HURRIYET
-- DON'T ENGAGE IN FIGHTS
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, who gave an interview with New York Times, told U.S. president-elect Barack Obama: “We expect the issues between Iran and U.S. to be resolved at the table. Wars are never solutions in this age. Maintain the steadiness of your spine, but don’t engage in fights.” Turkey wants to be the mediator between the new Obama administration and Iran, Erdogan said. “We watch the relations between Iran and U.S. with great concern,” he added.

-- ANOTHER TURKISH SHIP HIJACKED
Pirates, who hijacked a Turkish ship, "Yasa Neslihan", with 20 crew members offshore of Yemen 15 days ago, now hijacked Karagol, another ship of Turkish registry, in the same region. There are 14 crew members on board the ship which was destined to Bombay port of India. Turkey immediately contacted the NATO ships of British Navy off Dubai and asked them to intervene.

-- ANKARA FAILS TO MAKE CONTACT WITH OBAMA
While Barrack Obama, who was elected President of the U.S. on November 4, talked with several world leaders over the phone, Ankara failed to establish contact with him. Ankara was rather reluctant to contact Joe Biden who will take office as the Vice President on January 20.

MILLIYET
-- PIRATES HIJACK SHIP OF AKP DEPUTY
Pirates hijacked Turkish-flagged ship belonging to the company of Kemal Yardimci, a deputy from the ruling AKP, off the coast of Yemen. The ship "Karagol" carrying chemicals bound for India was hijacked on Wednesday. It is the second Turkish ship commandeered in the area recently.

-- MARKETS TURN UPSIDE DOWN
Impacts of concerns over global recessionon emerging markets and the uncertainty in the relations between the IMF and Turkey have turned the markets upside down. Turkish lira (YTL) weakened against U.S. dollar and euro. U.S. dollar is traded at 1.6 YTL and euro exceeded 2 YTL at Istanbul's free market. The Istanbul Stock Exchange (IMKB) main index slumped 2.1 percent and closed at 25,342.

SABAH
-- TURKISH-ITALIAN COOPERATION TO CONTINUE SHOULDER TO SHOULDER
The first intergovernmental summit between Turkey and Italy took place in western province of Izmir on Wednesday. Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and his Italian counterpart Silvio Berlusconi expressed that the solidarity between Turkey and Italy will continue at the highest level possible in all areas.

-- TRT'S KURDISH CHANNEL TO BEGIN BROADCASTING ON JANUARY 1
Director General of the Turkish Radio and Television (TRT) Ibrahim Sahin said that TRT was working on establishing a new channel that would broadcast programs in Kurdish language. The new Kurdish channel will begin broadcasting on January 1, 2009. "We may ask the people to suggest a name for the Kurdish channel," Sahin said.

VATAN
-- MALL CRISIS BEGINS IN ISTANBUL
Retail sector is having hard times due to slump in markets.Shopkeepers have revolted against mall operators and exorbitant rents as their sales dropped after the financial crisis. After "close down" protests in some shopping malls in Ankara and some other central provinces, such protests may also take place at malls in Istanbul.

-- PIRATES HIJACK ANOTHER TURKISH SHIP
Pirates hijacked Turkish-flagged ship, "Karagol", bound for India offshore Yemen, Turkish maritime officials said. 14 Turkish personnel were aboard the ship carrying chemicals which was hijacked 16 miles off the coast of Yemen. Last week pirates also hijacked a Turkish ship offshore Somalia.

CUMHURIYET
-- CIVIL SERVANTS WIN AT ECHR
Grand Chamber, the body of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in charge of appeals, did not change the court's verdict in the case filed by Kemal Demir, a member of Tum Bel-Sen --a civil servants' union in Turkey-- and ruled that Turkey violated the right to association. The court sentenced Turkey to pay 20,000 euro as amends to the labour union's legal representative. The verdict may pave the way for collective agreement between the government and civil servant unions. Union officials had filed a lawsuit at the ECHR about the Council of State ruling saying that Civil Servant Union officials could not attend collective bargaining talks and that the union itself could not be considered a legal entity according to law.

-- ANOTHER TURKISH SHIP HIJACKED
While talks on the Turkish ship hijacked by pirates in Aden Bay for ransom on October 30 continue, another Turkish ship named Karagol, destined for India was also hijacked by pirates offshore Yemen. Turkey's Maritime Authority announced that it contacted NATO ships of British Navy situated in Dubai and asked them to intervene. The ransom negotiations for Ukrainian ship (loaded with heavy weapons) hijacked on September 25th also still continue.

RADIKAL
-- EARTHQUAKE SHAKES KAYSERI
An earthquake measuring 4.9 on the Richter scale shook central Anatolian province of Kayseri on Wednesday. Kayseri residents rushed to the streets in panic during and immediately after the earthquake.

THOUSANDS OF WORKERS LAID OFF IN TWO YEARS
Production in Turkey shrank by 4.1 percent in August and 5.5 percent in September. An official in the Turkish textile sector said that around 200,000 workers were laid off in the past two years in Turkey.

YENI SAFAK
-- SPECIAL CEREMONY FOR LAST VETARAN
Turkey will bid farewell to Mustafa Birgol, the last veteran of its Independence War, with a special ceremony at the 1st Army HQs in Istanbul with the participation of General Staff Chief Gen. Ilker Basbug and Force commanders. Parliament Speaker Koksal Toptan announced that an formal ceremony would also be held for Bingol in front of the Parliament in Ankara.

-- WE WILL LEAP FIVE YEARS AHEAD WITH CRISIS
Akbank's Chairperson Suzan Dincer Sabanci said Turkish banks were in better situation than foreign banks. "We have the capacity to fight the crisis. If the crisis is managed well, it could carry our country five years ahead," said Sabanci.