ANKARA MEDIA REACTION REPORT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 001619 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, JUNE 25, 2007 In Today's Papers AKP Unveils Election Manifesto All papers report Turkey's ruling AKP unveiled its election manifesto on Sunday, pledging to trim the powers of the president. AKP said in its manifesto it would change the constitution, but through "the broadest social consensus," and would also reform the judiciary. It also says that by 2013, the AKP aimed for Turkey's income per capita to rise to USD 10,000 from around USD 5,000. The manifesto notes fiscal discipline would remain tight, and envisages single digit inflation, lower unemployment, and yearly exports of over USD 200 billion. Papers note that some perennial issues such as the headscarf problem, the Imam-Hatip Islamic cleric-training schools, and immunity for parliamentarians were not mentioned in the AKP manifesto. Editorial Commentary on Turkish General Elections and the PKK Yilmaz Oztuna comments in the conservative daily Milliyet: "Even though every party leader makes speeches and pledges to people as part of the election campaign, two issues are certain to result in crisis after the election, as has been suggested by PM Erdogan. First of all, electing a president is going to be the first duty of the brand new parliament. If a parliamentary consensus on this issue is not achieved, we will end up having a political crisis immediately. Secondly the ongoing crisis related to PKK terrorism will remains a fact before and after the elections. In this election atmosphere, a cross-border operation by Turkey will create an impact on domestic politics. Just as the outside world expects from Turkey, it will be rational to wait until the election is over and a new political equilibrium emerges before taking any operational action." Black Sea Economic Cooperation Summit (BSEC) Vatan, Sabah, Milliyet and others report that the BSEC summit will be held in Istanbul today, marking the 15th anniversary of the group's establishment. President Sezer will open the meeting with the remarks at the Ciragan Palace today. Turkey attaches great importance to the meeting and is planning to call for increased efforts in the areas of transport, energy, trade, environment and combating terrorism. Russian President Putin, Azerbaijan President Aliyev, Serbian President Tadjic, Bulgarian President Pirvanov, Moldovan President Voronin, Ukrainian President Yuschenko and Georgian President Shaakashvili as well as Prime Ministers of Armenia, Greece and Albania will attend the summit. Meanwhile, mainstream Sabah and Vatan report that Istanbul police detained five people with suspected al-Qaeda links, one of whom was from with Chechnya. The group is suspected of having been preparing to launch an attack against the BSEC summit. Weekend Rallies Protest Terrorism, PKK Attacks Sabah, Milliyet, Radikal, Bugun, Posta and others: Papers report that there were rallies in Ankara, Istanbul, Bursa, Antalya, Trabzon, Manisa, Mugla and Kirklareli during the weekend to protest terrorism as PKK attacks continued claiming lives. Mainstream Milliyet reports that despite the heat, 5,000 people gathered in Bursa but only 100 people turned out in Istanbul. All papers and TV channels report on a foiled suicide attack by PKK in Tunceli. Reportedly, PKK terrorists stopped a fuel tanker truck on the Tunceli-Ovacik highway and one terrorist, armed with explosives, got in the vehicle with the driver. The terrorist forced the driver to drive toward the Karsilar security post in Tunceli. However, the guards opened fire and the tanker caught fire and exploded killing the terrorist and the driver. Meanwhile, the Hakkari governor said that the three PKK terrorists responsible for the killing of a major in Yuksekova were killed by security forces. Mainstream Milliyet reports that one village guard was killed in the Silvan rural area by the PKK and two terrorists were arrested. ANKARA 00001619 002 OF 002 Gul Interviewed by Greek Daily Islamist-oriented Yeni Safak reports Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul told the Greek daily Kathimerini Turkey expects the US and the Iraqi government to take decisive steps against PKK terrorism. "Fully-pledged support from high-level US officials including President Bush has created expectations among Turkish people with regard to the fight against the PKK. We have established a bilateral negotiating mechanism with the US, but saw no concrete steps taken against the terror organization," Gul emphasized. On the probability of a Turkish cross-border military incursion into northern Iraq, Gul, said "all options are on the table," stressing his government was determined to eliminate the terror threat coming from northern Iraq. Editorial Commentary on Guantanamo Zafer Atay writes in the business and political daily Dunya: "Guantanamo base has turned into a prison camp for terrorist suspects. Most of those prisoners were caught in Afghanistan and Pakistan. However they have not been officially charged with crimes since 2002 and some were even released without any further explanation. There are 380 prisoners left currently in Gitmo. As the military court ruled for a Canadian and a Yemeni prisoner, the US administration's accusation was wrongful. Now the Bush administration is worried that all Gitmo prisoners will be taken out of American legal authority. Gitmo is a place where all human rights are ignored and torture is used as a common practice. It seems that the Bush administration, not only messed up the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also messed up everything related to justice." TV News: (NTV, 8 A.M.) Domestic News - Turkish citizens living abroad are to cast their votes at border crossings beginning today (June 25) for the upcoming July 22 parliamentary elections. - Police in the eastern province of Van captured 47 handguns smuggled from Iraq and meant to reach the PKK. - Eni and Gazprom have signed a memorandum of understanding to build a new natural gas pipeline that will transport Russian gas to Europe across the Black Sea. - The 10th annual international energy conference "East Meets West" will be held in Istanbul on June 26-28 under the auspices of President Sezer. The presidents of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia, the energy ministers of Egypt, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Israel, India and China, and OPEC officials will join the meeting. International News - The Israeli cabinet approved the release of frozen tax funds to Palestinian President Abbas. - Ali Hassan al-Majid, Saddam Hussein's cousin also known as "Chemical Ali," has been sentenced to death by the Iraqi High Tribunal for atrocities against the Kurds. - 202 members of the 435-member US House of Representatives are said to support a bill for the recognition of Armenian genocide claims. - Five Spanish UN peacekeepers were killed by a roadside bomb in southern Lebanon on Sunday. WILSON