UNITED NATIONS (A.A) - Turkish Foreign Minister AhmetDavutoglu on Tuesday submitted to the UN Turkey's ratification paper on theOptional Protocol to the UN Convention Against Torture.Davutoglu submitted the ratification paper to Patricia O'Brien,under-secretary-general for legal affairs and United Nations legal counsel, in aceremony at the United Nations headquarters.After the ceremony, Davutoglu was set to meet Lebanese Prime Minister NajibMikati.(İMB-EÖ)

ANKARA (A.A) - Turkish people have so far collected atotal of 498.1 million Turkish liras in donations for Somalia, the Turkish PrimeMinistry Disaster&Emergency Management Directorate (AFAD) announced on Tuesday.As of 5.00 p.m. today, AFAD has collected 107.5 million TL and TurkishReligious Affairs Authority has collected 198 million TL, as 192.6 million TL hasbeen collected in several other campaigns launched across the country, AFAD said.Turkey has recently initiated a country-wide aid campaign to help Somalia.Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Mogadishu and several refugeecamps in the country, pledging more aid in cash and infrastructure.Turkey has so far sent 9 planes and 7 ships of humanitarian relief suppliesto famine-stricken Somalia.(İMB-EÖ)

LEFKOSA (A.A) - Turkish Cypriot President Dervis Erogluand Greek Cypriot leader Demetris Christofias met again on Tuesday in their talksto find a settlement to the division Cyprus amid a dispute erupted after theGreek Cypriot side moved to start offshore drilling for hydrocarbon reservessoutheast of the Eastern Mediterranean island.Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Eroglu said today's talks hadfocused on issues related to the European Union, adding the Greek Cypriot naturalgas drilling did not come during the meeting."The Greek Cypriot side didn't raise the issue, so neither did we,"Eroglutold reporters.Eroglu said an agreement he and Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoganhad signed in New York had made a remarkable impact, adding,"the agreement isvery important in the sense that it demonstrated both our resolve and Turkey'sdetermination on this particular issue."Eroglu said he was scheduled to meet Christofias again on Friday to take upthe issue of police force in a united Cyprus state.Also speaking to reporters after the meeting of the Cypriot leaders,Alexander Downer, UN secretary general's special advisor on Cyprus, said Erogluand Christofias would discuss the chapter on security in their next meeting onFriday, which he said was the last chapter in the two leaders'talks."The next week will open a whole new stage which will see necessarypreparations for the leaders'meeting with UN secretary general in October,"Downer said.Downer said Eroglu and Christofias did not discuss hydrocarbon explorationin Tuesday's meeting, adding that the leaders knew that the issue would riskderailing the entire negotiations process."We don't want talks to collapse. A united federal Cypriot government at theend of the settlement talks would be the sole authority on the island's naturalresources and water. This is something that the two leaders had agreed upon,"Downer said.Downer said neither the Turkish Cypriot side nor the Greek Cypriot side hadappealed to the UN secretary general for mediation on the issue of offshoredrilling.(İMB-EÖ)

ISTANBUL (A.A) - The top 10 shares in terms of valuegained and lost on daily-basis on Tuesday at the Istanbul Stock Exchange (ISE)are as follows:SHARES CHANGE (%) 01 - ALTINYAG KOMBINA. 23,38 02 - EGE ENDUSTRI 16,86 03 - SAGLAM GMYO 12,74 04 - EGEPLAST 11,54 05 - HAZNEDAR TUGLA 11,52 06 - INTEMA 11,4307 - T.TUBORG 10,06 08 - ERSU GIDA 9,17 09 - EKIZ YAG 8,84 10 - DENIZLI CAM 8,57 SHARES CHANGE (%) 01 - RAN LOJISTIK -11,19 02 - NUROL GMYO -8,29 03 - MARSHALL -7,62 04 - SONMEZ PAMUKLU -4,56 05 - METRO YAT.ORT. -4,27 06 - ALARKO CARRIER S. -2,72 07 - FAVORI DINLENME -2,56 08 - INFOTREND B MYO -2,53 09 - ANADOLU CAM-1,87 10 - TRABZON SPOR -1,58 (EÖ)

