Turkish press review

ANKARA (A.A) - November 16, 2011 - Turkish dailies mostly covered in their Wednesday's edition the efforts of residents of eastern province of Van who want to leave the quake-hit province, Turkish national soccer team's farewell to Euro 2012, and Turkish President Abdullah Gul's and Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan's harsh reactions to Syria. Milliyet and Cumhuriyet newspapers published stories about the quake survivors. Milliyet wrote that 60,000 people were leaving Van, whereas Cumhuriyet wrote that the number of people who have applied to leave the city in the last two days reached 70,000. All papers referred to Turkey's farewell to Euro 2012 after a 0-0 draw with Croatia in an away Euro 2012 play-off game. Turkiye wrote that national team's coach Guus Hiddink bade farewell to footballers and told Turkish Football Federation executives that he had quitted. Another topic in today's newspapers were Gul's and Erdogan's reactions to Syria. Zaman daily newspaper wrote that President Gul warned the Damascus administration about attacks on Turkish representations. According to the paper, Gul asked Syria to take measures and said the Syrian administration was oppressing the nation. The paper quoted Gul as saying that what was happening today was not a surprise.  Sabah daily newspaper referred to not only Gul's but also Erdogan's warning to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The newspaper quoted Erdogan as saying that everybody that had touched on the Turkish flag with bad intentions had not been left unanswered throughout the history, and it would be the same from now on.  Moreover, Turkiye and Yeni Safak newspapers headlined stories about Erdogan's reaction to the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP). Turkiye referred to Erdogan's call to BDP to stay away from the terrorist organization, whereas Yeni Safak wrote that Erdogan reacted to BDP members who visited condolence tents opened after funerals of terrorists who were killed while running away from mountains. According to Yeni Safak, Erdogan addressed the BDP members and asked, "how could you look at the faces of those mothers? Why don't you question the execution of those five women? Have they feared you up this much? Are you so coward that you cannot make politics with your own free will?"