Cablegate: Ankara Media Reaction Report

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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OPRC KMDR TU
SUBJECT: ANKARA MEDIA REACTION REPORT
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2006

In Today's Papers

Reaction Grows in Turkey against France's Armenian 'Genocide'
Draft
All papers give extensive front-page coverage to a draft bill that
would make it a crime in France to deny the Armenians' genocide at
the hands of the Ottomans in the early 20th century. The French
Parliament is set to discuss the bill on October 12. Justice
Minister and Government Spokesman Cemil Cicek called on the EU to
take action against the draft. Cicek said Turkey has been doing
everything to prevent the bill from being passed, but he did not
elaborate further. The Turkish Prime Minister's office said on
Monday that PM Erdogan turned down the French Interior Minister and
presidential hopeful Nicolas Sarkozy's proposals for Turkey to open
the border with Armenia, drop the condition that only historians
should represent both sides in a joint research committee, and scrap
Article 301 of the Penal Code. 'Turkey is the open and transparent
side concerning the issue,' Erdogan said, 'France should first look
at itself.'

Papers report that EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn has urged
French lawmakers to think twice before backing the draft, stressing
such a move would harm Turkey-EU ties. The EU term president
Finland added that adoption of the bill would be a 'very erroneous
step.' Some unidentified senior Turkish diplomats are quoted as
saying that Turkey expects the resolution to be approved by the
French Parliament, and if it is approved, France would lose its
special status in Turkey in many areas. Dailies report that Turkey
is gearing up for a boycott of French imports which affect around
one billion dollars in trade. French investors and businesses in
Turkey have stepped up lobbying of French parliamentarians to
discourage them from backing the bill, according to papers. Radikal
says Ankara might recall the Turkish ambassador from Paris. Yasar
Yakis of the ruling AKP and Sukru Elekdag of the main opposition CHP
suggested some 70,000 Armenian nationals working illegally in Turkey
should be deported in response to an adoption of the bill. Yeni
Safak says AKP's Abdullatif Sener opposed the suggestion, saying
such a move 'would bring no good for anybody.' Cumhuriyet
speculates that if the French Parliament passes the bill, Ankara
will pull political ties with Paris to the lowest level, French
companies will be put on a 'red list' concerning military contracts,
and French companies will be prevented from taking part in state
contracts and investment in Turkey.

Agar Suggests Amnesty for the PKK
Hurriyet, Milliyet, Cumhuriyet, Radikal, Yeni Safak and others
report the opposition True Path Party (DYP) leader Mehmet Agar said
in the mainly Kurdish southeastern city of Diyarbakir yesterday that
an amnesty could be declared for the PKK members in an effort to end
terrorism. 'The PKK members should come down from mountains to the
plains and engage in politics. In democracies, the solution lies in
politics, not terrorism,' Agar said. Justice Minister Cemil Cicek
said amnesty was not on his government's agenda. The opposition CHP
and MHP rejected the Agar suggestion, with Baykal saying his party
would not contribute to the PKK's efforts for legalization. The AKP
deputy group chief Eyup Fatsa said Agar's suggestion could be
discussed in the parliament if the DYP leader clarifies his
proposal. Several NGOs including the southeastern businessmen's
association GUNSIAD and human rights associations IHD and Mazlum-Der
welcomed the Agar statement.

The US-Backed Peshmerge Launch Security Operation in Kirkuk
Hurriyet and Cumhuriyet report the northern Iraqi Kurdish
peshmerge forces, backed by US troops, launched a security operation
in Kirkuk over the weekend in which 14 Turkmen were killed and 150
suspects, mostly Arabs, were detained. Cumhuriyet sees the
operation as an 'intimidation' campaign targeting the Turkmen and
Arabs in the region before the upcoming referendum on the oil-rich
city of Kirkuk in 2007.

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Changes to Elections Law to Block Kurdish Candidates
Radikal reports the AKP, CHP and ANAP parties have reached a 'fast
consensus' on changes to be made to the Elections Law. The parties
have agreed to lower the minimum age to run for office from 30 to
25. and to put the names of independent candidates written on a
combined voting slip instead of a separate one, as has been the case
in previous Turkish elections. Several former and existing
lawmakers maintain that the reason behind these changes is to
sideline Turkey's main Kurdish party DTP which is expected to win at
least 20 seats in the parliament through fielding independent
candidates. With the minimum age to be elected reduced, an
additional six million people will be eligible to run in the
elections. The parliament is to vote on the changes today.

Kauzlarich Attends ASAM Conference
Radikal reports the US National Intelligence Council member
Richard Kauzlarich participated in a conference, 'The world and
Turkey in 2023,' held by Turkey's Eurasia Strategic Studies Center
(ASAM) in Ankara on Monday. Kauzlarich delivered a speech regarding
the Council's projections on Turkey in 2020, which included
predictions that the EU will end its expansion by admitting Turkey
in 2020, that China will become the second geopolitical power after
the US, and that ethnic conflicts and biological weapons threats
will increase around the world. Kauzlarich said the US considers
Turkey an important country, stressing that cooperation between the
two allies will still be strong in 2020. President Sezer and former
Turkish Cypriot 'president' Rauf Denktas also attended the
conference.

