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

HURRIYET (LIBERAL)
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PRIME MINISTRY MOTION APPROVED BY 332 VOTES AGAINST 202
The Parliamentary General Assembly approved the prime ministry motion on sending Turkish troops abroad and opening Turkish airspace to foreign armed forces' planes. A total of 535 deputies attended the vote at Parliamentary General Assembly. The prime ministry motion was approved by 332 votes against 202. A deputy cast abstaining vote. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said after approval of the motion, ''let's hope for the best. We expected this result.''

NEGOTIATIONS BETWEEN TURKEY AND UNITED STATES CONTINUE
Negotiations between Turkey and the United States on use of Turkish airspace and entrance of Turkish Armed Forces into northern Iraq have been continuing. U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Robert Pearson came to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at 1.45 a.m. on Friday and held a meeting with Ministry of Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Ugur Ziyal. Pearson refrained from responding questions of journalists.

BAYKAL: ''OPENING AIRSPACE IS A DECLARATION OF WAR AGAINST IRAQ''
Opposing Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal said that opening of Turkish airspace to the U.S. planes meant declaration of war against Iraq. Referring to the U.S.-led strike against Iraq, Baykal stressed, ''we have been crying for the humanity.''

EU: ''TURKEY SHOULD BE PROVIDED WITH WAR AID''
The European Union (EU), which has divided into two because of the Iraqi crisis, questioned itself at yesterday's meeting, and experienced a serious lack of joint foreign policy. During the meeting, it was stressed that Turkey, one of the countries to be affected most in the war, should be provided with financial assistance.

MILLIYET (LIBERAL)
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LAST MINUTE CRISIS
Although the parliament approved motion on sending Turkish troops to northern Iraq and opening Turkish airspace to U.S. planes, the Turkish and the U.S. sides failed to reach an agreement on text deal. The United States could not use Turkish airspace last night while Turkish troops were prevented from entering northern Iraq. Talks between Ministry of Foreign Affairs chief negotiator Ambassador Deniz Bolukbasi and U.S. Vice General Colby Broadwater started before debate on the motion yesterday and continued also after approval of the motion until 9 p.m. While agreement was reached on rules of implementation of opening air corridors, the U.S. overflights which were foreseen to start at midnight were delayed upon Turkey's request. A high-level official said the decision on airspace would be taken today. After this surprising development, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Ugur Ziyal went to the Prime Ministry and sought a solution to the crisis for 1.5 hours with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Although the motion paved the way, any dispatch of Turkish troops to northern Iraq did not happen. Last night, the sides failed to reach a deal on memorandum that sets principles of coordination between the Turkish and U.S. troops in northern Iraq.

TURKISH TROOPS ON ALERT
Six crossing points which connect Iraq to northern Iraq were closed after U.S. attack on Iraq, and new reinforcement units were sent to the region. Meanwhile, Turkish soldiers are on alert on the border to protect Turkmens, and the limited number of Turkish troop in northern Iraq took motorways along the border under control to prevent migration.

AID SIGNAL OF EU
European Union (EU) Term President Greece's Foreign Minister George Papandreou said that the EU would financially assist Turkey against possible impacts of Iraq war.

ANKARA KNOWS ABOUT WAR ON TELEVISION
The United States had informed Turkey of the first bombardment of the Gulf War in 1991, but this time, it did not do it. The United States informed Israel before the attack while Ankara learnt it on CNN International. Replying questions of reporters who asked whether the United States had informed Turkey, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, ''no''.

SABAH (LIBERAL)
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HISTORICAL CONFESSION
Former Foreign Minister Yasar Yakis referred to the financial aid shock and said, ''we thought that the United States needed our assistance and made a serious mistake. It was revealed that the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government made a strategic mistake during the negotiations with the United States.'' Yakis, who played an active role at negotiations with the United States, noted, ''we did not believe that the United States had had the Plan B. We thought that the United States needed Turkey to open the northern front.''

