ANKARA - These are some of the major headlines and their brief stories in Turkey's press on March 26, 2003. The Anadolu Agency does not verify these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

HURRIYET (LIBERAL)
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SURPRISING STATEMENT OF U.S. COMMANDER
General Henry Osman, the commander of the special unit which was sent to northern Iraq, said at a press conference that his headquarters would be in Silopi town of southeastern province of Sirnak. Noting that their target was to provide communication between Turks and Kurds, General Osman said that the United States and the coalition partners wanted to protect territorial integrity, security and stability of Iraq.

USD 8.5 BILLION IN LOANS FROM UNITED STATES TO TURKEY
U.S. President George W. Bush's war budget includes 8.5 billion U.S. dollars in direct loans or loan guarantees to Turkey, White House documents showed. According to detailed documents of the U.S. administration's war budget for Iraq which has to be approved by the U.S. Congress, the budget includes 1 billion U.S. dollars in economic grants for Turkey but this could be used to secure the loans or loan guarantees. Loans could be used until September 30, 2005. The United States was earlier planning to provide 6 billion U.S. dollars in direct aid and up to 24 billion U.S. dollars in loans.

MILLIYET (LIBERAL)
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EU TO PROVIDE TURKEY WITH 1 BILLION EUROS
As the European Commission has been putting pressure on Turkey not to send military troops to northern Iraq, the European Union (EU) will propose to increase financial assistance to Turkey up to 1 billion 50 million euros in the next three years. The proposal is expected to be approved during today's meeting of the EU Commission.

GUL: ''WE WILL ENTER NORTHERN IRAQ BEFORE INFLOW OF REFUGEES''
Turkey informed the United States that it would send its military troops to northern Iraq before a possible inflow of Iraqi refugees into its borders. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said that they would not wait for inflow of refugees. Meanwhile, negotiations between U.S. President George W. Bush's Adviser for Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad and Ministry of Foreign Affairs Deputy Undersecretary Ali Tuygan have been continuing. Sources said that the negotiations would last for a few days.

SABAH (LIBERAL)
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DEMIREL: ''UNITED STATES HANDED OVER OCALAN TO TURKEY''
Referring to Ankara's policy about Iraq, former President Suleyman Demirel said, ''the United States has made a number of gestures in the past. For instance, it was not Turkey, which captured Abdullah Ocalan, the head of the terrorist organization PKK. The United States handed over him to Turkey. I do not talk about these gestures to mean that we should be involved in the Iraq war. Turkey should have expressed its views at the very beginning.''

GUL: ''U.S. LOANS ARE NOT RELATED WITH OPENING OF NORTHERN FRONT''
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said that the 1 billion U.S. dollars in economic grants that the U.S. administration allocated from war budget or 8.5 billion U.S. dollars in direct loans to Turkey were not related with opening of ''northern front''. Following a briefing at the National Intelligence Organization (MIT), Gul came to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and replied questions of reporters about the U.S. aid. Noting that it was not a new economic aid, and they had known about it, Gul said that the aid in question was not related with opening of ''northern front'' but it aimed to compensate Turkey's economic losses. Gul added that the aid would be 1 billion U.S. dollars in economic grants or 8.5 billion U.S. dollars in loans.

CUMHURIYET (LEFT)
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SIX HELICOPTERS UNLOADED
Six helicopters were unloaded from a ship in Iskenderun Port. The ship named ''Repubblica Di Roma'' brought military vehicles and equipment to the port on March 15. Sources said that the ship unloaded military vehicles and equipment it was carrying but was kept waiting at the port for ten days since it was not permitted to unload the remaining equipment because they were not notified. Unassembled helicopters and armored vehicles were unloaded from the ship. Six ''Scorsky'' helicopters unloaded from the ship would be used for search and rescue purposes.

KANADOGLU REQUESTS TREASURY FUNDING TO AK PARTY BE CUT OFF
Supreme Court of Appeal Chief Prosecutor Sabih Kanadoglu said that he requested the Constitutional Court to deprive Justice and Development Party (AK Party) of Treasury assistance instead of closing the party. Kanadoglu made verbal statements at the Constitutional Court related with the lawsuits filed for closure of the AK Party and the Turkish Communist Party (TKP).

RADIKAL (LEFT)
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TSK PREPARES ITS PLAN FOR IRAQ
Turkey has determined its conditions for sending soldiers to northern Iraq. If the ''Rain Line'' in border region between Turkey and Iraq is violated, the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) will enter northern Iraq. The General Staff briefed Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and a group of members of the cabinet about recent developments in Iraq. During the meetings between government and General Staff officials, it was decided, ''if Kurdish groups violate the Rain Line, Turkish army will enter northern Iraq.''

MIT: ''KADEK CAN REVIVE''
The National Intelligence Agency (MIT) briefed Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and ministers, who are members of the National Security Council (NSC) about northern Iraq. During the briefing, MIT officials referred to a possible inflow of Iraqi refugees into Turkish borders as a result of the Iraq war. ''Such an inflow of refugees can create an appropriate atmosphere for revival of the terrorist organization PKK/KADEK,'' they said.

TURKIYE (RIGHT)
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ACCESSION PARTNERSHIP ACCORD TO BE APPROVED TODAY
The Accession Partnership Accord will be released later today after being approved by the European Union (EU) Commission. EU Commission officials refrained from giving any information about content of the document. Sources said that the Accession Partnership Accord envisaged to increase financial assistance to Turkey.

TUZMEN: ''WE DO NOT HAVE ANY COMMERCIAL PROBLEMS WITH IRAQ''
Environment Minister Kursad Tuzmen said that the U.S.-led military action against Iraq would not affect commercial agreements between Turkey and Iraq. ''We do not have any problems in our commercial relations with Iraq,'' he said.

ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)
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UNITED STATES CANNOT GIVE UP TURKEY
The United States has been giving different signals about withdrawal of its soldiers from Turkey. Sources said that the United States did not want to give up Turkey till the very last moment. The same sources recalled that U.S. President George W. Bush's war budget included 8.5 billion U.S. dollars in direct loans or loan guarantees to Turkey.
(UK) 26.03.2003