Poll: Support for AKP Declines
Vatan reports that, according to a public opinion poll
commissioned by the AKP and conducted by Pollmark Co. in September,
support for the ruling AKP party fell to 26.2 percent from nearly 33
percent in July. The September survey indicated support for the
main opposition CHP as 15.5 percent, followed by MHP at 9 and DYP
with 8.2. The 'undecided' vote stood at 32%.

Editorial Commentary on North Korean Nuclear Test

Ismet Berkan commented in the liberal-intellectual Radikal
(10/10): "Predictions continue that North Korea is producing
nuclear arms, proved by the nuclear test North Korea carried out
last weekend. From now on, North Korea's nuclear weapons are an
undeniable fact. With this test, North Korea became one of the
eight countries that conducted a nuclear test without giving any
prior indications that they possessed nuclear weapons. While many
other countries, including the US, have much more powerful nuclear
weapons, why should one worry about North Korea producing nuclear
weapons? Of course, the best thing is for no country to produce
nuclear weapons, but, unfortunately, these weapons do exist and it
is impossible to turn back time. Right now, everyone's main effort
is to prevent other countries from producing nuclear weapons.
Unfortunately, today North Korea has produced them and maybe
tomorrow Iran will be next. North Korea and Iran are the most
dreaded countries to think of as nuclear weapon producers, because,
both have declared their mortal enemies: North Korea has South Korea
and Iran has Israel. When the cold war between the US and the
Soviet Union ended in 1989, the whole world relaxed. Unfortunately,
the same old concerns are disturbing the world once again, because
some countries, who have openly announced their enemies, are
establishing nuclear capability. And, this could easily take us
back to the dark days of the possibility of nuclear war."

Sami Kohen observed in the mainstream daily Milliyet (10/10):
"When North Korea announced last week that it was going to carry out
a nuclear test, only close neighbors like China, Japan and Russia
took this announcement seriously and tried to warn the Kim-Jong-Il
administration. But, the North Koreans were determined to carry out

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their first atomic bomb test. That is why North Korea's nuclear
test did not come as a surprise but, undoubtedly immensely
frightened the international community, including the countries in
the region. North Korea's nuclear test might encourage some other
countries as well to produce nuclear weapons and with this 'chain
reaction' the numbers will increase in the coming years. Why does
North Korea need nuclear weapons while its economy is weak and its
people are suffering from poverty? To own an atomic bomb is very
important for Kim Jong-Il from two angles; one is to protect his
dictator regime. This is the most powerful way to stand against the
pressures of the US and his other enemies. Secondly, he wants to
boost the morale of his people and to give the Koreans in the North
a separate identity, by producing nuclear weapons. What results will
come out of this leader's ambition and efforts? Clearly the
pressure over North Korea will increase, the country will be
isolated and the country's poor will suffer even more."

TV Highlights
NTV (8 A.M.)

Domestic News

- A Turkish contingent of 260 soldiers, most of them military
engineers, will fly to Lebanon on Tuesday to join UNIFIL.

- Turkey's chief EU negotiator Ali Babacan launched an EU tour
covering Spain, Germany and Belgium. Babacan will meet on Tuesday
with EU officials and business representatives in Madrid.

- Turkey's budget deficit for the first eight months of the year
reached USD 22.4 billion. The figure for the year 2005 was USD 23.1
billion.

- The IMF delegation, headed by Turkey representative Hugh
Bredenkamp, kicked off its fifth review inspection with meetings in
the business world in Istanbul.

International News

- North Korea has placed its military on alert after carrying out
a nuclear test that has not yet been confirmed by the US. The UN
Security Council met to discuss the situation. The Turkish Foreign
Ministry said in a statement, "We strongly condemn this act of North
Korea, despite a UN Security Council request not to go ahead with
the test as it would jeopardize peace, stability and security in the
region."

- Russian President Putin is under strong criticism after Anna
Politkovskaya, a prominent Russian journalist known for her critical
coverage of the war in Chechnya, was shot dead in Moscow on October
6.

- James Baker, a former secretary of state and the chairman of the
Congressional Iraq Study Group, signaled that the Bush
Administration is likely to shift course with regard to its Iraq
policy.

- A senior Shiite Muslim cleric, Ayatollah Muhammad Kazemeini
Boroujerdi, has been put under house arrest for challenging the
Tehran Administration by calling for a separation of religion and
politics.

- At least 13 have been killed and another 46 wounded yesterday
when a car bomb exploded in a busy market in northeast Baghdad.

Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at

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

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WILSON

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