ANKARA MEDIA REACTION REPORT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 006374 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, NOVEMBER 8, 2006 In Today's Papers State Funeral to be Held for Ecevit All papers report former Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit, who passed away over the weekend at age 81, will be laid to rest in a state funeral to be held in Ankara on Saturday. The Turkish Parliament held a special session yesterday in honor of Ecevit. Prime Minister Erdogan told a meeting of his ruling AK Party that the former PM had left "lasting traces in Turkish democracy, and took his place in the history of politics as a distinguished person with his knowledge and courtesy." Turkish General Staff (TGS) Chief General Yasar Buyukanit said after calling on Ecevit's widowed wife Rahsan that the nation felt deep pain over losing Ecevit. On Tuesday, many politicians, bureaucrats, and friends and supporters extended condolences to Rahsan Ecevit, who reportedly requested that the funeral be delayed until the weekend to enable civil servants and workers to take part in the event. Mainstream papers continue to speculate that secular anti-AKP groups would stage a mass rally following Saturday's funeral at the Kocatepe Mosque in the Turkish capital. The ruling AKP said its party congress to be held on the same day will not be postponed. Bulent Ecevit, born on May 28, 1925 in Istanbul, served as prime minister from January 1999 to November 2002 as well as on four previous occasions in the 1970s. Ecevit, also a writer, translator and journalist, quit active politics in 2004. EU to Release Turkey Progress Report All papers report the EU Commission is to release today a progress report that will shape the future of Turkey's EU membership negotiations. The report will warn that accession talks would suffer if Turkey declines to open its ports and airports to Greek Cypriot traffic. Papers expect the EU Commission to delay a recommendation on whether to suspend the talks because of the Cyprus controversy until the beginning of December. Hurriyet says the EU's next term president Germany, unwilling to deal with the Cyprus question, insists that the issue be resolved in three weeks. Zaman comments the approximate one-month period till the EU summit could be used by "non-EU actors" to influence the developments, saying the US could step in to seek a breakthrough in Cyprus. Sabah says that a recent statement of Prime Minister Erdogan concerning possible changes to Article 301 of the penal code had helped prevent a head-on collision with the EU. EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn had welcomed the Erdogan statement. According to papers, the report will also mention that the Turkish judiciary was not independent, underlining that Turkey had failed to curb the influence of the military in Turkish politics. Violations of human rights continue. Non-Muslim minority foundations have been denied property rights, and Halki Seminary is still closed. There is no mere military solution to the Kurdish problem, according to the forthcoming report which also calls for dialogue with the elected local officials in southeast Turkey. Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said yesterday ties between Turkey and the EU were improving, adding he expected no crisis following the release of the report. Hurriyet reports the outgoing EU Commission Turkey representative Hansjorg Kretschmer will be replaced by Ambassador Marc Pierini, who is expected to present his credentials to President Sezer soon. Pierini, a member of the European Commission for approximately 30 years, was the EU representative in Morocco, Syria and Tunisia before being appointed to Turkey. Turkish Jetfighters Fly Unarmed over the Aegean Hurriyet, Cumhuriyet and Zaman report that following the official visit of the Turkish General Staff (TGS) Chief General Yasar Buyukanit to Greece earlier this month, on Monday Turkish jetfighters began unarmed flights over the Aegean. The Greek press ANKARA 00006374 002 OF 003 has welcomed the development as an unprecedented goodwill gesture made by Turkey. Hurriyet cites the leading Greek daily Ta Nea as reporting that the unarmed flights by Turkish jetfighters had been "a first in the last decade," defining it as a "goodwill gesture" from Turkey. $ 1 Million from the US for Avian Influenza Preparedness Yeni Safak reports that in a ceremony at the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, US Ambassador Ross Wilson, Minister Mehdi Eker and World Bank Country Director Andrew Vorkink, signed the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) grant agreement in the amount of $1 million for Turkey's Avian Influenza Preparedness. US Ambassador Ross Wilson stressed that $ 1 million grant will support development of safer poultry raising practices that will benefit rural farmers in the country. Belgian Appeal Court Verdict on Fehriye Erdal and on DHKP-C All papers report that Gentz Court of Appeals in Belgium revealed its reasoned verdict about members of the illegal Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C) on Tuesday. In its 250-page reasoned verdict, the court described the DHKP-C as a terrorist organization and criminal gang and approved the verdict for Fehriye Erdal and ten other DHKP-C members. Editorial Commentary on Saddam Hussein, Iraq Gulay Gokturk argued in the conservative Bugun: "Despite all of his crimes, Saddam will be recorded in the history books as a leader hanged by invasion forces in a country under occupation and ruled by a puppet government. Ironically enough, the US is preparing for the death by hanging for Saddam on one hand, but at the same time is looking for a Saddam-like leader in order to keep Iraq territorially intact. This kind of ending in Iraq is not a surprse at all. It had to end this way because thre was no way for the invaders or the supportrs of the invasion to be right. The invasion right from the start was against all the internationally accepted rules and principles, and time only proved that once again. It is sadly true that we shall probably see more lives lost before the world accepts that imposing social engineering models on others can never work. Every society has to make progress at its own pace." Mehmet Tezkan argued in the mass appeal Vatan: "The debate over the Saddam verdict centers on whether it should be immediately executed or not. Nobody is questioning whether he is guilty or not. Shiite Arabs prefer an immediate execution of the death penalty because of the Dujail massacre while Sunni Arabs feel uneasy about the execution fearing a civil war. Kurds on the other hand prefer that other cases against Saddam be taken up before execution of this verdict. They want to see an official recognition of the Halapja massacre committed by Saddam, as they believe that it could serve as a strong card to play in the international political arena. The truth is Saddam will be hanged sooner or later. But that event will also be the beginning of colossal turmoil in Iraq. Iraq is already experiencing a de facto division and Saddam's death will only accelerate the division process. Realizing its failure in Iraq, the US started making plans to pull out. This indicates that Washington acknowledges the fact that Iraq cannot be kept together any more. An Iraq divided into three is becoming a truth and Turkey had better make its game plan, acknowledging this very obvious point." TV Highlights NTV (7 A.M.) Domestic News - Spanish Prime Minister Zapatero and UNSYG Annan will visit Turkey on November 11 to join a high-level group meeting of the Alliance of Civilizations Initiative as well as to meet with Prime Minister Erdogan in Istanbul on November 12. ANKARA 00006374 003 OF 003 - On November 18, Prime Minister Erdogan will participate in a meeting of the Alliance of Civilizations Initiative in New York where he will come together with Spanish Prime Minister Zapatero and UNSYG Annan during his two-day stay in the US. - Prime Minister Erdogan will travel to Latvia on November 28-29 to take part in a NATO summit of 26 heads of state and government. - The main opposition CHP has filed a motion to declare the 13 southeastern provinces hit by flash floods an emergency zone. - About 20 students were detained in protests against Turkey's High Education Board YOK at the Black Sea Technical University in the northern city of Trabzon. International News - US voters headed to polls in which some 200 million Americans are expected to vote for all 435 seats in the House of Representatives, 33 of the 100 seats in the Senate, and 36 of the 50 state governors. - UN Environment Program executive director Achim Steiner said a UN team carrying out an environmental assessment of Lebanon after this summer's Israel-Hezbollah war confirmed that the Israeli forces used artillery containing white phosphorous. - New rules go into effect at EU airports according to which passengers are allowed to take only small amounts of liquids onboard. - Mortar attacks on a coffee shop in a Shiite neighborhood in north Baghdad killed at least 14 people. Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ WILSON