ERDOGAN: "OUR NEXT PRESIDENT SHOULD COME FROM THE TOP PARTY IN SUNDAY'S GENERAL ELECTIONS"
Appearing on news channel NTV yesterday, Prime Minister and ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey's next president should come from the top party to emerge from Sunday's elections. The early general elections were triggered by an opposition boycott of Parliament, where the president is elected, in protest of the AKP's candidate. Erdogan predicted that the AKP would win the weekend elections, adding, "This would amount to the nation directing us to choose the new president from the AKP. So will we respect the nation, or act in line with the will of a minority?" The premier further stressed that if the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and the Republican People's Party (CHP) both get into Parliament, this would lead to tension, so the people's votes are crucial. /Milliyet/
BAYKAL CRITICIZES GOVT ANTI-TERROR POLICY AS INCONSISTENT
Speaking to crowds in Igdir ahead of this weekend's elections, Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal criticized the government's anti-terrorism policy, charging that it was full of inconsistencies. Also commenting on healthcare issues, Baykal said that the CHP would end the "green card" program and develop a better way to ensure that the poor get free treatment. Later, Baykal proceeded to Trabzon and continued to campaign against the government. /Milliyet/
AGAR: "WE'LL MAKE THE AKP ACCOUNT FOR ITS ACTIONS"
Democrat Party (DP) leader Mehmet Agar said yesterday that when they came to power, they would make the Justice and Development Party (AKP) account for its actions. Speaking to crowds in Ordu in the runup to Sunday's general elections, Agar criticized the AKP's policies and activities during its four-and-a-half years in power. He stated that fighting terrorism was a serious job which a DP government would do well. Touching on the merger process between the True Path Party (DYP) and Motherland Party (ANAVATAN), Agar said that they were working in close cooperation, and that the merger could happen in the near future. /Turkiye/
BAHCELI, YILMAZ AND UZAN HIT CAMPAIGN TRAIL
Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli yesterday addressed crowds in Gaziantep. Predicting that his party will come to power alone through this weekend's general elections, Bahceli said that under their rule Turkey would take a new direction forward. Meanwhile, former Premier Mesut Yilmaz, running as an independent candidate from Rize, said that Turkey has a political vacuum which needs to be filled. In related news, Young Party (GP) leader Cem Uzan yesterday visited Bursa. /Turkiye-Sabah/
US EMBASSY: "IRAN IS AN UNTRUSTWORTHY PARTNER FOR TURKEY"
Commenting on a natural gas agreement between Ankara and Tehran, Kathy Shallow, spokeswoman of the US Embassy in Ankara, yesterday said that Washington was opposed to all kinds of agreements with Iran. Stressing that Iran is continuing its nuclear program in defiance of the UN Security Council and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Shallow said that it would be unwise to trust Tehran on energy issues. In related news, appearing on news channel NTV, Energy Minister Hilmi Guler said that the pact with Iran was only a preliminary agreement, adding that negotiations would continue. "The details will be discussed within a month," added Guler. /Cumhuriyet-Milliyet/
US STATE DEPT DENIES ALLEGATIONS OF WEAPONS SALES TO PKK
US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said yesterday that allegations that the US was supplying weapons to the terrorist PKK are untrue. Speaking to reporters at a daily briefing, McCormack said that cooperation between Iraq and Turkey would serve both countries' interests. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said yesterday that US officials had told Ankara that their administration had in no way supplied weapons to the PKK. Gul added, however, that they had proven that some weapons used by the terrorist group were US or European. Turkey's top diplomat added that in the chaos and power vacuum plaguing Iraq, PKK terrorists are using weapons given to the Iraqi army by US and European countries. He also urged the US to act very carefully, as it has lost a great deal of its credibility in the Turkish public. /Turkiye-Aksam/
IN TEHRAN, TRANSPORTATION MINISTER ANNOUNCES MORE FLIGHTS TO IRAN
Transportation Minister Ismet Yilmaz, currently in Tehran to attend the second International Iran Transportation Forum, said yesterday that the Turkish Airlines (THY) would double the number of its flights to Iran. "We agreed that THY will increase its weekly flights to Tehran to 14 and six to Tabriz," said Yilmaz, after meeting with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Rahmati. /Turkish Daily News/