Sabah: Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan directed criticism toward Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal, who recently claimed that there was the “tutelage of Prime Minister Erdoğan,” in Turkey, the daily reported in a front-page story yesterday. Addressing his Justice and Development Party's (AK Party) delegates in Ankara at a provincial congress on Sunday, Erdoğan asked Baykal: “Where were you after the military released a memorandum on April 27, 2007, threatening to intervene in politics during the presidential election process? Did you take sides with the nation or with those who were longing for military tutelage in the country?” Radikal: ”Turkey even complied with the smoking ban on the first day,” read the headline of the daily's main story yesterday, saying that Turks, to a large extent, obeyed the smoking ban, which was expanded to bars, coffeehouses and restaurants and went into effect on Sunday. July 19 has been a turning point for Turkey for public health, announced the daily. There were tight measures, but many workplaces began to implement the ban without the need for a warning. Ashtrays in restaurants and bars in the busy entertainment neighborhoods of İstanbul and Ankara were removed from tables. A coffeehouse owner told the daily: “Our customers knew about the smoking ban before. So there was no objection. But I think we will lose some of our customers.” A customer whose name was not mentioned told the daily that he did not go to coffeehouses because there was too much smoke; however, he was now thinking about going because of the ban.
Taraf: “Left should have contact with Islam,” read the headline of a front-page article in the daily yesterday, quoting remarks from an ideologue of leftist ideology, Zülfü Dicleli, who spoke to the daily's Neşe Düzel for Monday's interview. He said the supporters of leftist ideology in Turkey should give up seeing Islam as a source of backwardness and engage in communication with observant Muslims. “The nonsensical perception of religion being a source of backwardness should be abandoned. Religion is a lifestyle; Islamic culture is also a part of our culture. The left should not confront this. If leftist ideology puts a distance between itself and the public's lifestyle, it is impossible for the public to take this ideology seriously,” he said.
