YILMAZ TO TRAVEL TO BRUSSELS
Deputy Prime Minister and Motherland Party (ANAP) leader Mesut Yilmaz will travel to Brussels, Belgium today to attend the current round of meetings of the European Union Convention. He is due to return to Turkey on Friday. /Turkiye/

CILLER: “A DYP GOVERNMENT WILL LOWER TAXES”
True Path Party (DYP) leader Tansu Ciller yesterday visited the Ankara Chamber of Commerce (ASO). Meeting with Chairman Zafer Caglayan and other chamber members, Ciller briefed them on her party’s economic program to be implemented if the DYP comes to power. Regarding yesterday’s vote in Parliament sending the body on recess until elections, Ciller said that the DYP had been in favor of holding elections as scheduled on Nov. 3 from the very beginning. Stressing that the DYP had an economic program ready to be implemented when it came to power, Ciller said that they would boost production so as to ensure growth and also pledged to reduce taxes. She also claimed that within five years her party’s administration would find new revenue streams worth $225 billion without the need for any additional borrowing. For his part, Caglayan said that the ASO would support politicians in the elections in line with its views. /Turkiye/

CITING SURGERY, DENKTAS CANCELS MEETINGS IN NEW YORK
Citing the need for an exploratory heart operation, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Ruaf Denktas yesterday cleared his schedule of meetings on the Cyprus issue. Denktas’s surgery was performed in New York, also yesterday, where he arrived earlier this week for two days of planned meetings with Greek Cypriot leader Glafcos Clerides and Kofi Annan, the UN secretary-general. Denktas has so far missed his scheduled talks with Thomas Weston and Sir David Hannay, the US and British envoys to Cyprus. Speaking yesterday, Annan said that he planned to meet with Denktas and Clerides separately. It was unclear how Denktas’s surgery or recovery period might affect these scheduled talks. In related news, President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit telephoned Denktas yesterday to extend get-well wishes. /Hurriyet/

TURKER: “WE’LL WORK WITH THE WORLD BANK TO GAUGE THE COST OF A POSSIBLE IRAQ OPERATION”
Economy Minister Masum Turker returned to Turkey yesterday after attending meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Washington. Speaking to reporters after arriving on home soil, Turker said that during the ongoing fourth review of Turkey’s economic program with the IMF, it was decided that the nation wouldn’t need another credit tranche next year. Turker added that during his meetings with World Bank officials, they had discussed a possible United States operation against Iraq. “We told them that the cost of such an operation would indeed be heavy,” said Turker. “Such an operation would have negative affect on interest rates.” He added that Turkey and World Bank officials would soon start working together to estimate the cost of an Iraq operation. He also said that the World Bank would release $500 million in credits to Turkey at the end of this year. /Milliyet/

IMF: “NO MORE REFORMS, NO MORE LOANS”
International Monetary Fund (IMF) European Director Michael Deppler yesterday stated that Turkey would be able to receive a $1.6 billion loan if and only if the Turkish government manages to fulfill all the preconditions to which it had pledged regarding the fourth review period. “If the preconditions are met, then the IMF will hold a meeting to release the loan,” said Deppler. “However, if Turkey fails to do so, then the meeting will be pushed back to a later date.” Meanwhile, an IMF delegation chaired by IMF Turkey Desk Chief Juha Kahkonen yesterday arrived in Turkey to hold a series of meetings with scholars, the Foreign Capital Association, the Turkish Union of Banks and the Turkish Industrialists’ and Businessmen’s Association (TUSIAD). /Cumhuriyet/

DERVIS: “A MILITARY OPERATION AGAINST IRAQ WOULD HURT TURKEY’S ECONOMY”
Appearing on television yesterday, former Economy Minister Kemal Dervis said that should there be a military operation against Iraq, it would hurt Turkey’s economy and create the need for additional financing next year. Such an operation would have a short-term affect on trade, tourism and oil prices in the region, but its possible long-term effects are difficult to predict, added Dervis. /Hurriyet/

