ANKARA - These are some of the major headlines and their brief stories in Turkey's press on March 31, 2003. The Anadolu Agency does not verify these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

HURRIYET (LIBERAL)
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GREEK DEFENSE MINISTER:''IF SADDAM ATTACKS TURKEY, THIS MEANS HE ATTACKS NATO''
Greek Defense Minister Yiannos Papandoniou told the paper that ''if Saddam attacks Turkey, this means he attacks NATO, too.'' Papandoniou was the former Greek Finance Minister and he tried to decrease the weapon purchases of Greece and to make Greece enter the European Monetary Union. Regarding the Kurdish problem, Papandoniou said that Greece supported the protection of the borders in the region. ''The borders should not be changed,'' he said hinting that Greece was against the formation of an independent Kurdish state in Northern Iraq. ''We support the decision taken by NATO about Turkey. But we can't send Patriots to Turkey because we need these systems in order to protect ourselves. We are also close to the region.''

NEW FOREIGN MINISTRY SPOKESMAN
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul replaced Foreign Ministry Spokesman Yusuf Buluc with the former spokesman Huseyin Dirioz whenever he started his term in office. Dirioz was the Foreign Ministry Spokesman when former Foreign Minister Ismail Cem was in office. Dirioz was replaced by Buluc when Sukru Sina Gurel was appointed as the Foreign Minister.

MILLIYET (LIBERAL)
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AL QAEDA ALARM IN TURKEY
Security Directorate warned that Al Qaeda terrorist organization was preparing to carry out terrorist activities since November last year against the U.S. and Israeli targets in Turkey. Extraordinary security measures have been taken in Istanbul and Ankara. Security Directorate is in alarm after it was informed that Al Qaeda, the terrorist organization of Osame Bin Laden who gave the order of launching terrorist activities in New York on Sept. 11, 2001 could carry out terrorist activities in Turkey as of the end of March.

GUL: TURKEY IS NOT IN ECONOMIC CRISIS
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said that Turkey had earlier went through significant economic crises without having the conditions of a war in the region. Stressing that Turkey didn't have any economic crisis due to the measures taken by the government despite the war in the region, Gul said that Turkey determined its position regarding the war in a clear way.

ERDOGAN WRITES LETTER TO U.S.
Foreign Minister Gul said that Prime Minister Erdogan was writing a letter to be sent to all U.S. Congress members. Erdogan will explain his views about the developments and the bilateral relations between Turkey and the U.S. in the letter.

SABAH (LIBERAL)
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KOKSAL: BAGHDAD CAN'T BE TAKEN BY U.S. EASILY
Sonmez Koksal, the former Head of the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) who also worked as the Turkish Ambassador to Iraq said that the U.S. would not easily win the war in Iraq. Koksal said that if the U.S. needed the northern front, a new motion could be submitted to the parliament.

RUMSFELD'S MISTAKE
New Yorker magazine published in the U.S. criticized U.S. Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld: ''General Franks asked for postponement of the operation in Iraq as Turkey didn't permit the passage of U.S. soldiers from Turkey. However, Rumsfeld didn't take it into account and rejected the request of General Franks.''

CUMHURIYET (LEFT)
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TURKMENISTAN TO RETURN SIX TURKISH CITIZENS TO TURKEY
Turkmenistan which earlier arrested six Turkish citizens claiming that they were involved in the assassination attempt against Turkmen President Saparmurad Turkmenbasý will return these citizens to Turkey. The six Turks who were arrested and jailed in Ashkabat will be brought to Istanbul today. The persons didn't have any connection with the assassination attempt which took place on Nov. 25, 2002 in Turkmenistan.

STATUS DIFFICULTY IN NORTHERN IRAQ
The U.S. administration is not willing to sign a written document about coordination in Northern Iraq despite the insistence of Turkey. If an agreement is reached between Turkey and the U.S. in the talks which will start today by the contacts of U.S. President's special envoy for Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad in Ankara, a common announcement is expected to be made.

RADIKAL (LEFT)
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NOBODY UNDERSTANDS AK PARTY POLICIES
Although AK Party came to power on its own, it acts inconsistently in many issues like the Public Procurement Law and Tax Law. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan seemed to support the adoption of the these two laws before he came to office as the prime minister, but he later gave up his view.

ERDOGAN: WE DON'T HAVE THE INTENTION OF OCCUPATION
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the German Bild am Sonntag newspaper that Turkey didn't have the intention of occupying Northern Iraq. ''Turkish Armed Forces takes security measures against possible developments which can endanger the security of Turkey. We follow up the developments. Turkey will take measures if a broad scale migration is seen, and if clashes erupt among certain armed groups in Northern Iraq or if the terrorist organization PKK tries to take action in the region benefiting from the authority vacuum.''

TURKIYE (RIGHT)
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WHAT IF IT WORKS!
When the internal and external debt of the country exceeded 200 billion U.S. dollars, businessmen called the government to have ''national mobilization.'' Businessman Abdulkadir Konukoglu said that everybody should give 20 percent of his/her wealth to the state so that Turkey will save itself from its debts. Ankara Trade Chamber (ATO) Chairman Sinan Aygun said that citizens want to give money to the state so that the country can save itself from debt problem.

KHALILZAD ASKS TURKMEN LEADER TO ACCEPT KURDISTAN
A result can't be taken from the negotiations held between Turkey and the U.S. due to the attitude assumed by U.S. President Bush's special envoy for Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad. Sources said that Khalilzad had a meeting with Iraqi opposition groups in Northern Iraq one day before the discussion of the motion in the parliament which was rejected. Sources said Khalilzad asked the leader of the Iraqi Turkmen Front Sanan Ahmet Aga to accept the Iraqi Kurdistan. ''If you talk about Iraqi Kurdistan in your speeches, we can then appoint you to the Iraqi Presidential Council,'' Khalilzad is claimed to have told Sanan Ahmet Aga.

ZAMAN (CONSERVATIVE)
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DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME STARTS
Daylight saving time started at 1.00 a.m. on March 30, 2003 in order to save energy. The standard time was set forward by one hour at 1.00 a.m. The daylight saving time will end at 2.00 a.m. on October 26, 2003. A total of 5.59 billion kilowatt-hour of electric energy has been saved in Turkey since 1990 due to daylight saving. Turkey aims to save 580 million kilowatt-hour of electric energy in 2003.

(ÖS-AÖ) 31.03.2003