AKP HOLDS POLITICAL RETREAT IN ANTALYA
The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) yesterday concluded its Seventh Consultation Meeting in Antalya. On the last day of the three-day retreat, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan chaired a meeting of the Economy Coordination Council where recent economic fluctuations and rising foreign exchange rates were discussed. During a press conference afterwards, Erdogan told reporters that necessary steps would be taken on these issues. Stressing that there would be no change in the floating foreign exchange rate system, Erdogan said that Turkey would develop with reliability and stability. Commenting on recent early elections speculations, Erdogan said that the government had no plans for early polls, adding that next year's presidential election would be dealt with when the time comes. After completing his contacts in Antalya, Erdogan proceeded to Istanbul. Then the premier met with visiting Jack Straw, Britain's former foreign secretary and current leader of the House of Commons. /Turkiye/

ERDOGAN TO ADDRESS PACE MEETING
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will attend the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) meeting to begin tomorrow in Strasbourg, France. A delegation of parliamentarians led by Justice and Development Party (AKP) Deputy Mesut Mercan will represent Turkey at the gathering. On Thursday, Erdogan is expected to deliver a speech at the meeting on the theme of freedom of speech and religion. /Aksam/

IN TEHRAN, GUL MEETS WITH IRANIAN PRESIDENT AND FM
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, currently in Tehran for an official visit, yesterday met with his Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki to discuss a number of issues, including bilateral relations. Speaking at a press conference afterwards, Gul said that there was cooperation between Turkey and Iraq, two friendly countries. Saying that the Turkish and Iranian governments share common views about the development of Iran's nuclear program, Gul added, "Ankara strives for a diplomatic solution to the issue since it believes that Turkey, the region, and the world would benefit from this. We also believe that tensions will fall and new opportunities for cooperation will be created. Everyone should do their best for a diplomatic solution. We hope that common sense will prevail on this issue." For his part, Mottaki declined to comment on Iran's nuclear program, saying that they hoped to boost the trade volume between Turkey and Iran from its current annual level of $4.5 billion. Later, Gul met with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. During their meeting, Ahmadinejad said that he appreciated Ankara's positive stance that Turkey would benefit from an Iranian nuclear program with peaceful purposes. /Milliyet/

TRNC'S 5th ELECTIONS IN 3 YEARS
Turkish Cypriots on Sunday went to the ballot boxes for the fifth time in three years for local and interim elections. Following general elections, early elections, presidential elections and a referendum held on the Annan plan, some 151,000 Turkish Cypriot voters headed to polls yesterday to elect two parliamentarians for vacant seats as well as 28 mayors, 234 members of municipalities, 150 village heads and 580 aldermen in the elections. /The New Anatolian/

TURKEY'S EU SECRETARY-GENERAL: "WE REJECT GREEK CYPRIOTS' SPOILED DEMANDS"
Oguz Demiralp, the head of Turkey's European Union Secretariat-General, yesterday said that the harbors and airports issue was part of the Cyprus problem and that Turkey wouldn't give into Greek Cypriots' spoiled demands and wouldn't retreat. Appearing on CNN Turk, Demiralp said that the EU had made a mistake by admitting Greek Cyprus into the Union and that as a result of this the Greek Cypriots had stepped up their spoiled demands. About warnings that if Turkey doesn't open its airports and harbors to Greek Cypriots, then Turkish-EU ties would suffer an accident, Demiralp said, "There's no road between Turkey and Cyprus. So there won't be an accident." /Cumhuriyet/

FORMER PM YILMAZ PLANS POLITICAL COMEBACK
Former Prime Minister, Mesut Yilmaz, after ending his trial at the Supreme Court on charges of corruption, now plans to return to politics. Yilmaz is expected to hold rallies in Giresun, Ordu, Trabzon, and Rize to seek people's support for his return and lay out his political program. /Sabah/

INVESTMENT ADVISORY COUNCIL MEETING TO BE HELD THIS WEEK
The third meeting of the Investment Advisory Council is due to be held on Wednesday in Istanbul. The meeting will be chaired by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. International Monetary Fund First Deputy Managing Director Anne Krueger is also expected to attend the gathering. /Sabah/

MONETARY POLICY COUNCIL RAISES SHORT-TERM AND LENDING INTEREST RATES BY 2.25 POINTS
The Central Bank's Monetary Policy Council, in its third meeting this month, yesterday decided to raise short-term interests by 2.25 points from 15% to 17.25%, while it decided to raise lending interests from 18% to 20.25%. The council also decided to intervene in foreign exchange if a need emerges. /Hurriyet/

ATO HEAD AYGUN: "THE EU WANTS TO BESIEGE TURKEY"
Ankara Chamber of Commerce (ATO) head Sinan Aygun said over the weekend, "The European Union wants to besiege Turkey from air, sea and land." In a written statement, Aygun said that while the EU sees the opening of Turkish harbors and airports to Greek Cypriot ships and planes as free movement of goods, it calls imposing a quota to Turkish tractor trailers free movement of services, and that the EU was employing a double standard. Aygun said that bad intentions are apparent behind these EU policies, adding, "Even though it isn't stated publicly, Turkey is depicted as an undesirable country. The EU blocks free movement of Turkish businessmen by making trouble for visas, while on the other hand it blocks free movement of goods by imposing quotas on our tractor trailers." /Cumhuriyet/