of a wasted opportunity given that one of the aims of the new Lisbon Treaty was to give the EU a higher global pro� le given the EU badly needs a more effective and coherence common foreign policy. Of course I may be passing judgment too early. Perhaps I will be surprised and they will both dazzle. I really hope so, otherwise the world stage will continue to be dominated by the US and Russia, with China and India on their tails and the EU bringing up the rear.

No Comment YAVUZBAYDAR

y.baydar@todayszaman.com

EMRE ÖZDEM�R

e.ozdemir@todayszaman.com

Has the EU h�red two lackeys?

DO�UERG�L

d.ergil@todayszaman.com

AMANDA AKÇAKOCA

a.akcakoca@todayszaman.com

BER�L DEDEO�LU

b.dedeoglu@todayszaman.com

Today is International Day for the Elimination of Vio-lence against Women. The United Nations declared this

day in 1993, inviting governments, international organizations and NGOs to organize activities to raise public awareness of the problem. The date was chosen in remembrance of the three Mi-rabal sisters, political activists in the Dominican Republic who were brutally assassinated in 1961.

Today is the national day of Bosnia and Herzegovina. This day commemorates the founding session of the State National Antifascist Liberation Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina held in Mrkonjic Grad on Nov. 25, 1943.

Today is Independence Day in Suriname. This is a national holiday commemorating Suriname’s attainment of independence

from the Netherlands in 1975. Suriname was given a system of limited self-government in 1954 and the local government of Af-rican and mixed African-European members started to negotiate for full independence with the Dutch government in 1973.

On this day in 1963 President John F. Kennedy was buried at Arlington National Cemetery. John F. Kennedy’s 1963 assas-sination was one of the most shocking public events of the 20th century. Kennedy served in the US Navy during World War II, commanding the patrol boat PT-109 and leading his crew to rescue after the boat was sunk by the Japanese in the Solomon Islands. A Democrat, “JFK” was elected to the US House of Rep-resentatives from Massachusetts’ 11th district in 1946. Kennedy was shot dead by sniper Lee Harvey Oswald during an open-car

motorcade in Dallas, Texas, on Nov. 22, 1963.On this day in 1973 Greek President Georgios Papadopou-

los was ousted in a military coup led by Lt. Gen. Phaidon Gizikis. After the tragic events of the student uprising of Nov. 17, 1973, at the National Technical University of Athens, his government was overthrown on Nov. 25 by hard-line elements in the army. The outcry over Papadopoulos’s extensive reliance on the army to quell the student uprising gave Brig. Gen. Dimitrios Ioannides a pretext to oust him and replace him as the new strong man of the regime. Papadopoulos was put under house arrest at his vil-la, while Greece returned to an “orthodox” military dictatorship.

The northwestern city of Edirne was liberated from Greek occupation on this day in 1922.

16 TODAY’S ZAMAN W E D N E S D AY, N O V E M B E R 2 5 , 2 0 0 9 LEISURE

E208:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show09:00 Dedikoducu K�z10:00 The Martha Stewart Show11:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show12:00 The Rachael Ray Show13:00 Umutsuz Evkad�nlar�14:00 The Martha Stewart Show15:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show16:00 The Rachael Ray Show17:00 Dedikoducu K�z18:00 The Martha Stewart Show19:00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show20:00 Family Guy21:00 Heroes22:15 Eastbound & Down22:40 It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia23:00 The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien24:00 Eastbound & Down00:40 It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia01:00 Family Guy01:30 The Jay Leno Show02:30 The Tonight Show With Conan O'Brien03:30 Heroes

CNBC-E17:55 How I Met Your Mother18:50 The Jay Leno Show20:00 Scrubs20:30 Aliens In America21:00 Ghost Whisperer22:00 Le Petit Lieutenant00:30 The Jay Leno Show01:30 Scrubs02:00 Aliens In America02:30 Ghost Whisperer03:15 Le Petit Lieutenant05:00 Ghost Whisperer

GOLDMAX08:20 Scoop10:00 Year Of The Dog11:40 The Crucible13:45 Starter For 1015:20 The Godfather III18:10 Good Morning, Vietnam20:15 Lust, Caution22:45 The Man Who Cried00:25 The Dead Zone 02:15 Film Noir04:00 Stanley Donen's Bedazzled05:45 Sunshine State

MOVIEMAX07:40 The Kid & I 09:20 Silk 11:15 Enchanted 13:10 Surf's Up 14:45 Two Weeks16:30 Thief: Part 318:05 Made Of Honor 20:00 Attack Force 21:50 Immortally Yours -- Kiss of the Vampire 23:45 The Invasion01:30 Scar 03:35 Thief: Part 3

MGM MOVIES08:25 American Heart10:25 Black Caesar 12:00 Zelig13:25 The Siege Of Firebase Gloria 15:05 Mystery Date 16:45 MGM Craft: 'Some Like It Hot' by Billy Wilder16:55 The Return Of A Man Called Horse19:05 Yellowbeard20:45 O.C. and Stiggs22:40 Grayeagle00:25 Gun Fever01:50 Lenny03:45 A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy

COMEDYMAX08:00 Rules of Engagement08:30 Cougar Town09:00 The Cosby Show10:00 According to Jim11:00 Everybody Loves Raymond12:00 The Office13:00 The Game13:30 30 Rock14:00 Rules of Engagement14:30 Cougar Town15:00 The Cosby Show16:00 According to Jim17:00 Everybody Loves Raymond18:00 3rd Rock from the Sun18:30 The Game19:00 The Cosby Show19:30 30 Rock20:00 Rules of Engagement20:30 Cougar Town21:00 According to Jim21:30 Everybody Loves Raymond22:00 The Office23:00 Californication23:30 Nurse Jackie00:00 Cougar Town

TRT Tour�sm Rad�o

00:00 Identification and Programming 00:25 Music 07:25 Identification and Programming07:30 Music 08:30 News (English, French, German) 08:40 Live Broadcast (English, German, Russian) 10:30 News (English, French, German, Greek, Russian) 10:45 Live Broadcast (English, German, Russian) 12:30 News (English, French, German, Greek, Russian) 12.45 Live Broadcast (English, German, Russian) 15:00 News (English, French, German, Greek, Russian) 15:15 Live Broadcast (English, German, Russian) 18:30 News (English, French, German, Greek, Russian) 18:45 Live Broadcast (English, French) 21:30 News (English, French, German, Greek, Russian) 21:45 Live Broadcast (English, Greek) 23:58 Identification

Broadcast Areas:

Alanya FM 94.4Ankara FM 100.3Antalya FM 92.1Ayval�k FM 101.1Bodrum FM 97.4Fethiye FM 103.1�stanbul FM 101.6�zmir FM 101.6Kalkan FM 105.9Kapadokya FM 103.0Ku�adas� FM 101.9Marmaris FM 101.0Pamukkale FM 101.0Trabzon FM 101.5

tv gu�de

rad�o gu�de

mov�e gu�de

“Kurtlar Vadisi Gladio”

