ANKARA MEDIA REACTION REPORT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 ANKARA 005671 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, SEPTEMBER 28, 2006 ISSUE FOCUS: US Special Envoy for Countering the PKK Joseph Ralston Meets the Press in Washington Hurriyet, Milliyet, Cumhuriyet, Radikal, Zaman, Yeni Safak and others report on comments made by US Special Envoy for Countering the PKK, Joseph Ralston at a press conference in Washington organized by the Foreign Press Center. During the conference, which New York press joined via teleconference, General Ralston ruled out any talks with the PKK and "stressed several times" that he was not a "PKK coordinator, but a special envoy." Ralston said he would submit a report to President Bush before his meeting with Prime Minister Erdogan on Monday on his contacts in Turkey and Iraq, declining to give further details. Vatan reports Ralston said he was not planning to meet with the representatives of Turkey's main Kurdish party DTP. Milliyet quotes Ralston as saying that there were plans to close down the Mahmur camp in northern Iraq. The US envoy reiterated that he would not rule out any option against the terror organization, adding military action should be the last resort. On recent remarks made by Iraqi President Talabani that the PKK would declare a ceasefire soon, Ralston said that a ceasefire was possible only between two states, and noted that the PKK did not have such a status. "I didn't even imply a ceasefire," Ralston underlined, adding that he, however, would welcome a PKK decision to lay down its arms and renounce violence. With regard to the three-party mechanism between Turkey, Iraq and the US, he said "Three-party cooperation is necessary, otherwise none of the sides in the mechanism can succeed in this struggle." Left-leaning/nationalist Cumhuriyet editorializes that the approaches of Turkey, Iraq and the US to the issue "do not overlap," adding it is unclear when and where talks would be held. Talabani's recent statement that the PKK would lay down its arms indicates the Iraqi president has been in contact with the terrorist organization, according to Cumhuriyet. All-news channel CNN-Turk quoted Ralston as extending condolences to the families of the victims of PKK terrorism. Ralston also told the press he would pay another visit to Iraq soon. Several papers expect Ralston to visit Ankara again in mid-October. Columnist Mustafa Balbay argues in Cumhuriyet that the word "coordination" may have a different meaning to Iraq and the US: "There are three fronts in countering PKK terrorism: Turkey, Iraq and the United States. If we look at the Turkey angle, we see only the ruling AK Party's willingness to establish a coordination mechanism with the US without even thinking of going through already existing state bodies. It is valid to ask how many AKP members sincerely and seriously believe that this mechanism will actually defeat terrorism. As for the Iraq angle, there is no further comment needed following the recent remarks of Talabani, which clearly proved that he and Barzani have established a working coordination link with the PKK. Given the fact that Talabani made his recent remarks in Washington, we can see the workings of the relationship between Iraq and the Washington administration as well. The US envoy Ralston is going to visit Ankara in mid-October unless there is a last minute change in the schedule. The PKK terrorist acts during the last two weeks have already proved that special coordination cannot be a way of ending terror. Most likely pro-PKK circles in Turkey will start promoting propaganda that the 'PKK is laying down its arms' and ask for Turkey's positive response to it on the eve of Ralston visit to Ankara. In the end, Ralston will turn to Ankara officials and say that you have to listen to domestic voices related to the PKK issue. That's how we will end up seeing 'very coordinated progress' on the PKK." In the Papers: ANKARA 00005671 002 OF 004 Reaction to Iraqi President Talabani All papers: Justice Minister Cemil Cicek responded strongly to the statement of President Talabani that his country would give a sharp response to those meddling in Iraqi internal affairs, calling Talabani a "bootlicker" without naming him, and saying that until recently Talabani himself used to ask Turkish officials to meddle in Iraqi affairs. Foreign Minister Gul said Talabani's remarks were inappropriate and advised Talabani to pay more attention to what he says in public "because in the end, once the US pulls out, we two will have to live as next door neighbors." Characterizing Talabani's remarks as "ugly," PM Erdogan said "I hope he corrects his mistake." PM Erdogan's Visit to the US: Writing in the liberal-intellectual Radikal, Murat Yetkin predicts that the upcoming speeches by newly installed Chief of General Staff Buyukanit and President Sezer may overshadow PM Erdogan's meeting with President Bush: "The European press has already started to interpret the Turkish Land Forces Commander Basbug's remarks as a sign of challenge to the ruling AKP. Observing the domestic developments, we can hardly deny that the military's emphasis on the threat of religious fundamentalism will grow even more as the presidential election gets closer. Now the upcoming speech by the Turkish Chief of the General Staff is on the list of things to watch. Interestingly enough Chief of General Staff Buyukanit will deliver his address to the War Academy live on television the very same day as PM Erdogan's meeting at the White House. It is again most likely that the tone as well as the content of his messages -- which for sure will be PKK, secularism, and the ultra-religious threat -- will cast a shadow on the Bush-Erdogan meeting. Let's not forget that President Sezer will deliver his speech at the parliament on October 1, a day