ERDOGAN: "THE BEST WAY TO ELECT OUR NEXT PRESIDENT IS TO ASK THE PEOPLE"
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday turned down a proposal by Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal to use consensus to elect an impartial figure with no political connections as Turkey's next president. Speaking to reporters in Ankara, Erdogan treated Baykal's offer coolly, saying that Parliament's deputies can elect a president from within their ranks. He added that if the CHP leader really wants a president elected in this country, he should not avoid the voice of the people. /Sabah/

FM GUL CAMPAIGNS IN BILECIK, YALOVA
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul yesterday made campaign visits to Bilecik and Yalova to woo voters to support his Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the July 22 general elections. Touting his party's record during its four-and-a-half years in power, Gul claimed that the AKP was more of a social democratic party than certain left-wing ones, adding that he was well-liked by many people, including traditional supporters of other parties. /Turkiye/

CHP'S BAYKAL: "WE SHOULD ELECT AN IMPARTIAL PRESIDENT WHO FITS THE CONSTITUTIONAL MODEL"
Speaking yesterday in Mersin, main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal commented on the new presidential election set to follow the July 22 general elections, saying an "impartial" figure in line with the Constitution should be elected. Pointing to the compromise during the 2000 election of the current president, Ahmet Necdet Sezer, Baykal said, "The Sezer model was very beneficial." During campaign visits to Amasya and Corum, Baykal continued to criticize Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan. /Cumhuriyet/

AGAR: "THE REPUBLIC BELONGS TO THE NATION, NOT JUST THE CHP"
Democrat Party (DP) leader Mehmet Agar said yesterday that the republic is a value shared by the whole nation. Speaking at a press conference in the central Anatolian city of Aksaray, Agar criticized campaign rhetoric by the Republican People's Party (CHP) claiming that if that CHP falters in the July 22 elections, the republic itself will also falter. The DP leader said that the CHP and its leader, not the republic, are being tested at the ballot box, adding that the republic is not just one party's value, but the very nation's. /Star/

BAHCELI MAKES CAMPAIGN STOPS IN KIRSEHIR, NEVSEHIR
Opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli yesterday appeared at campaign rallies both in Kirsehir and Nevsehir alongside Deniz Bolukbasi, his party's candidate for Ankara deputy. Bahceli said that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has left behind great destruction and damage in its wake, but that will all end after the July 22 elections, less than two weeks away. /Aksam/

CAMPAIGN RESTRICTIONS GO INTO EFFECT AHEAD OF JULY 22 POLLS
Various restrictions on election campaigning go into force today. Beginning today, opening and ground-laying ceremonies are banned, and official cars and other vehicles cannot be used for visits within the framework of campaigning. In addition, no mass rallies or campaigning are allowed outside of venues approved by local elections boards. The restrictions expire at midnight July 22, election day. /Turkiye/

IN LETTER TO US CONGRESSMEN, TURKISH GROUPS DECRY PLIGHT OF IRAQI TURKMEN
The Assembly of Turkish-American Associations (ATAA), an umbrella organization of Turkish groups in the US, has reportedly sent letters to US congressmen urging them to support Iraq's ethnic Turkmen. Stressing that Iraqi Turkmen face mass murder, illegal detention, torture and forced migration, the letter decried how after suffering under Saddam Hussein's dictatorship and welcoming US forces to Iraq, now Turkmen are under the oppression of Kurds. /Turkiye/

TURKISH AMBASSADOR TO US: "BARZANI PROVIDES THE PKK WITH SHELTER AND LOGISTICAL SUPPORT"
Turkey's Ambassador to the United States Nabi Sensoy yesterday stated that Iraqi Kurds were providing the terrorist PKK with US-made weapons and that Ankara has the option of taking a military response. Meeting with defense reporters in Washington, Sensoy confirmed the Turkish army's activity on the Iraqi border. Sensoy accused northern Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani of supporting the terrorist PKK with American weapons, saying, "We have enough proof that Barzani's supporters and Barzani himself as a leader are providing the terrorists and the terrorist groups with shelter as well as with logistical support." He added, "We know that the US provides weapons to the northern Iraqi administration. It is possible that these weapons pass into the hands of terrorist groups. Tripartite meetings haven't produced results. The Iraqi side hasn't cooperated. Iraqis should declare the PKK a terrorist group, and Washington should demonstrate its influence over the Kurds." /Hurriyet/