Turkish press review

“Wards of hell,” read a Vatan daily headline for a story on the death of 13 convicts at a correctional facility in the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa. The daily said 1,057 inmates were being kept in the prison, which was only built to hold 350 inmates. The fire was started amidst a fight between two groups of prisoners over a fan, a poor remedy for summer temperatures, which can reach as high as 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit), inside in the overcrowded facility. The daily added that the Şanlıurfa Bar had presented a detailed reported on the poor conditions at the facility to the Justice Ministry a year ago. The report had said the prison was packed with three times as many prisoners as it was meant to hold.

The Milliyet daily reported that Deputy Prime Minister Arınç supported remarks made by independent deputy Zana. Zana had said Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdoğan can solve “the Kurdish issue.” “Zana told the truth. I wish everyone else thought the same as Zana,” the daily quoted Arınç as saying.

“Turkey should send weapons to Syrian rebels,” read a Milliyet headline for a story on remarks by US presidential hopeful Romney. The Republican candidate criticized US President Barack Obama's policy on Syria. The daily added that Romney urged Obama to encourage allies such as Turkey and Saudi Arabia to supply the Syrian rebels with arms.

The Sabah daily covered a forest fire that erupted on İstanbul's Heybeliada, where the historic Halki Seminary is located. The daily added that the fire consumed about three-and-a-half hectares of pine forest. The blaze was put out by firefighting teams before it could reach the seminary.