THE TWILIGHT SAGA: NEW MOON �STANBUL: Ata�ehir 11:00 13:30 17:15 18:30 21:00 22:30 Beykoz Acarkent Coliseum Site 11:30 14:00 16:30 19:00 21:30 Caddebostan AFM Budak 10:30 11:55 13:20 14:45 16:15 17:40 19:10 20:40 22:10 Kad�köy Cinebonus Nautilus 11:00 13:45 15:15 16:30 18:00 19:15 20:45 22:00 Beyo�lu Yeni Rüya 11:30 14:00 16:30 19:00 21:30 ANKARA: Cinebonus Bilkent 11:00 12:30 13:40 15:10 16:25 19:10 22:00 Cinebonus Gordion 11:00 12:15 �ZM�R: Cinebonus Konak Pier 10:30 13:15 16:00 18:45 21:30 ANTALYA: Prestige 12:45 15:15 17:45 21:30

A CHRISTMAS CAROL �STANBUL: Kozyata�� Wings Cinecity Trio 11:00 13:00 15:00 17:15 19:30 21:45 Bak�rköy Cinebonus Capacity 11:45 14:00 16:15 18:30 21:00 Esentepe Cinebonus Astoria 11:00 13:00 15:00 17:00 19:00 21:00 Ni�anta�� Citylife 11:30 13:45 16:00 18:45 21:00 �stinye AFM Park 11:15 13:45 16:15 18:45 21:15 �i�li Megaplex 11:00 13:10 15:20 17:30 19:45 22:00 ANKARA: Cinebonus Panora 11:30 13:50 16:10 18:30 21:00 �ZM�R: Agora Balçova 11:00 13:00 15:15 17:30 19:45 22:00 Çi�li Cinecity Kipa 11:15 13:15 15:15 17:15 19:15 21:15

CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS �STANBUL: Esentepe Cinebonus Astoria 11:00 13:00 15:00 17:00 19:00 21:00 Fatih Cinebonus 11:00 13:00 15:00 17:00 19:00 21:00 ANKARA: Cinebonus 11:00 13:00 15:00 17:00 19:00 21:00 Cinebonus Bilkent 11:00 13:00 15:00 17:00 19:00 21:00 �ZM�R: Cinebonus Balçova Kipa 11:00 13:00 15:00 17:00 19:00 21:00 ANTALYA: Cinebonus Migros 11:15 13:00 15:00 17:00 19:00 21:00

YED� KOCALI HÜRMÜZ �STANBUL: Kad�köy Rexx 11:15 13:45 16:15 18:45 21:15 Kozyata�� Cinebonus 11:30 14:00 16:30 19:00 21:30 Ni�anta�� Citylife 11:00 13:45 16:30 19:15 22:00 ANKARA: Finansbank AFM Ankamall 11:10 13:55 16:35 19:15 21:55 ANTALYA: Cinebonus Migros 11:00 13:45 16:30 19:15

KURTLAR VAD�S� GLADIO �STANBUL: Maslak T�M 11:00 12:15 13:30 14:45 16:00 17:15 18:30 19:45 21:00 21:55 ANKARA: Ankara Cinebonus Panora 11:00 12:00 12:00 13:00 14:10 14:10 15:15 16:25 16:25 17:30 18:40 18:40 19:45 20:55 �ZM�R: Bornova Bat� 11:00 13:00 15:00 17:00 19:00 21:00

Mr. D�ploMAT!Crossword

Sudoku

ACROSS 1 More than

stirred 5 Cousin of a

minibike 10 “Avast!”

responder 14 African

wading bird 15 Call to mind 16 “Which way

did ___, George?” (cartoon question)

17 Country since 1948

19 “Buyer beware” phrase

20 “It’s a mouse!”

21 Albumen adjunct

22 Certain Bond portrayer

24 Atlantic City game

25 Give permission

26 It’s believing, in a saying

29 Fellow crew member

32 Cheery song syllables

33 Hammer ends 34 Grammy

genre 35 Hops hot spot 36 Plankton

components 37 Advantageous

position 38 Baseball’s

Master Melvin

39 Bun net 40 Small Pacific

salmon 41 They provide

support to the needy

43 Mortise partners

44 Basketball boo-boos

45 French son 46 Conjecture 48 Excessive

temper tantrum

49 Minuscule amount

52 Lends a hand 53 Miami hot

spot 56 Guitarist’s

worry? 57 Alaska on

a map, sometimes

58 Heavyweight contest

59 Addition column

60 Sultana grapes’ lack

61 Lose sleep over something

DOWN 1 “Sideways”

subject 2 Chamber

music instrument, sometimes

3 “Star Trek” role

4 Low or high tail?

5 “Mother of all rivers”

6 Convex molding

7 It may be sweet and sour

8 Supplement with difficulty

9 Due time?

10 Peace in the Middle East

11 Wagon-master’s cry

12 Money exchange premium

13 Deck crew’s boss, briefly

18 Source of wild laughter?

23 Chamonix peaks

24 Highland attire

25 Road-sign word

26 Urban sitting place

27 Troubadour’s Muse

28 Steinbeck classic

29 Utah lilies 30 Add at the

end 31 Triangular-

bladed weapons

33 Agricultural

devices 36 You might

take it lying down

37 Practically forever

39 Slanderous remark

40 H’wood type 42 Beds down

on a branch 43 Dancer’s wear 45 Bound to

happen 46 “Dollar

diplomacy” president

47 One way to swell the ranks

48 Artful dodge 49 With little

slack 50 Ever-failing

cartoon brand 51 Ship with a

lateen sail 54 Single entity 55 Suffix

frowned upon by feminists

PREVIOUS PUZZLE ANSWER

© 2009 Universal Uclickwww.upuzzles.com

EASY

EASY

HOW TO PLAY? : The objective of the game is to fill all the blank squares in a game with the correct numbers. There are three very simple constraints to follow. In a 9 by 9 square Sudoku game:

Every row of 9 numbers must include all digits 1 through 9 in any order Every column of 9 numbers must include all digits 1 through 9 in any order Every 3 by 3 subsection of the 9 by 9 square must include all digits 1 through 9

tr

av

ele

rs’

s.o

.s

Ambulance: 112 Fire: 110 171 Police: 155156 Maritime: 158 Unknown numbers: 118 Turkish Airlines: 444 0 849 U.S. Embassy: 0312 455 5555 U.S. Consu-

late: 0212 2513602-3-4 Russian Embassy: 0312 439 2122 Russian Consulate: 0212 244 1693-2610 British Embassy: 0312 455 3344 British Consulate: 0212

293 7540 German Embassy: 0312 455 5100 German Consulate: 0212 334 61 00 French Embassy: 0312 455 4545 French Consulate: 0212 292 4810-11 Indian

Embassy: 0312 438 2195 Pakistani Embassy: 0312 427 1410 Austrian Embassy: 0312 419 0431-33 Austrian Consulate: 0212 262 9315 Belgian Embassy:

0312 446 8247 Belgian Consulate: 0212 243 3300 Egyptian Embassy: 0312 426 1026 Egyptian Consulate: 0212 263 6038 Israeli Embassy: 0312 446 3605

Gregorian Calendar: 25 November 2009 C.E. Hijri Calendar: 08 Dhul-Hijjah 1430 A.H. Hebrew Calendar: 08 Kislev 5770 calendar@todayszaman.com

