IN ANKARA, IRAQI PM SIGNS ANTI-PKK PACT
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki yesterday paid a visit to Ankara as the official guest of his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Following a four-hour meeting between the two leaders, a memorandum of understanding on efforts against the terrorist PKK was signed. Afterwards, Erdogan told a joint press conference that their meeting had been very beneficial. Maliki also met with President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, and is set to leave Turkey today. /Aksam/

ARINC DECLINES SECOND RUN FOR SPEAKER SEAT
Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc yesterday announced that he won't seek reelection in the current Parliament. Telling a press conference that his real job was serving as deputy, Arinc said, "I took assignments in critical places," adding, "I had a dream in which the Justice and Development Party (AKP) became the ruling party. It came true . All our colleagues should be helpful to the party leader. Everybody should carry out all their duties with success. We're far from the luxury of picking and choosing duties to our liking." /Star/

CHP SITS OUT PARLIAMENT SPEAKER RACE
Republican People's Party (CHP) deputy leader Mustafa Ozyurek said yesterday that the CHP wouldn't nominate a candidate for the post of Parliament speaker. Ozyurek said that it would be meaningless to nominate a candidate who ultimately wouldn't be elected and that the Parliament speaker post wasn't important for them. Ozyurek added that a candidate from the Justice and Development Party (AKP) would be elected speaker and that CHP leader Deniz Baykal would make a decision about whether to pursue the deputy Parliament speaker position. /Sabah/

TOP TURKISH DIPLOMAT TO VISIT WASHINGTON
Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Ertugrul Apakan is due to visit Washington later this month for the highest-level bilateral diplomatic talks since Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul's February visit to the US capital. Apakan's visit during the week of August 20 will take place at the invitation of US Undersecretary of State Nick Burns, the State Department's number three, and the Turkish diplomat is also expected to hold talks with senior officials from the Pentagon and President George W. Bush's National Security Council. A wide range of bilateral matters and other issues of interest for the two nations will be discussed, but Iraq and the terrorist PKK's continued presence in northern Iraq are expected to top the talks. Cyprus will also be a major topic of discussion, diplomats say. /Turkish Daily News/

BARZANI: "WE DON'T SUPPORT THE PKK"
Nechirvan Barzani, the prime minister of the Kurdish administration in Erbil, northern Iraq, yesterday claimed that they have not given support to the terrorist PKK. Barzani characterized Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's visit to Turkey this week as very important and expressed hope that it would help solve Iraq's problems with Turkey. Barzani added that they don't want their territory turned into a battlefield and that just as they have never supported the PKK, they would continue to deny it support. He said they don't support the PKK's attacks against Turkey through northern Iraq, in part because this would harm them as well. /Sabah/

GULER ANNOUNCES ENERGY COOPERATION WITH IRAQ
The Energy and Natural Resources Ministry and the Iraqi Oil Ministry have reached a consensus for cooperation in oil, natural gas and electricity. Energy and Natural Resources Minister Hilmi Guler said yesterday that Iraq would invite the Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) to take part in bids on oil and natural gas exploration and that they would work so Iraqi oil and gas can be transported through Turkey to Europe. Technical delegations chaired by Guler and Iraqi Oil Minister Huseyin Sehrestani yesterday discussed energy cooperation between the two countries. Speaking after a signing ceremony, Guler said that the cooperation would cover electricity, natural gas and oil and that they had firstly decided to strengthen transportation lines between the two countries. Guler added that they had also decided to establish thermal power plants, at least one apiece in Iraq and Turkey. /Milliyet/