Press Roundup

Yeni Şafak: “Match-fixing festival in Silivri,” read the headline of the daily’s top story reporting on the demonstration of 2,000 Fenerbahçe fans supporting Fenerbahçe Chairman Aziz Yıldırım, who is among 93 suspects in a match-fixing trial, the first hearing of which was held on Tuesday at a court at Silivri, 70 kilometers west of İstanbul. Outside the court, a tent was set up to serve tea, coffee and soup to the demonstrators and supporters who shouted, “We are right, we will win,” and carried banners reading “Our love is not just for Feb. 14, it will last forever,” making a reference to Valentine’s Day. Fans from other football clubs were also observed among the crowd.

Milliyet: “New target is Turkey,” was the headline of a story on the front page reporting that the head of Turkey’s Internet watchdog, the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK), recently came under attack by a group of hackers called Anonymous as part of Operation Digiturk. The operation was launched after one of the country’s satellite television providers, Digiturk, blocked several blogs that were hosting copyrighted materials. A statement by the hacktivists read: “It is time to fight for free internet while dominations are getting consistent. Digiturk, who is responsible for blocking blogger.com and inci.sozlukspot.com, is terrorizing the internet.”

Sabah: “Two rockets fall in Homs every minute,” said the headline of a page one story, reporting that Syrian rights activists say Homs on Tuesday suffered one of the heaviest days of shelling since pro-President Bashar al-Assad forces besieging the city began daily bombardments on Feb. 4. They say government attacks killed at least six people in Homs and at least six others elsewhere in the country, including nearby Hama, where pro-Assad forces stormed into parts of the city. Assad has dispatched forces loyal to him to cites and towns across Syria to put down the uprising, drawing armed resistance, defections by soldiers from the Sunni Muslim majority, and international outrage at a crackdown that has killed thousands of civilians.