944

CMYK

HARD

Cem K�z�ltu�c.kiziltug@todayszaman.com

HARD

6 2

6

3 4

2 8

9

3 5 2

2

8

7

8

6

8

6

3

7 9

8

1 9

3

5

4 3 6

5

1

7 2 5

9

4

8

3 4

7

6 5 2

5

9 7

5

7

1 6

2

9

7 9 4 3

9

4

8 2

1

6 3 7

4 1 5

2 8 9

5 4 2

8 3 9

6 1 7

8 9 1

2 7 6

3 5 4

8 9 2

3 5 6

1 7 4

3 5 4

7 8 1

2 9 6

6 1 7

4 2 9

5 8 3

7 4 3

9 6 8

5 2 1

1 2 8

4 7 5

9 6 3

9 6 5

1 3 2

7 4 8

1 5 9

2 6 4

8 3 7

2 3 8

5 7 9

4 1 6

6 7 4

3 1 8

2 9 5

3 2 8

6 9 5

4 7 1

6 5 7

1 4 3

8 9 2

1 4 9

7 8 2

5 6 3

5 8 6

7 1 2

9 4 3

9 2 1

3 8 4

7 6 5

4 3 7

9 5 6

8 2 1

Five new restroom ambassadors will soon be tweeting from toilets at Times Square after beat-ing hundreds of hopefuls for the coveted jobs.

They won a contest that included aspiring actors, stu-dents and even a businessman hoping to seed his enter-prise for the jobs to greet and chat with tourists and hoards of holiday shoppers visiting the Manhattan restrooms. Each winner will collect $10,000 for six weeks of work.

In addition to welcoming the guests, the ambassadors will comment and blog about their experience on social networking Web sites Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. “We’re going to connect the world with the Times Square Charmin bathrooms,” said Cody Melton, 31, a comedian and one of the new ambassadors.

Although they aren’t sure what to expect when the guests stream through the restrooms set up each year by toilet paper maker Charmin, the ambassadors believe visi-tors will be grateful for the experience in a city notorious for its dearth of public restrooms.

“There’s nothing worse than being in New York and having to go,” said Annie Paulson, a 31-year-old cellist who landed a job. “I often find myself buying cups of cof-fee that I don’t want in order to feel justified to use a rest-room in a coffee shop. Or I’ll try to look like I know where I’m going and walk into a hotel,” she said.

Other winners announced at the opening ceremony of the toilets include a 32-year-old children’s theater teacher, a 32-year-old former office administrator, and an unemployed 68-year-old woman.

This is the fourth year Charmin has set up the ap-proximately 20 restrooms, which will also have iPods and televisions within reach of their porcelain seats. The company said it wanted to enhance the experience so

they added the ambassador jobs.The lucrative contest drew hundreds of hopefuls as

the US economy is still feeling the effects of the worse recession in decades, with jobless figures at around 10 percent. The company estimates about 500,000 people will use the toilets which will be open every day except

Christmas until the end of the year.Any video footage uploaded to the Internet from the

site will be family friendly, it added. The ambassadors will banter with guests headed in and out of the toilets on the second floor of a Broadway building and write about the experience. New York Reuters

In New York job w�nners

w�ll tweet from restrooms

PH

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AP

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Bathroom stalls in a public restroom built in New York’s Times Square by toilet paper maker Charmin are being prepared for the holiday season.

CONTINUATION W E D N E S DAY, N OV E M B E R 2 5 , 2 0 0 9 TODAY’S ZAMAN 17

CMYK

Reports on shift in foreign policy axes ideologically driven, PM advisor says

The prime minister’s chief foreign policy adviser has lashed out at criticism that Turkey has under-

gone a change regarding its international relations and turned its back on the West, noting that he considers comments on a drastic change in Turkey’s diplomatic priorities ideologically based.

“Criticizing Israel for its mistakes does not neces-sarily mean that Turkey has disengaged itself from the Western world. The Western countries are working on being effective in the Middle East and in the Caucasus. For example, France has had historical relations with Lebanon and Syria, and it has created strategies for the Israeli-Palestinian con� ict. Taking all these steps into account, can we say France is turning its back on Euro-pe?” �brahim Kal�n said while speaking to Today’s Za-man. But once Turkey began to forge relations with its close neighbors, such as Russia and Iran, a debate was surprisingly triggered and claimed Turkey had shifted its axes of foreign relations towards the East rather than the West, Kal�n noted.

“News claiming that Turkey would turn its back on the West when it points out Israel’s faults do not re� ect the reality and are not based on objective information but on ideological considerations,” Kal�n said, giving an example: “When George Bush took a step to launch a pe-riod of reconciliation in US-Russian relations, this was re-garded as a contribution to world peace or at least as an expected outcome of real politics. But, when Turkey tri-es to establish closer relations with Russia, Iran and Syria, all regional neighbors, the change in Turkish foreign po-licy is discussed,” the chief adviser added and emphasi-zed that the countries cannot be ideologically categorized when they seek to pursue their national interests.

Kal�n pointed to the absence of a stable system in international politics globally and regionally, saying that no one can claim a peaceful order has been estab-lished in the Balkans, the Middle East or the Cauca-sus. “We cannot neglect the problems in these regions. With our potential power and opportunities, we want to contribute to the establishment of a peaceful order in these regions,” he added.

Dwelling on the normalization processes with close neighbors, Kal�n highlighted that one of the goals of re-cent rapprochement with Armenia is to establish a new long-lasting stability in the Caucasus.

We are ready to mediate in Israeli-Syrian peace talks againKal�n underlined that Turkey is ready to once again me-diate in peace negotiations between Israel and Syria, talks which were stopped after Israel’s bloody attacks on the Gaza Strip earlier this year. “If Turkey is able to play a po-sitive role in the peace talks, we are ready to join the me-diation again. But Israel should decide on this,” he noted.

Noting that the stance of the prime minister on the issue of Israel is clear, Kal�n stressed that no one can ar-gue that this government has a secret agenda based on an Islamic ideology and anti-Semitism. “If we had an anti-Semitic strategy, we would not have helped the Israeli-Syrian peace talks.”

Kal�n considers the Israeli-Palestinian con� ict as the biggest barrier to improved relations between the Muslim world and the Western world. “From the poli-tical perspective, it is impossible to reach peace in the Middle East without any political reconciliation betwe-en Palestine and Israel. The Palestine issue is the most signi� cant issue poisoning relations between Islam and the West.” He argued that Palestinians have been treated unequally for more than 50 years and claimed that Israel will not be able to ensure its security unless the Palestinian problem comes to an end.

Peace without Hamas impossibleReferring to the policies pursued by nations around the world to isolate Hamas in 2006 after it won in elections, Kal�n noted that the democratic process was interrupted and Palestinians dividend into more groups than ever be-fore. “You may agree or disagree with the policies of Ha-mas, but a peace proposal which does not include Ha-mas will not be permanent. When you exclude Hamas, it means you exclude half of the Palestinian people as they voted for Hamas. This [fact] should be seen by Isra-el as well.” He also noted that the international commu-nity ought to make more effort to ensure the peace pro-cess progresses. Negotiations cannot last forever, he said.

