ANKARA (AFP) – The Turkish parliament yesterday voted in a bill to introduce a Kurdish-language channel on state television in line with a government promise to the Kurdish minority. The law restructuring public Turkish Radio and Television (TRT) to ease restrictions on foreign-language broadcasts needs presidential approval to take effect. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan pledged in March that TRT would launch a special channel to broadcast in Kurdish as well as Farsi and Arabic in Turkey’s southeast, which borders Iran and Iraq. Seeking to boost Turkey’s bid to join the European Union, TRT launched 30-minute weekly broadcasts in Kurdish in 2004, breaking a taboo in the country where public use of the language was banned less than 15 years ago. The program, however, has been criticized for poor quality and content. Private local television and radio stations have also been allowed to air Kurdish-language programs. In hopes of eroding any popular support for Kurdish rebels fighting the government, Erdogan’s government is under pressure to pair military measures against the separatists with political and economic gestures to the sizable Kurdish community. The government has said it will spend up to $15 billion over five years on infrastructure projects and economic incentives in the southeast, Turkey’s poorest and least developed region.

PRISTINA (AP) – Kosovo’s president said yesterday he wants the United Nations to leave by early autumn so local authorities can govern on their own. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia on February 17 and its new constitution takes effect on Sunday. The new charter does not foresee a role for the world body, which has been in charge of running Kosovo’s affairs since 1999. “The United Nations will not and should not stay in the role it currently has,” President Fatmir Sejdiu told The Associated Press in an interview. “That period has been surpassed.” The UN will be able to stay on after the constitution comes into force, but it will not have a final say over Kosovo’s affairs, Sejdiu said. He said any UN presence should be time-limited and leave “by early autumn” of this year. The UN was scheduled to end its nine-year mission to Kosovo once the Constitution comes into force. But it will remain in Kosovo beyond that time because Russia – Serbia’s ally and a veto-wielding member on the UN Security Council – has blocked a formal handover of the UN mission to the European Union. The UN in Kosovo has warned “the reality on the ground... will change dramatically on June 16” – the day after the Constitution takes effect. But officials have refused to comment on details before UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon comes out with a formal proposal.

Tomorrow’s game between Germany and Croatia in Klagenfurt is a risky match for Euro 2008 security forces, according to an Austrian police consultant. After the detention of 157 mainly German fans in Klagenfurt on Sunday when their team beat Poland 2-0, the security focus will remain on Group B. “Germany-Croatia is seen most certainly as a risk match. Poland-Austria (today) is hard to say, though it could also be one,” hooligan expert Harald Mathe told Reuters yesterday. “This is the group where we are most likely to see such clashes, it is the highest risk group.” (Reuters)

New world No 1 Ana Ivanovic has pulled out of next week’s Eastbourne grass-court tournament with a muscle injury, organizers said yesterday. The 20-year-old Serbian, who took the top world ranking this week and won her first Grand Slam title at the French Open on Saturday, said she was also feeling the strain of her efforts at Roland Garros. “I have a problem with my abductor,” Ivanovic, a Wimbledon semifinalist last year, said in a statement. “I am also mentally exhausted after the French Open – I am not ready to compete so soon after winning my first Grand Slam. I have taken this decision with some regret and I hope I can finally play in Eastbourne next year.” Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli, Wimbledon runner-up last year and the world No 10, now heads the list of players for the $600,000 Eastbourne event, which starts on Monday. (Reuters)