TUSIAD SEEKS BRUSSELS SUPPORT FOR TURKEY’S EU BID
Seeking support from European Union member states for Turkey’s EU bid in the leadup to December’s Copenhagen summit, a delegation from the Turkish Industrialists’ and Businessmen’s Association (TUSIAD) yesterday travelled to Brussels. Speaking to reporters after talks with the European Parliament, TUSIAD Chairman Tuncay Ozilhan said that he was optimistic that Turkey would get a date for membership negotiations from the EU at the Copenhagen summit. He also stated that Turkey’s being in the midst of an election season was making its EU bid more difficult. “I think our getting a date from the EU to start negotiations is more important than the November elections,” added Ozilhan. “If Turkey is successful in getting a date, this would be to its benefit.” /Milliyet/

AZIZ: “THERE’S NO REASON FOR IRAQ TO ATTACK TURKEY”
After concluding talks with his Turkish counterparts, Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz told a press conference yesterday that Iraq would not attack Turkey, or any other country in the region, adding that neighboring countries shouldn’t try to harm each other. Commenting on the possibility of war, Aziz said that Turkey would not benefit from taking part in any war waged against Iraq and that such a war would have adverse effects on the Turkish economy. He also confirmed that he had told Turkish officials of Iraq’s concern about the use of Incirlik Airbase by British and US fighter jets. Meanwhile, Turkish Foreign Minister Sukru Sina Gurel told reporters yesterday that Aziz’s talks with Turkish officials had been beneficial and that neither Iraq nor Turkey had discussed any possible action which might lead to tension between the two countries. Nevertheless, Gurel pointedly added that Turkey wouldn’t hesitate to do whatever was necessary to protect its interests in case of a war in Iraq. /Cumhuriyet/

TURKEY TO KEEP WATCHFUL EYE ON IRAQI KURDISH ASSEMBLY
Under an agreement between two northern Iraqi leaders, Jalal talabani, leader of the Iraqi Union of Kurdistan (IPUK), and Massoud Barzani, leader of the Iraqi Kurdistan Democracy Party (IKDP), a regional Parliament will convene in Erbil tomorrow for the first time since 1996. The leaders met yesterday in the Suleymani province of northern Iraq to approve and sign a series of agreements. Turkey is opposed to the possible establishment of an independent Kurdish state in the region following a possible operation bringing down Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.
In a statement yesterday, the Foreign Ministry said that it didn’t expect the Iraqi regional Parliament to make any decisions contrary to Turkey’s interests. Responding to reports that the assembly would push to form a “federal Kurdish state,” the ministry made it clear that Turkey would allow such a formation only under two conditions: one, that Iraq’s territorial integrity is guaranteed, and two, that the representation of Turkmens, Iraqis of Turkish origin in this region, is increased within such a state. A senior Foreign Ministry official said yesterday that talks were still being held with northern Iraqi Kurdish groups on the proposed new formation. / Turkiye, Cumhuriyet/

VERHEUGEN: “TURKEY HAS YET TO FULFILL THE COPENHAGEN CRITERIA”
In an interview in the current issue of German newsweekly Der Spiegel, EU Commissioner for Enlargement Guenter Verheugen makes remarks on Turkey’s EU membership bid sure to send off shockwaves in Ankara. Remarking that despite recent significant steps taken by the Turkish government, Turkey has so far failed to fulfill EU’s Copenhagen criteria, Verheugen states that Turkey has to fulfill the EU’s political criteria in order to get a specific date for the beginning of its accession negotiations. Many in Turkey believed that the EU accession law package passed this summer gave it a good chance of getting such a date during the EU’s December summit. Verheugen also claims that Turkey has failed to take further steps to advance human rights and improve its democracy. /Sabah/

TURKEY REQUESTS EXTRADITION OF 20 FUGITIVES
During Tuesday’s one-day Parliament session, Justice Minister Aysel Celikel briefed parliamentarians on some 20 fugitives currently evading Turkish justice in foreign countries. Parliament’s action this summer abolishing the death penalty except for crimes during war or imminent war should pave the way for extradition of these fugitives, said Celikel, pointing out how some countries had cited the continued existence of the death penalty on Turkey’s lawbooks as an obstacle. Accordingly, Celikel stated that the Turkish government had reapplied to the proper institutions in foreign capitals for the extradition of some 20 fugitives, including Metin Kaplan, the son of “Black Voice” Metin Kaplan, and Fehriye Erdal, one of the assassins of businessman Ozdemir Sabanci. Celikel remarked that it was now these countries’ turn to make the necessary decisions and begin judicial procedures to extradite the criminals. /Cumhuriyet/

SOURCE: OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER, DIRECTORATE GENERAL OF PRESS AND INFORMATION