Turkish Daily News
User name: tcnews
password: turkey

Jordan's Queen Rania visits Istanbul

Friday, February 24, 2006
ISTANBUL - Turkish Daily News

  Queen Rania Al-Abdullah of Jordan visited a pre-school in Istanbul on Thursday to see a program being implemented there by the Mothers and Children Education Foundation (AÇEV).
  Do?an Group and AÇEV invited the Jordanian queen to the city, a visit she began yesterday with an appearance on Suna Vidinli's “Reference Point” program on CNN-Türk.
  The royal visitor and her 2-year-old son, Ha?im, arrived the previous evening when her private jet landed at Istanbul's Atatürk International Airport around 7:15 pm. The official welcoming party included Istanbul Governor Muammer Güler's wife, Neval Güler, Deputy Governor Hasan Duran and Foreign Ministry representative Fazl? Ke?mir.

US congressman sends protest letter to Erdo?an over Hamas visit

Friday, February 24, 2006
ANKARA - Turkish Daily News

  U.S. Congressman Tom Lantos, a Jewish-American, has sent a letter to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo?an in protest of a meeting with a high-level delegation from the radical Palestinian organization Hamas in Ankara last week, reported NTV yesterday.
  The U.S. State Department was uneasy over senior Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal's visit, expressing disapproval of the Turkish government's move to meet with the radical group, which won last month's parliamentary elections in the Palestinian territory, but at the same time urging Turkey to use its influence to force the group to recognize Israel's right to exist and to reject terrorism.
  Jewish-American groups were, however, even more furious, suggesting that the Turkish government's move to engage with Hamas would “lead to consequences.”
  In his letter Lantos asserted that the meeting with Hamas would seriously damage Turkey's national interests, its fight against terrorism and relations with the United States. 
  An American by choice, Lantos was born in Budapest. He has served as a member of the U.S. Congress since 1981 and is the only Holocaust survivor ever to serve in the U.S. Congress.
  Lantos described Hamas in the letter as a terrorist gang that does not recognize Israel's right to exist and that labels Jews as “the sons of pigs and monkeys.”

Istanbul police mistreat illegal African immigrants

Friday, February 24, 2006
Michael Kuser

ISTANBUL - Turkish Daily News

  An illegal African immigrant went to the post office in Istanbul last September to collect a money order from his family in Ethiopia. The Turkish postal clerk noticed that the man's passport had expired, and, even though the name and number matched the money order, he called the police.
  Police held the man for four months before releasing him, even though he had broken no law. To date he has not collected the money sent by his family.

Empty business center collapses in Bursa

Friday, February 24, 2006
ANKARA - TDN with wire services

  An empty business office complex collapsed on Thursday in the Osmangazi district of the western Turkish city of Bursa, crushing several parked cars on the street, television stations reported.
  There were no immediate reports of casualties. But some people may have been in the business center when the two eight-story buildings collapsed. The top stories of the center were used for residential purposes, reports said.

Kurdish group claims bomb attack on AKP offices

Friday, February 24, 2006
ANKARA - TDN with AFP

  A radical Kurdish group claimed responsibility on Thursday for an explosion at the regional offices of the ruling party in southern Turkey, saying it was a warning to the government.
  The explosion late on Tuesday, which officials said was caused by a shrapnel bomb, destroyed the door of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) offices in the town of Mezitli without causing any casualties.
  'We will press on with our acts if the AKP government continues to stick to dirty policies against the Kurdish people,' the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons said on their Web site.
  The group had claimed responsibility for two bomb attacks in Turkey's biggest city Istanbul earlier this month that killed one person and injured 30 others.