Up to 4,000 media workers have been laid- off in Turkey as a result of a recent 30 per cent devaluation of the Turkish Lira, which has hit the media industry the hardest.

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Only the government here appears to be pleased with its new economic recovery programme. Announced on the weekend, the programme, which is backed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has spawned a wave of criticisms and labour rallies.

In just two days Gul, like an elephant in glasshouse, tore down all what his Prime Minister Devlet Bahceli had done to clean up the image of their party, stained by blood and intolerance in the three decades of violence during 1970-2000.

The letter of intent, released Tuesday, pledges that major public banks, the strongholds of Turkeys crony capitalism, will be merged and privatised in three years. State subsidies to beetle and tobacco farming will be stopped.

The strikers seek abolition of state security courts, which are used for political trials and other sensitive cases. They demand more rights for the Kurdish people in Turkey and a break with an economic reform agreement reached with the IMF.

Turkish and Greek Cypriot leaders Denktas and Klerides met after 4 years at the green border. Talks about the future of Cyprus will be continued on January 15th 2002 without any preconditions. Turkish Cypriots comment on the event.

2000 farmers who could not pay their debts due to ongoing economic crisis, are qued for going into the prison. Some farmers will stay in prison for undersigning contracts as guarantors for another fellow farmers debt.

Pro-Kurdish HADEP calmly reacts against recent reports of militarys concerns of their increasing support in the Southeast. We are a guarantee for the countrys porgress to democracy, says deputy-chair Osman Ozcelik.

The exhibition stretches over three floors and explores the cultural heritage of Turkish Jews over the passed seven centuries starting from the Ottoman conquest of Bursa in 1326. A large number of these Sephardic Jews found refugee in the Ottoman Empire.

Ankaras political and military rulers expect that a Turkish military presence in Afghanistan will indirectly provide the country with a wider margin of maneuver and a greater say in the prospective reshaping of the region,

Although virtually unnoticed by the outside world, since last autumn Turkey has been the site of the longest -- and now the deadliest -- hunger strike against a government in modern history.

Rapporters Sans Frontieres denounces violations against journalists. There is a constant gap between Turkeys promises and the practices of its police forces, stated Robert Ménard, the organisations secretary-general.

Turkish government plans to deploy at least 300 soldiers from the special warfare unit, which has been fighting Kurdish insurgents for 15 years, in Afghanistan to operate under the allied command as soon as the land operations begin.

The schism between the governments attitude and the public sentiment is so apparent that, football matches in Istanbul have witnessed loud anti-USA protests when the audience is called for standing for condolence for the victims of the attack on USA.

It is vital that we explore anti-American sentiment. It is especially urgent that we study Americas Middle East policy, with emphasis on U.S. dealings with Iraq and Israel.

The business community and the trade unions, the mainstream media, the liberal and left-wing analysts in an unprecedented solidarity, publicly question the militarys uncontested monopoly over handling the national security issues.

Ongoing economic crisis leads to unemployment among Turkeys specialized workforce, say Engineers Chambers officials. New raduates as well as experienced engineers are seeking jobs outside of their profession or overseas.

Almost weekly, Turkish officials report snaring smugglers or rescuing abandoned immigrants. Earlier this summer, Turkish police found 65 Iraqis hidden in secret compartments of a truck loaded with sand and pebbles.

Should the modern forces also succeed in gathering some minor forces of the right, the whole panorama of Turkish politics might change, says Rusen Cakir, an analyst on Islamist movements.