ANKARA - These are some of the major headlines and their brief stories in Turkey's press on April 25, 2003. The Anadolu Agency does not verify these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

HURRIYET (LIBERAL)
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BAYKAL: ''IF THEY DON'T UNDERSTAND, IT WILL BE WORSE''
Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal said that boycott of reception was a serious warning to Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government. He said, ''the matter is not headscarf. I believe this issue can be overcome. There are many events. We, as CHP, did not attend and President, Chief of General Staff and Commanders of Forces did not participate in. They should understand this; if they do not, we will face with big difficulties in coming days.''

GREEK CYPRIOTS CAME MORE THAN TURKISH CYPRIOTS
Greek Cypriots rushed into Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) due to Easter on the second day of free passage. The number of Greek Cypriots passing to the north yesterday was three times more than the previous day, while the number of TRNC people passing to the south was two-fold on the first day. Some Greek Cypriot newspapers said that Turkish Cypriots who passed to south rushed into Greek Cypriot Interior Ministry to take ''Cyprus Republic'' passport. A newspaper claimed that a total of 100 Turkish Cypriots had applied for passports. Greek Cypriot officials rejected passage of 100 Turkish Cypriots.

MILLIYET (LIBERAL)
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REACTION TO FAIT ACCOMPLI
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer thinks that women can't wear head scarves in public places. Although Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc said before the April 23 Reception that his wife would not attend the reception, President Sezer didn't attend the reception. President Sezer didn't want to participate in the reception which would be hosted by the parliament speaker and his wife who wore head scarf.

TURKEY CAN JOIN EU IN 2011
European Union (EU) mentioned date about the EU membership of Turkey. EU Commissioner in charge of enlargement Verheugen said that ''if Turkey fulfills the criteria, it will start full membership negotiations in 2005 and it can be a full member of EU in 2011-2012.''

SABAH (LIBERAL)
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FIRST LIGHT TO BOYCOTT IS FROM SEZER
First statements of Republican People's Party (CHP) which was in favor of attending the reception showed that the first light for protesting April 23 cocktail of Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc was shed by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer. Thus, the statement of CHP acting group chairman Mustafa Ozyurek confirms this. He said, ''President has determined his approach before us. We support this.''

CONSTITUTIONAL COURT DEPUTY CHAIRMAN REACTED TOUGHLY
A surprise reaction came from higher court to the protest of April 23 Reception. Constitutional Court Deputy Chairman Hasim Kilic said, ''Parliament is not under the monopoly of a group or a party. Parliament is the parliament of Turkish people. I attended the reception.'' When recalled that Constitutional Court Chairman Mustafa Bumin did not attend the reception and asked ''was the Constitutional Court represented by your attendance in the reception?'' Kilic said that attending or not was people's own choice.

CUMHURIYET (LEFT)
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PROCESS THAT RESULTS IN WARNING
The paper says that it was not only the head scarf problem that caused the President, Turkish Armed Forces and Republican People's Party (CHP) to assume a tougher attitude towards AK Party government. The crisis which escalated with the initiatives of AK Party to permit wearing of head scarf in public places, its attitude of favoritism in state institutions, its plan to change the law on Higher Board of Education, and its desires to change the state structure and the constitution reached its peak with the circular that called Turkish Embassies to improve relations with Islamic Community Denominational Vision and to support the schools of Fethullah Gulen.

KOMITAS STATUE OPENED IN PARIS
The statue of Armenian compositor which was erected to commemorate the so-called genocide of Armenians was opened in Paris yesterday. Paris mayor Delaone claimed that ''1.5 million Armenians were killed till 1922 and two thirds of them were Armenians living in the Ottoman Empire.'' Delaone said that the Turkish people living in the 21st century could not be held responsible for the things that happened in those times.

RADIKAL (LEFT)
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PEOPLE SMILE IN CYPRUS AT LAST
The decision of TRNC to permit free passage of persons between the two sides caused happiness in both sides. Even if the unexpected decision of TRNC President Rauf Denktas made uneasy the Greek Cypriot administration, Cypriot people are pleased to visit all the places on the island after 29 years. Greek Cypriots go to the North and Turkish Cypriots go to the South.

OECD ISSUES REPORT FOR TURKEY
Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said in its report on Turkey's economy that the inflation rate was projected to decline only modestly for the year as a whole, from around 30 percent at end-2002 to 27 percent by end-2003 and noted that real long-term interest rates fell below 20 percent and the exchange rate declined below 1.6 million Turkish liras per U.S. dollar in December. OECD stated in its report that the reforms of Turkey had to continue.

TURKIYE (RIGHT)
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TURKEY GETS ANGRY WITH WORDS OF GARNER
Turkey got angry with the words of retired American General Jay Garner, who is the new leader of Iraq, who said that ''Kirkuk is a Kurdish City.'' Turkey sent a letter to the U.S. saying that ''this attitude is against the compromise reached between Turkey and the U.S.'' Turkey will also convey its uneasiness to U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Robert Pearson.

DENKTAS BECOMES SUCCESSFUL
Even if the Greek Cypriot side reacted to the decision of TRNC which permitted free movement of persons between the two sides in Cyprus, Greece found the decision of TRNC positive. Greek Foreign Minister Papandreou said that ''this is a feast day.'' Foreign press noted that ''Denktas Made a Nice Gesture.''
ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)
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STATEMENT OF GARNER ANGERS ANKARA, U.S. WILL BE WARNED
Ankara reacted the news regarding the statements of retired American General Jay Garner about Kirkuk who is expected to be the head of the interim administration in Iraq. Foreign Ministry Spokesman Huseyin Dirioz said that if Garner had such statements, those expressions were against the agreement which had been reached earlier in Ankara. Ankara will convey its uneasiness about the statement of Garner to the United States today.

ERUYGUR: ''PARLIAMENT IS OURS, THEY ARE OUR FRIENDS''
Gendarme Forces Commander Sener Eruygur said, ''Parliament is ours'' regarding the reception crisis. Eruygur said, ''Parliament is ours. They are our friends.'' when evaluating April 23 reception in which nobody had attended from General Staff.

(GC-ÖS-AÖ) 25.04.2003