ANKARA - These are some of the major headlines and their summaries in Turkish press on July 3rd, 2008. The Anadolu Agency does not verify these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

HURRIYET (LIBERAL)
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WHO PUT THAT GLOCK IN AYGUN`S OFFICE?
Questions about the Glock gun which was found during repairs of a water heater in the office of Sinan Aygun, chairman of the Ankara Chamber of Commerce, have been left unanswered. Police could not find out who put the unlicensed gun in Aygun`s office. It was reported that there were many finger prints on the gun.

"TURKEY IS PASSING THROUGH DIFFICULT DAYS"
Turkish Land Forces Commander Gen. Ilker Basbug has denied allegations that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and he talked about the Ergenekon during their meeting on June 24th.
"Turkey is passing through difficult days. We all have to be acting with more common sense, more carefully and more responsibly," he said. Gen. Basbug also called on everyone to display the necessary sensitivity to the unity of the Turkish Armed Forces.

AKP TO PRESENT ITS DEFENSE VERBALLY
State Minister & Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek will appear in country`s top court later in the day to present the ruling Justice & Development (AK) Party`s defense verbally. On Tuesday, the chief prosecutor of the Court of Appeals presented evidence regarding the case at the Constitutional Court.
Cicek is expected to request the court not to accept statements and actions of the AK Party members after March 14th as evidence.

MILLIYET (LIBERAL)
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PM AND GENERAL STAFF: WE DID NOT TALK ABOUT THE OPERATION
Land Forces Commander Gen. Ilker Basbug denied that the detention of certain retired generals came up during his meeting with PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Basbug said "this subject did not come up during our meeting, it is not possible for such issues to come up." The Prime Ministry Office which made a similar statement regarded the rumors as "a plot with an agenda that did not go beyond mere speculation."

TOBB PRESIDENT ANGERS AT DETENTIONS
Rifat Hisarciklioglu, chairman of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey, said Ankara Chamber of Commerce Chairman Sinan Aygun was detained in a manner that resembled coupe periods. "We take the treatment against one of our honourable colleagues in such a way as an insult to all of us. We don`t want to carry fears while going to bed at night, about how we will find Turkey in the morning," said Hisarciklioglu.

SABAH (LIBERAL)
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2,500 PAGE INDICTMENT
The first step of the Ergenekon probe has been completed. The indictment was prepared by three prosecutors about 49 detainees and some others who were taken into custody and released later. It was completed in three months. The indictment is 2,500 pages long and it demands the suspects to be tried on charges of "setting up a terrorist organization".

GEN. BASBUG: "WE DID NOT TALK ABOUT ERGENEKON"
Turkey`s Land Forces Commander Gen. Ilker Basbug said the "topic of Ergenekon investigation did not come up during my meeting with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on June 24th." Gen. Basbug`s comments came after certain rumors in the Turkish media that his meeting with Erdogan on June 24th was connected to the Ergenekon investigation. "I want to declare openly. The comments, implications and evaluations made on my meeting with Erdogan are not real. The topic of Ergenekon investigation did not come up at all during my meeting with Erdogan," Gen. Basbug said.

VATAN (INDEPENDENT)
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FOREIGN MEDIA CLOSELY MONITORS ERGENEKON
Foreign news agencies and dailies have been closely monitoring the developments that took place within the scope of the Ergenekon investigation. British The Independent said, "the arrests mark a sudden intensification of a power struggle consuming the country." Financial Times said the battle between the government and secular institutions damaged confidence in Turkish financial instruments.

GEN. BASBUG: "WE ARE PASSING THROUGH DIFFICULT DAYS"
Turkey`s Land Forces Commander Gen. Ilker Basbug said on certain rumors in the Turkish media that his meeting with Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan on June 24th was connected to the Ergenekon investigation, "I want to declare openly. The comments, implications and evaluations made on my meeting with Erdogan are not real. The topic of Ergenekon investigation did not come up at all during my meeting with Erdogan." Gen. Basbug said, "Turkey has been passing through difficult days. We all have to be acting with more common sense, more carefully and more responsibly."

