ANKARA - These are some of the major headlines and their brief stories in Turkey's press on February 21, 2003. The Anadolu Agency does not verify these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

HURRIYET (LIBERAL)
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TRNC PREPARES ECONOMIC PACKAGE TO DECREASE TENSION
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) administration prepared an economic package to decrease anger of Turkish Cypriot people and sent it to Ankara. The package which will change socioeconomic structure of TRNC includes decreasing period of military service from two years to one month. The package foresees that TRNC will be free zone, and fund and customs taxes will be lifted in imports.

AVALANCHE IN PUTURGE KILLS ONE PERSON
One person died in an avalanche, five others were rescued in Puturge township of eastern Malatya province. Six people who were trying to fix up drinking water network were caught in the snowslide in Karakoy hamlet of Aslankent village. Ilyas Ay died in avalanche, and Ali Gundogdu, Ekrem Erdogan, Burhan Ay, Bekir Ay and Ahmet Ay were rescued. State Meteorology Affairs officials said that cold and snowy weather would continue to paralyze the country at the weekend and first days of next week. There will be snow in Eastern part of Marmara region, Black Sea region, Central Anatolia, Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia regions on Friday. There will also be snow across the country on Saturday and Sunday.

MILLIYET (LIBERAL)
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MOTION SEEMS TO BE ADOPTED SOON
Prime Minister Abdullah Gul who will talk to the U.S. administration for the last time today, will announce his decision to the public opinion after that. The motion on deployment of foreign soldiers in Turkey is expected to be submitted to the parliament in the beginning of next week. Foreign Minister Yasar Yakýs said in his part that the main problem is not the motion, adding ''the thing that matters is to explain this to deputies and persuade them.''

TURKEY WARNS BARZANI
Turkey is very uneasy about the attitude of KDP leader Massaud Barzani who increased his pressure on Turkmens in Northern Iraq. Barzani is known for his dream of entering Mosul and Kirkuk. Even if he does not enter there by force, it can push civilian people including KDP members to migrate to Mosul. Turkey gave the message that ''if Barzani tries that, we will take action against it.''

SABAH (LIBERAL)
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BUSH NEEDS NORTHERN FRONT DESPERATELY
The importance of opening a northern front during a possible U.S. operation against Iraq is the reason of Turkey's being resolved in its negotiations with the U.S. Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Ugur Ziyal told ANAP leader Ozdemir that ''if we don't allow opening of a northern front, the war plans of the Unites States will be ruined. The United States tells that it can enter Iraq from the south as an alternative plan, but this is difficult because it planned everything according to the idea of opening of a northern front. If this front is not opened, the United States can be in a position to postpone the operation for one year.''

PRESIDENT SEZER SAYS CARTEL IN MEDIA HAS TO BE PREVENTED
Addressing the Communication Congress meeting on Thursday, President Sezer warned the media. ''The monopolization in media has to be prevented. Such a media reaches an unfair power in economic field and it also restricts the right to freedom of persons to get accurate information,'' Sezer said.

CUMHURIYET (LEFT)
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SECOND ARMY CORPS IN HOT REGION
A total of 7,000 soldiers of the Second Army Corps who crossed the border of Hakkari and Sýrnak, got deployed in strategic points in 10-13 kilometers inside Northern Iraq. The United States confirmed that Iran also sent 5,000 soldiers to Northern Iraq. A total of 200 American soldiers came to Batman, Turkey. Meanwhile, the United States brought military equipment to Iskenderun port without the adoption of the second motion.

U.S. DELEGATION WITHDRAWS FROM YESTERDAY'S NEGOTIATIONS
The United States withdrew from the negotiations it carried out with Turkey for reaching a compromise on a common text. The U.S. administration didn't start yesterday's negotiations as no instructions came from Washington D.C. about the problematic military issues. Foreign Minister Yasar Yakýs said that ''we are almost at the end of the negotiations, and we stand firm against the U.S.''

RADIKAL (LEFT)
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BARGAINING WITH UNITED STATES LOCKED
Negotiations on military issues in case of a possible operation against Iraq between Turkey and the United States were cancelled as Washington did not give any directive to the U.S. delegation. The U.S. delegation did not come to the Foreign Ministry for negotiations since Washington did not give any directive to the delegation. Foreign Minister Yasar Yakis said, ''submission of the motion about deployment of foreign soldiers in Turkey and dispatch of Turkish soldiers abroad to the parliament today or tomorrow is technically impossible.'' After those developments, Washington told the U.S. delegation that there would be no negotiation till the second directive.

DENKTAS: ''WE MUST NOT GIVE HOPE TO PEOPLE''
Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot side are making pessimistic statements when the Greek Cypriot press publishes news stories about the third plan which U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan will present to the sides in his tour to Athens-Ankara-Cyprus. Greek Cypriot press wrote that Annan would give one week to both sides to give response on the third plan. Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) President Rauf Denktas said that he had no official information about the third plan. He stated that these stories aimed to mislead the Turkish side. ''They have given up Karpaz! But what will we give them in return to that? We'll see when Annan comes here; and we know more or less what will happen. If they give up Karpaz, they will ask for other places. The number of Greek Cypriots who will come to the north will further increase. They want the number to increase from 60,000 to 100,000. Therefore, we must not give false news or hope to the people saying that the plan was amended to our advantage,'' Denktas noted.

TURKIYE (RIGHT)
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MOTION CRISIS
The United States asked for an immediate reply from Turkey for the submission of the second motion on deployment of foreign soldiers in Turkey. Turkey whose demands were not met by the United States, postponed the issue of submitting the motion to the parliament to Feb. 25, Tuesday. The issue of motion turned into a crisis when U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said the United States wanted Turkey to give a reply within 48 hours.

CELIK: WE GAVE LIST TO UNESCO
Culture Minister Celik said that there were 75 important historical works of art remaining from the Ottoman and Seljuk periods in Iraq, adding ''we applied to the U.S. and UNESCO giving them information about their places and asking their protection.''

ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)
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YSK CLEARS WAY OF ERDOGAN TO BE PRIME MINISTER
Higher Board of Election (YSK) rejected the objections made to the parliamentary candidacy of Justice and Development Party (AK Party) leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan. To this end, Erdogan can be a deputy and prime minister. Speaking to reporters after the YSK meeting, YSK Deputy Chairman Ahmet Hamdi Unlu said that they examined the objections of Labour Party (IP) and three citizens to the parliamentary candidacy of Erdogan for the elections to be re-held in Siirt on March 9 and they rejected these objections unanimously. Unlu said that the Board took into consideration Article 76 of the Constitution on ''Eligibility to be a Deputy'' and the amendments made in Article 11 of the Law on the Election of Deputies while giving their decision.

(ÖS-EÖ-AÖ) 21.02.2003