Former general threatens STV during Antalya rally

Turkey and UN once more in quarrel over Makhmour camp

Ergenekon defendant Balbay remains silent on notes

At a rally organized by the Justice and Equality Party in Antalya on Monday, Osman Pamuko�lu,

the party leader who is also a retired major general, thre-atened to “burn down” private television station Saman-yolu TV (STV). “Whatever they are called, straw or any-thing else. We will burn it down. We will burn it down with all its extensions. We do not need great � res or fuel because they are straw. A match will suf� ce,” Pamuko�lu threatened. “Saman” means “straw” in English, but “Sa-manyolu” means “Milky Way.”

STV was Pamuko�lu’s target due to broadcasts that have helped expose plans for a coup d’état by the Tur-kish military and anti-democratic initiatives devised by

the Ergenekon terrorist organization, which is accused of plotting to overthrow the government. The station has sought to strengthen Turkish democracy through its bro-adcasts. Pamuko�lu’s threats drew a harsh reaction from STV. Metin Y�kar, editor-in-chief of the station, respon-ded to the threats in a written statement.

“We all know that Turkey is going through hard ti-mes. Believing that the country is superior to its own life, STV has shared all plots, plans and everything going on with its viewers since the very � rst day of its broadcasts and continues to do so. Journalism necessitates this. Res-ponsibilities on our shoulders oblige us to share the truth with the public. Indeed, journalism brings with it certain

risks. Realities do not make everyone happy every time. There may be people like Osman Pamuko�lu who are upset when they fail to receive interest and start to ut-ter threats when they are upset. Pamuko�lu is no lon-ger a member of the military. He is the leader of a po-litical party. He should learn to show civilian re� exes and become more tolerant. … STV has been apprecia-ted for its broadcasts since the day it was established. It is among the country’s most trusted television stations. To trust is tantamount to stand by and protect. Pamuko�lu, who failed to gather more than 40 or 50 people in rallies, may utter threats, but the public knows very well who is who,” read the statement. �stanbul Today’s Zaman with wires

Speaking to Today’s Zaman, a senior of� cial who does not want to be identi-

� ed said this is the biggest crisis Turkey has had with the UN so far. Saying Turkey has always seen the Makhmour refugee camp as suppor-ting the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) ter-rorist organization logistically and has always complained about it to the UN, the same of� cial said now the UNCHR is asking Turkey to give refugee status to the camp’s Turkish citizens.

Noting that the UN has always failed to block the use of the refugee camp by the PKK terrorist organization, the of� cial said Turkey’s response to the UN’s request was harsh. In a letter of response sent by Turkish authorities, it reads that the most of the people living the-re are Turkish citizens and the reason of the-ir settlement and where they left from for Iraq is known. “It is impossible to place the return of people within the international refugee law fra-mework,” the letter of response reads.

Having had several problems with the UN regarding the Makhmour refugee camp, Turkey has drafted its plan on the return of the refugees following the consultations with the American and Iraqi administrations. Du-ring AK Party’s K�z�lcahamam meeting, Ata-lay said refugees will start returning to Tur-key in groups of 300 to 400 and the govern-ment will establish a special entrance center at the Habur border gate. While Atalay said it is impossible to treat them as international refugees, he added that they will encourage the refugees to return to their previous resi-dences. “However, we will not grant special additional rights to them,” Atalay said.

While stressing that the public will not see “welcome home celebrations” for members of the PKK who surrender to Turkish security forces and that the security forces will not to-lerate such celebrations, Atalay said only fa-mily members will be allowed to meet the re-turnees. To return to Turkey, Atalay noted, re-fugees will � rst need to appeal to the Iraqi ad-ministration and then after Iraqi administrati-on decides on who will return and the time of the return, the Turkish citizens at the Makh-mour camp will be able to return to Turkey.

Turkey and the UN have constantly quar-reled over the Makhmour camp. While the vi-olent events were culminating in southeastern Turkey in 1996, nearly 20,000 Turkish citizens went to Iraq, in� uenced by the PKK, and es-tablished two separate residential camps in the Atrush region. Turkey bombed the camps until 1997, claiming that they were being used by the PKK. As a result, the UN built the Makhmour camp in 1998. However, it was discovered that this camp was also used by PKK militants. The UN attempted to disarm the camp; however, it failed miserably. After the American invasion of

Iraq, the US also has tried to disarm the camp.Before the construction of the Makhmour

camp, nearly 3,000 people returned to Turkey. This is the reason why Turkey is angry with the UN. When the pre-Makhmour refugees were returning, the UNCHR was generally silent on the international rights of those refugees. The UN said the Atrush camp was not under the control of the UN but the Makhmour camp is functioning under the aegis of the UN and thus the refugees returning from the Makhmo-ur camp should bene� t from the all rights that international refugee law provides.

According to the people who have already returned from the Makhmour camp, if the Tur-kish government gives guarantees to the re-turnees, there will be no one left in the Makh-mour camp. The government, however, does not want to provide special privileges for tho-se returning from the camp. The government will ease the process for those who want to re-turn to their prior homes. Those who were born at the Makhmour camp, and therefore do not have Turkish citizenship, will be granted Tur-kish citizenship and they will enjoy all rights that a Turkish citizen has. Ankara Today’s Zaman

Cumhuriyet daily’s Ankara representative, Mustafa Balbay, who is accused of “inciting

the people to armed rebellion against the govern-ment” as a member of Ergenekon -- a clandestine network accused of plotting to overthrow the go-vernment -- has refused to answer questions on his personal notes, which the prosecution says is proof of the journalist’s participation in coup plans.

Balbay’s cross-examination continued on Mon-day in the 19th hearing at the �stanbul 13th Hig-her Criminal court, following his defense testi-mony earlier last week. In his cross-examination, Balbay simply refused to give full answers to the prosecution’s questions regarding notes kept in his personal journal, saying the notes were simply parts of his “journalistic activities.” The current trial is one of two separate trials into Ergenekon. This one is based on the second and third indict-ments prepared so far in the case, and is referred to as the “second Ergenekon trial.”

He was also questioned about his defense testi-mony delivered on Thursday. He told the judges of the �stanbul 13th Higher Criminal Court that he be-

lieved the indictment was riddled with inconsisten-cies. He said: “I reject all accusations. I haven’t inci-ted people to unarmed revolt, let alone inciting them to armed revolt.” Balbay also said that journal entries allegedly kept by him had been modi� ed, claiming the entries were not written in the order in which they were listed in the indictment. In yesterday’s tri-al, Balbay was asked to clarify what part or parts of the entries were modi� ed by the prosecution. Ho-wever, he was unable to do this, saying he could not remember all the details pertaining to the notes kept over a lengthy span of time between 1998 and 2005.

In yesterday’s hearing, he also did not respond to questions about his relationship with certain indi-viduals, including Ergenekon suspects �ener Eruy-gur, Levent Ersöz and Hasan Atilla U�ur, who are frequently mentioned in his journal entries. He was also reluctant to elaborate on meetings regularly held with this group in Ankara’s Kent Hotel.

