ERDOGAN STRESSES INFORMATION SOCIETY AT INTL TELECOMMUNICATION CONFERENCE
Speaking at the International Telecommunication Union's Conference in Antalya yesterday, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the government knew that the tax burden on electronic communications services was too high, adding that it was working to gradually reduce this. "There will be no obstacle for us being an information society," said Erdogan. "Our goal is to make both individuals and institutions receive telecommunication services." Stressing that the government was focused on providing efficient, rapid access to information with proper costs through an alternative infrastructure, Erdogan added that Turkey had faced sweeping changes in recent years. He further stated that in the classification of strong and weak states, the criteria by which they are judged began to change after the communications revolution. /Turkiye/

CICEK: "THERE WILL BE A STATE CEREMONY FOR ECEVIT"
Speaking after yesterday's Cabinet meeting, Justice Minister and government spokesman Cemil Cicek said that the government would hold a commemorative state ceremony on Saturday for former Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, who passed away on Sunday. "Although the legislation on a state ceremony is lacking, the government will use the State Ceremony Regulation," said Cicek. "The government wants to do its best for Ecevit." Cicek. /Turkiye/

TOP LEADERS HONOR LATE PM ECEVIT
Top Turkish leaders yesterday issued messages for former Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, who passed away on Sunday. In his message, Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc said that he had been deeply grieved by the death of Ecevit, adding that he believed Ecevit had a place of esteem in Turkey's political life and would always stay in the hearts of the Turkish nation. Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli sent a message to widow Rahsan Ecevit, grieving for the death of Ecevit as an important statesman. Chief of General Staff Gen. Yasar Buyukanit stated that Ecevit had won the heart and respect of the Turkish nation through his honesty and loyalty to the principles of Turkish Republic founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. /Turkiye/

ITALY BOOSTS TURKEY'S EU BID ON DAY OF PROGRESS REPORT
By playing host to Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul tomorrow, Italy will demonstrate its support of Turkey on the same day the European Commission releases its progress report on Turkey. In an interview with Milliyet daily, Italy's Ambassador to Ankara Carlo Marsili spoke about the Third Turkish-Italian Forum and Turkish-Italian relations. "Turkey's progress report will be released on Wednesday," Marsili said. "The meeting of the Turkish and Italian foreign ministers in Rome on the same day is no coincidence. This title of this year's forum is `The 150th Anniversary of Turkish-Italian Relations: Common Vision on the EU Path.' We will show our support for Turkey's EU bid whatever the report says." /Milliyet/

DUTCH FM: "TURKEY NEEDS TO SHOW THE EU THAT IT'S DOING ITS UTMOST TO COMPLETE EU REFORMS"
Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot, in Turkey for a one-day official visit, yesterday met with Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul to discuss Turkey's European Union membership bid. Speaking to Reuters afterwards, Bot stated that Turkey needed to send a "political signal" to the EU that it was doing all it can to push through the EU-required reforms, including plans to ease property rights for religious minorities. /Cumhuriyet/

MERKEL: "AVOIDING A POLITICAL CRISIS DEPENDS ON TURKEY'S EFFORTS"
German Chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday said that the European Union doesn't want a political crisis with Turkey but that it's up to Ankara to work hard to avoid this. Speaking after a special Cabinet meeting where Germany's European Union term presidency starting in January was discussed, Merkel asked Turkey to put forth more efforts to make progress on its EU negotiations. Merkel also said that EU membership talks with Turkey can only go on if Turkey opens its ports and harbors to Greek Cypriot vessels, otherwise a problem might occur. /Star/

REHN: "WE APPRECIATE ERDOGAN'S SIGNALING CHANGES TO ARTICLE 301"
European Union Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn yesterday expressed appreciation for Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's statements on reevaluating and reforming Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK). "Premier Erdogan's call for the reevaluation of controversial Penal Code Article 301 and his signaling of a possible amendment in the law in order to bring it in line with the European Union standards is an appreciated move," Rehn's spokesperson Krizstina Nagy quoted him as saying. "The statements of Erdogan show the premier's commitment to freedom of speech and the EU membership process. We expect Turkey to support this view by concrete steps." /Star/

OIC TO DISCUSS WOMEN'S ROLE FOR FIRST TIME IN ISTANBUL
Women's contributions and role in the development of Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) member countries will be discussed for the first time during an OIC ministerial meeting set for Nov. 21 in Istanbul. The meeting, where ministers from 57 countries responsible for "women's condition" from the OIC member countries will be present, will consist of four sessions in which topics such as "Preventing Poverty and Strategies and National Policies to Boost Women's Employment," "Women in Decision-Making Mechanisms," "Creating the Future by Enabling Women to Participate in Education" and "Eliminating All Forms of Violence Against Women" will be dealt with. /The New Anatolian/

BABACAN TELLS OECD FORUM TURKEY AMONG COUNTRIES ATTRACTING RISING FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT
Speaking at a forum of the Organization for the Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) yesterday, State Minister for the Economy Ali Babacan said that Turkey was among the world's countries attracting rising amounts of foreign direct investments (FDI). "Though we don't seem set to achieve this year's inflation target, next year's inflation target has been announced as 4%," said Babacan. Babacan, who is also Turkey's chief European Union negotiator, said that structural reforms would continue in line with Ankara's EU reforms. /Aksam/