Taraf: “Swine flu a money trap,” read the headline of the daily’s main story yesterday, quoting remarks from Professor Selim Badur, who claimed that some private health institutions are trying to generate money by exploiting the panic over swine flu in the country. Badur, who heads a laboratory at İstanbul University, which is authorized to carry out swine flu tests, said some private hospitals are conducting swine flu tests on people even when it is unnecessary just to generate money. “There were health centers in İstanbul which had announced that they were administering the swine flu vaccine before the vaccines had even arrived in Turkey,” he noted. Star: “Go and attack Parliament! I have no strength” the daily reported in a front-page article yesterday quoting remarks from Alparslan Arslan, the hit man of a 2006 armed attack on the Council of State, currently standing trial as part of the investigation into Ergenekon, a criminal network plotting to overthrow the government. Arslan was shouting at Gen. Veli Küçük, the suspected leader of Ergenekon, to attack Parliament when they met in the Silivri Prison complex, where the Ergenekon trial is held, the daily reported.
Yeni Şafak: In its lead article yesterday the daily reported that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has ruled out early elections, a recent topic on the agenda and claimed by some to be the government’s plan. Erdoğan, who was participating in the inauguration of a new terminal at Sabiha Gökçen Airport in İstanbul, said Turkey is no longer a country of frequent elections and that elections will be held in 2011 as scheduled. It was claimed that he had told Deniz Baykal, the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader, of his early election plans. However, Erdoğan said if he had had such a plan, he would have shared it with the nation, not with the opposition.
