ERDOGAN VISITS CROATIA
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday arrived in to Croatia for an official visit and was welcomed with a state ceremony. Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader told a press conference that the two countries have been friends since the Turkish War of Independence, adding, "I thank Turkey for its stance on Bosnia. Our relations are showing improvement in the economy. By working with Turkish ports, Croatian ports can show more improvement." He added, "A very large archive was left from the Ottoman Empire and we're very much interested in this archive being explored." For his part, Erdogan said, "We once lived in Bosnia Herzegovina. I believe we'll continue with success for the unity and peace of the Balkans. Partnership and unity will continue in the European Union process." /Hurriyet/

TURKEY OFFICIALLY BEGINS EU TALKS
Turkey reached a milestone yesterday on its road to join the European Union with the decision to begin official talks on the first of 35 chapters with the bloc. The EU foreign ministers yesterday convened in Luxembourg to discuss whether to launch official talks with Turkey beginning with the science and research chapter. The Greek Cypriot administration had rejected the start of the process, urging Turkey to open its ports and airports to Greek Cypriot vessels and calling on Turkey to normalize its relations with Nicosia. Following intense negotiations, a compromise was reached on the common position document, and the EU General Affairs and Foreign Relations Council approved the document proposing the beginning of the talks. Then the Turkish-EU Partnership Council was held with the participation of Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul and Turkey's EU chief negotiator State Minister Ali Babacan. The 19-page common position document urges Turkey to speed up its reform process, normalize civilian-military relations, give more freedom to non-Muslim minorities, extend the Customs Union agreement to the EU's 10 new member states, and normalize relations with neighboring countries, as well as not block EU-NATO cooperation. /Turkiye-Sabah/

GUL: "TURKEY IS PATIENT AND DECISIVE ON THE ROAD TO JOIN THE EU"
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said yesterday that Turkey would act patiently and decisively during its process to join the European Union. Speaking to reporters before leaving for Luxembourg to attend a meeting of Turkish-EU Joint Partnership Council, Gul, accompanied by Ali Babacan, state minister and Turkey's chief negotiator for EU talks, said that the meeting would be a milestone on the road to join the bloc, adding that the process would be full of difficulties, ups and downs. Stressing that the important thing was to reach the eventual goal of full membership, Gul said that the government was continuing its reform process, and as part of that, the ninth reform package was sent to Parliament yesterday. After arriving in Luxembourg late last evening, Gul addressed the meeting of the council, calling on the EU to back the efforts of Turkey and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan for a settlement on Cyprus. /Turkiye/

ARINC VOICES SUPPORT FOR ALBANIA'S NATO BID
Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc yesterday expressed Turkey's support for Albania's possible NATO membership. Arinc held talks in Tirana with Albania President Alfred Moisiu, who asked for Turkey's support for Albania's aspirations to join NATO. The two officials agreed to intensify cooperation, especially in the areas of the economy, tourism and health. /Turkish Daily News/

US ASSISTANT SEC'Y OF STATE BOUCHER TO VISIT TURKEY
Richard Boucher, US assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian affairs, will arrive in Turkey tomorrow to participate in a conference in Istanbul and to hold contacts in Ankara. Boucher will meet with Turkish Foreign Ministry officials to discuss such issues as developments in Central Asian countries, oil and gas reserves of the region and the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline set to officially open next month. /Cumhuriyet/

ITALIAN LAND FORCES COMMANDER CECCHI VISITS ANKARA
Italian Land Forces Commander Gen. Filiberto Cecchi was welcomed yesterday with a ceremony at Ankara's Land Forces Command Headquarters, after the national anthems of both countries were played. Turkish Land Forces Commander Gen. Yasar Buyukanit decorated Gen. Cecchi with the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) Medal of Merit. Gen. Buyukanit said besides the successful services of Gen. Cecchi for his country and with the Italian armed forces, he had contributed to consolidating friendship and cooperation between the armies of Turkey and Italy. Gen. Cecchi, for his part, said that he was honored to receive that medal and expressed his confidence that his visit would contribute to strengthening cooperation between the two armies. /Star/

VORKINK: "I DON'T EXPECT ANY CRISIS IN TURKEY"
World Bank Turkey Director Andrew Vorkink yesterday predicted that fluctuations in the Turkish markets could continue, adding, however, that he didn't expect any crisis. Speaking to reporters during a forum on creating business in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, Vorkink said that it was too early to say whether the inflation target for this year would be met or not. "There are many factors affecting inflation," he said. "The recent interest rise will help bring down inflation, but at the same time growth will fall." Stressing that the effects of the interest rate hike on inflation would be seen in a few months, Vorkink said that the Central Bank's decision to raise interest was both appropriate and brave. He stated that a half-dozen large countries had followed suit by raising rates after Turkey, adding that the CB had proved its determination to fight inflation. Speaking at the same forum, Deputy Prime Minister Abdullatif Sener said that the economy would continue to grow, adding that high month-to-month inflation wasn't important. /Sabah/

IMF'S BREDENKAMP PRAISES CB'S "BRAVE" INTEREST HIKE
Appearing on CNN Turk yesterday, International Monetary Fund Turkey Representative Hugh Bredenkamp said that the Central Bank was expecting high inflation figures for the next two months, adding, "I agree with this. It's important that we should focus on the mid-term. Focusing on the figures for each month is pointless." Bredenkamp stressed that a shifting political atmosphere could affect inflation for some time, adding that inflation expectations for next year aren't up as much as this year. Bredenkamp stated that if annual inflation rises to double digits, this would be temporary. He further called the CB's interest hike decision "brave," adding that this decision proved its seriousness at achieving the inflation target. /Milliyet/

SABANCI: "TAXES ON CELL PHONES SHOULD BE LOWERED TO THE EU AVERAGE"
Speaking at a conference yesterday, Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association (TUSIAD) head Omer Sabanci said that the European Commission's 2005 progress report on Turkey had criticized high communication taxes on both land line telephones and cell phones. Saying that Turkey had the highest tax on cell phones in the world at over 56%, Sabanci added that these high rates both put pressure on consumers and hindered the growth of the telecommunications sector. "The taxes should be lowered to the average of the European Union in the short- and mid-term," he added. /Aksam/