GOOD MORNING--TURKEY PRESS SCAN ON JAN 9

HURRIYET
-- SILENT TRAFFIC
The Ergenekon traffic that started following a six-hour meeting of commanders at General Staff HQs in Ankara continued with surprising visits on Thursday. However, contents of these meetings were not disclosed. The General Staff cancelled the weekly press briefing held every Friday.

Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan met Interior Minister Besir Atalay and Undersecretary of the National Intelligence Organization Emre Taner. Chief of General Staff Gen. Ilker Basbug, who was scheduled to have a meeting with President Abdullah Gul, met with Erdogan. The prime minister's office said that "recent developments were assessed at the meeting". Later, Basbug met Gul at the Cankaya Presidential Palace. The General Staff made a statement about the meeting and said that Gen. Basbug expressed his views and made some assessments especially regarding Wednesday's developments. After all these meetings, PM Erdogan had another meeting with Justice Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin and Interior Minister Atalay.
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-- THREE MESSAGES BACKSTAGE
Here are three messages claimed to have been given by Gen. Ilker Basbug: we believe it was appropriate to directly convey our sensitivity and uneasiness, the recent detainments (under the Ergenekon probe) are not in accord with the law, those who were detained complain about where they are being held and these complaints should be taken into consideration.
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MILLIYET
-- FACE TO FACE
General Staff Chief Gen. Ilker Basbug had a meeting, which lasted for six and half hours, with force commanders the previous day. No statement was released after the meeting. A press briefing, which is held by the General Staff every Friday, was cancelled. Gen. Basbug held surprise meetings with President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and he expressed his views in regard to the Ergenekon operation to Gul and Erdogan.
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-- EGEMEN BAGIS BECOMES CHIEF EU NEGOTIATOR
Egemen Bagis, deputy chairman and a lawmaker of Turkey's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), was assigned as state minister and named chief negotiator for the country's accession talks with the European Union. The former chief negotiator for EU talks was Foreign Minister Ali Babacan.
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SABAH
-- EMERGENCY MEETINGS IN ANKARA
The meetings of President Abdullah Gul, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and General Staff Chief Gen. Ilker Basbug have been high on the agenda of Ankara, while interrogation of retired generals, who were detained under the Ergenekon probe, is under way in Istanbul. Tensions escalated after the number of generals detained under the probe increased to seven and the prosecutors' failure to produce an indictment about the detained generals. Gen. Basbug held an unexpected meeting with Prime Minister Erdogan ahead of his weekly meeting with the president. The Supreme Court of Appeals Board of Chairmen also convened to evaluate the recent developments.
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-- LOTS OF HAND GRENADES
Security forces searched a house owned by Colonel Mustafa Donmez under the Ergenekon probe and found lots of hand grenades. They also seized more than 8,000 bullets. Donmez fled from security forces.

VATAN
-- FIRST CHARGES LEAKED TO MEDIA
Retired General Tuncer Kilinc: It was claimed that the former Secretary-General of the National Security Council acts together with retired Gen. Sener Eruygur, who was arrested earlier. Eruygur told in his testimony that Kilinc sent Ergun Poyraz, who wrote books about President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, to meet him. Poyraz claims that he received secret documents published in his books from Eruygur, retired general Levent Ersoz, who is a suspect in the Ergenekon probe but still at large, and retired colonel Atilla Ugur, who was arrested earlier.

Kemal Guruz: former chairman of the Higher Education Board (YOK) is said to be the head of --together with former rector of Istanbul University Kemal Alemdaroglu—the academic organization of Ergenekon.

Professor Yalcin Kucuk: Kucuk is believed to be the power behind Dogu Perincek, leader of Turkey's Workers Party who was arrested and is being held in the Ergenekon case.
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Ibrahim Sahin: It is claimed that former chief of Special Forces of Police was the head of the second group of hitmen captured within the Ergenekon probe. An 11-man group was making plans to assassinate prominent intellectuals and politicians, it was claimed.

Bedrettin Dalan: He is shown as a high level name of the Ergenekon organization. Istanbul's Yeditepe University founded by Dalan is accused of having a nationalist structure and creating a public opinion in line with Ergenekon.
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-- SURPRISING DECISION FORM DERVIS
United Nations Development Program administrator Kemal Dervis said he would quit on March 1 instead of July 31. Dervis said he would work on the global and Turkish economies.
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CUMHURIYET
-- HOT DAY IN CAPITAL
General Staff Chief Gen. Ilker Basbug has conveyed the "views and evaluations" of the army to President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan after the detention of some retired generals and officers on active duty. Yesterday, top military commanders held an emergency meeting. Some claimed that Gen. Basbug explained the army's uneasiness over the recent wave of detentions under the Ergenekon probe.
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-- DENOUNCEMENT AGAINST OZ
The Supreme Court of Appeals Board of Chairmen has decided to denounce prosecutor Zekeriya Oz who carries out the Ergenekon probe, to the Higher Board of Judges and Prosecutors. Oz will be accused of creating "fake evidence" by conducting the investigation through illegal phone tapping.
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RADIKAL
-- HOT DAY IN ANKARA
There was a busy traffic in regard to Ergenekon in Ankara on Thursday. General Staff Chief Gen. Ilker Basbug first met Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and then held a meeting with President Abdullah Gul at the Cankaya Presidential Palace. The Erdogan-Basbug meeting lasted for more than one hour. Erdogan also held meetings with the interior and justice ministers in the evening.
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-- IMF DELEGATION IN ANKARA
An IMF delegation, headed by the IMF's new Turkey desk chief Rachel Van Elkan began talks in Ankara. The IMF delegation will hold talks with representatives of the banking and real sectors in Istanbul. Turkish State Minister Mehmet Simsek and the IMF delegation discussed the general framework of the economic program in Ankara on Thursday.

YENI SAFAK
-- GEN. BASBUG HAS MEETINGS WITH PRESIDENT GUL AND PREMIER ERDOGAN
The latest detentions under the Ergenekon probe have shaken the capital. A meeting which was held at the General Staff the previous day focused on the Ergenekon probe. General Staff Chief Gen. Ilker Basbug first had a meeting with Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and then President Abdullah Gul on Thursday.
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-- SHOCKING DROP IN INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION
Monthly industrial production index dropped by 13.9 percent in November 2008 when compared to the same month of 2007. The manufacturing sector shrank 15.5 percent and the electricity, gas and water sector dropped by 4.7 percent in November.