GOOD MORNING--TURKEY PRESS SCAN ON MAR 25

HURRIYET
-- ZIRAAT UNVEILS 7 BLN TL SPRING PACKAGE
Ziraat Bankasi has unveiled a "Spring Package" that brings easy payments and remarkable interest rate cuts for its 6 million customers. Ziraat's CEO Can Akin Caglar said that the package covers 7 billion Turkish lira (TL) of debts from mortgage to personal loans and credit cards. Caglar said the amount could go up to 10 billion TL.
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-- MRS. OBAMA NOT COMING FOR HER KIDS
Surprising news from the White House ahead of U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to Turkey. Obama will come to Turkey alone as contrary to previous arrangements. Michelle Obama will accompany U.S. President until April 6 and will not visit Turkey, instead she will return home to the children to avoid a long separation.
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MILLIYET
-- TESTIMONIES REVEAL MURDERS THAT PUT COLONEL UNDER CUSTODY
Turkish daily Milliyet has received copies of the testimonies that paved the way for a series of excavations in the southeastern town of Cizre, where 13 pieces of human bones were discovered, and the subsequent arrest of a colonel in the central province of Kayseri. The testimonies reveal details of the murder of five people who were kidnapped and killed during the 1990s. The testimonies of an informant say people who provided assistance to the terrorist organization PKK were kidnapped and were delivered to Hezbollah in Turkey; a fact known to certain military commanders.
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-- MAN KILLED IN ARMED ROBBERY
The owner of a jewelry store in Istanbul's Uskudar district was killed in an armed robbery on Tuesday, a day after another jewelry store was robbed by armed men in another Istanbul district, Erenkoy. In the capital Ankara, a number of armed men tried to rob a supermarket on Tuesday night. The owner of the supermarket and one of the robbers was killed in the incident.
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SABAH
-- SIMSEK ON ECONOMIC CRISIS
State Minister Mehmet Simsek said Turkey would weather the economic crisis through measures that the Turkish authorities have taken. The rest of the world will see a recovery by the end of the year due to the implementation of decisions take by the G-20, Simsek said. "Turkey will become one of the countries to first breath a sigh of relief when the positive signals start to appear," he said.
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-- EYES ON OZKOK
Within the scope of the Ergenekon probe, former General Staff chiefs retired Gen. Hilmi Ozkok and retired Gen. Yasar Buyukanit could appear in court as witnesses, officials said. Earlier, Ozkok said, "I would not say 'no' if the court invites me either as a witness or a suspect."

VATAN
-- WHY IS AKP STRONG?
Goldman Sachs, one of the giant banks in the world, prepared a report regarding this weekend's local elections in Turkey. It said the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) have three advantages over its rivals. One of them is leadership: Premier Tayyip Erdogan is the most popular leader in Turkey without any discussions thanks to his unique leadership features and exceptional talent in moving the masses. Despite this, all other leaders are deprived of Erdogan's charisma and society sees them as "elitist", which gives them a serious disadvantage reaching more disadvantages segments of Turkish society.

The second is ideology: The AKP successfully unites Islamic and nationalist tones and is therefore attractive for conservative voters (the votes of rightist parties is around 65 percent) who have a crushing majority in Turkey.

The third is organization: The AKP is also a leader in getting organized. The AKP is represented even in the smallest villages of Anatolia and has a fairly dynamic party organization.
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-- "I DIDN'T SAY KURDISTAN, I SAID KURDISH ADMINISTRATION"
President Abdullah Gul, who returned from Iraq, said he did not use the expression of "Kurdistan," which caused reactions from the opposition. Gul said, "According to the Iraqi Constitution, there is a local Kurdish administration in the north of Iraq. I mentioned this. These are fairly normal things. There is no need to make unnecessary and harming discussions."
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CUMHURIYET
-- PROSECUTORS SAY MAY ASK FORMER TOP GENERAL TO GIVE TESTIMONY OVER ERGENEKON PROBE
Prosecutors have said that they might ask for testimony from the former chief of the general staff, Gen. Hilmi Ozkok, under the probe into Ergenekon, a suspected criminal network with ties in the military and bureaucracy. Ozkok has earlier said he would speak with prosecutors if he was asked over allegations that he prevented a number of coup attempts while in office. "Younger generations in the Turkish Armed Forces have a different mentality, they are more democratic in spirit," Ozkok had told an interview.
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-- GUL DENIES USING TO IRAQ'S NORTH AS "KURDISTAN"
President Abdullah Gul denied that he had referred to the administration in the northern Iraq as "Kurdistan regional administration." "I did not use such a term. There is a local Kurdish administration in Iraq's north as part of the country's constitution. That is what I said," Gul told reporters on his return from Baghdad.
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RADIKAL
-- WE CAN'T WAIT FOREVER, GUL TELLS IRAQI KURDS
President Abdullah Gul met Iraqi Kurdish delegation in Baghdad. "They reaffirmed their determination in the fight against the terrorist organization PKK. Turkey appreciates it. But we can not wait forever for its outcomes," he said. Gul said he did not discuss a possible "amnesty" for the PKK during his meeting with Necirvan Barzani, executive of the regional administration in the north of Iraq. "I do not speak with others about our own issues," Gul said.
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-- HERD EFFECT
Industry Minister Zafer Caglayan spoke about rising car sales after a cut on private consumption tax. "It is not a giant cut but people started to buy cars in a herd mentality," he said.

YENI SAFAK
-- GUL, ONLY LEADER SPENDING NIGHT IN IRAQ
President Abdullah Gul visited Iraq as the guest of Iraq's President Jalal Talabani, and became the first foreign leader to spend the night in Baghdad since the start of the six-year U.S. occupation. Gul said he visited Iraq with his wife to show Iraq's importance. "Not even a minister has not spent the night in Iraq so far," he said.       Â

-- WORLD HITS ON HARSH ROCK (KAYA)
Turkish student Kaya (Rock) Genc solved 129,106 math problems to become world champion. Kaya, 11, beat 2 million students who joined the World Online Mathematics Competition and to become one of the proud Turks living in Australia. Kaya also broke a record with the number of questions he answered correctly.