Turkish press review

Several Turkish newspapers reported on Erdoğan's visit to China. Erdoğan began his trip in East Turkistan, or Xinjiang province, and delivered messages of support to the Uyghur Turkic minority there. Several ministers, as well as nearly 300 businessmen and journalists, are accompanying Erdoğan on his trip. Erdoğan met with businessmen in Urumqi and visited a factory that produces wind turbines. He said, “We called on factory officials to invest in Turkey.”

Another topic covered by dailies was several incidents that occurred along the Turkish-Syrian border. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's tanks opened fire on opponents in the Idlib region near the Turkish border yesterday. In addition to helicopters, 90 tanks joined in on the bombardment. Meanwhile, hours before a UN cease-fire went into effect, the Assad administration stated that they would not withdraw forces until opponents provided assurance in writing. UN and Arab League envoy for Syria Kofi Annan had announced April 10 as the deadline for Assad to end the massacre; however, he was deeply disappointed. Annan said he was shocked by recent information that violence continued to rage and was escalating in many Syrian cities. According to the Milliyet daily, Turkey's Syria plan is ready. If the number of Syrian refugees taking shelter in Turkey reaches 50,000 or Assad begins operations in Aleppo, a humanitarian aid corridor will be set up on the Syrian side of the border.

Another widely covered story was nuclear talks between Iran and the P5+1 countries -- the US, Russia, China, France, the UK and Germany. During Erdoğan's visit to Tehran, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's administration had been positive about Turkey hosting the nuclear talks. However, Tehran later stated that the talks should be held in Damascus or Beirut. Upon hearing this statement, Erdoğan replied, “As they are not reliable, they lose prestige.” Iranian Press TV later announced that the talks would take place in İstanbul on April 14, but Prime Minister Erdoğan said this has not yet been confirmed.