ANKARA MEDIA REACTION REPORT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 ANKARA 003368

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, JUNE 8, 2006

In Today's Papers

President Sezer Visits Israel
All papers: Turkish President Sezer and Israeli President
Mose Katsav held a joint press conference in Tel Aviv on
Wednesday, in which Sezer expressed support for the UN
framework for a settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict. Katsav stated that the visit of Sezer shows the
strong RELATIONS between the two countries, and that Israel
saw Turkey as its ally. Katsav stressed that Turkey's EU
membership would be a great contribution to regional
stability, and also a positive step for world economy, and
lauded the Erez industrial zone project in the Gaza Strip,
launched through the initiative of Turkey. Both presidents
expressed concern over Iran's nuclear activities, with Sezer
saying Iran could not be criticized if it pursued a peaceful
nuclear program, adding that different aspirations would
create risks for the region.

Sezer later took the floor at the Knesset, saying that
Turkey considers it a "responsibility to enjoy the privilege
of having the trust of both the Israelis and Palestinians,
and we hope that Prime Minister Olmert is going to meet
President Abbas soon.'' He noted that Turks and Jews
"always rushed to help each other in difficult times. We
will never forget the help of our Israeli friends during the
massive earthquake in Turkey in 1999. Friendship and
solidarity constitutes the basis of our cooperation.''
Sezer stressed that Turkey may present large opportunities
to its neighbors and allies, such as the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan
(BTC) oil pipeline, which has vital importance regarding the
establishment of stability and economic development in the
region. The President also expressed Turkey's determination
to improve cooperation with Israel by all means. Sezer also
mentioned the victims of the Holocaust. The Turkish
President received a standing ovation when he completed his
speech by saying "Shalom" (peace) and "Toda raba" (thank
you) in Hebrew.

Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik said Israel will never forget
that Ottoman Empire sheltered the Jews exiled from Spain 500
years ago, and that Turkey welcomed Jewish scientists who
had to flee Nazi Germany. Deputy Prime Minister Shimon
Peres said Israel supported Turkey's EU membership bid.
Peres lauded Sezer by saying that he symbolized the values
of modern Turkey. President Sezer later laid a wreath to
Holocaust Memorial in memory of the victims of Holocaust
before moving on to Palestine to meet with President Abbas.
Sabah says Sezer told the Israelis the Hamas delegation was
invited to Ankara by the ruling AK Party, not by the state,
underlining that the invitation did not reflect the official
policies of the Turkish state.

Writing in the daily Dunya, Zafer Atay argues that
Palestinian people are suffering because neither the western
nor Arab nations have offered aid: "The US and the EU
stopped their financial aid to Palestine and soon after
Israel did the same. Muslim-dominated OPEC countries, on
the other hand, did nothing to address the dire needs of the
Palestinian people. What we have seen so far from the
Islamic world is only words and no deeds. According to
recent figures, more than three million Palestinians are
living in famine conditions. Hospitals can only operate on
the most severe emergency cases. The pain and agony of the
people should be considered more important than POLITICAL
fights and rhetorical games. The Western community should
feel ashamed for punishing innocent people in contradiction
to their strong rhetoric on human rights. And the Islamic
world should be doubly ashamed for doing nothing despite

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their oil-rich revenues."

Turkey Wants UN, EU Concerns on Iran Included in OIC
Communiqu
Yeni Safak reports that at the June 19-21 foreign ministers
meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC)
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul will ask for inclusion of UN
and EU concerns with respect to Iran's nuclear activities in
the final communiqu. Despite persistent efforts by the
international community over the past three years, OIC had
declined to adopt a resolution against its member Iran. OIC
communiqus had merely stated support for peaceful nuclear
activities, criticizing the double-standard displayed by
world nations on nuclear energy.



Volatility Continues in Turkish Markets
All papers: The Turkish Central Bank (CB) increased
interest rates by 1.75 percent to 15 percent, the first such
increase in the last five years, following the disclosure of
higher-than-expected inflation figures for May. The
increase also came when the current account deficit has
reached a record USD 12.7 billion, a 45 percent increase
over the same period last year. There has been strong
volatility in the Turkish markets for the last three weeks
with the Turkish lira depreciating and the stock exchange
markets losing value. Over recent weeks, the Turkish Lira
has fallen by 17 percent against the USD and the Euro,
prompting investors to move away from emerging markets,
including Turkey. Hwever, Turkey's situation took a turn
for the worse with higher-than-expected inflation figures
for April and May, and rising POLITICAL strains after a
deadly gun attack on the Council of State which left one
judge dead and four others injured. Analysts said the
ruling AK Party government still faced the threat of missing
the 5.0 percent year-end inflation target. The failure to
rein in inflation creates difficulty for Prime Minister
Erdogan, who is counting on continued economic progress to
boost his position ahead of presidential and general
elections next year. A recent poll showed that 56.7 percent
of Turks saw unemployment as the biggest problem facing
Turkey today.

