GOOD MORNING--TURKEY PRESS SCAN ON FEB 3

HURRIYET
-- EXPORT DROPS 27.91 PERCENT IN JANUARY
Shocking fall in export figures... The crisis had bad influences; export figures which dropped in January, 2009 remained at $7.5 billion. The highest drop was recorded in the automotive sector's exports at 53.24 percent.
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-- ERDOGAN, TEHRAN'S HONORARY FREEMAN
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, mayor of Tehran, said they declared Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan "honorary freeman" of the Iranian capital city of Tehran.
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-- KING TO WELCOME GUL AT AIRPORT
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia will welcome Turkish President Abdullah Gul --who will travel to that country today on a three-day visit-- at Riyadh airport with an official ceremony. Also the King's oldest wife al-Saira will welcome "first lady", Hayrunnisa Gul.
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MILLIYET
-- ERDOGAN'S PECULIAR GUEST
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan was set to host an interesting guest on Tuesday in the Turkish capital Ankara. Erdogan will meet Ali Osman Mohammad Taha, vice president for Sudanese leader Omar al Bashir, who is accused of genocide against the non-Arab population of the Darfur region and Christian Africans. Bashir's visit to Turkey last year was the target of widespread protests by human rights activists.
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-- U.N. HEAD EXPRESSES SUPPORT FOR ERDOGAN
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon telephoned Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on Monday, saying he was sorry for what happened at a panel discussion on Gaza in Davos Economic Forum where Erdogan stormed off the stage after a moderator cut him off as he was responding to remarks by the Israeli president. "You were not allowed to express yourself in an unjust and unfair moderating. The Middle East needs you to take initiatives, your leadership and your mediation," Ban said.
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SABAH
-- IMF PUZZLE
Commenting on an IMF agreement, State Minister Mehmet Simsek first stated that direct talks with the IMF would start late if the Fund continued displaying the same stance. However, the minister later said he was sure that the difference of opinion would be overcome soon.
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-- U.N.'S DAVOS SUPPORT TO ERDOGAN
Calling Premier Tayyip Erdogan on the phone yesterday evening, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said that he felt sorry for what happened in Davos. U.N. SG said that the moderator of the discussion displayed an unfair stance and did not let Erdogan express himself.
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-- TURKEY RANKED 57TH IN GLOBALIZATION INDEX
Turkey has been ranked the 57th among 158 countries in a "world globalization index" prepared by the Swiss economic research institute KOF. Belgium ranked first on the list that examines countries in various categories including economic, social and political globalization. Nine of the top 10 countries in the index are European.

VATAN
-- WE WANT TO PRESERVE RELATIONS WITH ISRAEL
Deputy Premier and government spokesman Cemil Cicek took the first step to normalize the tense relations between Turkey and Israel in his statements after the Council of Ministers meeting. He said that Turkey attached importance to its relations with Israel, and it wanted to preserve those relations. He added that Turkey did not set Israel and Israeli people as a target.
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-- GOOGLE TO MAKE TURKISH TRANSLATION TOO
World's favorite search engine Google added the Turkish language in its Google Translate service (a translation service among languages). It is possible to translate a sentence or a word in a foreign language into Turkish and vice versa.
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-- HE BECAME HERO IN MID-EAST
People in the streets of Gaza, Iran, Syria, Jordan and Sudan show their admiration to Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and Turkey every day. Also, Tehran Mayor declared Erdogan "honorary freeman" yesterday.
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CUMHURIYET
-- MEDIATOR ROLE OVER
Turkey has changed the axis of its Middle East policy and it has become a country supporting Hamas. With Premier Tayyip Erdogan's stance towards Hamas and the recent crisis that arose in Davos, it has been revealed that there had been a serious change in Turkey's Middle East policy. Due to the developments that took place in the last month, Turkey lost its position as being "the country which stayed at an equal distance to all parties".
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-- AKP GOVERNMENT IN CONTACT WITH ISRAEL
According to sources, Turkish and Israeli foreign ministries are holding talks "behind doors" in an effort to ease the tension that arose in Davos. Deputy secretaries and general directors from both ministries have been holding talks since the day of Erdogan's reaction, officials said.
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RADIKAL
-- GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS HITS TURKISH EXPORTS HARD
The shrinking international demand due to a global financial crisis has been hitting hard Turkish exports which have plummeted for the fourth month in a row. Exports dropped 28 percent in the first month of 2009, barely reaching some $7 billion. The sharpest decline came in automotive exports, the former champion, with 53 percent. Exports of ready-to-wear products plunged by 19.6 percent.
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-- IMF INSISTENCE WOULD DELAY TALKS, TURKISH MINISTER SAYS
Turkish state minister for the Treasury said the IMF should quit insisting on its terms on a number of disagreements over a stand-by deal. "Turkey is in a better position than most countries regarding the ratio of its debts to its national income. That's why a deal with the IMF cannot follow old recipes. Insistence on (them) would delay the talks," Mehmet Simsek said.

YENI SAFAK
-- WE NEED YOU
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called Premier Tayyip Erdogan on the phone and said "the Middle East needs your leadership and mediation mission". Ban Ki-moon, who attended a session in Davos together with Erdogan, expressed his sorrow over the discussion that took place during the gathering. The U.N. SG said that Erdogan was not allowed to express himself during the discussion as the mediator acted in an unjust manner.
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-- IMF AND TURKEY HAVING E-TALKS
State Minister Mehmet Simsek said that the talks between Turkey and the IMF continued via e-mails and telephone calls. "If we reach an agreement, we will send the letter of intent and the theoretical studies will be completed by the end of this month," Simsek said.