ANKARA MEDIA REACTION REPORT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 001066 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 MONDAY, MAY 7, 2007 In Today's Papers Gul Withdraws Candidacy; Preparations for Parliamentary Elections Continue: All papers report that Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul withdrew his candidacy for the Presidency on Sunday after the Parliament again failed to reach the quorum needed to elect a new president. Parliament was short of the 367 legislators needed to proceed with the vote after holding two separate roll calls. Following the parliamentary session, the sole candidate in the Presidential elections, Foreign Minister Gul announced his withdrawal saying that it would be meaningless to proceed with the next rounds of voting. Following Gul's announcement, PM Erdogan, in response to journalists' questions implied that he would not try to push through the constitutional change to allow direct elections of the President by the public in time for the upcoming parliamentary elections on July 22 saying, "it seems that there will be one ballot box put in front of the voters on July 22." Turkish Parties Unite before July's General Elections: All papers report over the weekend and Monday that two Turkish center-right opposition parties, Anavatan and DYP, merged on Saturday in an effort to strengthen opposition against the ruling AKP in July's general election. Anavatan and the DYP are now expected to formalize the merger at upcoming party conventions, slated for June 2 and May 20 respectively, under the name "Democrat Party." Agar and Mumcu will lead the party as rotating co-chairmen. Center-left opposition leaders Deniz Baykal of the CHP and Zeki Sezer of the DSP met Saturday night to discuss ways to unite after Sezer rejected a call from Baykal to close down his party and merge with the CHP. The two leaders agreed DSP members would join the CHP without closing down the DSP. The first stage of the union is for the DSP, which has no seats in the parliament, to go to the polls under the CHP card before the second stage of a full union, which could happen after the election. EDITORIAL OPINION: Turkey's Political Situation and the US approach Several US-based Turkish columnists analyzed Washington's approach to the current political situation in Turkey. Rusen Cakir writes in the mainstream daily Vatan: "When President Sezer was warning against the danger of moderate Islam transforming eventually into radical Islam, he was not only targeting the ruling AKP but also was giving a message to the Western world, particularly the US. The fact of the matter is that there are many high-level American officials who totally agree with this view, including President Bush, VP Cheney and their staffers. Even though Turkey's staunchly secular society strongly believes that the US is behind the AKP since this is all part of the 'moderate Islam project,' there are many in the Washington administration who are against the AKP. The Bush administration lost its full trust in the AKP as of March 1, 2003, and has worked closely with the military in order to balance the relationship. The main wish in Washington for Turkey's future is to see a centrist political and civilian alternative to the AKP." Yasemin Congar writes in the mainstream daily Milliyet: "Washington started with balanced statements about the military warning by trying to stay neutral between politicians and the military, but supporters of a military coup have taken Washington's statement positively. Five days later, the Bush administration changed its rhetoric and made it clear that 'military intervention in the Constitutional process is unacceptable.' Secretary Rice also added her comments on this matter by stating that the US view is in line with the EU view. Regardless of the speculation on why it happened, the fact of the matter is that the US administration changed its position in a week from 'we do not take sides' to the 'military ANKARA 00001066 002 OF 003 should not intervene'." Ali H. Aslan writes in the intellectual Islamist-oriented daily Zaman: "Contrary to common belief in Turkey, the Pentagon does not necessarily support military coups even though Pentagon officials may remain silent if they think the situation works for US interests. The September 12, 1980, military coup in Turkey did not receive a lot of criticism from Washington simply because its main target was communist movements -- also on the US list of threats. As for the military warning process on February 28, 1997, it also worked toward the American interests because its main target was the Islamists. Now the most recent military warning on April 27 is under the protection of some at the Pentagon who consider the ruling AKP a threat. Currently the US does not want to be supportive of the Islamist AKP but at the same time does not want to be seen as advocating a coup either. Washington's position can be summed up as a 'military warning is okay but a military coup is definitely not.' In other words, the military warning functioned as a 'fine tuning' of AKP policy and the US did not make a big fuss about it." Rumors of Haniyah Visit to Turkey in May: The leftist-nationalist Cumhuriyet reports Palestine Embassy officials in Ankara said Prime Minister Ismail Haniyah will visit Turkey later this month as part of a tour of Indonesia, Malaysia and South Africa. The Turkish Foreign Ministry (MFA) declined comment. Cumhuriyet reports that in a meeting in Riyadh earlier this year, Prime Minister Erdogan had invited Palestine president Mahmoud Abbas and Haniya to Turkey, but the Turkish PM's office stated in the face of strong reactions from the US and Israel that Haniyah was not invited. Turkey Wants Command of UN's Kosovo, Lebanon Sea Operations: Tabloid Aksam reports Turkey is to take over the command of UN peacekeeping force in Kosovo as of May 16 for a one-year term, during which Turkish troops in the UN force will be increased. Turkey also wants to take the command of the UN naval force patrolling the Mediterranean, according to Aksam. TV News: (NTV, 8 A.M.) Domestic News - Two Turkish soldiers have been killed in Sirnak and two PKK militants in Hatay in skirmishes between the security forces and PKK terrorists over the weekend. - On Saturday, tens of thousands voiced support for the secular republic at rallies in the cities of Manisa and Canakkale. - Turkey's High Electoral Board has announced 21 parties will participate in the parliamentary elections on July 22. - Turkish Central Bank expects the decrease in inflation to continue, and warned the government to take budget spending under control on the eve of the upcoming general elections. International News - Kurdish regional administration president Massoud Barzani is set to address the European Parliament Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday. - Some 2,000 Turks held a protest rally in Duisburg, Germany in support of the secular regime in Turkey. - A car bomb killed 37 people and wounded 80 in a crowded market in a Shiite district of Baghdad. ANKARA 00001066 003 OF 003 - Eight Afghan policemen and 17 Taliban insurgents were killed in a conflict in the Farah province west of Afghanistan. WILSON