TOPTAN VISITS QATAR
Parliament Speaker Koksal Toptan, accompanied by Deputy Parliament Speaker Meral Aksener and a number of deputies, yesterday left for Qatar as the guest of the Qatari Parliament. Toptan will meet with Qatari Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani in Doha today before proceeding to Yemen on Wednesday. /Cumhuriyet/

ERDOGAN: "THE NATION BROUGHT US, NOT THE CHP, TO POWER"
Addressing thousands in campaign rallies in the central and southern Anatolian provinces of Kayseri and Gaziantep over the weekend, Prime Minister and ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan charged that the main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) and its media allies are colluding to spread smears about the government. "The government has taken remarkable steps over the last six years to eliminate corruption," said Erdogan, with less than a month to go before the March 29 local elections. "That's why some circles are very anxiously screaming. They used to get whatever they wanted, but now they can only get what they deserve. The CHP is pushing for the interests of those circles." Stating that the enthusiasm of AK Party supporters at campaign rallies is the best repudiation of what he called pro-CHP media outlets, Erdogan praised the people of Kayseri for supporting democracy, law, justice, production, competition, and employment quality. In response to CHP leader Deniz Baykal challenging him to a televised debate, he said, "Mr. Baykal, you didn't bring me to this post, the nation did. But you don't get along with the nation. You only see the nation on television. You can't see them on television. This is where you see the nation." Kayseri has become an exemplary city under AK Party rule, he said, adding that the party would like to see the whole country develop like Kayseri. He said the city is not only a locomotive for its own region, but for the entire country. "Our task is not to be satisfied with where we are now, but to make Kayseri develop even further," Erdogan said, stating they were striving to do this. Erdogan concluded by calling on the Turkish people to think big. In Gaziantep, Erdogan said the people will do whatever is necessary to give the best response to the opposition parties in the March 29 elections. He also said that before spreading smears about the government and the AK Party, the CHP should first clean its own house. /Turkiye/

BABACAN ATTENDING CONFERENCE ON REBUILDING GAZA
Foreign Minister Ali Babacan yesterday went to Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt to attend an international donors' conference on rebuilding the Gaza Strip after Israel's offensive, with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other foreign ministers and international aid groups also in attendance. Clinton also is set to visit Turkey after attending an informal NATO meeting and meeting with her Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Geneva, Switzerland. /Aksam/

BAGIS: "WITH OPPOSITION PARTY SUPPORT, TURKEY WILL MAKE RAPID PROGRESS IN OUR EU PROCESS"
Opposition party support would speed Turkey's implementation of European Union accession reforms, said chief EU talks negotiator Egemen Bagis yesterday. Speaking to Star daily, Bagis said that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) is working on nearly 130 laws prior to making constitutional changes. "If the opposition parties support us, we'll make rapid progress," he added. Stating that the AK Party is working on Turkey's EU process, he added, "Turkey is doing whatever is necessary in line with its national program for EU membership reforms." He reiterated that the main factor in this process will be opposition parties, stating, "We need opposition support so that these laws can be passed by Parliament." /Star/

AT CAMPAIGN RALLIES, OPPOSITION CRITICIZES PM ERDOGAN
At campaign rallies in Sinop and Adiyaman over the weekend, ahead of local elections at the end of this month, main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal criticized Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party). Saying the AK Party is trying to push through a "transformation," he continued, "This is in no way a transformation which will bring Turkey to democratic, modern values of today's world. On the contrary, this transformation aims at muzzling the media, putting the judiciary under political pressure, blocking efforts to bring corruption to justice, and putting all the country's resources under the hegemony of a single person." In related news, opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet Bahceli criticized Erdogan for using state resources for political purposes, in his traveling to rallies. /Milliyet/