ANKARA MEDIA REACTION REPORT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 ANKARA 005862 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 TUESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2006 In Today's Papers Reaction Grows in Turkey against France's Armenian 'Genocide' Draft All papers give extensive front-page coverage to a draft bill that would make it a crime in France to deny the Armenians' genocide at the hands of the Ottomans in the early 20th century. The French Parliament is set to discuss the bill on October 12. Justice Minister and Government Spokesman Cemil Cicek called on the EU to take action against the draft. Cicek said Turkey has been doing everything to prevent the bill from being passed, but he did not elaborate further. The Turkish Prime Minister's office said on Monday that PM Erdogan turned down the French Interior Minister and presidential hopeful Nicolas Sarkozy's proposals for Turkey to open the border with Armenia, drop the condition that only historians should represent both sides in a joint research committee, and scrap Article 301 of the Penal Code. 'Turkey is the open and transparent side concerning the issue,' Erdogan said, 'France should first look at itself.' Papers report that EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn has urged French lawmakers to think twice before backing the draft, stressing such a move would harm Turkey-EU ties. The EU term president Finland added that adoption of the bill would be a 'very erroneous step.' Some unidentified senior Turkish diplomats are quoted as saying that Turkey expects the resolution to be approved by the French Parliament, and if it is approved, France would lose its special status in Turkey in many areas. Dailies report that Turkey is gearing up for a boycott of French imports which affect around one billion dollars in trade. French investors and businesses in Turkey have stepped up lobbying of French parliamentarians to discourage them from backing the bill, according to papers. Radikal says Ankara might recall the Turkish ambassador from Paris. Yasar Yakis of the ruling AKP and Sukru Elekdag of the main opposition CHP suggested some 70,000 Armenian nationals working illegally in Turkey should be deported in response to an adoption of the bill. Yeni Safak says AKP's Abdullatif Sener opposed the suggestion, saying such a move 'would bring no good for anybody.' Cumhuriyet speculates that if the French Parliament passes the bill, Ankara will pull political ties with Paris to the lowest level, French companies will be put on a 'red list' concerning military contracts, and French companies will be prevented from taking part in state contracts and investment in Turkey. Agar Suggests Amnesty for the PKK Hurriyet, Milliyet, Cumhuriyet, Radikal, Yeni Safak and others report the opposition True Path Party (DYP) leader Mehmet Agar said in the mainly Kurdish southeastern city of Diyarbakir yesterday that an amnesty could be declared for the PKK members in an effort to end terrorism. 'The PKK members should come down from mountains to the plains and engage in politics. In democracies, the solution lies in politics, not terrorism,' Agar said. Justice Minister Cemil Cicek said amnesty was not on his government's agenda. The opposition CHP and MHP rejected the Agar suggestion, with Baykal saying his party would not contribute to the PKK's efforts for legalization. The AKP deputy group chief Eyup Fatsa said Agar's suggestion could be discussed in the parliament if the DYP leader clarifies his proposal. Several NGOs including the southeastern businessmen's association GUNSIAD and human rights associations IHD and Mazlum-Der welcomed the Agar statement. The US-Backed Peshmerge Launch Security Operation in Kirkuk Hurriyet and Cumhuriyet report the northern Iraqi Kurdish peshmerge forces, backed by US troops, launched a security operation in Kirkuk over the weekend in which 14 Turkmen were killed and 150 suspects, mostly Arabs, were detained. Cumhuriyet sees the operation as an 'intimidation' campaign targeting the Turkmen and Arabs in the region before the upcoming referendum on the oil-rich city of Kirkuk in 2007. ANKARA 00005862 002 OF 004 Changes to Elections Law to Block Kurdish Candidates Radikal reports the AKP, CHP and ANAP parties have reached a 'fast consensus' on changes to be made to the Elections Law. The parties have agreed to lower the minimum age to run for office from 30 to ¶25. and to put the names of independent candidates written on a combined voting slip instead of a separate one, as has been the case in previous Turkish elections. Several former and existing lawmakers maintain that the reason behind these changes is to sideline Turkey's main Kurdish party DTP which is expected to win at least 20 seats in the parliament through fielding independent candidates. With the minimum age to be elected reduced, an additional six million people will be eligible to run in the elections. The parliament is to vote on the changes today. Kauzlarich Attends ASAM Conference Radikal reports the US National Intelligence Council member Richard Kauzlarich participated in a conference, 'The world and Turkey in 2023,' held by Turkey's Eurasia Strategic Studies Center (ASAM) in Ankara on Monday. Kauzlarich delivered a speech regarding the Council's projections on Turkey in 2020, which included predictions that the EU will end its expansion by admitting Turkey in 2020, that China will become the second geopolitical power after the US, and that