Balbay was unable to respond to the prosecutor’s question: “You quoted �ener Eruygur’s words ‘We can break up the Justice and Development Party [AK Party] in the me-dium term.’ This appears to be in line with the Moonlight coup plan [devised by a group of ac-

cused generals]. Why were these illegal plans shared with you? Did you use these notes that you took at this meeting in a story?”

Another question asked was: “You wrote: ‘Now is not the right time for a coup. Not like Feb. 28. What we should do for now is intimidate them.’ Did you write a news story about this meeting?”

Yet another question Balbay did not give a res-ponse to was: “Why were you given National Se-curity Council [MGK] meeting minutes that are supposed to be con� dential? Can you explain your words, ‘We should eliminate all those in the MGK?’ Can you explain what this note means: ‘A search of a house will take place in Manisa. Bülent Ar�nç called the prosecutor and told him to be ca-reful to not break anything in the house for most of the items belong to his mother.’ You also say you found this information from someone named �e-ner. Who is this person?” The prosecution also as-ked the question: “In your notes on a meeting bet-ween Levent Ersöz and Hasan Atilla U�ur, you stated that ‘media bosses should be pushed.’ Why did you say these words? What was your purpose in giving advice to two military of� cers on duty?” Another question that went unanswered by Bal-

bay was: “In your notes, you said that a new ‘study group’ had been established to replace the Wes-tern Study Group [the architect of the Feb. 28, 1997 unarmed intervention]. Can you explain this?”

In his testimony, Balbay also stated that he has known Mustafa Özbek since 2004. Özbek is the former head of the metal industry workers’ union Türk-Metal and is also standing trial as a suspect in the Ergenekon trial. He stated that Özbek had as-ked him to lead a new party to be founded by Öz-bek, but he did not accept as he sees himself as an integral part of the Cumhuriyet daily.

During this cross-examination, Balbay said the prosecutors were trying to make Atatürkists look like terrorists. He continued providing no answers, or gave evasive answers to prosecutors’ questions. He was particularly angered when he was asked if the person mentioned in his notes by the initials �.S was �lhan Selçuk. He said it was impossible to not be exasperated by accusations of terrorism directed at a journalist over his daily notes. Presiding Judge Kök-sal �engün called on him to calm down. “You will have to face questions that you � nd dif� cult or irri-tating. You will need to answer these questions with calm. Please calm down,” he said.

cont�nued from page 1

Six PKK members from the Kandil Mountains and 28 refugees who had stayed in the Makhmour camp in northern Iraq surrendered to Turkish aut-horities in October and were greeted with festive celebrations by crowds at the Habur border gate, which drew harsh criticism.

SERKAN SA�LAM ANKARA

B�RA ERDAL �STANBUL

Osman Pamuko�lu

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The prime minister’s chief foreign policy adviser �brahim Kal�n

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TODAY’S LEARNING W E D N E S D AY, N O V E M B E R 2 5 , 2 0 0 918 TODAY’S ZAMAN

6th GRADERS 7th GRADERS

Last week’s answer key: 6th GRADES: 1. b.2. c.3. d.4. a.5. e. / 1. F2. T3. T4. F5. F / 1. a loaf of 2. a bar of 3. a bunch of 4. a slice of 5. a cup of 6. a carton 7. a bottle / 7TH GRADES: 1. Take a shorter shower.2. Turn off the TV for an hour.3. Use a rag orhand towel instead of napkins or paper towels. 4. Don't eat junk food. 1. Plant a tree. 2. Clean up your neighborhood. / 1. a 2. b 3. c 4. a 5. c 6. d

JUDITH’S BIRTHDAYREADING

PRESERVING OUR ENVIRONMENTREADING

There is a great need to preserve and protect our envi-ronment and its natural resources. I believe that partof being a good citizen and a good neighbor is main-taining or improving the cleanliness of the air, waterand land of the locations in which we operate andlive. The question we must ask is ourselves is, "Whatcan we do to help?"

What do we do with our rubbish? We often burn orbury it, but this isn't good for the environment. Some ofthis rubbish produces poisonous gases and other typesof pollution. Recycling is an ecological solution to thisproblem. When we recycle materials or objects, we use

them again. Everytime we throw something away, weshould think about what will happen to that rubbish,and remember to look around for the recycling bin.

There are over 600 million cars on our planet andmost people don't think before they use them. Carsproduce millions of tonnes of pollution every year.How can you help? Try these ideas:

Use trains and buses when you can. Use yourhead before you use your car. It helps to reduce thenumber of cars on our roads.

Walk more -- it's cheap and healthy. Try recycling -- it's fun and easy.

1. Reduce a) to keep a building or area in good condition

2. Recycle b) a dangerous substance.

3. Poison c) to make some thing less.

4. Maintain d) to put used paper, glass, etc. in special bins so it can be reused.

5. Pollution e) damage caused to air, water by harmful substances or by waste.

1) What did the writer say about our environment in the first paragraph?_________________________________________________________.

2) What must a good citizen and a good neighbor do?_________________________________________________________.

3) What do people often do with their rubbish?_________________________________________________________.

4) What happens when we recycle materials or objects?_________________________________________________________.

5) What is the end result of using trains and buses?_________________________________________________________.

A- Match the vocabulary in column A to its meaning in column B

B- Answer the questions.

A. Fill in the blanks with the appropriate words.average climate damage nature rubbish

1. Many boxers finish their career with brain ________.

2. Most plants do not grow in the desert because of the hot and dry ________.

3. The ________ person uses 1,500 to 2,000 calories per day.

4. Farmers are lucky because they can see the beauty of ________ in every season.

5. The professor has got so much ________ on his desk it's unbelievable.

VOCABULARY:

My name is Judith and I live in Ýstanbul, Turkey. Mymother is an English teacher at a high school. I was bornin Egypt but my parents are from England. I love travel-ling and visiting different countries like my parents. Mymother is a great cook. She cooks delicious meals fromdifferent parts of the world. Myfriends love eating her speciality;fried chicken with an Egyptiansauce and baked mushroomswith yellow cheese. Tomorrowis my twelfth birthday. I willhave a big party, and all myfriends are invited. Of course mymum will make dinner, and shewill also make my favouritedessert, chocolate cake.

After school my friends willcome to my house for my

birthday party, and I hope they are hungry! My mumwill start dinner with tomato soup. My best friend Lisalikes tomatoes so much, I'm sure she will eat two fullbowls of soup. For the main course, Mum thinks freshvegetables and lamb steak with tomatoes would be

nice, but I don't like lamb. Ithink my friends would love toeat hamburgers with frenchfries and coke, but my motherwill only cook healthy food athome. We both agreed that amixed salad, baked chickenwith peas, and fresh fruit juicewould make a great maincourse for the party. Chocolatecake for dessert will be greattoo, but my favourite part ofthe party will be the presents!

a. What does her mother cook with Egyptian sauce and baked mushrooms?

b. What soup will they eat?

c. What is the main course?

d. How old is Judith?

e. What cake does Judith like?

