ERDOGAN TO HOST SPANISH PM, OTHER FOREIGN LEADERS
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will have a busy schedule in the wake of the Seker Bayram holiday. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who earlier this month had to cancel his visit to Ankara due to a sandstorm, is expected to visit Ankara after the holiday. Then Belgian Foreign Minister Karel de Gucht will pay a visit to Ankara on Monday and Tuesday. Ilan Mizrahi, the head of Israeli's National Security Council, will visit Ankara on next Wednesday and Thursday. Erdogan will also host Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero on Nov. 11-12, with whom he co-chairs the Alliance of Civilizations project. Pope Benedict XVI is also due in Turkey on Nov. 28-30. /Turkiye/

AL-HAYAT INTERVIEWS ERDOGAN
In an interview last week with London-based Arabic daily Al-Hayat, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke about Turkish troops in Lebanon, Iran's nuclear program, the fight against terror and the future of Iraq. The interview was published on Oct. 18. "It is also true that terrorist activities continue unabated in Iraq, despite the intervention of US and coalition forces," said Erdogan, answering a question on Iraq. "For instance, the PKK terrorist organization takes shelter in northern Iraq and infiltrates our country to conduct terrorist acts. For this reason, it is difficult to say that the fight against terrorism in Iraq has been successful." /Sabah/

PACE PRESIDENT VISITS TURKEY TO BOOST TIES
Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe (PACE) President Rene van der Linden began yesterday a four-day working visit to Turkey to strengthen ties. In Ankara today, in meetings with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, while the PACE president is expected to discuss Turkey-Council of Europe (CoE) relations and raise the issue of Turkey's European Union accession negotiations, he will also attend a roundtable discussion with legal and human rights experts at Istanbul's Bilgi University tomorrow. /The New Anatolian/

FINNISH PM OPTIMISTIC ON TURKEY'S MEMBERSHIP BID
Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, whose country holds the EU term presidency, said yesterday that Turkey's accession talks are proving to be a difficult issue during his presidency, but that he was also optimistic about the talks. "We're working very hard to find a solution so we can continue negotiations with Turkey," he added. "I hope that a reasonable solution will be found, and I hope it will be found this fall." /Milliyet/

PARIS RULING ON ARMENIAN CASE AGAIN DELAYED
The Paris Court of Appeals, which was expected on Wednesday to announce its decision whether a complaint filed by an Armenian group against Turkish Consul General Aydin Sezgin is admissible, instead postponed the verdict once more. The Armenian group, the Comite de Defense de la Cause Armenienne, is accusing the consul general in Paris of spreading "denial propaganda" concerning an alleged Armenian genocide during World War I in the final days of the Ottoman Empire, and is demanding the removal of part of the Turkish Consulate's website. /Turkish Daily News/

NATO COMMANDER JONES: "TURKISH TROOPS IN AFGHANISTAN SHOULD TAKE ON AN EXPANDED ROLE"
NATO's supreme commander, US Gen. James Jones, has urged Turkey to allow its forces in Afghanistan to operate outside the capital Kabul in hot spots where the Western alliance-led forces are being confronted by a growing Taliban insurgency. Stating that Ankara and other capitals were informed about the issue through official correspondence, Jones said that Turkish Chief of General Staff Gen. Yasar Buyukanit and other Turkish officials were told about this request. Speaking to CNN-Turk, Jones said that Turkey was an important country for the future of Afghanistan. /Turkiye/

AFTER TWO-YEAR DELAY, EU AID ON THE WAY TO TRNC
The European Union, blocked up to now by Greek Cypriot objections from providing aid it planned for the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), will tomorrow send a part of this aid to the TRNC. The 38 million euros in aid was accepted two weeks ago and will be available to use after the approval of the EU Commission. /Milliyet/