ANKARA MEDIA REACTION REPORT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 001882

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
FRIDAY, APRIL 7, 2006

In Today's Papers

EU Warns Ankara on Kurdish Situation
All papers: On Thursday, the European Commission and
European lawmakers urged Turkey to grant Kurds more
economic and cultural rights, voicing concern over
violence in the mainly Kurdish southeast. EU Health
Commissioner Markos Kyprianou told the European
Parliament the PKK was included in the EU terror list,
but urged the Turkish government to fulfill its promises
to improve the rights of Kurds. "We urge the Turkish
government to address the problems in the region in a
comprehensive manner, and not only from a security point
of view," Kipriyanu said, asking Turkey to facilitate the
return of displaced Kurds to their villages and stop
deploying state-sponsored militiamen (Korucu) in
villages. Several lawmakers also urged Turkey to
establish a political dialogue with moderate Kurds.
European Parliament's Turkey Rapporteur said executives
of Turkey's main Kurdish party DTP should also denounce
terror, and warned Turkey not to use excessive force.

Prime Minister Erdogan, in response to a letter by
several socialist members of the European Parliament in
which the lawmakers warned the problems in southeast
Turkey cannot be solved through only military means, said
"they should first come here and see the incidents in the
field." On the DTP, Erdogan said the pro-Kurdish party
must accept the PKK as a terrorist organization. "If you
want to have a democratic life, you don't need weapons.
You can come without weapons and speak out at the table,"
Erdogan emphasized, prompting comments in today's papers
wondering whether the PM's "ambiguous" remarks implied a
call for initiation of a dialogue with the PKK.

Commenting on the US position with regard to the PKK
issue, Hakan Celik writes in the mass
appeal/sensationalist Posta that elimination of the PKK
problem was not among US priorities: "The Washington
Administration believes that this is Turkey's problem and
should be resolved directly by Turkey. Although, as an
ally, the US considers relations with Turkey important,
at the same time, it wants to improve relations with
Kurds in northern Iraq. From the angle of its own
interests, the US considers an operation against the PKK
dangerous and unnecessary. For these reasons, Turkey
feels that the US has left Turkey alone in its fight
against the PKK."

Gul: Intelligence Talks Aim Iraq's Unity
Radikal reports Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, in a
comment to reporters, confirmed that meetings among
Turkish and some Arab countries' intelligence services
aimed at preservation of Iraq's unity and integrity had
taken place, saying that such meetings "were nothing out
of the ordinary." Responding to another reporter's
question, Gul dismissed press reports claiming there were
secret meetings between Turkish officials and Iraqi
Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani as "sensational."

Iraqi Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish leaders are to meet in
Jordan in an effort to prevent ethnic conflict in Iraq.
Turkey, Egypt, Syria, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the Arab
League will join the meetings on April 22.

Kretschmer Warns More Judicial Reforms Needed in Turkey
Milliyet, Sabah, Cumhuriyet, Radikal, Zaman and others:
The European Commission Turkey representative Ambassador
Hansjorg Kretschmer told a conference in Ankara that some
prosecutors in Turkey cannot grasp the soul of reforms,

ANKARA 00001882 002 OF 003


and that they do not respect freedom of expression.
Kretschmer said restrictive provisions on free speech,
such as Article 301 through which several journalists
have been tried, still existed, and the independence of
the judiciary was questioned. Kretschmer warned not only
human rights, supremacy of law, and democracy, but also
the economic situation would suffer without a well-
functioning judicial system.

Soldiers, Policeman Killed by the PKK Laid to Rest
All papers: A funeral has been held in Ankara yesterday
for five Turkish soldiers and a policeman killed in
fighting with the PKK. The soldiers were killed in a
clash with the PKK militants in the Gabar Mountains in
the southeastern province of Sirnak, and the policeman
was killed during a PKK attack at a police checkpoint in
the nearby city of Bingol earlier this week. Land Forces
Commander General Yasar Buyukanit vowed at the funeral
the attackers would be punished. Some relatives of the
slain soldiers lashed out at the government for being
nonchalant.

Commentary on Globalization
Ertugrul Ozkok, the editor in-chief of Turkey's leading
daily Hurriyet, praises as a "wonderful development" the
National Bank of Greece's (NBG) purchase of a majority
stake in Turkey's Finansbank. Ozkok deems the purchase
important at a time of "serious blows" to globalization
such as the US Administration's rejection of a Dubai
company's bid to run some American ports and some
European countries' blockade on the sale of companies to
foreigners: "In the midst of such an atmosphere, a Greek
bank has agreed to pay billions of dollars to a Turkish
bank. This initiative is an example of bravery and a
historic challenge on the part of both sides. I watch
Turkey and Greece with pleasure while they are giving
lessons of liberalism to the world. I always believed
that countries that consider globalization to be
imperialism are very much mistaken. Developing
countries like Turkey and India could benefit more from
globalization than the old economies. The US has just
realized this fact. A new era is starting in economic
history for brave countries without any complexes, like
Turkey."


TV Highlights
NTV (7 a.m.)

Domestic News
- Turkish high court Danistay has released a statement
that the government must abide by judicial rulings, and
dismissed as "unacceptable" charges by Prime Minister
Erdogan that Danistay was blocking government
implementation.

- Four people including the chairman of the Kurdish party
DTP in Silopi in the southeastern city of Sirnak were
arrested for joining protest demonstrations in Diyarbakir
earlier last week.

- The ruling AKP government has sent to the Presidency a
bill earlier vetoed by President Sezer which allows
Turkey's banned Islamist leader Necmettin Erbakan to
serve his prison sentence at home. Erbakan was convicted
of irregularities in election aid funds given by the
Treasury to the Welfare Party.

International News
- Iraq remains unable to form a government of national

ANKARA 00001882 003 OF 003


unity more than four months after the elections.

- Israeli President Katsav assigned interim PM Olmert to
form a new government.

- Prosecutor Carla del Ponte's office said Belgrade will
hand over fugitive Bosnian Serb General Ratko Mladic to
the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former
Yugoslavia in The Hague before the end of the month.

- At least 40 suspected Taliban fighters killed in
clashes with security forces in North Waziristan in
Pakistan.

Economy News
- Joint Turkey and Greece banking initiative: Turkey-
Greek Business Aegean Bank - BAB branch office will be
opened in Athens in June.

- The Turkish government is to submit to President Sezer
on Friday a cabinet decree regarding the appointment of a
new chairman for Central Bank. Reports speculate the
nominee is Ibrahim Canakci, Treasury Undersecretary.

Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at

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

WILSON