Milliyet: “Twenty-eight million to be vaccinated,” read the headline of the daily's main story yesterday, which quoted remarks from Health Minister Recep Akdağ, who spoke to the daily on the ministry's plans for fighting a wave of swine flu outbreaks likely to hit Turkey. Even though there have been claims asserting that the swine flu vaccine has fatal side effects, Akdağ has reiterated that the swine flu vaccine has no major side effects and stated that their plan is to vaccinate 28 million people by March. “It does not have any side effects different from the seasonal flu vaccine. We will not vaccinate anyone by force, but we will inform the public. It is more difficult to fight rumors than to fight the virus,” stated Akdağ.
Star: In a front page story yesterday, the daily quoted remarks from Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who called on main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal to keep his door open to him to discuss the government's efforts to settle the Kurdish issue. Accepting a call from Erdoğan to have a meeting on the issue, Baykal previously said he would like to have the meeting recorded by a television crew, contrary to Erdoğan, who does not see a recording as necessary. Erdoğan quoted 13th-century philosopher Ahi Evren, who called on people to keep their doors, hands and dinner tables open to everyone.
Vatan: “Now we have become a foreigner,” the daily reported in its top headline yesterday, saying that Azerbaijan responded to the recent Armenian-Turkish rapprochement with retribution. The daily reported that Turkish flags, which were hung at the spot where Turks were martyred in Baku 10 years ago, have been recently removed on the grounds that “foreign flags are not allowed at the site.” Azerbaijan has been criticizing a recent agreement between Turkey and Armenia to establish diplomatic relations and to open the border, which was closed after the 1993 Armenian invasion of Nagorno-Karabakh, saying it exacerbates the dispute over its breakaway enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.
