Tunceli Deputy Kamer Genc becomes the deputy parliamentary speaker. Some 45 refugees, attempting to migrate abroad illegally, are captured in back of a truck in routine operation of gendarmerie in the Kemalpasa province of Izmir. Foreign Minister Ismail Cem leaves for Washington upon the invitation of U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell. A visit planned by Pope John Paul II to a monument of the so-called Armenian genocide causes diplomatic traffic between the Vatican and Ankara. Turkey launches diplomatic attempts both in the Vatican and Ankara, the Pope sends a letter to President Ahmet Necdet Sezer saying that there is no reason to be worried.
Protocol is signed in Ankara, after three days of constructive meetings between the two parties.
The Islamist forces are said to be close to Afghan-based militant Osama bin Laden. Ten deputies from various political parties draft a surprise declaration, unfurling the standard of rebellion against the oligarchy of party leaders. IDEF hosts 32 countries with 252 delegations as well as hundreds of defence companies presenting their products at the fair ground. While the provisions banning broadcasting in Kurdish are lifted, so the period a suspect can be kept in detention has been shortened, during the amendment package review in the Parliament. Azerbaijani and Georgian officials reach a long-awaited agreement on transit rates for a major planned natural gas pipeline from the Caspian Sea to Turkey.