TURKISH SOLDIERS IN NORTHERN IRAQ
The Turkish troops in northern Iraq has begun spreading its military units to the region. Zakhu-Begowa-Batufa Highway was taken under control by Turkish soldiers. Earlier, Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) peshmerga fighters raised their objection to Turkish soldiers' control over the highway.

CUMHURIYET (LEFT)
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SEZER: ''I DO NOT FIND IT RIGHT''
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer said, ''there is not any change in our views about international legitimacy on the Iraq issue. The United Nations Security Council process on Iraq should have been allowed to finish. I do not find it right that U.S. behaved unilaterally before the process ended.''

TENSION BETWEEN TURKEY AND UNITED STATES
The Parliamentary General Assembly approved the prime ministry motion on sending Turkish troops abroad and opening Turkish airspace to foreign armed forces' planes. The prime ministry motion was approved by 332 votes against 202. A deputy cast abstaining vote. Later, Turkish and U.S. military officials started discussing scope and implementation of the prime ministry motion. However, the sides failed to reach a compromise. The U.S. planes which were expected to fly over Turkey after approval of the motion, were diverted to another route.

RADIKAL (LEFT)
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WAKE UP ANKARA
The government learnt about the United States' strike against Iraq from television channels. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that U.S. President George W. Bush did not call him on the phone to inform on beginning of the Iraq war. During 1991's Gulf War, the United States had informed Turkish officials on beginning of its strike.

TURKEY'S REQUEST FOR PROTECTION
After beginning of the Iraq War, Turkey requested NATO to send protective material against a likely chemical and biological attack. According to the statement of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Turkey requested 10 thousand smallpox vaccine from Denmark and 500 from Hungary. Norway was asked to provide Turkey with protective material worth of 650 thousand euros. Canada is expected to send medical equipment against anthrax. Meanwhile, NATO Secretary General George Robertson said on Thursday, ''if there is any attack on Turkey, NATO will fulfill its obligations under the Washington Treaty.''

TURKIYE (RIGHT)
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WORLD WATCHES THROUGH IHA
The Turkish Ihlas News Agency (IHA) which informed the world on U.S. attack on Iraq before any news agency, broadcast developments in the region instantly. IHA broke a record by transmitting footage to more than 250 television channels in different countries from the United States to Japan.

OUT OF GAME
Ankara reacted to U.S. President George W. Bush who did not inform Turkey of start of military action although he informed Israel and Britain 90 minutes before the first air strike. The government learnt about the start of military action on television channels. And this caused sorrow and reaction among Turkish people because Turkey is the ally of the United States and is among the targets of Iraq.

MOTION AT LAST
The motion which allows sending of troops abroad and opening of our airspace to foreign planes was passed by votes of 332 deputies against 202. One deputy cast abstaining vote.

4.5 IN BURSA SCARES
An earthquake measuring 4.5 on the Richter scale happened in Bursa at about 2.30 p.m. yesterday. Officials said Orhaneli town of Bursa was the epicenter of the quake which caused panic among people living the city. The Governor's Office decided to evacuate all schools and send students to their homes after the quake which rocked Bursa for five seconds.

ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)
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''IF RED LINES ARE NOT VIOLATED, TURKEY WILL NOT ENTER NORTHERN IRAQ''
Diplomatic sources said that if the red lines were not violated, Turkey would not enter Northern Iraq. During the negotiations with the United States, the Turkish side notified the U.S. side on its view. Turkish soldiers will be kept ready in border region between Turkey and Iraq. If Iraq's territorial integrity is separated, ethnic groups gain control of rich oil reserves or Turkmens are attacked, Turkish soldiers will cross the border and intervene in northern Iraq.

NUMBER OF REFUGEES APPROACHING TURKEY INCREASES TO 50 THOUSAND
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Representative in Turkey Metin Corabatir said that number of Iraqi refugees approaching Turkey increased up to 50 thousand. Noting that any refugees had not entered Turkey so far, Corabatir said that Turkey had carried out preparatory works to meet urgent requirements of 130 thousand refugees.

(UK-MS-AÖ) 21.03.2003