ANKARA MEDIA REACTION REPORT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 005774 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 WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2006 In Today's Papers EU Repeats Reform Demands from Turkey Hurriyet, Milliyet, Sabah, Cumhuriyet, Radikal, Zaman and others: Under a front page headline, "Turkey Returns to its EU Agenda," conservative/intellectual Zaman says prior to the EU Progress Report to be released November 8 and a looming crisis over the Cyprus question, the Turkish Parliament will speed up the enactment process of the Ninth Adjustment Package of EU reforms, and the influential business group TUSIAD will intensify lobbying efforts in Europe. The European Commission representative in Turkey, Ambassador Hansjorg Kretschmer, said when commenting on the Turkish General Staff (TGS) chief General Yasar Buyukanit's remarks earlier this week about the fundamentalist threat that the EU had no intention of dividing Turkey. "EU's position with regard to civilian-military ties is clear. The role of the military in Turkey is different from that in European countries. We will see if it changes during the negotiation process -- I think it's possible," Kretschmer stressed. Visiting EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn gave "softer" messages at a joint press conference with Turkish labor union leaders in Ankara yesterday. "We have great respect for the professionalism of the Turkish military, but as in any other European democracy, the military must be under full civilian control," Rehn maintained. Rehn underlined that Ankara had to lift curbs on free speech, and particularly abolish Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code. He urged Ankara to adopt a draft law on religious foundations that will allow non-Muslim minorities to buy property. Rehn said Turkey had put an end to systematic torture in prisons and police stations. "We can really avoid a train crash if we have the political will," Rehn emphasized, implying the danger of a possible suspension of accession negotiations with Turkey. Bush-Erdogan Meeting - the Aftermath In the aftermath of Monday's Bush-Erdogan meeting in White House, leftist/nationalist Cumhuriyet as well as several columnists claim there is no sign that the meeting has produced a concrete result regarding the fight against the PKK, ending the international isolation of Turkish Cyprus, Turkey's drive to join the EU, or cooperation in the Middle East. Papers say after the meeting with Erdogan, President Bush merely said that the US was determined to fight against terrorism, without even pronouncing the name of the PKK. Aksam and Hurriyet quote Erdogan's advisors as saying that it was the most "useful" and "friendly" meeting that had been held with Bush. The pro-AKP government Yeni Safak comments that the visit can best be described with the remarks of Erdogan who had said the diversity of the matters discussed at the meeting indicated that the US was a "strategic partner" of Turkey. Papers report US Ambassador to Turkey, Ross Wilson told a press briefing at the Foreign Press Center in Washington that "Turkey is a strong, stable, and secular democracy in a part of the world where many of those things are relatively rare commodities." On the ongoing debate concerning the threat of fundamentalism in Turkey, Wilson said there was always "a certain amount of cacophony" in Turkish domestic politics and in the media. "There's nothing that I see imminently on the horizon that makes me worried about Turkey's democracy," Wilson said, adding "the US has strongly supported the political reforms to strengthen Turkish democratic institutions." "I continue to be struck by both the political noise and the political activities by a whole wide range of actors in Turkey, including people in the military, and by the strength and resilience of Turkey's institutions to deal effectively with what are very complicated issues," said the US Ambassador. Wilson noted that General Yasar Buyukanit would be invited to the US after the visit of US counterpart Peter Pace to Turkey in March next year, without elaborating more. Cengiz Candar comments in the conservative Bugun that for some the visit "was a complete failure" while others "said entirely the opposite," but that one of the ways to understand the importance of ANKARA 00005774 002 OF 003 visits at this level is to "check the Washington Post" to see how the visit was portrayed: "PM Erdogan's fourth trip to the White House has actually made news with content. The WP highlighted Bush's support for Turkey's EU accession and mentioned the international topics that two leaders discussed. The meeting at the White House went beyond a protocol visit both in terms of its length and content. The Turkish PM, following his trips to Washington and London, must immediately focus on the EU agenda and work on democratization policies to refresh his political environment. This will be both good for his political future and for the country's future." Oktay Eksi observes in the mass appeal Hurriyet that expectations were at an unrealistically high level for the visit: "We certainly look for positive and long-lasting results from the Turkish Premier's visits to foreign