These are some of the major headlines and their summaries in Turkish press on August 7th, 2008.

- 07 / 08 / 2008 08:37

TURKIYE

STUDENT PARDON LOOMS

Education Minister Huseyin Celik said that he asked his bureaucrats to prepare a draft bill to pardon 600,000 university students who were banned or suspended from their schools. 
    
FENER EASILY ADVANCE

Fenerbahce defeated MTK 0-5 in the second leg of European Champions League 2nd qualifying round. Fener striker Semih scored 4 goals. Fener's next opponents are Serbia's Partizan. 
    
ZAMAN

NEW RECTORS INDUCT INTO OFFICE BY PLEDGING HIGHER STANDARDS

New rectors appointed by President Abdullah Gul have inducted into office. Former rectors of the METU; Gazi, Ege and Firat universities handed over their office to the newly appointed rectors who pledged to assess academicians on the basis of their scientific achievements without considering whether they voted for them or not. Prof. Dr. Israfil Kurtcephe, new rector of the Akdeniz University, said that the university would be the center of science henceforth, instead of political discussions. 
    
INVESTIGATION INTO "SEA STAR PROJECT"

An investigation has been launched into the "Sea Star Project" initiated by the Foundation for Contemporary Education (CEV) to provide 1,800 students with scholarship with the support of retired Gen. Sener Eruygur, former commander of the Gendarmerie Forces. Interesting information was obtained during the investigation carried out by the Gendarmerie Forces Command. Accordingly, the foundation granted scholarship to students whose relatives were members of the terrorist organizations such as PKK, DHKP-C and Hezbollah. 
    
YENI SAFAK

TURKISH PHYSICIAN AT CERN DIES

Turkish physician Prof. Engin Isiksal, working at CERN Researches Center in Switzerland, died of heart attack in his house. Death of 49-year-old scientist, who did not have heart problem, shook science world. 
    
CHP ARROW AT BUYUKANIT

Republican People's Party (CHP) is insistent on its accusations against the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) despite strong statements of General Staff. CHP's group chairman Kemal Kilicdaroglu criticized decisions made in Supreme Military Council that there was no discharge. Kilicdaroglu said, "there may be four assassination attempts against Gen. Yasar Buyukanit. Will the other chiefs of General Staff get the same armoured vehicle that has been bought for Buyukanit?"

VATAN

SAME CRISIS AGAIN

President Abdullah Gul appointed rectors to 21 universities. Appointment of the rectors caused confusion at universities. This time, it was alleged that President Abdullah Gul's appointment decisions were based on "candidates' closeness to AK Party". Former President Ahmet Necdet Sezer had been criticized as he approved names who had same secularism view as him. The candidates who got the highest number of votes could not become the rectors in nine universities. 27 professors and three assistant professors at Istanbul Technical University (ITU), Gazi University, 9 Eylul University and 19 Mayis universities resigned. 
    
GOCEK HOLIDAY OF GUL COUPLE

President Abdullah Gul is spending his holiday with his family with a private yacht at Gocek Bay in Aegean province of Mugla. Zodiac boats and jet-skiis are patrolling around the bay for safety of President Gul and his family. 
    
CUMHURIYET

UNIVERSITY RISES

Academicians, who reacted to rectors appointed by President Abdullah Gul, have resigned from their schools. Several professors from Istanbul Technical University, Gazi University, Akdeniz University and Dokuz Eylul University, including deans, head doctors and institute directors, submitted their resignations. Several others from different universities are expected to resign too. 
    
SEMIH ELATES

Fenerbahce knocked MTK Budapest out of European Champions League after a 0-5 win in the second leg of the 2nd qualifying round. Semih Senturk was the man of the match after scoring 4 goals. Fenerbahce will face Serbia's Partizan in the third round. 
    
RADIKAL

KEEPING RECORDS OF PEOPLE WAS ONE OF SPECIAL FORCES' ROUTINES

Documents about a number of people have been seized in house of former major Fikret Emek, who was detained under the Ergenekon probe. Emek claimed that the documents were prepared by intelligence units under official assignment. Hundreds of people were described as "member of PKK", "member of DHKP-C", "extreme leftist" or members of some religious sects. In the documents names of 164 companies were associated with the PKK terrorist organization. 
    
NUCLEAR REACTION

A group of members of the international environmental organization Greenpeace have protested the Sabanci Holding for participating in a tender for nuclear power plant. Greenpeace activists entered the garden of the Sabanci Towers in Istanbul and released a giant balloon carrying a huge banner which read, "go solar".

FIRST VISIT BY A PRESIDENT AFTER 15 YEARS

President Abdullah Gul and his family are enjoying the blue waters of the Aegean and the Mediterranean aboard a private yacht that anchored at Gocek which was made famous by the late president Turgut Ozal. Gul has become the first president after Ozal to spend his holiday at Gocek with his family. 
    
RESIGNATIONS HIT UNIVERSITY

President Abdullah Gul appointed university rectors, however three universities were hit by resignations. 16 professors from Istanbul Technical University, Ankara's Gazi University and Izmir's Dokuz Eylul University resigned to protest Gul whom they accused of favoring supporters of the ruling Justice & Development (AK) Party. 
    
MILLIYET

SMOKE SCREEN

It was revealed that the documents on which the indictment of Ergenekon probe was based, were originally seized in houses of Tuncay Guney, a former journalist, and Umit Oguztan, a suspect, in 2001. But the investigation was closed in 2002. Two files titled "Ergenekon" and "Assassinations" were returned to Oguztan by the court. All the other documents have been kept at the state safely for years. Erol Cakir, who was the then governor of Istanbul, refrained from answering questions. 
    
PKK'S ROCKET-ATTACK KILLS A TURKISH TROOP

A police officer was killed and two others were injured when PKK terrorists attacked on the local security department in Malazgirt town of the eastern province of Mus. 
    
RESIGNATIONS AT UNIVERSITIES

A number of academicians have resigned after appointment of 21 new rectors by President Abdullah Gul. Twelve professors at Istanbul Technical University (ITU) resigned to protest the appointments. Prof. Dr. Sedef Gidener of the Dokuz Eylul University also resigned. Although she was chosen by her colleagues as the number one candidate and proposed by the Higher Education Board (YOK), she was not appointed by President Gul. She resigned as head doctor of the School of Medicine. 
    
SABAH

NAME OF SEMIH WRITTEN IN FENERBAHCE'S HISTORY

Fenerbahce soccer team of Turkey scored five goals against MTK Budapest of Hungary in the second legof the second qualifying round of the European Champions League in Budapest. Semih Senturk of Fenerbahce scored four of the five goals. Semih became the first Turkish footballer who scored four goals in a European Cup match. 
    
TARGET IS TO GET GOLD MEDAL

Olympic Games will begin in Beijing on Friday. Two women athletes of Turkish National Athletics team Nevin Yanit and Merve Aydin, dressed in traditional Chinese national outfit, vowed to bring medals to Turkey.