Circle either true or false.a. Judith is from Turkey. true / false.

b. Her mother is cooking fried chicken with an

Egyptian sauce and baked mushrooms for her birthday party. true / false.

c. The children will go home after school. true / false.

d. Judith's parents live in Egypt. true / false.

e. Judith is 13 years old. true / false.

f. Judith doesn't like eating lamb. true / false.

Complete the sentences.a. Judith lives in .........................

b. Judith ................. twelve years old.

c. ............................ mum is a great cook.

d. Judith's ......................... part of the birthday party is the presents.

e. Istanbul is a big ........................ in Turkey.

Read and find the correct answers.

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Unscramble the words from the reading.

B. Circle the appropriate word to complete the sentence.1. A few policemen were stolen/injured/reduced in the demonstrations.

2. How do I create/waste/exercise a new file on the computer?

3. Regular cleaning may help harm/offer/prevent swine flu.

4. Simple exercises can diminish/recycle/throw your back pain.

5. Þanlý Urfa is a mystical city to injure /explore /consume.

CMYK

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2009

SPORTS Vince Young guided Tennessee to a 20-17 victory over the Houston Texans on Monday, as the Titans improved to 4-0 since he took over as starting

quarterback. Titans (4-6) kicker Rob Bironas made a 53-yard field goal with less than a minute left, before his Texans (5-5) counterpart Kris Brown missed a

49-yarder in the last second that would have tied the game. Houston Reutersl

Young leads Titans to victory over Texans

Bayern Munich general director Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has

urged the troubled German side to lift its game or face elimination at the Champions League group stage.

Time is running out for Bay-ern and coach Louis van Gaal as the Bavarians cannot afford to drop any points in their Group A clash against Israel’s Maccabi Haifa today. Bayern needs to beat Haifa and then Juventus in Turin in December and hope the Ital-ians do not overcome Girondins Bordeaux this week.

“We have to turn this corner quickly,” Rummenigge told re-porters. “If we don’t succeed then we will have to look into it.”

Dutchman Van Gaal, who took over in the close season in an effort to make the team more competi-tive in Europe, has so far failed to deliver and is under growing pres-sure. Bayern, with only four points from four games, risks suffering an embarrassing and rare group stage exit and with in� uential mid� elder Franck Ribery still injured and Arjen Robben doubtful, it has a

mountain to climb.Haifa, with no points or goals

from four matches, still have an out-side chance of overtaking Bayern with two wins in the � nal group matches to grab the Europa League spot.

Haifa, which lost 3-0 at home to Bayern in September, will be without suspended Brazilian mid� elder Tiago Dutra, but is con� dent it can score its� rst goals of the campaign.

“Maybe the chances I missed are a sign we’re saving our goals for the Champions League,” said

striker Shlomi Arbeitman, who has scored 10 goals in 10 domes-tic league matches but has failed to capitalize on a host of other op-portunities.

Fixtures at a glanceGroup A: Bordeaux vs. Juventus; Bayern Munich vs. Maccabi.Group B: CSKA vs. Wolfsburg; Manchester United vs. Be�ikta�.Group C: Real Madrid vs. Zurich; AC Milan vs. Marseille. Group D: Porto vs. Chelsea; APOEL vs. Atletico Madrid. Berlin Reuters

FIFA calls meeting to discuss twoWorld Cup playoffs

Fener Ülker facesZalgiris Kaunason the road today

FIFA President Sepp Blatter has called an emergency meeting of its

executive committee ahead of the World Cup draw in South Africa to deal with the fallout from Thierry Henry’s hand ball, violence at Algeria-Egypt games and match-� xing allegations in Europe.

FIFA said the meeting would take place Dec. 2, two days before the draw in Cape Town. FIFA’s statement did not reveal the incidents. However, there were several examples of fan violence before and after Algeria’s victory over Egypt in an African playoff, plus Henry’s hand ball that led to France advancing at Ireland’s expense.

The committee will also discuss match-� xing and betting scams being investigated in Germany and parts of central and eastern Europe. Algeria’s two games against Egypt came 20 years after riots on and off the � eld marred a meeting of the two African nations and there was more trouble this time.

Crowds in Cairo hurled stones at the Al-gerian team’s bus before a � rst match in Cai-ro on Nov. 14, injuring three players. Egypt won 2-0, forcing the playoff. And in the fol-lowing days, mobs in Algeria ransacked the of� ces of Egyptian companies. Zurich AP

Euroleague basketball action is back after a one-week break to give the overworked

teams and players some breathing space.Fenerbahçe Ülker, the runner-up in the

men’s Turkish Basketball League (TBL) last season, faltered in the Euroleague group four match against unbeaten Italian leader Montepaschi Sienna on Nov. 11 and was beaten 87-83 in front of its home fans at �stanbul’s Abdi �pekçi Sports Arena.

Fener Ülker dropped to 2-2 after that de-feat and therefore has to beat Lithuanian side Zalgiris in game � ve on the road this evening to boost its chances of making the next round in the competition. Fener lost the match against Montepaschi Sienna, but not without a � ght. Tarence Kisney banged in 20 points for Fener, Lynn Greer added 17, O�uz Sava� 14 and Emir Preldzic 10. Fener coach Bogdan Tanjevic will be counting on these sharp-shooters to deliver the goods again today.

Zalgiris is not in the best of moods after being beaten 64-52 on the road by Cibona Zagreb the Wednesday before last, a de-feat which meant the Lithuanians dropped to 1-3. Zalgiris is therefore desperate for victory today to stay alive, and that could make Efes Pilsen’s job even more dif� cult.

Mirza Begic, who scored 14 points, and Travis Watson, who barely missed a double-double with 9 points and 12 rebounds, were outstanding for Zalgiris at Zagreb in game four. These are the players Efes has to keep a close eye on. In the other Group A game to-day Asvel Basket hosts Cibona Zagreb.

Elsewhere in the Euroleague today it is: Union Olimpija vs. Lottomaica Roma in Group C; BC Khimi vs. Asseco Prokom and Panathinaikos vs. EWE Baskets in Group D. �stanbul Today’s Zaman

Time running out for Bayern Munich in CL

The Be�ikta� Black Eagles should be brimming with con� dence ahead of their UEFA Champions League Group

B match against already quali� ed Manchester United at Old Trafford this evening, after trounc-ing the Fenerbahçe Yellow Canaries 3-0 in their �stanbul derby on Saturday.

The fact of the matter, though, is that United is a more formidable opponent than Fenerbahçe. Hence there are more questions than answers as to whether the Eagles’ newly discovered con� dence will be enough for them to hand the English side its � rst Champions League defeat of the season.

The Black Eagles, the current Turkish cham-pions, may have rediscovered winning form in the domestic league and are sweeping aside op-ponents with enthralling arrogance. Ask the latest victims, Trabzonspor and Fenerbahçe, and they will tell you what it feels like being on the receiv-ing end when Be�ikta� is at issue.

Going getting tougher in EuropeBut all is not well with the Black Eagles in Europe. They are languishing at the bottom of Group B with only one point from four matches. Their chances of continuing in the lucrative Champions League have evaporated into thin air, and even finishing third the group and continuing in the less presti-gious UEFA Europa League is a tall order, indeed.