countries. However, looking at the comments and expectations during the Bush-Erdogan meeting, it is hard to ignore that there was a certain degree of euphoria. Creating an atmosphere of exuberance over the Bush-Erdogan meeting and justifying it by highlighting the extended duration of the bilateral talks is not a realistic approach. There is nothing new out of the White House talks. Erdogan says he saw that Bush was very determined about the fight against PKK. This should indeed come from Bush himself. Regarding the EU, Middle East and Iraq, there are no new things about which to be overly optimistic and overjoyed." Writing in leftist-nationalist Cumhuriyet, Cuneyt Arcayurek argues: "The Turkish Premier was expecting to get some concrete measures against the PKK, but in the end he had to be happy with the expression of determination. Our PM is still trying to justify the fact that President Bush did not mention the PKK during remarks by saying that we did not want to make propaganda for the organization. This statement can only be an attempt at humor. Did not we, Turkey, push for the inclusion of PKK's name in the Strategic Vision Document and express joy afterwards when it was mentioned? Let's not forget the fact that President Bush repeatedly mentions other terrorist organizations, like Al Qaeda, during his remarks almost every day. Anyway, in the end, Erdogan received praise from Bush as being a man of peace and a friend. Being praised by a man who is hated in the world is really something!" Erdogan Meets Blair in London Hurriyet, Milliyet, Sabah, Cumhuriyet, Radikal, Yeni Safak and others report en route to Turkey from Washington on Tuesday, Prime Minister Erdogan stopped over in London to meet his British counterpart Tony Blair to discuss the EU, Cyprus, Iran, and the Middle East problem. Turkish papers comment Erdogan went to London to "bid farewell" to his friend Blair who is to step down as Labor Party leader in a couple of months. Blair said a crisis linked to the Cyprus issue must be prevented, and stressed the importance of Turkey's participation in the international force for Lebanon. Erdogan thanked Blair for his support regarding Turkey's EU aspirations. Draft Dodger Hijacks Turkish Airliner All papers report that Tuesday night a Turkish man who hijacked a Turkish Airlines flight carrying 113 passengers and six crew from Tirana to Istanbul, diverted the plane to Italy before surrendering to Italian police. Early reports said that there were two hijackers and they were protesting against the upcoming Pope visit to Turkey, but the Turkish authorities said the hijacker's aim was to seek political asylum from Italy. The hijacker was later identified as Hakan Ekinci, reportedly a convert to Christianity who had written to the Pope in August, asking for the pontiff's help not to do obligatory military service in Turkey. Turkish authorities said Ekinci had been convicted of fraud and pickpocketing. Turkish papers report a Vatican spokesman as saying the November 28-December 1 Papal trip to Turkey would go ahead. ANKARA 00005774 003 OF 003 Poll: AKP, CHP, DYP Will Enter Parliament in General Elections Aksam carries a public opinion survey carried out by the polling company SONAR which indicates that if general elections were held today, AKP would lead the vote with 31.24 percent, followed by CHP with 17.80, DYP 11.77, MHP 8.97, ANAP 7.29, and Kurdish DTP 5.89. A sound 60.9 percent said they opposed Tayyip Erdogan's presidency with only 27.7 approving. 65.4 percent said the opposition in Turkey did not do its job. TV Highlights NTV (7 A.M.) Domestic News - Istanbul Chief Prosecutor's Office has relaunched a lawsuit related to the dealings of Saudi businessman Yasin al-Qadi, who is on the UN list of terrorism sponsors. - The main opposition CHP leader Deniz Baykal said the recent anti-fundamentalist messages given by President Sezer and top military chief General Yasar Buyukanit should be regarded as warnings for the future of Turkey, not attempts to suspend democracy. - Turkish university rectors warned against fundamentalism at ceremonies at the opening of the new academic year, saying no concessions will be made to those who attempt to manipulate Islam for political ends. - Mayor Osman Baydemir has defended before a court the speeches he delivered during the public unrest in the mainly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir in late March. - Turkey's Alevis applied to the European Court of Human Rights against Turkey for violating freedom of religion by enforcing Sunni religious classes in Turkish schools. International News - Secretary Rice said the international community will have no choice but to impose sanctions if Iran does not halt uranium enrichment. - The White House said President Bush and President Putin agreed on the need to maintain unity in pressing Iran to quit its nuclear program. - Moscow has cut all road, air and sea links with Georgia and blocked money transfers after the ex-Soviet state freed four Russian soldiers accused of espionage. - North Korea announced Tuesday it will conduct a nuclear missile test in the face of an alleged "extreme threat of a nuclear war" coming from the United States. Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ MCELDOWNEY