TEHRAN -- The Turkish media on Friday waged a new wave of propaganda against the Islamic Republic of Iran. The widely-circulated dailies Star, Cumhuriyet and Milliyet made unfounded charges about Iran's support for terrorist activities on the Turkish soil, alleging Tehran's connection with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the Turkish Hizbollah Organization. The newly-launched Star claimed in a front page story, titled "It Is Iran's Turn", that 20 members of the PKK had entered Turkey via Iran to conduct suicide boming in big cities.

Alleging that the PKK has a camp in Iran, the daily said, "Turkey issued an ultimatum to Syria that it should stop its support for the PKK. Now it is getting ready to do the same in respect of Iran." Star also claimed that the Iranian government has ordered the media not to write in favor of Turkey and the Azerbaijan Republic. In another news story reporting a failed assassination attempt on the life of the Uzbek president, the daily quoted the Turkish police as claiming that the Turkish Hizbollah Organization and Iran were behind the incident.

Also, the Istanbul-based Milliyet, in a front page story, wrote that a former member of the Turkish Hizbollah Organization Abdulaziz Tounch, who has been arrested and tried in a state security court, claimed that he had received military training from the Iranian Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC). The Cumhuriyet said that Tounch had a close relationship with the leader of Turkish Hizbollah Organization Hussein Vali Oqlou and allegedly disclosed links between the organization and Iran.