ERDOGAN ATTENDS OPENING OF COPPER MINE IN SIIRT
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday attended the opening ceremony of an old copper mine in the southeastern city of Siirt. “This enterprise is an example of mining developments in Turkey,” said Erdogan. /Star/

GUL MEETS WITH GREEK FOREIGN MINISTER IN NEW YORK
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, currently in New York to attend the opening session of the UN General Assembly, yesterday met with his Greek counterpart Petros Molivyatis. During their talks, in line with friendly relations between the two countries, the two leaders agreed this year to cancel military exercises in the Mediterranean which had been scheduled for October. In addition, Molivyatis vowed to support Turkey’s European Union membership, saying that it would serve not only the interests of Ankara and Athens but also Europe and the entire region. Then Gul met with his Jordanian and Egyptian counterparts. Their talks reportedly focused on Iraq and other regional issues. After attending a luncheon hosted by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Gul met with Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom. /Turkiye/

TURKISH FIRM HALTS OPERATIONS IN IRAQ
Officials of Turkish construction company VINSAN A.S. announced yesterday that it was halting operations in Iraq to save the lives of 10 of its employees being held captive. A statement issued by the firm in Turkish, Arabic and English stated that in line with a demand of the Iraqi insurgents who kidnapped the workers two weeks ago, the firm would freeze its work in Iraq. It also called on the Turkish government to take necessary measures to prevent such incidents which threaten the nation’s workers and drivers in the country. In addition, yesterday the corpse of another Turkish driver, Akar Besir, was found near Mosul. /Turkiye/

BARROSO: “TURKEY HAS MADE GREAT STRIDES IN ITS EU BID, BUT IT DOESN’T YET MEET ALL THE CRITERIA”
Speaking to French daily Le Monde yesterday, new European Union Commission President Jose Manuel Durao Barroso said that Turkey had made great progress on its EU membership bid and that the EU recognized this, adding, however, that Ankara didn’t yet meet all the Union’s criteria. In related news, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini expressed support for Ankara beginning its accession talks with the Union. “We hope that the EU will make a positive decision at its December summit to begin Ankara’s accession talks,” added Frattini. /Turkiye/

EP’S BROK CALLS FOR 2-3 YEAR DELAY ON A DECISION ABOUT ANKARA’S TALKS
Elmar Brok, the chairman of the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, said yesterday that Ankara had not done its homework in enacting reforms to the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) and called for a decision on the beginning of Ankara’s membership talks to be delayed by two or three years. The EU is currently set to make a decision this December. Speaking at a press conference, Brok said that for a proper evaluation of whether Turkey had fulfilled the Copenhagen criteria, there was a need to look at the implementation of EU reforms, adding that implementation was a must to begin Ankara’s accession talks. /Aksam/

PRODI SPOKESMAN DENIES ARMENIAN BORDER CONDITION FOR TURKEY’S EU BID
The European Union Commission yesterday adamantly denied rumors that the re-opening of the Turkish-Armenian border would be added as a precondition to beginning Ankara’s EU membership discussions. Marco Vignudelli, the spokesman for commission head Romano Prodi, said that Prodi had said nothing that would lead one to believe that such a condition would be placed on Turkey, calling such claims categorically false. Vignudelli further stressed that the border issue could only be resolved by dialogue between the two countries. /Turkiye/

AUSTRIAN PREMIER: “SAYING ‘THE TURKS ARE COMING’ IS A HISTORICAL LEFTOVER”
Tolling the warning bells and saying “The Turks are coming” is not a responsible position on Turkey’s European Union membership bid, said Austrian Prime Minister Wolfgang Schuessel yesterday. The premier made the remarks in a rebuff of Heinz Christian Strache, leader of the Pro-Freedom Party and Schuessel’s coalition partner, who threatened this week to quit the coalition if Schuessel supports Ankara’s EU bid at the December EU summit, “This is not 1683,” added Schuessel, referring to the Ottoman siege of Vienna three centuries ago. “We will first wait for the EU Commission’s report and then discuss and later declare our decision.” Schuessel said that the issue should be discussed calmly. /Star/

EU SOCIALIST LEADER: “ACCESSION TALKS CAN’T BEGIN WITHOUT REFORMS”
Martin Schulz, the leader of the European Parliament’s socialist group, said yesterday that Turkey’s EU accession talks couldn’t begin without it taking further reforms. “I am in favor of Turkish membership of the EU, but not at any price,” said Schulz. “The process of reforming the Turkish Penal Code [TCK] must be reopened. We cannot even contemplate the possibility of accession talks with Turkey until these reforms are in place,” added Schulz. “There is no place in the EU for a country that tolerates abuse of human rights. The proposal to make adultery illegal is totally unacceptable.” /Star/

CONSTITUTIONAL COURT ANNULS RTUK DRAFT
The Constitutional Court has annulled a section of draft regulations for the Supreme Board of Radio and Television (RTUK). One of the regulations in question concerned Parliament choosing RTUK members. /Hurriyet/

CHP SEEKS EXTRAORDINARY SESSION FOR PARLIAMENT TO FINISH PENAL CODE
The opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) yesterday urged Parliament to reconvene next Tuesday for an extraordinary session to finish work on the new Turkish Penal Code (TCK). The proposal signed by 123 CHP deputies was given to the Office of the Parliament Speaker. “We will formally request that Parliament hold an extraordinary session on Sept. 28 to debate the two remaining provisions of the draft penal code,” said CHP leader Deniz Baykal. Calling on the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government to pass the bill through Parliament in just one hour, Baykal said that failure of the TCK reforms to pass before Oct. 6, the date the European Union Commission is to issue a report on Turkey, could destroy Ankara’s hopes of beginning EU accession talks. /Turkiye/

US ENERGY SECRETARY VISITS TURKEY
US Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham yesterday arrived in Istanbul as the guest of his Turkish counterpart Hilmi Guler. Calling Turkey a bridge nation for exports of natural gas and oil, Guler said that Ankara and Washington could work on important projects together. “The US government is always ready to cooperate with Turkey in the energy field,” said Abraham. /Sabah/

IMF DELEGATION MEETS WITH TREASURY UNDERSECRETARY TO DISCUSS RECENT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS
A visiting International Monetary Fund delegation chaired by IMF Turkey Desk Chief Riza Moghadam yesterday met with Treasury Undersecretary Ibrahim Canakci to discuss recent economic developments. In related news, speaking at a conference in Izmir, State Minister for the Economy Ali Babacan touted Turkey’s recent economic stability and added that the government had reached all of its goal since it came to power. /Aksam/