ANKARA MEDIA REACTION REPORT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 001245 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, MAY 22, 2007 In Today's Papers Turkish anti-Terror Envoy Removed from Office All papers report the Turkish government removed retired General Edip Baser, Turkey's special envoy for countering the PKK, from office on Monday soon after he stated doubts over the efficiency of a tri-lateral mechanism between Turkey, Iraq and the US for coordinating efforts against the terrorist group. The Prime Ministry announced that Baser's replacement would be Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Ambassador Rafet Akgunay. Baser's remark, published in several papers Monday claiming "This mechanism has already finished," is seen by papers as the last straw for the government, which had been uneasy with Baser's statements for a while. Baser also told Sabah on Monday that he planned to resign in June. Papers report the US Ankara Embassy spokesperson told the press, "the US government remains firmly committed to working with Turkey against the PKK. We believe that the envoy dialogue has been a positive part of that process." Editorial Commentary on Baser's Removal Oktay Eksi writes in the mainstream daily Hurriyet: "Anyone in Turkey who believes that PKK terrorism can be ended through coordination with the US should no longer keep their hope. Even Turkey's envoy for countering terror General Baser has declared that enough is enough. The US, to begin with, proposed this mechanism in order to pretend to be doing something about the PKK. Yet as Baser has expressed on various occasions, the countering terror mechanism only helped Turkey waste another nine months. Given the replacement of General Baser with a diplomat, we can easily conclude that the Turkish government does not expect anything from this mechanism any longer." Ibrahim Karagul argues in the Islamist-oriented daily Yeni Safak: "The counter terrorism coordination effort has totally lost its meaning. In any case, it was designed to influence Turkey's Kurdish policy based on American interests and to use the PKK as a trump card. General Baser was removed from duty, but he was planning to resign anyway. Turkey, despite all its good intentions, was left with a story of failure. The fact of the matter is that the failure of this mechanism was very obvious from the beginning. The US felt the need to distract Turkey's attention from a cross border operation into Northern Iraq, and so a coordination mechanism was invented. The process of countering the PKK has led to a dead end, and it is terminated now. Soon after the elections, we will see the beginning of a new process to design Turkey's regional policy which does not have any chance of success unless Washington and London are kept out of the loop." Paper: Al-Qadi Interrogated in Riyadh The leftist-nationalist Cumhuriyet reports under a page one headline, "Has al-Qadi Been Arrested?" that the Saudi financier Yasin al-Qadi has been interrogated while in custody in Riyadh for the last two months on charges of supporting al-Qaeda. Al-Qadi was arrested with the knowledge of the US intelligence and some high-level Turkish officials, says Cumhuriyet. Ankara Prosecutor Launches Investigation into Bribe Claims during Presidential Elections Sabah, Milliyet, Vatan, Cumhuriyet and others: Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor started an investigation into allegations that some deputies of opposition CHP and ANAP were offered bribes to participate in the presidential elections. CHP leader Deniz Baykal claimed that a businessman close to PM Erdogan, offered gifts to a CHP deputy if he had attended the Presidential election rounds. ANAP deputy Huseyin Ozcan claimed that he was offered bribe by a prominent businessman for the same purpose. CHP deputy Zeynep Damla Gurel said that AKP deputies forced her to attend the Presidential election rounds. Turkish Delegation to Pay a High Level Visit to Baghdad ANKARA 00001245 002 OF 002 Sabah, Zaman: A delegation, led by Turkish special Iraqi envoy Oguz Celikkol will pay a visit to Baghdad in the near future to meet with the Iraqi PM and FM and to demand concrete steps for combating PKK terrorism. In order to give the message that Turkey's counterpart is the Iraqi central government, the Turkish delegation will not meet with any leaders from Iraqi Kurdish Administration. Angry Locals Attack Brothels in Yozgat All papers report hundreds of angry locals in the Sorgun township of the central Anatolian province of Yozgat attacked eight houses they claimed were used for prostitution. Yozgat Governor's Office said a group of local people, angered after a drunken man allegedly belonging to a prostitution racket cursed them, set fire to eight brothels. Police detained 12 from the group, which caused a group of 500 to gather to in the morning hours to demand their release. Police reinforcements from neighboring provinces were sent to Sorgun early Monday, say papers. TV Highlights NTV Domestic News - 494 defense companies will participate in this year's IDEF defense fair in Ankara. - Dikmet Onat, the head of teachers' labor union Egitim-Sen, said he received death threats when he announced that a book which was distributed for free to students in Denizli in connection with the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad contains calls for jihad. - A 4.8-magnitude earthquake was reported Monday evening in the Mediterranean near the island of Crete. - The Bursa-based Karsan automobile producer will export specially designed "Standard Taxi" cabs to the US and Canada. Karsan will gain USD 400 million for its yearly exports of 20,000 taxis as of ¶2009. International News - Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi told a youth conference in Rome Turkey belongs to Europe, but full membership would be a "long and complicated" process. - Lebanese tanks renewed Monday heavy shelling on a Palestinian refugee camp, raising fears of increased civilian casualties. - A mortar round hit Iraq's parliament inside Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone on Monday. - Iraqi National Security Advisor Muvafaq al-Rubai told Britain's Independent that in 2004, the US army tried to kill the Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr after luring him to peace negotiations at a house in the holy city of Najaf, which it then attacked. WILSON