ANKARA MEDIA REACTION REPORT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 001107 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, MAY 10, 2007 In Today's Papers Constitutional Reforms, July Elections Process All papers report the Turkish Parliament will hold Thursday a second round of voting on constitutional reforms allowing direct election of the president by people and changing the presidential term to a maximum of two consecutive five year terms. On Wednesday, the parliament accepted Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul's petition to withdraw from the presidential contest, in which he had been the sole candidate. Meanwhile, President Sezer signaled he will veto constitutional reforms related to the presidential election, saying the reforms had not been discussed enough and the process was moving too fast. Prime Minister Erdogan said on Wednesday the AKP would field candidates 25 years of age and older in the forthcoming general elections. The main opposition CHP chairman Deniz Baykal said his party has reached full consensus with the center-left DSP with regard to election alliance, adding he was now waiting for final confirmation from DSP leadership. Several papers report DSP provincial branches opposed unification with CHP. Papers expect Baykal and DSP leader Zeki Sezer to participate together in the March 13 "republic rally" in Izmir, the Aegean port city known to be a bastion of secular republicans. Prime Minister Erdogan told the press yesterday the parliament would recess from May 11-14 this week, but would continue working until the end of May. Turkey's Kurdish Party to Run as Independents in Elections All papers report Turkey's main pro-Kurdish party DTP said on Wednesday it would field independent candidates in the July 22 parliamentary elections to circumvent the 10 percent threshold for parties to enter the parliament. DTP aims to win 37 parliamentary seats in 40 provinces. Former Kurdish lawmakers Leyla Zana, Hatip Dicle, Orhan Dogan and Selim Sadak will run as independent candidates from the DTP. Papers remind readers of a political ban on these former MPs, saying the High Election Board (YSK) will decide whether they will be allowed to enter the elections. Papers expect AKP and CHP to act together to block DTP plans. According to constitutional reforms to be passed by the parliament, the names of independent candidates will be placed in the ballot lists together with the names of the other candidates, and not on separate sheets of paper as was the implementation in previous elections. This is expected to bring considerable loss of votes for DTP in east and southeast Turkey where most of the voters are illiterate, comment papers. Editorial Commentary on Barzani, DTP Semih Idiz writes in the mainstream daily Milliyet: "When Barzani talked about the political solution to the PKK problem, he knew what he was talking about and he knew that his approach would be received positively by Europeans. Given the positive developments in the Northern Ireland issue, unlike Turkey, Barzani apparently watches the European agenda very closely and thus he was trying to create a parallel between the Northern Ireland issue and the PKK issue. Since the most recent consensus on Northern Ireland/IRA was very much welcomed by the US and the EU, Barzani is now suggesting the same method to resolve PKK issue. Knowing that his approach would be immediately rejected by Ankara, he passes the ball to the European's with the hope that Ankara will face pressure from the EU. In short, Barzani is broadening his area of diplomatic influence against Turkey." Okay Gonensin writes in the mainstream daily Vatan: "The Democratic Communal Party (DTP)'s base is made up of Turkey's Kurdish citizens and therefore it retains a nationalistic character. If DTP joins the parliament this time, it will be an important milestone for the pro-Kurdish party's participation in the democratic process. The ANKARA 00001107 002 OF 003 terrorism dimension of the Kurdish issue has not yet been resolved. Any members of the DTP in the parliament will be expected to contribute to efforts to end PKK terrorism. At this point, the DTP should be getting rid of the PKK shadow over itself. If that goal is achieved, it will benefit everybody -- Kurdish citizens and Turkish citizens." F-16 Contract to be Signed Tomorrow Liberal Radikal reports that US Ambassador to Turkey Ross Wilson and Turkish Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul will sign a $1.6 billion contract tomorrow for the sale of 30 F-16 war planes to Turkey. According to the agreement the F-16s will be manufactured in Turkey by the Turkish Aerospace Industry (TAI). The manufacturer of F-16s, the Lockheed Martin Corp., will transfer F-16 manufacturing equipment to Turkey and will cease manufacturing F-16s in the US. In the past, the F-16 project had caused controversy between the Turkish Defense Industry (SSM) and the Pentagon. Ambassador Edelman Denies the Allegations that he was Angry with the AKP Mainstream Milliyet reports that in an interview with the newspaper, former US Ambassador to Turkey and number three of the US Defense department, Eric Edelman denied the allegations that he was angry with the AKP. Edelman said "I fully support Turkey's EU membership and appreciate the efforts of the AKP government in that direction." He added that he learned about the military memorandum of April 27 the next day and he did not take part in the shaping of the US reaction to the memorandum. TV Highlights NTV, 6.00 A.M. Domestic News - Yasin Hayal, a key suspect in the assassination of Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, said in several letters to the prosecutor that he would not have joined the plot if he could foresee the terrible consequences the murder inflicted on Turkey. - Professor Turkan Saylan, the head of the association for supporting modern life, expects attendance in May 13 Izmir rally to surpass the previous rallies held in defense of the secular republic. - Education Minister Huseyin Celik said in Turkey only five provinces will be left without universities after the implementation of his government's plan of opening new universities in 17 provinces. - More than 30 were injured yesterday in fighting between Kemalist and leftist students in Ankara University. - Moody's Investors Service said in a statement the recent political uncertainty in Turkey is unlikely to derail the country's current ratings and its ongoing economic and political reforms. International News - A suicide car attack on the interior ministry in the Kurdish city of Erbil killed 19 people, including a Turk, and injured dozens. The attack came on the day Vice President Dick Cheney made a surprise visit to Iraq. - Four Iraqi journalists were shot dead by gunmen on Wednesday near the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk. - A NATO air strike killed 21 civilians, including women and children, in southern Afghanistan. - The German government has earmarked Euro 6.3 million to fit ANKARA 00001107 003 OF 003 together about 600 million shreds of secret police files ripped up in panic by Stasi agents after the Berlin Wall came down in 1989. WILSON