CSKA Moscow, the Eagles’ closest rival, has four points with only two games left including this evening’s, and if they earn a point from their match with German champion VfL Wolfs-burg this evening and Be�ikta� is beaten at Old Trafford, that would be the end of the story for the Black Eagles. In plain language, that would mean the Eagles bidding bye-bye to all Euro-pean competitions this season.

But Be�ikta� seems undaunted by the might of Manchester. “Our morale is sky high,” the Be�ikta� general manager said before their de-parture to England on Monday. “We had a very pleasant week and are going to England with high morale. This is an advantage for us, no doubt about it,” he noted.

Former captain �brahim Üzülmez, the hero of the derby against Fenerbahçe on Saturday, concurred rather philosophically with his gen-eral manager. “We are not concerned about what Manchester [United] can do or has done. On the contrary we are concerned about what we can do and are going to do,” he said. “This is a match in which we have to give our all and it is a match in which we must put up a good � ght. As a team we are performing well and hope to return from England with a good result,” he added.

Coach Denizli cautiousBe�ikta� coach Mustafa Denizli was more cau-tious in choosing his words. “We are not going to England to lose,” he said, which can be translated as “a draw at Old Trafford would not be a bad result.” But he also noted that his team is more

desperate for points and so they would “strive for a result worthy of Be�ikta�.”

But Denizli will be missing suspended Czech stopper Tomas Sivok, injured second-choice keeper Hakan Ar�kan, Slovakia striker Filip Ho-losko and 18-year-old Turkey junior interna-tional left back R�dvan �im�ek, whose surname translates to lightning, while Brazilian-Turkish forward Mert Nobre was allowed to stay behind in �stanbul because his child is ill.

The coach is very likely going to � eld Brazilian Bobo as the sole striker, with mid� eld support from Germans Fabian Ernst, Michael Fink, Rodrigo Tello and of course Üzülmez. In a nutshell, any player who is � elded today has to perform above his natu-ral capacity because United is no spring chicken.

For United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, whose team has already quali� ed, this eve-ning’s match is a mere formality. And so Sir Alex may � eld some reserves while preserving his regulars for the premiership.

There are also reports that 21-year-old North-ern Ireland left back Jonathan Grant “Jonny” Evans and 28-year-old Bulgarian forward Dimitar Ivanov Berbatov have been sidelined due to injury.

Apart from the lucrative prize money for the winner, nothing else is at stake for Manchester United. But Be�ikta� has everything to play for.

All is not well with the Black Eagles in Europe. They are languishing at the bottom of Group B with only one point from four matches and so have to make the impossible possible by

beating Man U this evening to avoid bidding adieu to the UEFA Champions League

ATHLETICS

Germany restores high jump record Gretel Bergmann matched a German high jump record on June 30, 1936. Two weeks later, the 5 feet, 3 inches (1.6 meters) she jumped in Stutt-gart, Germany, was all but obliterated and she was kicked off the team. Bergmann was Jew-ish. She would miss that year’s Berlin Olympics. There was no way the Nazis would allow a Jew to compete and possibly win. Now comes news that Germany’s track and � eld association re-stored the mark, calling the decision an “act of justice and a symbolic gesture” while acknowl-edging it “can in no way make up” for the past. It also requested that she be included in Germany’s sports hall of fame. This was all a pleasant sur-prise for the 95-year-old Bergmann -- a victory for the strong-willed woman who later changed her name to Margaret Lambert after emigrating to the United States in 1937. ”That’s very nice and I appreciate it. I couldn’t repeat the jump to-day. Believe me,” said Lambert, who lives in the New York City borough of Queens. New York AP

SOCCER

US clubs announce rebel soccer league Rebel clubs from the second tier soccer cham-pionship in the United States and Canada will compete in a new North American Soccer League (NASL) from April next year, of� cials have said. The breakaway league was formed earlier this month without being named by clubs previously tied to the United Soccer Leagues (USL), the structure below Major League Soccer. Formally announced two weeks ago, the rebel league has been named to honour the original NASL, a professional league that operated in the US and Canada from 1968 to 1984 and featured soccer greats such as Pele and Franz Beckenbau-er. “We are paying respect to the players, coach-es and leaders who were pioneers for men’s professional soccer in North America,” newly appointed NASL president Selby Wellman said in a statement. “Our intention is to offer an elite brand of soccer and outstanding experience for our partners and fans, something the old NASL did very well during its day. New York Reuters

BASKETBALL

�lyasova’s 20 points not enough for BucksTim Duncan scored 24 points and had 12 re-bounds as the San Antonio Spurs beat Milwau-kee 112-98 on Monday to end the Bucks’ three game winning streak. Reserve Matt Bonner chipped in with 23 points, including six 3-point-ers, as the Spurs managed made it back to back wins to improve to 6-6 this season. Turkish star Ersan �lyasova top scored for Milwaukee (8-4) with 20 points while rookie Brandon Jennings added 12, well down on his 25.3 season average and his 55-point haul against the Golden State Warriors earlier this month but that was not enough to save the Bucks from defeat “We’re moving the ball really well. We have really good shooters and when we can get those guys open shots it’s best for us,” Spurs star Duncan told reporters. Other NBA results (home team in CAPS): MEMPHIS 116, Sacramento 105; PORTLAND 122, Chicago 98 and LA CLIP-PERS 91, Minnesota 87. San Antonio Reuters

GOLF

Ochoa pips Shin for LPGA award Lorena Ochoa edged out South Korean Shin Ji-yai to become the LPGA player of the year for a fourth successive time on Monday after Swede Anna Nordqvist won the season-ending LPGA Tour Championship. Mexican Ochoa coolly birdied the � nal hole for a � ve-under-par 67 at The Houstonian Golf and Country Club to � n-ish alone in second place at 11-under 205, two strokes behind Nordqvist who signed off with a 65. Shin, who led Ochoa in the player of the year race going into the weather-delayed tournament, had to settle for a share of eighth place at six un-der after closing with a 73. The bespectacled Ko-rean, playing with fellow rookie Nordqvist in the � nal group, would have overhauled Ochoa with a birdie at the last but her chip from greenside rough slid past the right edge of the cup. Ochoa, who ended her season with three victories and 13 top-10 � nishes in 22 starts, had tears in her eyes as she watched Shin’s birdie attempt from the edge of the 18th green. Houston Reuters

OKAN UDO BASSEY ÝSTANBUL

EAGLES MUST BEAT MAN U OR FACE EXIT FROM EUROPE

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE STANDINGSGROUP A P W D L GF GA PtsBordeaux* 4 3 1 0 6 2 10Juventus 4 2 2 0 3 1 8Bayern Munich 4 1 1 2 4 4 4Maccabi Haifa 4 0 0 4 0 6 0

GROUP B P W D L GF GA PtsMan United* 4 3 1 0 7 4 10VfL Wolfsburg 4 2 1 1 7 3 7CSKA Moscow 4 1 1 2 6 8 4Be�ikta� 4 0 1 3 1 6 1

GROUP C P W D L GF GA PtsAC Milan 4 2 1 1 6 5 7Real Madrid 4 2 1 1 11 6 7Oly. Marseille 4 2 0 2 8 6 6FC Zurich 4 1 0 3 4 1 3

GROUP D P W D L GF GA PtsChelsea* 4 3 1 0 8 2 10Porto* 4 3 0 1 5 2 9Atletico Madrid 4 0 2 2 2 8 2APOEL Nicosia 4 0 1 3 1 4 1

*Qualify for knockout stages.

