ANKARA MEDIA REACTION REPORT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 007630

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

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
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2005


THIS REPORT PRESENTS THE TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER THREE
THEMES:

HEADLINES
BRIEFING
EDITORIAL OPINION
-------------- --
HEADLINES

MASS APPEAL
Private TV Kurdish Broadcasts to Begin in January - Hurriyet
FM Gul: "301 Cases Have the Same Effects as `Midnight
Express' -Hurriyet
A New `Midnight Express' Incident - Sabah
Gul Comments on Article 301 Cases - Aksam
President Bush in Preparation for Retirement - Sabah
Critical Terror Report on Today's NSC Agenda - Milliyet
Israel Attacks Lebanon - Milliyet
Le Figaro: "Illegal Immigrants Enter EU through Northern
Cyprus" - Vatan
Secretary Rice to Visit Turkey in the First Months of 2006 -

SIPDIS
Star
The Countdown for EU Entry has Started - Turkiye
Washington Times: `Turkey is Right on the PKK Issue' -
Turkiye

OPINION MAKERS
Gul: "Article 301 could be Amended" - Radikal
Gul compares Effects of Article 301 to Film "Midnight
Express" - Yeni Safak
New Hopes for QIZ with the US - Radikal
MFA Spokesman Tan: "No Israeli Request for Joint Military
Exercises" - Radikal
The Last NSC Meeting of 2005 - Cumhuriyet
Sanctions from US to Iran - Cumhuriyet
Khalilzad: "PKK is a Terrorist Organization and shouldn't be
Sheltered in Northern Iraq" - Zaman
Israeli Planes Bombed Palestinian Camps in Lebanon - Yeni
Safak
Kurdish Broadcasting Begins in January - Yeni Safak

BRIEFING

Gul Comments on Article 301: Today's papers give extensive
front page coverage to the comments of Foreign Minister
Abdullah Gul on the trial of Orhan Pamuk and the
investigation against EP member Lagendijk. "Radikal" quotes
Gul as saying "article 301 could be amended if necessary."
"Yeni Safak" quotes Gul as saying "the suits filed for
violations of article 301 caused as much damage to Turkey's
image as the movie `Midnight Express' did." "Sabah" reports
that the EU officials were stunned by the developments in
Turkey, and especially the investigation against Lagendijk.
EU sources say that even if article 301 is abolished, the
latest developments show that there is no freedom of
expression in Turkey.

The Last National Security Council (NSC) Meeting of 2005:
"Hurriyet", "Milliyet" and "Cumhuriyet" report that the last
NSC meeting of 2005 will be held today. It is expected that
the military will present the NSC with a report on the
minority identity controversy. "Hurriyet" says there are
allegations that the Military was uneasy about the comments
of PM ERDOGAN on the issue. The Military is expected to
express this uneasiness in the report, saying that according
to article 66 of the Constitution, every citizen of Turkey
is a Turk. PKK, Cyprus and Iraq will be the other issues
to debated at the NSC.


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Israel Attacks Lebanon: "Milliyet" and "Yeni Safak" report
that Israel, in retaliation for Palestinian rocket attacks,
launched an operation against Palestinian guerilla camps in
Lebanon.

Sanctions from US to Iran: "Cumhuriyet" says the US has
confirmed the application of sanctions against 6 Chinese, 2
Indian and 1 Austrian company for selling Iran equipment and
technology for military purposes.

Free Trade opes Between the US and Turkey: "Radikal"
rports that the meetings between Turkey and the US to
increase trade and investment will resumeafter a three year
break. The TIFA Council (Trade and Investment Frame
Agreement) was unable to convene for the last three years.
The establishment of Qualified Industrial Zones (QIZ) is
among the issues going to be discussed at the meeting.

EDITORIAL OPINION: Iraq; Turkey-EU

"Will Elections Bring Peace to Iraq?"
Zafer Atay observed in the economic-political daily "Dunya"
(12/29): "Iraq has gone through a multiple election process
for the first time in its history. However, the election
process has not brought peace to Iraq let alone eliminated
the potential threat of division. This is because the
elections were a race between ethnic and religious groups,
proving that the people of Iraq have no concept of `being
Iraqi'. During the elections, Shiites were backed by Iran
which helped most of the pro-Iranian figures to win. As for
the Sunnis, even though there was significant participation
in the elections, the results were not satisfactory since
the Sunnis did not run as a united bloc. The Iraqi
parliament is expected to convene before the end of 2005 to
elect a president and two deputy presidents. Afterwards the
establishment of the government will start. A Shiite
premier is expected to take charge and form a national unity
government. But a Sunni boycott is also possible, so is
resistance by Sunni groups. In sum, Iraq will have to wait
for a while to achieve real democracy because currently all
parties in Iraq are interpreting democracy according to
their own interests."

"Relations with the EU Could Be Frozen in 2006"
Semih Idiz asserted in the mainstream daily "Milliyet"
(12/29): "It is obvious that the year 2006 will bring
tension between Turkey and the EU on the Cyprus issue as
well as on Turkey's perceived insufficient application of EU
reforms. The problems related to freedom of expression are
going to be the major concern in 2006. Turkey presents a
lame image when it comes to the full implementation of
freedom of expression, and it doesn't look like this will
change in 2006. Given the current developments, we can
conclude that the year 2006 will go even worse in that
respect. There are of course some circles in Turkey who
desire cutting off relations with the EU. Turkey launched a
start toward EU membership in 2005 but it is unrealistic to
hope for some concrete steps in 2006. This is not
pessimism, but simply drawing a conclusion after evaluating
the available data."

WILSON