ANKARA (A.A) - Russia's coach David Blatt said on Tuesday thathe was proud of the players of Russia, while commenting on his team's win in the2010 FIBA World Basketball Championship with 72-66 lead in Group C against theirrivals from the Ivory Coast.Blatt said this was the last tournament he was attending with Russia andnoted that,"our team is not so strong as it was before. We will be in an effortto struggle till the end of the tournament,"and thanked to Turkey for its goodhome ownership.Also appearing at the press meeting, Randoald Dessarzin, the coach of IvoryCoast basketball team, said it was an uphill struggle,"although we had solvedour problems in some parts of the match, we could not win it,"he said.(AY)

LEFKOSA (A.A) - UN Envoy Alexander Downer said on Tuesday thatsolution of Cyprus issue was not easy.Speaking to press following his meeting with Turkish Republic of NorthernCyprus (TRNC) President Dervis Eroglu and Greek Cypriot leader DemetrisChristofias, Downer said the leaders were scheduled to meet on September 3,7, and10, noting that the meeting on September 3 would be normal and the others wouldbe daylong.Downer said the parties would again discuss"property"issue, and commentingon a question he said use of the HQ of the UN Secretary General's SpecialRepresentative for intensive talks was not possible.Referring to the visits of the leaders to foreign countries in September,Downer said Christofias would travel to Brussels to attend Council of Europemeeting and to New York for UN General Assembly meeting. Downer said Eroglu wouldalso have a busy agenda in September.Downer said it would be better if the parties act slowly to prevent anymistake on property issue, noting that acting hastily only to complete quicklywould not be a right approach."There needs to be an agreement and it needs to be implementedsuccessfully,"Downer said, noting that the U.N. was pleased that Christofias andEroglu remain"very committed"to achieving an agreement.The last time Eroglu and Christofias came together was on August 10.(AY)

ANKARA (A.A) - Greek Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister DimitrisDrucas arrived in Ankara on Tuesday upon an invitation by Turkish ForeignMinister Ahmet Davutoglu.Davutoglu and Drucas will watch together the Turkey-Greece basketball gameto be played in the ongoing World Basketball Championship.(AY)

ISTANBUL (A.A) - Galatasaray soccer club of Turkey formallyannounced on Tuesday that it transferred Bosnian player Zvejdan Misimovic andArgentinean player Emiliana Insua.Galatasaray soccer club told a statement that,"a four-year contract wassigned with Zvjezdan Misimovic and an agreement was reached to hire Argentineanfootball player and Liverpool left back Emiliano Insua with option to purchase."(AY)

LEFKOSA (A.A) - Turkey's ambassador in Lefkosa said on Tuesdaythat everything had been said in Cyprus negotiation process.Speaking at a TV program broadcast by the Turkish Cypriot TV channel BRT,Turkish ambassador Kaya Turkmen said Cyprus talks had been going on for years andthe process had reached a breaking point nowadays.Turkmen said a solution should be found to the Cyprus matter until the endof 2010 and the Greek Cypriot party should be convinced on the issue.Turkmen also noted that Turkey would not give up on Cyprus for its EUmembership process."I do not believe that Turkey has to make a choice betweenCyprus and EU,"he said.Commenting on relations between Turkey and Turkish Republic of NorthernCyprus (TRNC) as well, Turkmen said both countries might have made mistakes intheir relations throughout the process in Cyprus, however, necessary lessonsshould be drawn from such acts."Despite all criticisms, TRNC is a success story,"the ambassador said,adding that Turkish Cypriots had done nothing to deserve embargoes.(DO-AY)

IZMIR (A.A) - New Zealand's coach Nenad Vucinic was happyTuesday for his team's first win in the 2010 FIBA World Basketball Championshipwith a 108-76 lead in Group D against their Lebanese rivals."We have dominated the game and with a good offense. This was one of mygreatest moments as a coach because I was against one the best of coaches of theworld,"Vucinic told reporters after the game.Also appearing at the press meeting, Lebanon's coach Tab Baldwin praised NewZealand's offensive and defensive capabilities in Tuesday's game."We had pretty much nothing to do today and we also had certain problems asa team,"Baldwin said.(İMB-AY)