ERDOGAN: “WE CAN SEE THE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL”
Justice and Development Party (AKP) leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday attended a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Aydin-Horsunlu-Denizli highway. Recalling his campaign pledge this fall to build a 15,000-kilometer divided highway, Erdogan said that the AKP administration would keep all its promises. Stating that in recent years Turkey had been passing through a dark tunnel, the AKP leader added, “However, now we can see the light at the end of this tunnel.” /Aksam/

DENKTAS: “CYPRUS IS NOT AN OBSTACLE TO TURKEY’S EU MEMBERSHIP”
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Rauf Denktas yesterday returned to the island after recuperating in Ankara for three weeks. Upon departing, Denktas told reporters at Ankara’s Esenboga Airport that both the TRNC and Turkey had been under pressure for years under the view that the Cyprus issue constitutes an obstacle to Turkey’s EU membership. “However,” he said, “it is not.” Pointing to the maps proposed in United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s recent Cyprus plan, Denktas predicted that they would mean the immigration of some 60,000 Greeks to the TRNC. He added that the TRNC would continue its efforts with goodwill to find a just settlement on the island. /Turkiye/

KUTAN: “THE AKP GOVERNMENT’S POLICIES WILL DAMAGE TURKEY AT HOME AND ABROAD”
Felicity Party (SP) leader Recai Kutan charged yesterday that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government was letting foreign policy goals dictate its entire agenda, adding that this approach would ultimately harm the nation. “The AKP government is pursuing policies which will hurt its relations with fellow Islamic nations and isolate it in the Middle East,” said Kutan. “One cannot say that such policies are in the nation’s interest.” Kutan further predicted that Turkey’s economy would fare no better under the AKP than under the previous government. While both the AKP and SP grew out of the banned Virtue Party (FP), November’s elections led to a single-party AKP government, while the SP failed to capture a single seat in Parliament. /Milliyet/

PAKDEMIRLI TO SEEK ANAP LEADERSHIP
Ekrem Pakdemirli yesterday declared his candidacy for leadership of the Motherland Party (ANAP). Along with Lutfullah Kayalar, Ali Talip Ozdemir, and Isin Celebi, Pakdemirli’s announcement brought the field for ANAP’s helm to four candidacies. Speaking at a press conference, he said that every member of ANAP, not just former leader Mesut Yilmaz, was responsible for the party’s poor showing in the general elections this November. Pakdemirli likened ANAP to a “gravely wounded giant.” Pakdemirli added that he was conservative, nationalistic, innovative, and also that he would stand for social justice and individual freedom. /Milliyet/

IMF DELEGATION TO VISIT TURKEY IN JANUARY FOR FOURTH REVIEW
A delegation from the International Monetary Fund chaired by IMF Turkey Desk Chief Juha Kahkonen is set to visit Turkey during the second half of January. The delegation is expected to complete the fourth review of Turkey’s economic program, in conjunction with officials from the Treasury Undersecretary, State Planning Organization (DPT), Finance Ministry and Banking Regulation and Supervision Agency (BDDK). During its meetings, the delegation is expected to urge the government not to delay needed staff reductions in the public sector. The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is expected to present a Letter of Intent (LOI) to the delegation after completing the review of the program. /Star/

AID AGENCIES WARN OF HUMANITARIAN DISASTER IN CASE OF IRAQ CONFLICT
International aid agencies have warned that some 1 million refugees could flee from Iraq if the US launches an operation against Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. Humanitarian groups predicted that in addition to vast numbers putting pressure on Iraq’s borders with Turkey, Jordan, Syria, and Iran, Iraqis could contract life-threatening diseases, including typhoid and cholera, on a "vast, epidemic scale." Any war which targets the electrical stations providing power to Iraq’s water system run the risk of leading to a wide range of epidemics and a "grave danger of water-related diseases," the groups added. /Sabah/

US SECRETARY OF STATE POWELL: “THE US WON’T LET IRAQ BE DIVIDED”
US Secretary of State Colin Powell over the weekend asserted that the United States would not let Iraq be divided up into smaller states during a postwar period. Remarking that there are three competing ethnic groups in Iraq, namely its Shiites, Kurds and Sunnis, which might want to set up their own independent states after leader Saddam Hussein is toppled, Powell stated that the US didn’t believe that such division would benefit the Iraqi nation. “The US is determined to protect Iraq’s territorial integrity,” he added. /Sabah/

TOBB CHAIRMAN HISARCIKLIOGLU: “A WAR WOULD COST TURKEY $24 BILLION”
Appearing on news channel CNN Turk over the weekend, Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodities Exchanges (TOBB) Chairman Rifat Hisarciklioglu predicted the economic toll of a possible war in Iraq would total approximately $24 billion. Hisarciklioglu stressed that Turkish-US economic relations should be upgraded in order to buffer the economic impact of a war. Recalling that Turkey had been a close ally of the US since the 1950s, Hisarciklioglu said, “Turkey would suffer great losses in an Iraq war. The strategic partnership between Turkey and the US cannot continue unless our bilateral economic relations are improved. The US should pledge to assist our country in economic areas.” /Hurriyet/

BLUE STREAM PIPELINE BEGINS PUMPING NATURAL GAS
The Blue Stream pipeline linking Turkey and Russia yesterday reportedly began to pump natural gas for the first time. In the first stage, gas will be pumped at low pressure and then in 15 days’ time, it is to reach the targeted level. Over the next year, the pipeline is expected to pump a total of 2 billion cubic meters of gas into Turkey. /Turkiye/

ESRA ERON PLACES THIRD IN EUROPEAN BEAUTY CONTEST
Esra Eron, 22, was awarded third place in the 2002 European Beauty Contest held yesterday in Beirut, Lebanon. Russia’s Svetlana Koroleva took home the crown of the contest, where young women from 35 countries competed. /All Papers/

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