Nilay Kar
19 January 2016•Update: 19 January 2016
ISTANBUL
Anadolu Agency does not verify these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
Dailies on Tuesday dedicated their front pages to a rocket fired from Syria hitting a Turkish school in southeast of the country and Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu’s remarks over a plan after anti-terror operations end.
VATAN ran with the headline: “Rocket to [the] school,” running a photo from the struck building and a damaged car nearby.
According to the newspaper, the rocket was most likely fired by Daesh as the daily said that there have been conflicts between Free Syrian Army members and Daesh near the northwestern Syrian town of Azaz.
One woman, a school janitor, died from her injuries when Eyup Gokce Imam Middle School in the southern province of Kilis was hit by a Katyusha rocket. The blast also left a female student and a teacher wounded on Monday morning.
Similarly, HURRIYET’s front-page headline read: “ISIL [Daesh] rocket to primary school.”
Under a headline reading: “Daesh rocket to garden of a school,” STAR wrote that a major tragedy had been prevented as students were not at their break time when the rocket hit.
Prime Minister Davutoglu’s remarks were also widely covered by many newspapers on Tuesday.
STAR and VATAN used the same front-page headlines: “Hakkari and Sirnak [southeastern provinces] are moving,” referring to his comments.
Speaking to reporters en route to London, Davutoglu stated that they plan to move provincial centers of Hakkari and Sirnak to their districts of Yuksekova and Cizre, where anti-terror operations against the PKK are concentrated.
“After the [anti-terror] operations, construction works will begin,” he said.
Giving details about the recent developments of the conditions of the southern provinces of the country he said: “The process has largely been completed in Silopi [a district in Sirnak province]. Trenches have been filled. Returning life to normal and opening schools is planned.”
HABERTURK’s headline read: “[Provincial] center move,” while HURRIYET wrote on its front page: “Cizre and Yuksekova will become provincial centers.”
Several newspapers ran front-page weather stories on Istanbul and conditions across Turkey.
SABAH said: “Cold wave grips Turkey,” reporting that snow blanked several western provinces, including Istanbul, on Monday, forcing the cancellation of hundreds of flights and closing roads.
The newspaper also added that the southern province of Antalya was hit by a storm while western Edirne province was flooded.
“It will snow for six more days,” VATAN’s front-page headline read. Citing Turkey’s General Directorate of Meteorology’s statement, the daily said a heavy fall of snow is expected on Friday across Turkey.
In economic news, DUNYA’s front-page headline read: “Iran will be both a partner and rival.”
The daily quoted Turkish businessmen as saying the lifting of sanctions would affect Turkey’s commerce positively in the short and medium terms.
However, the daily reported that the businessmen predicted Iran will be a rival for Turkey’s export markets in the long term.
On Saturday, the U.S. and the EU lifted international sanctions on Iran following the announcement by the International Atomic Energy Agency that Iran was complying with its nuclear-related obligations agreed last summer.