ethnic conflicts and biological weapons threats will increase around the world. Kauzlarich said the US considers Turkey an important country, stressing that cooperation between the two allies will still be strong in 2020. President Sezer and former Turkish Cypriot 'president' Rauf Denktas also attended the conference. Poll: Support for AKP Declines Vatan reports that, according to a public opinion poll commissioned by the AKP and conducted by Pollmark Co. in September, support for the ruling AKP party fell to 26.2 percent from nearly 33 percent in July. The September survey indicated support for the main opposition CHP as 15.5 percent, followed by MHP at 9 and DYP with 8.2. The 'undecided' vote stood at 32%. Editorial Commentary on North Korean Nuclear Test Ismet Berkan commented in the liberal-intellectual Radikal (10/10): "Predictions continue that North Korea is producing nuclear arms, proved by the nuclear test North Korea carried out last weekend. From now on, North Korea's nuclear weapons are an undeniable fact. With this test, North Korea became one of the eight countries that conducted a nuclear test without giving any prior indications that they possessed nuclear weapons. While many other countries, including the US, have much more powerful nuclear weapons, why should one worry about North Korea producing nuclear weapons? Of course, the best thing is for no country to produce nuclear weapons, but, unfortunately, these weapons do exist and it is impossible to turn back time. Right now, everyone's main effort is to prevent other countries from producing nuclear weapons. Unfortunately, today North Korea has produced them and maybe tomorrow Iran will be next. North Korea and Iran are the most dreaded countries to think of as nuclear weapon producers, because, both have declared their mortal enemies: North Korea has South Korea and Iran has Israel. When the cold war between the US and the Soviet Union ended in 1989, the whole world relaxed. Unfortunately, the same old concerns are disturbing the world once again, because some countries, who have openly announced their enemies, are establishing nuclear capability. And, this could easily take us back to the dark days of the possibility of nuclear war." Sami Kohen observed in the mainstream daily Milliyet (10/10): "When North Korea announced last week that it was going to carry out a nuclear test, only close neighbors like China, Japan and Russia took this announcement seriously and tried to warn the Kim-Jong-Il administration. But, the North Koreans were determined to carry out ANKARA 00005862 003 OF 004 their first atomic bomb test. That is why North Korea's nuclear test did not come as a surprise but, undoubtedly immensely frightened the international community, including the countries in the region. North Korea's nuclear test might encourage some other countries as well to produce nuclear weapons and with this 'chain reaction' the numbers will increase in the coming years. Why does North Korea need nuclear weapons while its economy is weak and its people are suffering from poverty? To own an atomic bomb is very important for Kim Jong-Il from two angles; one is to protect his dictator regime. This is the most powerful way to stand against the pressures of the US and his other enemies. Secondly, he wants to boost the morale of his people and to give the Koreans in the North a separate identity, by producing nuclear weapons. What results will come out of this leader's ambition and efforts? Clearly the pressure over North Korea will increase, the country will be isolated and the country's poor will suffer even more." TV Highlights NTV (8 A.M.) Domestic News - A Turkish contingent of 260 soldiers, most of them military engineers, will fly to Lebanon on Tuesday to join UNIFIL. - Turkey's chief EU negotiator Ali Babacan launched an EU tour covering Spain, Germany and Belgium. Babacan will meet on Tuesday with EU officials and business representatives in Madrid. - Turkey's budget deficit for the first eight months of the year reached USD 22.4 billion. The figure for the year 2005 was USD 23.1 billion. - The IMF delegation, headed by Turkey representative Hugh Bredenkamp, kicked off its fifth review inspection with meetings in the business world in Istanbul. International News - North Korea has placed its military on alert after carrying out a nuclear test that has not yet been confirmed by the US. The UN Security Council met to discuss the situation. The Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement, "We strongly condemn this act of North Korea, despite a UN Security Council request not to go ahead with the test as it would jeopardize peace, stability and security in the region." - Russian President Putin is under strong criticism after Anna Politkovskaya, a prominent Russian journalist known for her critical coverage of the war in Chechnya, was shot dead in Moscow on October ¶6. - James Baker, a former secretary of state and the chairman of the Congressional Iraq Study Group, signaled that the Bush Administration is likely to shift course with regard to its Iraq policy. - A senior Shiite Muslim cleric, Ayatollah Muhammad Kazemeini Boroujerdi, has been put under house arrest for challenging the Tehran Administration by calling for a separation of religion and politics. - At least 13 have been killed and another 46 wounded yesterday when a car bomb exploded in a busy market in northeast Baghdad. Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ ANKARA 00005862 004 OF 004 WILSON