These are some of the major headlines and their brief stories in Turkey's press on March 3, 2002. The Anadolu Agency does not verify these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

HURRIYET (LIBERAL)
------------------
ECEVIT:''EUROPE CAN'T MAKE IMPOSITIONS ON TURKEY''
Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit reacted harshly to the demand of the European Parliament (EP) which asked Turkey not to close the People's Democracy Party (HADEP). Noting that Europe cannot make impositions on Turkish judicial institutions, Ecevit said that this was against democracy.

AKCAKOCA:''OUR TARGET IS 500 BILLION DOLLARS''
Engin Akcakoca, the Chairman of the Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BRSA) said that unless the banking sector improves in the country, no other sector can revive. ''Our target is to create a banking sector of 500,000 billion dollars in five years,'' he said adding that he believed that 25 percent of that would be composed of foreign banks.

MILLIYET (LIBERAL)
------------------
TURKEY EXPECTS GERMAN BANKS TO TAKE PART IN PRIVATIZATION OF HALKABNK
State Minister Kemal Dervis invited German and Austrian banks which have experience in working with small and medium scale enterprises to take part in privatization of Ziraat and Halk Banks. Noting that Turkey planned to privatize the two state banks until 2003, Dervis told German newspaper Handelsblatt that he expected the interest rates to decrease to 15 percent in 2003.

FINANCE MINISTER ORAL:''TAXES CAN DECREASE AFTER 2002''
Finance Minister Sumer Oral said that they want to revive the real economy and encourage investment in 2002. Speaking in the panel discussion held by Aegean Exporters Union, Oral said that ''I continiously receive demands about decreasing taxes and making the financial policy more flexible. However we can't decrease the tax rates in 2002, we can decrease them after 2002,'' he said.

SABAH (LIBERAL)
---------------
HEAD OFFICIALS TO BE GIVEN VALSE CLASSES
The Interior Ministry has changed the classes that are given to head officials (kaymakam). Under the new program, head officials are taught how to valse and tango, how to act during receptions, which wine they should drink with which dish, and other etiquette rules such as how to use silverware.

SEZER'S SALARY IS ONLY 2.2 BILLION TL
Deputies and bureaucrats get a higher salary than President Ahmet Necdet Sezer. The salaries of public bank executives and directors are three times as high as Sezer's. Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit gets 3.1 billion TL. Deputies receive 2.9 billion TL.

CUMHURIYET (LEFT)
-----------------
UNITED STATES ASKS ITS PERSONNEL IN TURKEY TO SEND THEIR
CHILDREN AND WIVES BACK HOME
U.S. Defense Secretariat last week instructed its personnel in Turkey to send their children and wives back home in the next three months for security reasons. This raised suspicions about an upcoming attack against Iraq.

GAP TOURISM TO BE PROMOTED IN BERLIN AND MOSCOW
Prime Ministry South East Anatolia Project (GAP) Administration will organize two international fairs in Moscow and Berlin to promote tourism in GAP region to people living in these cities. The fairs will be held on March 16-20 in Berlin and on March 27-30 in Moscow.
The administration is planning to train all people employed in tourism related jobs, from governors to cab drivers, about tourism in the next three years.

RADIKAL (LEFT)
--------------
ECEVIT HESITANT OVER AMNESTY BILL
Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit expressed hesitation over the amnesty bill which proposes to forgive PKK's military wing and leaders with the condition that these people surrender and provide information about PKK's plans. Ecevit said he hadn't yet received the bill from the Justice Ministry but he had a number of reservations about the bill from what he read from the newspapers. ''I don't know if it's right to forgive PKK members who committed all those murders. We have to discuss that further,'' he commented.

BAHCELI:''EUROPE IS MORE INTERESTED IN PROTECTING TERRORISTS''
Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader and Deputy Prime Minister Devlet Bahceli criticized the EU for being ''hypocratical and prejudiced'' during a party meeting on Saturday. Bahceli said the EU failed to fulfill its financial responsibilities towards Turkey and showed close attention to terrorists and separatists.

TURKIYE (RIGHT)
---------------
SURPRISING REPORT FROM U.S.
The International Narcotics Control Strategy Report prepared by the U.S. Department of State claimed that Turkey has been a transit country in drug trafficking from Southwest Asia to Europe. The report also showed Turkey among the countries which was involved in black money launder.

TURKISH BUSINESSMEN GO TO IRAQ
Foreign Trade Undersecretary Kursat Tuzmen, who continues his contacts with a group of Turkish businessmen in Iraq, said that Turkey lost 80 billion dollars due to the Gulf Crisis. He stressed that Turkey didn't want another fight in the region.

ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)
--------------------
ECEVIT:IF CONDITIONS ARE MET, TURKEY CAN TAKE OVER COMMAND OF ISAF
Turkey started a bargaining process regarding the issue of Turkey's taking over the command of International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, from Britain. Turkey, which can take over the command of International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan,
in April, called a meeting with U.S. and British officials to discuss the conditions. Meanwhile Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said that a U.S. delegation came to Turkey, adding ''British Prime Minister Mr. Blair told me on the phone that France also wanted to send a delegation to Turkey to discuss these issues in details. I hope this delegation will come soon.'' Ecevit noted that Chief of General Staff and Foreign Minister Ismail Cem discussed all the details of the issue.