CUMHURIYET (LEFT)
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TOWARDS A TOTALITARIAN PATH
Recent detentions stirred the business world, bar associations and other civil organizations.
Rifat Hisarciklioglu, Chairman of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey said the recent developments resembled coupe periods. Hisarciklioglu who said, "we don`t want to carry fears while going to bed at night, about how we will find Turkey in the morning," pointed out that coupes were not always made against governments.
Bar associations said the investigation exceeded tolerable limits. Istanbul Bar Association said nobody should make the justice a tool for their political agendas. Ankara Bar Association pointed out that the detained individuals did not know what they were charged with and said, "practices that are peculiar to police states only, are truly alarming for our democracy. The detentions are signs of a totalitarian tendency."

BALBAY: "I WILL NOT TALK TO THE POLICE"
Mustafa Balbay, representative of our daily in Ankara, said he would use his right to remain silent as he did not know why he was detained. Balbay who sent a letter to Zekeriya Oz, the prosecutor carrying out the investigation, said he would answer all questions in the presence of a judge and a prosecutor. Balbay said he was remaining silent also because remarks made by some people who were detained in the past was distorted and serviced to the media.

RADIKAL (LEFT)
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2,500-PAGE INDICTMENT
A new phase has begun in the operation Ergenekon. The Chief Prosecutor`s Office in Istanbul said that the indictment about the first phase of the operation was completed. In the 2,500-page indictment, those who were detained during the first investigation, are accused of founding and directing a terrorist organization.

"TSK`S COMMAND ORDER WAS TARGETED"
Land Forces Commander Gen. Ilker Basbug has denied allegations that the Ergenekon probe was high on agenda of his meeting with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on June 24th. "Such conspiracy theories are targeting to damage the Turkish Armed Forces` (TSK) command order," he said.

TENS OF THOUSANDS IN SIVAS
Tens of thousands of people have gathered in the central city of Sivas to commemorate 37 people who were killed in the Madimak Hotel on July 2nd, 1993. They chanted slogans and called on authorities to turn the hotel into a museum.

TURKIYE (RIGHT)
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WE DID NOT TALK ABOUT ERGENEKON, GEN. BASBUG
Turkey`s Land Forces Commander Gen. Ilker Basbug said Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and he did not discuss the Ergenekon investigation in their meeting that took place last week. "Turkey has been passing through difficult days. We all have to be acting with more common sense, more carefully and more responsibly," he stated.

ERDOGAN: "WE WILL PRODUCE OUR OWN OIL"
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivered a speech at the 5th Turkey Energy Forum and said, "in parallel to Turkey`s growth rate, our energy needs have been increasing. We believe that Turkey would produce at least half of its oil need by itself in 2015."

ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)
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GENERAL STAFF: DETENTIONS WERE WITHIN THE LAW
Turkish military has said that recent detentions in the Ergenekon probe were within the law. Sener Eruygur, former commander of the gendarmerie forces, and Hursit Tolon, former commander of the First Army, were detained in the operation Ergenekon which originally started when the police found 27 grenades in a shanty house in Istanbul.

NEW TARGET IN RELATIONS WITH RUSSIA: MULTI-DIMENSIONAL PARTNERSHIP
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov have held a series of talks in Ankara. Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said during the meeting with his Russian counterpart that their new objective for Turkey-Russia relations was a multi-dimensional and intensified partnership.

YENI SAFAK (CONSERVATIVE)
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WE DID NOT TALK ABOUT ERGENEKON
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Land Forces Commander Gen. Ilker Basbug said they did not talk about operation Ergenekon during their meeting on June 24th.
Gen. Basbug regarded the allegations as a plot and said it was not possible for such issues to come up during their meetings.

2,500 PAGES LONG TERRRORIST ORGANIZATION INDICTMENT
Acting Istanbul Chief Prosecutor Turan Colakkadi said the indictment of Operation Ergenekon was completed and the suspects were accused of founding a terrorist organization.
Colakkadi said the indictment was 2,500 pages long. Because the indictment is voluminous it will be handed out to parties in CD form.

(EÖ-OZG-UK)