Cablegate: Ankara Media Reaction Report

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DEPARTMENT FOR INR/R/MR, EUR/SE, EUR/PD, NEA/PD, DRL
JCS PASS J-5/CDR S. WRIGHT

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OPRC KMDR TU
SUBJECT: ANKARA MEDIA REACTION REPORT
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2006

In Today's Papers

German PM Angela Merkel Visits Turkey
All papers: On Thursday, visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel
said at a joint press conference after meeting with Prime Minister
Erdogan that Turkey should grant access to Greek Cypriot vessels and
airplanes if Ankara wants to divert a crisis during the EU
membership process. Erdogan responded by saying Turkey would not
open its ports and airports to Greek Cyprus unless the international
isolation of Turkish Cyprus is ended. Erdogan noted the Greek
Cypriot side had been unjustly rewarded for rejecting a settlement
in the divided island. Merkel said Ankara had reportedly welcomed
EU term president Finland's proposal which might help to resolve a
difficult problem. The Finnish proposal is for Magosa (Famagusta,)
a key port in Turkish Cyprus, to reopen under UN control in exchange
for handing over the ghost-town of Maras (Varosha) to the Greek
Cypriots. Merkel also said Germany and Turkey should closely
cooperate in the Middle East. Vatan says Erdogan stands close to
the Merkel proposal, and wants to carry bilateral ties with Germany
to the level of 'strategic partnership' like the one that exists
between the US and Turkey. Merkel also said in relation to the
problems of the Turkish community in Germany that young Turks would
benefit more from education opportunities by learning German. She
said her government aimed at removing the barriers Turks face in
integration with German society.

Merkel was later received by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer before she
flew to Istanbul with Erdogan to participate in the Turkish-German
Economy Forum meetings on Friday. On Thursday evening, non-Muslim
minority leaders Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I, Armenian
Patriarch Mesrob II, Chief Rabbi Ishak Haleva and Vatican envoy
George Marovich joined a fast-breaking dinner (iftar) with Erdogan
and Merkel in Istanbul.

Meanwhile, EU Commissioner Olli Rehn told the press before departing
Turkey yesterday that Turkey must be confident in its EU process.
Rehn does not anticipate a "train crash" on Turkey's road to EU
membership, but warns that the road ahead will be a tough one,
advising Turkey to pass through this phase "with reforms."
Responding to a question, Rehn stressed that EU progress reports
were always "impartial and fair." He also said his new book, on
display at the Frankfurt Book Fair, would generate debates with
regard to Turkey-EU relations.

Turkish Participation in UNIFIL
Sabah, Vatan and others report that the frigate TCG Gaziantep will
set sail from the Aksaz Naval Base in Marmaris today for Lebanon to
join international naval forces off the Lebanese coast. Vessels
from participating countries will carry out the duty in rotation. A
Turkish deployment of nearly 260 soldiers, most of them reportedly
engineers, will depart for Lebanon on October 10.

Opposition Party CHP Backs AKP's Bill to Lower the Election Age
All papers report that after submitting the bill to the Parliament
to lower the minimum age to be elected deputy to 25 from 30, two AKP
deputies Salih Kapusuz and Sadullah Ergin met with CHP deputy leader
Ali Topuz. Topuz, reportedly, promised CHP support on the
amendment. The Constitution Committee will take up the issue today.
The first round of voting on the constitutional amendment will be
made in Parliament on Tuesday and the second round on Thursday. For
the change be implemented in 2007 elections, it has to be adopted
before October 20.

Poll Speculates on Chances for 'Election Alliances'
Cumhuriyet carries on its front page a public opinion survey
commissioned by SONAR polling company which indicates that the three
left-wing parties, namely CHP, DSP and SHP, would have nearly the
same percentage of votes as the ruling AKP if they formed an
alliance in elections. If general elections were held today, the
AKP would lead by 27.80 percent of votes followed by the 'leftist

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alliance' CHP-DSP-SHP 27.06, DYP 13.94, and MHP 13.12. According to
a second scenario, if only DSP and SHP enter into an election
alliance, they will receive 12.43 percent of votes, with AKP still
leading with 28.85 percent, followed by CHP 17.31, DYP 13.17, and
MHP 12.80. The third scenario speculates an alliance between DYP
and ANAP which is predicted to receive 18.82 percent after AKP with
28.82 and CHP 19.29, followed by MHP with 12.44. The survey was
conducted in 14 major Turkish provinces in October.

Editorial Commentary on War on Terror and the PKK
Writing in the nationalist Ortadogu, Kamuran Ozbir argues that as it
is a "local" terror issue, the fight against the PKK is not a
priority for the US: "The US has always seen the terrorism threat
on an international scale. Local terrorism, such as the PKK, is not
part of the US official perception of the terrorism threat. US
official documents are enough to validate this argument since they
always refer to 'international terrorism' which basically is about
the threat against American interests in the world. The PKK does
not fall into that category and nowadays we see the continuation of
efforts to distract Turkey's attention from a possible cross border
operation. Terrorism 'coordination' is also a part of this effort
which basically has two hidden goals: politicization of the PKK and
prevention of Turkey's intervention in northern Iraq. The current
US administration put together an anti-terrorism strategy but it
didn't help in the fight against terrorism. It actually helped the
growing anti-American sentiment throughout the world, and provided
more ground to radical Islamist terrorism. The Bush administration
and his neo-cons should realize that the current anti-war strategy
is useless and the use-of-force policy should be abandoned."

Erdal Guven, commenting in the liberal-intellectual Radikal, also
says the PKK is not a priority for the US, but for different
reasons: "Given the current circumstances, the US does not support
the PKK but cannot do anything against it either. This does not
mean that the US is supporting and sheltering the PKK. What it
means is that in Washington's analysis of threats vis-`-vis Iraq and
the Middle East, the PKK is not a primary figure. A military option
against the PKK by American forces is a remote possibility as the US
has enough to deal with in the Middle East, including the Iraq
situation, Hamas, Hezbollah and others. At the same time,
Washington is aware of the fact that the PKK attacks in Turkey
constitute the main reason for growing anti-Americanism and feels
obliged to take action on the issue. Appointment of a special envoy
to counter PKK, public relation efforts in Turkey - the program with
families of martyrs -- and lengthy announcements from the White
House about the Bush-Erdogan meeting are all a result of this
feeling."

TV Highlights
NTV (8 a.m.)

Domestic News

- Turkey's religious affairs directorate Diyanet said in a report
that 1000 Koran courses have been opened in Turkey since 2002, with
one million attendants annually.

- A prosecutor demanded 4.5 years of prison sentence for novelist
Ipek Calislar, who was put on trial for insulting in her novel the
memory of the founder of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.

- An IMF delegation will visit Turkey on Monday for the fifth review
inspection.

- State Minister for economy Ali Babacan predicted the year-end
inflation rate to be below ten percent.

International News

ANKARA 00005846 003 OF 003

- European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso warned that a
sudden refusal to admit Turkey into the bloc could make the EU seem
hostile to Islam.

- A new coalition government between the CTP and ORP parties in
Turkish Cyprus has been given vote of confidence in the parliament
yesterday.

- Dutch politicians are concerned that Turkish voters might boycott
the approaching general elections as three candidates of Turkish
heritage have been suspended for declining to accept 'genocide' of
Armenians at the hand of Ottomans during World War I.

- The British Guardian reports Iraq's school and university system
is in danger of collapse across the country as pupils and teachers
flee in the face of threats of violence.
Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at

http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/

WILSON

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