Press Roundup

Akşam: “She left her friends behind, but is united with her husband,” was the headline of a front-page article reporting on the funeral of renowned Turkish scriptwriter and actress Meral Okay, who had been receiving treatment for cancer and passed away at the age of 53 on Monday. She married screen and stage actor Yaman Okay in 1984, only to lose him to cancer nine years later at the young age of 41. Okay was buried on Tuesday at the Zincirlikuyu Cemetery in İstanbul following the noon prayer at the Bebek Mosque.

Taraf: A front-page story of the daily headlined “Uludere mothers made Parliament members cry” reported that 42 people from the families of the 34 civilians who were mistakenly killed by a military airstrike in December 2011 have visited Parliament. Felek Encü, whose son Erkan Encü was among the victims, brought some of her son’s personal belongings to Parliament, saying she wants everyone to look at them as they describe her son’s character. She added that she does not want her son to be remembered simply as “one of the 34 victims.” Encü’s mother wants people to realize that her son was a human being with dreams and said that only when they realize that will they understand the pain she feels.

Yeni Şafak: “Only Annan is hopeful,” read the headline of a first-page story reporting on UN-Arab League Special Envoy to Syria Kofi Annan’s setting April 12 as the new deadline for the withdrawal of Syrian troops from besieged towns and villages. The daily said although many countries, including Turkey, have almost no hope the Annan plan will work, he has given two extra days for the cease-fire to be reached. Meanwhile, Annan visited a refugee tent city in Turkey’s Hatay province, where some 2,700 Syrians who fled the violence settled in April 2011.