Live on Lig TVManchester United-Be�ikta� ...............21:45

Be�ikta� striker Rodrigo Barbosa Tabata (R) battles for the ball with a Manchester United player during their Champions League match in �stanbul on Sept. 15.

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Emir Preldzic

Thierry Henry

WWW.TODAYSZAMAN.COM WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25 , 2009

Berlusconi honored as 2009 rock starThe Italian edition of Rolling Stone has named Prime Minister Silvio Ber-

lusconi its “rock star of the year,” paying tribute to his “lifestyle worthy of the greatest rock star.” An illustration of a smiling Berlusconi embla-

zons the cover of the Rolling Stone’s December issue. Rome, Reuters

Poice chief Carpenter guilty of 3 counts in Parker-Broderick case

RI teenager skipsschool, robs bank

The real Alice in Wonderland’sbook up for auction

The world’s largest atom smasher made another leap forward by circu-lating beams of protons in opposite

directions at the same time and causing the � rst particle collisions in the $10 billion machine af-ter more than a year of repairs, organizers said.

The true test of the Large Hadron Col-lider will come in the � rst two months of 2010, when scientists plan to start deliber-ately crashing protons into each other to see what they can discover about the makeup of the universe and its tiniest particles. The col-lisions -- seen by massive detectors -- were a side effect of the quick advances being made by the LHC during its startup phase, which began on Friday night, said Rolf Heuer, direc-tor-general of the European Organization for Nuclear Research, known as CERN.

“It’s a great achievement to have come this far in so short a time,” said Heuer. “But we need to keep a sense of perspective -- there’s still much to do before we can start the LHC physics program.” Collisions were recorded in all four of the main detectors at “experiments”

in rooms the size of cathedrals about 100 meters (300 feet) underground around the collider.

“This is great news, the start of a fantastic era of physics and hopefully discoveries after 20 years’ work by the international community to build a machine and detectors of unprec-

edented complexity and performance,” said Fa-biola Gianotti, who represents the Atlas partical physics experiment for about 2,000 other scien-tists. “It was standing room only in the ALICE control room and cheers erupted with the � rst collisions,” said Juergen Schukraft, spokesman

for that experiment, which involves heavy ion physics. “This is simply tremendous.”

Control system A CERN statement said the simultaneous beams and collisions demonstrate the excellent performance of the control system. While the initial collisions were a side effect, intentional hits could begin within the next 10 days, main-ly to check how the machine is working, said CERN spokesman James Gillies.

Ultimately, the collider aims to create con-ditions like they were 1 trillionth to 2 trillionths of a second after the Big Bang -- which scien-tists think marked the creation of the universe billions of years ago. Physicists also hope the collider will help them see and understand other suspected phenomena, such as dark matter, antimatter and supersymmetry.

The collider was started with great fanfare Sept. 10, 2008, only to be heavily damaged by an electrical fault nine days later. It took 14 months to repair and add protection systems to the machine before it was restarted. Geneva AP

CMYK

A police chief was acquitted of burglary charges on Monday but convicted of

three other felonies in an alleged break-in at the home of a woman who carried twins for Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick. A jury found suspended Martins Ferry Chief Bar-ry Carpenter guilty of receiving stolen property, theft in of� ce and tampering with evidence. He was acquitted on charges of burglary and un-authorized used of property or services.

Carpenter put his head in his hands after the verdict was read in court. Messages seek-ing comment were left for his attorney and for prosecutors who tried the case. Prosecutors al-leged that Carpenter broke into Michelle Ross’ home in May, took items related to her preg-nancy and the surrogacy, and schemed with the Police Chief Chad Dojack of neighboring Bridgeport to sell them to celebrity photogra-phers. Dojack faces trial in January.

Carpenter had testi� ed that he went into the home to check it out because he saw a door open. He said he took photos of a sur-rogacy � le that contained two ultrasound pic-tures and of a plaster cast of a pregnant stom-ach. He said he showed the photo of the cast to paparazzi and to several other people, but said he never discussed selling items from the home to the photographers. Jurors deliberat-ed for about 12 hours on Friday and Monday. Carpenter faces a maximum 10 years in jail when sentenced Dec. 10. St. Clairsville, Ohio AP

Police say a 17-year-old Warwick boy who skipped school to rob a bank has

been arrested after leaving � ngerprints on the threatening note he passed to the teller. War-wick police Capt. Sean Collins said the boy handed a note riddled with misspellings to a teller, demanding money or “everyone will be shot.” The teller at Coastway Community Bank gave the teen money, but he didn’t have much time to spend it. Police said his image was cap-tured on surveillance cameras, and his � nger-prints were found on the note. Police said the teen was arrested six hours after the alleged theft and faces a � rst degree robbery charge. The teen, whom police declined to identify because he’s a juvenile, was being held at the Rhode Island Training School. Warwick, RI AP

A copy of the book “Through the Looking Glass, and What Alice Found There” that be-

longed to the British girl who inspired author Lewis Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland” will be sold at an auction next month, the company behind the sale has said. At its Dec. 16 auction, Pro� les in History also will sell a copy of “The Tale of Peter Rabbit” that belonged to its author, Beatrix Potter. The items come from the collection of former US professional football player Pat McInally, the auctioneer said.

“Through the Looking Glass, and What Al-ice Found There,” which belonged to the late Alice Liddell before it came into McInally’s col-lection, has an estimated sales price of $150,000. When she was 10 years-old in 1862, Alice Lid-dell went on a picnic with her neighbor, the Oxford mathematician Charles Dodgson, who wrote under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. He told her a story that later became the classic book “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.”

His book “Through the Looking Glass” was a sequel. Potter’s copy of “The Tale of Peter Rab-bit” is expected to sell for up to $120,000, Pro-� les in History said. The auction, which focuses on children’s literature, also includes a � rst edi-tion copy of “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” and signed, limited edition copies of author A.A. Milne’s “Winnie the Pooh” and “The House at Pooh Corner.” The auction is expected to gener-ate total sales of $1 million, said Pro� les in Histo-ry (www.pro� lesinhistory.com). Los Angeles Reuters

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Alice (Liddell) Hargreaves, the original inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,” sits in her home in Hampshire, England, in this 1932 portrait.

CERN Director General Rolf-Dieter Heuer (R) and CERN Director for Accelerators and Technology Steve Myers speak at a press conference in Geneva.

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BIG BANG ATOM SMASHER RECORDS FIRST PROTON HITS

The true test of the Large Hadron Collider will come in the � rst two months of 2010, when scientists plan to start deliberately crashing protons into each other to see

what they can discover about the makeup of the universe and its tiniest particles

Scientists gather at the European Organization for Nuclear Research data quality satellite control cen-ter of the ATLAS detectors during the restart of the Large Hadron Collider in Meyrin, near Geneva.