before General Buyukanit. The picture after both speeches will certainly be an unhappy one for the Prime Minister who will be hearing them in the US." EU Parliament Approves 'Tough' Turkey Report All papers: The European Parliament on Wednesday approved a progress report on Turkey by a 429 to 71 vote, with 125 abstentions. The report, which is not binding but recommendatory, urges Ankara to accelerate reforms especially on free speech, religious rights, minority rights, civilian-military relations, women's rights, labor unions, cultural rights and independence of the judiciary. It recommended the new anti-terrorism law not to include restrictive elements against basic rights and freedoms, and called on Turkey to amend articles 216, 277, 288, 301, 305 and 318 of the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) claiming that they are open to interpretation. The report also asks Turkey to drop the ten percent election threshold, enabling a broader representation, including Kurdish parties, in the Turkish Parliament. Addressing the Economist roundtable conference in Istanbul on Wednesday, Prime Minister Erdogan stressed that Turkey's membership is vital for the EU if the bloc wants to become a global power. Erdogan noted that Turkey would not accept new membership criteria. Turkey's chief EU negotiator Ali Babacan said positive changes have been introduced into the report, adding that in the future Turks' sensitivities should be considered. All papers also report ahead of general elections, the political parties in the Netherlands have removed three Turkish candidates from their lists for their refusal to recognize the Armenian genocide. Eker Allegedly Went to the US to Meet with Gulen Cumhuriyet cites a Haberturk TV report which claimed Prime Minister Erdogan had sent Turkish Agriculture Minister Mehdi Eker to the United States to convey messages to Fettullah Gulen, the Turkish sect leader who has been living in Pennsylvania for the past eight years. The paper claims Erdogan wanted to better ties with the ANKARA 00005671 003 OF 004 influential Gulen community in Turkey before the forthcoming general elections. Zaman, the conservative newspaper close to the Gulen group reports the Turkish Agriculture Ministry said in a statement yesterday that Eker did not hold any talks outside his official program, either in Pennsylvania or during other legs of his visit to the US from September 13-21. "Minister Eker met with Pennsylvania Farming Minister Dennis Wolf, paid visits to Mason Dixon Dairy Farm and Land'o'Lakes Dairy as well as taking part in the All American Dairy Show," said the statement. "Diyanet" Says Pope's Statements Not Sufficient Sabah reports Turkish Religious Affairs (Diyanet) released a statement denying that their chief Professor Ali Bardakoglu told Italy's La Republica that recent statements by Pope Benedict XVI had been "sufficient," eliminating all concerns. "Bardakoglu merely responded to a question about whether the upcoming papal visit to Turkey would be a safe one by saying that Turkey, a secular democracy, had hosted several religious leaders in the past, and that Turks' hospitality did not leave room for such concerns," said the statement. British Artist to be Expelled for Criticizing Erdogan Milliyet, Sabah, Radikal, and Cumhuriyet report Turkish authorities refused to extend the residency permit of Michael Dickinson, a British collage artist who had been living in Istanbul for 20 years, after he was detained earlier this month for depicting Prime Minister Erdogan as a dog in a cartoon. Dickinson was asked to leave Turkey by September 30. Dickinson said no one in Britain would have been expelled for such a drawing, and called on Erdogan to learn to tolerate criticism as he was the prime minister of Turkey. Minority Foundations to be Given Back Assets Milliyet, Radikal and Cumhuriyet report a draft submitted by the ruling AK Party to the parliament envisages assets which had been confiscated in 1974 be returned to non-Muslim minority foundations. The draft includes provisions for allowing foundations to open branches abroad, and to accept donations at home and abroad. One hundred seventy-seven of the immovable assets are churches, chapels and synagogues. The opposition CHP opposes the draft, saying it violated the Lausanne Treaty. TV Highlights NTV, 7.00 A.M. Domestic News - Osman Baydemir, the mayor of the mainly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir has been acquitted in a lawsuit for allowing the use of municipality ambulances at funerals of PKK terrorists. - Amnesty International released a statement expressing "dismay" at news reports that another court case has been launched against Armenian-Turkish journalist Hrant Dink on charges of "insulting Turkishness" under Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code. - Five militants who had defected from the PKK and taken refuge with the KDP in northern Iraq have been extradited to Turkey. The defectors claimed almost 70 percent of the PKK members had left the organization. International News - The head of Iraq's Kurdistan regional government, Nechirvan Barzani, threatened that Kurds might "reconsider" their voluntary union with Iraq if the Baghdad government does not withdraw claims on the oil resources in northern Iraq. - German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schauble hosted a "Conference on ANKARA 00005671 004 OF 004 Islam" in Berlin that brought together the federal government and 15 representatives of the 3.2 million Muslims in Germany. - US troops in Iraq are accused of killing seven members of the same family and a neighbor in a mortar attack during an operation in Baquba. - Gunmen killed 10 civilians near a Sunni mosque in Baghdad at the time of fast-breaking dinner yesterday evening. Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ MCELDOWNEY