ANKARA - These are some of the major headlines and their brief stories in Turkey's press on December 19, 2003. The Anadolu Agency does not verify these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

HURRIYET (LIBERAL)
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IMAM WHO TAKES ORDERS FROM LADEN CAPTURED
Adnan Ersoz, one of people who plotted Istanbul bomb attacks, was captured. It was stated that Ersoz was trained in Al Qaida camps and personally received instruction for international terrorist Osama Bin Laden to ''bomb'' mentioned sites. Ersoz, one of members of organization named ''Imams'' is being interrogated for three days.

UNITED STATES: ''APPLY VISA TO IRAN''
U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Eric Edelman visited Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu and asked Turkey to apply visa to Iran to control its eastern border. In the meeting, Edelman proposed that Turkish security units should be given broader bomb defusing training.

CONGRATULATIONS FROM IMF AND LOAN
International Monetary Fund (IMF) released 502 million U.S. dollars for Turkey. IMF Managing Director Horst Koehler said that successful steps had been taken in Turkey and added that inflation rate was reduced and Turkey deserved strong support.

MILLIYET (LIBERAL)
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KORAN COURSES STILL ON AGENDA
The regulation on Koran courses which was earlier announced to have been withdrawn, is still in force, because the prime ministry does not publish the decision of cancellation in the Official Gazette. The regulation put into force on November 24 and it was withdrawn on December 10 upon the reaction of the president, soldiers and the public opinion.

IMF RELEASES CREDIT TO TURKEY
IMF released the loan worth of 502 million dollars by the completion of the sixth review yesterday. A statement of IMF said that in completing the review, the Executive Board granted Turkey's request for waivers for the non-observance of two structural and one quantitative performance criteria.

SABAH (LIBERAL)
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TEMIZEL'S FIASCO
A new stage started in the case filed by Cingilli Holding regarding transfer of Demirbank to Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BRSA). Council of State Administrative Cases Department General Board found Cingilli Holding's request for cancellation of the BRSA decision appropriate. The Council of State Tenth Department had rejected the cancellation request and Cingilli Holding had appealed the decision. Thus, former BRSA Chairman Zekeriya Temizel's model to ''seize the banks'' was hit by similar decisions one after the other. A similar decision was made regarding Kentbank case last week.

CANDIDATE FROM PRESIDENTIAL PALACE TO ANKARA
Republican People's Party (CHP) will join the local election competition with a candidate having reference from President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and whose secularism is undiscussable. CHP administration proposed Presidential Secretary General Kamei Nehrozoglu to run his candidacy from CHP for Ankara Mayor's Office.

CUMHURIYET (LEFT)
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WESTON MEETS WITH DENKTAS: ONLY PLAN IS ANNAN PLAN
Thomas Weston, U.S. State Department special coordinator to Cyprus met with TRNC President Rauf Denktas. Weston told Denktas that the U.S. insisted on solution of Cyprus problem before May, 2004. Weston defended the view that the only method of solution in Cyprus was Annan plan. Denktas reacted to the words of Weston who talked about ''TRNC citizens of Turkey origin,'' noting that Weston favoured the Greek Cypriot side.

WE WILL DEVELOP REGION BY REGION
State Planning Organization has prepared the preliminary national development plan which is prepared by EU candidate countries. According to the three-year economic plan, Turkey will be divided into 26 statistical regions and development will be provided according to those regions. Deputy Prime Minister Sener said that EU Commission would provide 1.50 billion Euros of source for Turkey within the scope of the plan.

RADIKAL (LEFT)
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PRESSURE ON TURKISH SIDE FOR SOLUTION OF CYPRUS
While the studies on formation of the government in TRNC continued, U.S. special envoy for Cyprus Thomas Weston met with CTP leader Mehmet Ali Talat and TRNC President Rauf Denktas. Weston said that ''we could not agree with Denktas in some issues. Sides should return to negotiation table on the basis of Annan plan, reach an agreement and submit it to referendum.'' Meanwhile EU Commissioner for Enlargement Guenter Verheugen claimed that ''Cypriot electors want solution on the basis of Annan plan and EU membership.''

DEMONSTRATION IN METU AGAINST NATO SUMMIT
A group of students who came together in Middle East Technical University (METU) protested holding of the NATO Summit in Istanbul in 2004. Students coming from Hacettepe and Ankara Universities also joined METU students. Later the students issued a press release at the entrance of METU.

TURKIYE (RIGHT)
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BASE BARGAINING IN JAPAN
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul who continues his official visit to Japan met with Japanese Minister Koizumi. Koizumi offered Gul to act together in Iraq and asked Turkey to use military bases of Turkey. Gul responded to that demand saying ''we will accept it only if it is for humanitarian purpose.''

UNAKITAN: NUMBER OF CIVIL SERVANTS TO DECREASE BY 12,000
Finance Minister Unakitan said that ''the state has always been regarded as a 'farm' to date. There are so many civil servants working. We are not populist and we will decrease the number of civil servants by 12,000.''

ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)
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''MINIMUM WAGE WILL BE GROSS 475 MILLION TL''
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that they were exerting efforts to increase minimum wage to gross 475 million Turkish liras (TL). If Prime Minister's wish comes true, the net minimum wage which is currently 225 million 999 thousand TL will increase by 53 percent to 347 million TL. Workers support Prime Minister Erdogan's approach to minimum wage while employers think that any rise which will be made to minimum wage without reducing insurance and tax burden will harm economic balances.

HIGHWAYS CLOSED, SCHOOLS ON HOLIDAY
Cold and snowy weather is influential throughout Turkey. Snowfall will continue in north and east parts of Turkey till the weekend. According to information received from Meteorology General Directorate, temperature will start to increase from western Turkey as of Sunday. Heavy fog will be influential in Marmara Region and internal parts of Turkey at the weekend. First snow of the year fell in Istanbul yesterday while ongoing snowfall in Ankara paralyzed traffic and daily life. A total of 748 village roads are closed to traffic due to snowfall. Schools are recessed in Ahirli and Derbent towns of central Konya province for one day and in Hadim town for two days.

(BRC-Öª-AÖ) 19.12.2003