ANKARA Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said crisis-hit Turkey, struggling to implement a $15.7 billion IMF-backed recovery program, needed new international loans after last month's attacks on the United States, newspapers reported on Monday. "For now, it is hard to say how this depression which shakes the world will affect the Turkish economy. But we need a considerable amount of foreign aid," ***Sabah**** newspaper quoted Ecevit as saying. Other dailies carried similar comments. "The World Bank and the IMF have made important contributions. But a large amount of (the impact of) these contributions has disappeared after the incidents," he said. Turkey has said it will need $13 billion in foreign resources next year to deal with its huge debt burden. But IMF Managing Director Horst Koehler said last week it was "premature" to consider any additional aid from the fund, Reuters reported. Ecevit said he hoped Western governments would consider helping NATO member Turkey, which allows the United States use of its air space and airbases. An economic crisis that erupted in February has cut the lira's value against dollar by half and is expected to shrink the economy by eight percent in 2001. "There were positive developments in our economy in July and August. But all of them collapsed when the September 11 (attacks) took place," Ecevit said. Ecevit said a global economic slowdown has dashed Turkey's hopes of increasing export and tourism revenues.