ISTANBUL
The Anadolu Agency does not verify these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
Tuesday’s newspapers dedicated their front pages to reactions on Sunday’s police operation in Turkey and the Sydney cafe siege, which ended in a shootout that left two hostages and the attacker dead.
The Hurriyet daily headlined “Big fracture with the European Union,” referring to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s strong reaction to the EU’s criticism of the operation.
The paper reported that Erdogan responded to the EU by saying “you should mind your own business” as the EU said that the operation was against “democracy.”
Aksam said on its front page: “The EU should mind its own business,” citing Erdogan’s remarks. Vatan also used Erdogan’s statement as a title: “We don’t have any concerns of entering into the EU.”
The president reacted to the EU saying, “On what grounds did you make this statement? What do you know about this?”
An operation was launched Sunday in Istanbul and other provinces against people suspected of being affiliated with what the Turkish government described as the "parallel state," an alleged group of bureaucrats embedded in the country's institutions, including the judiciary and the police.
"No one has authority to meddle into the steps taken by the Turkish security," the president said during his speech in the western province of Kocaeli. "The EU should keep its opinions to itself."
Erdogan's remarks came after Federica Mogherini, the European Commission’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Johannes Hahn, Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, described the operation as “going against European values.”
In their statement, the two termed the arrests as “incompatible with the freedom of media, which is a core principle of democracy”, saying that any move towards EU accession depends on "full respect for the rule of law and fundamental rights."
Sunday’s Sydney cafe siege was another news item that many newspapers focused on.
Mlliyet said: “Terror in the heart of Sydney,” running a photo showing a hostage, who has escaped from the siege -- while resorting to police.
“16-hour tension” is Hurriyet’s title on the same subject. Five hostages escaped by their own efforts in the first hours of the siege, the paper said.
Daily Sabah described the hostage taker as a “psychopath” in its title. The daily mentioned the attacker Man Haron Monis was charged with burning his ex-wife to death.
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