ANKARA MEDIA REACTION REPORT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 002677 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, MAY 12, 2006 In Today's Papers Belgian MPs to Submit Armenian 'Genocide' Bill to Parliament All papers: On Thursday, a delegation of Turkish lawmakers met in Paris with the head of the French parliament's foreign affairs committee, Herve de Charette, as part of Turkish lobbying efforts against a draft bill on the 'genocide' of Armenians by Turks. The bill, which envisions prison sentences for anyone who denies the Armenian genocide took place, will be discussed in the French Parliament on May 18. The Turks say the French ruling party has promised to work to block the controversial draft submitted by socialist lawmakers. Meanwhile, two Belgian senators from the ruling coalition there plan to submit a bill to the Belgian Parliament stipulating sanctions for denial of Armenian genocide claims. Papers claim Ankara will consider economic sanctions and work together with Turkish companies to fight against the Armenian claims in Belgium. Schroeder Suggests US Establish Dialogue with Iran Hurriyet, Milliyet, Radikal, Cumhuriyet, Zaman, Yeni Safak and others: Germany's former Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder told a conference in Istanbul that the EU, for the sake of future generations, should not backpedal on the 'historic project' of making Turkey a full member of the European bloc. 'Turkey must continue the reforms required for EU membership. Turkey cannot be blamed for the structural problems of the EU. The EU is a political project for a common future,' Schroeder said. Schroeder called on Iran to cooperate with the IAEA regarding Tehran's nuclear program. He said Iran's sovereignty rights should be respected, and warned against discriminatory policies toward Tehran. Schroeder noted that sanctions on Iran will not work, and suggested the US should enter into a dialogue with Tehran. 'If Iran's oil production is embargoed, global oil and natural gas prices will soar. Negotiations should be launched with Iran,' Schroeder emphasized. "Bush and Ahmedinejad: Two Acrobats on the same Rope" Haluk Ulman wrote in the economic-political Dunya (5/12): "It will be real madness if the Bush Administration decides to use military force against Teheran, which will turn the entire Middle East will into a fireball. There is currently a big-power competition over Iran's nuclear program in the international arena between Presidents Bush and Ahmedinejad. Russia and China are supporting Iran, which is why the US was unable to pass a bill in the UN that would have applied economic and military sanctions. Public opinion in Iran is also strongly supporting the mullahs' regime on this issue. Moreover, it is obvious that the Shiites in Iraq will make life miserable for US troops in the event of a US military operation against Iran. Because of the stubborn stance of both sides, the only way to ease escalating Iran-US tensions is to find a diplomatic solution within the framework of the UN." Bomb Attack on Cumhuriyet Daily All papers report that the office of the staunchly secular daily Cumhuriyet in Istanbul was attacked with a percussion bomb Thursday. Two men threw a fragmentation grenade into the garden, shouted 'God is great,' and fled the scene. There were no casualties. It was the third such attack against the paper in the past week, but in the first two incidents the explosives failed to detonate. Cumhuriyet characterized the bombings as 'very worrying,' and viewed them as 'attacks on press freedom and democracy.' President Sezer condemned the bombing, saying it was an attack against the Republic. AKP MP Accused of Adultery, Beating Wife ANKARA 00002677 002 OF 003 Hurriyet, Milliyet, Sabah, Vatan, Radikal, Cumhuriyet and others report that the wife of ruling AK Party lawmaker Halil Urun has complained that he used to beat her while he was living with another woman. The wife was given a medical report documenting the injuries caused by the beatings. Papers say that if the prosecutor takes action, Urun will be charged with adultery and beating his wife, and could face the removal of his parliamentary immunity. Urun shrugged off the charges, saying he had parliamentary immunity and would not be punished. Additional Commentary "The Benefits of a Parliamentary Rejection" Fatih Bohurler argued in the tabloid Star (5/12): "The staunch supporters of the Iraq war had suggested that if Ankara rejected the parliamentary motion on March 1, 2003, Turkey would be isolated and suffer economically. It was also feared that the US would put Turkey on its black list. But today the facts point in the opposite direction. The US finds itself in a terrible situation in Iraq, while Turkey is doing well both economically and politically. In fact, the rejection of the motion by parliament in a way helped the US not to be defeated on an even larger scale than it is today." "Efforts to Divide Sudan" Mustafa N. Ozfatura argued in the conservative Turkiye (5/12): "Sudan has enormous resources that would not only allow it to be self-sufficient but also to feed all of Africa. However, the country has never been able to use its resources because of the continuing civil war there. Instead of making investments in the oil industry and agriculture, Western arms traders looted the country during the civil war. The imperialist powers aim to divide Islamic nations based on ethnic origin, sectarian differences and other pretexts, and Sudan is certainly one of these cases. Major steps are being taken in Sudan to divide the country, and it is sad to see that the Muslim world is doing absolutely nothing about it." TV Highlights NTV (8 a.m.) Domestic News - Prime Minister Erdogan played for the EU candidate countries team which won a 10-7 victory over a team of EU members in a friendly soccer match in Vienna. Normal time ended in a 7-7 draw, but the EU candidates won the match 10- 7 thanks to their success in the penalty shootout, when Erdogan was among the scorers. Austrian PM Schuessel, EU Enlargement Commissioner Rehn and EU Commission Head Barroso also played in the match. USD 100,000 raised from the match will be used to help street children in Bulgaria and Romania. - Prime Minister Erdogan will attend the fifth Summit of the Developing Eight (D-8) in Bali, where he will meet with the Iranian President Ahmadinejad over the weekend. - Main opposition CHP leader Deniz Baykal signaled that his party could support deputy PM Abdullatif Sener for the presidency next year, saying that Sener is more open-minded on such issues as the headscarf than some other leaders of the ruling AK Party. - A suspected PKK member was captured with 15.1 kg of explosives in the mainly Kurdish southeastern city of Diyarbakir yesterday. The Diyarbakir Governor's Office said ANKARA 00002677 003 OF 003 the suspect was preparing to carry out bomb attacks in major Turkish cities. International News - Iraqi President Talabani said in a statement that 1,091 people were killed in Baghdad in April, and expressed "shock, dismay and anger" over daily reports of the discovery of unidentified corpses around the capital. - British newspapers have renewed calls for a public inquiry into last year's suicide bomb attacks in London, strongly condemning two official reports for exonerating security service failings. The domestic intelligence agency MI5 was cleared in the reports, despite revelations that three of the four Islamic extremist bombers appeared on the intelligence radar before the July 7 attacks but were not pursued. - Secretary Rice refused to meet with members of a European Parliament committee looking into allegations that the CIA established secret prison camps in Europe. - An al-Qaida video posted on the Internet called on Muslims to attack Denmark, Norway and France for publishing cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. - Migrants in Greece have collected over 10,000 signatures for the opening of a mosque in Athens. Economy News - Energy Minister Hilmi Guler said that eight companies had expressed interested in building nuclear power plants in Turkey. Two Turkish companies have told the Energy Ministry that they are ready to construct nuclear plants without asking for support from the state. The Energy Ministry will hold a meeting with representatives of the private sector today to discuss the project. - The Confederation of Turkish Employers' Union, TISK, said in a report that over 5 million people are without work in Turkey, stressing that 10 million new jobs must be created by 2010 in order to catch up with EU employment rates. TISK noted that USD 70 billion in annual investment is needed to prevent further increases in unemployment. Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ WILSON