ANKARA MEDIA REACTION REPORT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 002472

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, MAY 4, 2006

In Today's Papers


EU Slams Turkey on Freedom of Expression, Kurdish Rights
All papers: The EU Commission Representative Hansjorg
Kretschmer said with regard to the overruling of a court
decision to suspend a prison sentence given to Armenian
journalist Hrant Dink by a high court that the political
authority in Turkey was responsible for the "unlawfulness"
in the judiciary. Kretschmer stressed that the reform
process in Turkey was being suspending, urging the
government to be sterner if it really supports EU reforms.
Kretschmer noted that the EU Commission's enlargement report
would mention not only the trial of journalist Hrant Dink,
but also other cases related to freedom of expression.
"There is a clear threat to freedom of expression in Turkey,
and our attitude will not change before the threat is over.
There are also negative developments with regard to
religious freedom. Turkey cannot board the EU train without
a breakthrough on these issues," Kretschmer warned.

Joost Lagendijk, co-chairman of Turkey-EU joint
parliamentary commission, told the Turkish Parliament
yesterday although he understood that the government was
busy with preparations for elections in 2007, reforms should
not be forgotten, urging the Turkish government to clarify
its positions on freedom of expression. With respect to the
Semdinli investigation, Lagendijk said Van Prosecutor Ferhat
Sarikaya was sacked for inspecting the case. "It seems that
somebody is trying to hush up the issue," Lagendijk
emphasized. Lagendijk also said that several political
groups in the European Parliament have condemned PKK
terrorism, and that his colleagues have called on the Kurds
in Turkey to "abandon old methods." He noted the
significance of maintaining economic development and
cultural rights in southeast Turkey, and suggested Turks
give positive messages by extending the permitted hours of
Kurdish broadcasts and giving the Kurds the right to be
represented at the Turkish Parliament.

A third warning came from EU spokeswoman Krisztina Nagy who
stressed that the new anti-terror law should be in harmony
with the spirit of reforms in Turkey. Cumhuriyet calls the
Nagy statement the first warning from Brussels regarding the
anti-terror bill.

Erdogan-Ahmadinejad Baku Meeting; Larijani Due in Ankara
Cumhuriyet and Sabah claim the US and ISRAEL have sent to
Turkey a message through "unofficial" channels that they do
not approve of a possible bilateral meeting between Prime
Minister Erdogan with the Iranian President Ahmadinejad in
Baku at the ECO summit, which both leaders are scheduled to
attend. Therefore, the papers report, Erdogan and
Ahmadinejad will only meet briefly on the sidelines of the
meeting. Cumhuriyet comments that, by doing so, Ankara is
trying to please Iran, and the US and Israel. Turkish
Foreign Ministry (MFA) Spokesman Namik Tan said in a weekly
press briefing that during his visit to Ankara next week,
Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani will be warned
to be more transparent in dealings with the IAEA and the
international community. Larijani is expected to meet Prime
Minister Erdogan, Foreign Minister Gul, and National
Security Council (MGK) Secretary General Alpogan on Monday.

PKK Threatens to Retaliate if Attacked in Northern Iraq
Milliyet, Cumhuriyet, Radikal, Zaman and others report Murat
Karayilan, the PKK's senior commander, yesterday threatened
to retaliate if Turkey or Iran attacked the PKK camps in
northern Iraq. Karayilan told a news conference in Raniyah

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the PKK would increase attacks in major Turkish cities if
Iran and Turkey continue attacking the bases of the PKK or
other Kurdish groups. Papers report that in the face of the
Iranian bombings and Turkey's military preparations, the PKK
militants and Kurds settled in villages near Mount Kandil
began evacuating their camps and homes. Cumhuriyet says in
an effort to prevent Turkish operations, the PKK leaders,
through their media outlets, called on Ankara to meet with
the Kurds' "legal representatives" in Turkey.

In a commentary in mainstream Sabah, Asli Aydintasbas
reported that last week, in a written note of protest, Iraq
asked Turkey to pull back its troops deployed in Northern
Iraq, but that Baghdad withdrew the demand within 48 hours,
following the visit of US Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice. The note, presented to the Turkish Ministry of
Foreign Affairs on the day Secretary Rice left Turkey for
Baghdad, reflected Iraqi officials' concerns about possible
Turkish cross-border operations in Iraq and also asked
Turkey to withdraw its troops from Northern Iraq.
Aydintasbas says that in response, Turkish officials
stressed that Turkish troops were working in coordination
with US troops and Iraqi officials and that the main goal of
Turkish troops was not to damage Iraqi sovereignty, but, on
the contrary, to boost coordination and fight against the
PKK. Aydintasbas reports that "at this point, Washington
intervened and the escalating Turkey -Baghdad tensions
eased" as Washington officially told Baghdad that it did
not support such demands and that Turkish troops were
cooperating with US troops in Mosul, and that they had been
there for a long time. Aydintasbas concludes that "the
positive role the US played during this process was
appreciated by Turkey, because, without the help, not only
the relationship between Turkey and Iraq but that between
Turkey and Washington as well, would have been affected
negatively."

TV Highlights
NTV, 8.00 a.m.

Domestic News
- A bomb believed to have been placed by the PKK went off
beside a bus carrying military officers' children home from
school on Wednesday in the city of Hakkari in southeast
Turkey, injuring 21 people including 11 children. President
Sezer strongly denounced the attack.

- PM Erdogan is to meet his Greek counterpart Karamanlis in
Thessalonica, Greece on Thursday to discuss bilateral ties
and the Greek Cypriots' accession to Turkish ports and
airports. Karamanlis will make clear during the meeting
whether he will visit Turkey in the short term or not.

- Turkey's main Kurdish party Democratic Society Party (DTP)
said its Co-Chairmen Ahmet Turk and Aysel Tugluk will travel
to northern Iraq to participate in the opening of the
Kurdish Parliament in Erbil on May 7.

- A court fined ANAP leader Erkan Mumcu to pay TL 10,000 in
compensation to Prime Minister Erdogan for insulting
comments in an interview with Vatan daily.

- On World Press Day, AKP MP Ertugrul Yalcinbayir has urged
PM Erdogan and other politicians to withdraw lawsuits
against journalists.

- The Turkish Naval Forces Command said on Wednesday Turkey,
Bulgaria, Georgia, Romania and Russia will join the ''Black
Sea Partnership-2006" maneuvers to be held in the western
Black Sea from May 5-12. The maneuvers aim at developing

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military cooperation among the Black Sea littoral countries.

- Greenpeace has sent a letter to President Sezer urging him
to veto some anti-environment provisions of Turkey's new
environment bill.

International News
- The European Union has suspended entry talks with Serbia-
Montenegro after Belgrade failed to hand over war criminal
General Mladic to The Hague. Serbia's deputy prime minister
resigned on Wednesday after the EU suspension.

- A report by the New York-based Committee to Protect
Journalists says North Korea tops the world's most censored
countries.

- Only the Turkish Ambassador to Lithuania will represent
Turkey at the May 4 summit meeting in that country where
leaders from the European Union, United States and the newly
emerging democracies in the Black Sea region will discuss EU
expansion and the NATO military alliance.


Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at

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

WILSON