Columnist faces Trial for Defending Conscientious Objection
Hurriyet, Radikal, Birgun: Perihan Magden, a renowned
Turkish novelist and columnist, appeared in an Istanbul
court on Wednesday in the first hearing of a lawsuit filed
against her for defending conscientious objection to
military service. The Turkish General Staff (TGS) had
complained that Magden attempted to "deter people from
fulfilling their military service" in a weekly news magazine
in December. The prosecutor seeks up to three years in
prison for Magden. Before the court hearing was launched,
demonstrators who describe themselves as "relatives of
terror victims" tried to attack her. "I believe that both
the TGS's denunciation of me and the prosecutor's lawsuit
against me is a disproportional use of force," Magden told
the court. On the other hand, renowned Turkish novelist
Elif Safak faces trial for "denigrating Turkishness" in her
second English language novel "The Bastard of Istanbul" in
which Safak tells the tale of two families, an exiled
Armenian family living in San Francisco and the Kazancis of
Istanbul, whose contemporary stories conjoin through a
family secret that began in 1915 and played out in the lives
of their daughters today.

Poll: Three Parties to Enter Turkish Parliament in General
Elections
Aksam carries a public opinion survey conducted between May

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20 and June 3 by Sonar Polling Co through one-on-one
interviews with 1,837 people in 15 provinces across Turkey.
According to the survey, if general elections were held
today, the AK Party would emerge as the winner by 23.6
percent, followed by CHP with 15.1. Other parties behind
these two would be DYP 10.0 percent, MHP 6.6, DSP 5.7, ANAP
5.1, and the pro-Kurdish DTP 4.5. With the distribution of
21.2 percent of "undecided votes" among the parties, the
percentage of votes would be: AKP 29.9, CHP 19.2, DYP 12.6,
MHP 8.4, DSP 7.19, ANAP 6.5. Respondents said by 56.7
percent that Turkey's biggest problem today was
"unemployment," followed by "poverty" with 15.3, "terrorism
and the Kurdish problem" with 6.0, "corruption" with 3.7.
Only 1.7 percent of the respondents believe the "headscarf"
controversy to be the top problem of Turkey, according to
the survey.


Editorial Comment: Human Trafficking
Mim Kemal Oke commented in the conservative Tercuman: "The
State Department's annual report on human trafficking
highlighted the problem in Turkey. Human trafficking by its
nature is the postmodern slavery of the global era. It is a
grave problem for the world which only helps to accelerate
the collapse of moral values, and the growth of crime and
unemployment. Turkey, due to its location and its economic
situation, is a target country for human traffickers. In
addition to the fact that citizens of certain countries,
such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran and Bangladesh
have been using Turkey as a transit route to their European
destinations, being a transit route also covers terrorist
activities. Turkish security institutions are taking this
issue seriously but, as the report indicates, more should be
done."


TV Highlights
NTV, 8.00 a.m.

Domestic News

- The main opposition CHP has asked the AK Party government
to explain allegations in a US report that 90 nuclear bombs
had been deployed in Incirlik Airbase in south Turkey.

- In a joint press availability in Ankara yesterday, Prime
Minister Tayyip Erdogan and visiting Lebanese Prime Minister
Fuad Siniora sent covert warnings to Iran by denouncing the
deployment of WMD in the Middle East.

- A court ruled the banned Islamist leader Necmettin Erbakan
could serve a 28-month prison sentence at home. He was
found guilty of financial irregularities in spending of
party funds

- Staff of the TRT demonstrated in Istanbul against alleged
interference by the government through partisan appointments
in the state-owned broadcaster.

International News

- Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat will travel to
Berlin on Friday to meet with German Foreign Minister
Steinmeier.

- Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alemo said the
withdrawal of Italian troops from Iraq would be completed by
the end of the year.

- Organization of Islamic Conference's (OIC) Turkish

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Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu met President Putin

SIPDIS
during a visit to Moscow.

- 17 terror suspects detained in Canada are accused of
plotting to storm the Canadian Parliament and behead the
Prime Minister.


Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at

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

WILSON