ISTANBUL (A.A) - The Istanbul Gold Exchange (IAB) wasup 4.05 percent on Tuesday as gold traded at 98,450 Turkish liras a kilo and1,664.80 USD an ounce.A total of 2,273 kilograms of gold was traded at the IAB.The trading volume was 23.8 million Turkish liras in 22 transactions and108.8 million USD in 115 transactions.The trading volume in the silver market was 1.1 million Turkish liras in 1transaction and it was 3.8 million USD in 5 transactions.(GC-EÖ)

UNITED NATIONS (A.A) - Turkish Foreign Minister AhmetDavutoglu met with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in New York on Tuesday.Turkish Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Feridun Sinirlioglu, TurkishAmbassador in Washington Namik Tan, Turkey's Permanent Representative to the UNErtugrul Apakan and UN Secretary General Ban's special adviser Vijay Nambiar alsoattended the meeting.Before his meeting with Ban, Davutoglu had a meeting with Lebanese ForeignMinister Adnan Mansour.(EÖ)

ANKARA (A.A) - Turkish President Abdullah Gul receivedKyrgyz Parliament Speaker Ahmatbek Keldibekov in Ankara on Tuesday.The meeting was closed to press.(GC-EÖ)

ISTANBUL (A.A) - Turkey's ice-cream maker Mado willopen its first branch in Malaysia.Mado and Malaysian Probhat Malakar signed the agreement duringTurkish-Malaysian meeting which was held by Turkish-Malaysia Business Council inIstanbul on Tuesday.Mado's Director General Mehmet Yilmazoglu said that Malaysian people likedice-cream very much, adding that Mado would open its first store in capital KualaLumpur which had nearly 1.5 million population.Total trade between Turkey and Malaysia in 2010 was 1.3 billion USD.(GC-EÖ)

LEFKOSA (A.A) - Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus(TRNC) Foreign Minister Huseyin Ozgurgun said on Tuesday that TRNC was sitting atthe negotiation table for agreement and solution.Turkey's European Union (EU) Minister and Chief Negotiator Egemen Bagis andOzgurgun held a press conference in Lefkosa.Ozgurgun said Bagis'visit to TRNC was a great support to Turkish Cypriots.Greek Cypriot administration was trying to prevent a solution and TRNC wassad over it, he said."We are at the table for agreement and solution. We keep assuming a positivestance for solution. Exploration of oil and gas is an artificial issue. Drillingmust be stopped,"he said.Replying to a question, Ozgurgun said that authority given to TurkishPetroleum Corp. (TPAO) to make research gave a message that Turkish Cypriots hadrights on natural resources in the island.(EÖ)

LEFKOSA (A.A) - Turkey's European Union Minister EgemenBagis has warned that blocking a settlement to the division of Cyprus would haveconsequences."Unless a partition is made, everyone on the island has the right to everyplace on the island. The current picture shows which side prevents the islandfrom reaching a solution. But those who try stonewalling the settlement talkswill pay the price,"Bagis told a joint press conference with Turkish CypriotForeign Minister Huseyin Ozgurgun in Lefkosa.Bagis said the Greek Cypriot administration should immediately halt offshoredrilling for oil and gas reserves around the island and take necessary steps toease tensions"in the light of its past experiences about Turkey'sdetermination.""If the Greek Cypriot drilling yields a result, Turkey and the TurkishRepublic of Northern Cyprus would not hesitate to do what is needed. Do not makea mistake: we know how to stand up for our rights,"Bagis said.Responding to a question on the course of Turkey's relations with theEuropean Union under the Greek Cypriot presidency, Bagis said Turkey would notparticipate in the meetings of the European Union presidency until the GreekCypriot administration hands over the post."Turkey's EU process is 52 years-old. We would not be bothered if it wasdelayed for another six months. We will resume our relations with the EUpresidency after the Greek Cypriot helm is over,"Bagis said.(İMB-EÖ)