ANKARA - These are some of the major headlines and their brief stories in Turkey's press on September 8, 2003. The Anadolu Agency does not verify these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

HURRIYET (LIBERAL)
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GIANT MEN KNOCK OVER BOTH THE REFEREE AND CROATIANS
The 12 giant men knocked over both the British referee and their rival Croatia in European Basketball Championship. Turkish national team defeated Croatia 75-72 and ranked the second in its group. Croats, who could not accept the defeat, attacked our national basketball players. Turkey will compete with Serbia-Montenegro for quarter-final today.
Turkish national basketball team defeated Croatia although British referee Stokes conducted the match in a biased way.

AGAR: GOVERNMENT SHOULD GO IF MOTION FAILS TO PASS
Mehmet Agar, leader of True Path Party (DYP), said, ''we solved PKK problem by making agreement with the United States. I can not give details of this.''
Agar said, ''PKK may launch activities in big cities. Iraq is very important for Turkey's security. Turkey can only base dispatch of soldiers to this reason.''
Agar stated that, ''government will have to resign if motion fails to pass from the Parliament again.''

MILLIYET (LIBERAL)
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IF SOLDIERS APPROVE, WE WILL GO TO IRAQ
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said, ''we will ask the Office of General Staff to express view on dispatch of soldiers to Iraq. Nobody should expect us to say 'we will go to Iraq' if the soldiers say no to dispatch of soldiers.'' Gul emphasizes that this approach does not mean refraining from undertaking responsibility. ''Everybody fulfils his/her responsibility. Of course, the government is responsible for this issue. The decision will be a political decision. But, it will be wrong to act before learning the view of the General Staff,'' Gul said. Gul gave important messages on Cyprus and European Union (EU) membership. Gul drew attention to his official visit to Greece scheduled to be paid in October and added, ''we can take new decisions there.''

WE ALSO DEFEATED REFEREE
Twelve giant men defeated Croatia 75-72 in its third match in the European Basketball Championship for Men. British referee behaved as if he was the sixth player of the Croatians. There was real big challenge in the last seconds of the match. Turkish national basketball team won the match and was ranked the second in their group. Thus, they qualified for the other round. Croatian people who were in the hall threw objects to the field after the match while Croatian basketball players attacked on our players.

SABAH (LIBERAL)
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INVOICE OF IMAR BANKASI: 10 QUADRILLION TL
Here is the result of the investigation in Imar Bankasi: 1 quadrillion Turkish liras (TL) of bonds and 9 quadrillion TL of deposit accounts. The Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BRSA) is getting prepared to explain the situation in Imar Bankasi. Loss in Imar Bankasi has been calculated as over 10 quadrillion TL, including unregistered transactions, suspicious accounts and bonds. BRSA officials said that a serious investigation and supervision process had started.

''WE TOLD ABOUT OURSELVES''
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that he told European Union (EU) leaders what Turkey and EU would gain from Turkey's EU accession in the meetings he attended in Italy. Erdogan, who returned from Italy to Turkey, said that Italian-Turkish relations had gained dynamism in recent days and started to give positive signals and results, adding that he tried to explain Turkey's EU membership process during his visit.

CUMHURIYET (LEFT)
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GUL: WE WILL GO TO IRAQ FOR TRANQUILITY
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul got information from the foreign ministers of European Union (EU) member countries that an agreement was about to be reached in the United Nations to set up a multinational force in Iraq.
Gul, who met ministers in Riva del Garda, stated that, ''we are not ambitious in sending soldiers to Iraq,'' yet stated that they could send soldiers to provide Iraq people with facilities to reach to their own democratic administration by installing stability in Iraq soon.

ASSURANCE FROM ERDOGAN TO EU
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan pointed out the studies which Turkey carried out on the way to European Union (EU) full membership.
Stating that Turkey should be a member of the EU, Erdogan said this would make Turkey a country of freedoms.
Erdogan gave two assurances to EU leaders. He said, ''Turkey's population will reach 80-85 million after 20-25 years, and it will be fixed on this figure. It will stay as a small figure like 10 percent in EU population.''
Erdogan also said Turkey would not be a burden on the EU on economy.

RADIKAL (LEFT)
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GUL SPEAKS AMBITIOUSLY
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul told his German counterpart Joschka Fischer that they should not worry because Turkey would put into practice reforms in the first four months of 2004. Fischer told Gul that the seventh adjustment package was very impressing and they were now expecting to see the practices. Gul said, ''you will see the practices in the first four months of 2004. We will not knock on your door before we are satisfied with the practices.''

FRIENDS MEET IN ITALY
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who met with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, said, ''we see the European Union (EU) as a political union, not as a Christian union.'' Berlusconi praised Erdogan saying that Erdogan was a frank, reliable and sincere person.

TAXI DRIVER IN DREAMS
Turkish Standards Institute (TSE) brought forth some standards for taxi drivers. Here are some of these standards: Taxi drivers should speak a foreign language if possible. They should be polite and if it is rainy and their customers don't have an umbrella, they should carry an umbrella and walk beside their customers till their customers enter the building they are going.

TURKIYE (RIGHT)
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ZEBARI'S U TURN
Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, who caused reactions of Turkey by his statement that ''Turkish soldiers can't enter Iraq'', understood what he was doing yesterday and said that ''roles of Turkey, Syria and Iran were very important for reconstruction of Iraq.''

GUL: ''PRESERVE AND SUPPORT PEACE''
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul sent a letter to his Israeli counterpart and said, ''don't give up peace. Otherwise, the process will be in an impasse.''

ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)
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ERDOGAN: ''WE ARE NOT IN AN EFFORT TO SEND SOLDIERS TO IRAQ''
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said they were not in an effort to send soldiers to Iraq. Erdogan said, ''in case Turkey takes such a decision, it would do it for happiness of Iraq people.''
Erdogan described the statements of Hoshyar Zebari, the foreign minister of Iraq Interim Governing Council, as ''ugly, unpleasant, and emotional statements.'' Zebari had said they did not want Turkish soldiers.

GUL: YOU WILL SEE OUR PERFORMANCE FOR THE EU IN 2004
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul told EU that, ''you will see that reforms in EU process will start to be implemented in Turkey till May 2004.''.
Gul conveyed the point reached in Turkey's EU process during his contacts in Italy, and underlined that Turkey was resolved on ''practices''.
''We will not knock your door being aware of our deficiency,'' Gul stated, adding process of putting into practice the reform packages would be completed in the first four months of 2004.

(AY-BRC-AÖ) 08.09.2003