ANKARA MEDIA REACTION REPORT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 002473 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, OCTOBER 4, 2007 In Today's Papers Gul Addresses PACE on EU Membership, New Constitution, Kurds All papers report that addressing the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Strasbourg on Wednesday, President Abdullah Gul said Turkey "is really changing, with myself and my party leading the way" while describing Turkey's aspiration to join the European Union. Gul insisted that real progress has been made in human rights. "All forms of discrimination have been banned," Gul told PACE, insisting that there is now the right of free association in Turkey. He noted no one was in prison in Turkey today for expressing their ideas. Gul later told reporters he wanted to see article 301 changed, stressing that it was damaging to Turkey's image as it negotiates for EU membership. Questioned by European parliamentarians, Gul said Turkey's Kurds had achieved more freedoms in the past few years. "We see cultural differences as an asset, but they cannot justify separation," he said. Gul noted a new constitution prepared by the government would further bolster individual rights and freedoms in Turkey. "Religion will continue to be kept out of state affairs. Nobody should worry about Turkey's direction," said Gul. The President also said that partition of Iraq would be "the worst scenario for the people of Iraq and the whole region." Debates, Ambiguity Ahead of October 21 Referendum All papers report that if the October 21 referendum on constitutional reforms is approved by the voters, the presidency of Abdullah Gul could be in question. There is speculation that since the reforms to be submitted to referendum pertain to the election of Turkey's 11th president, a position held by Gul, he might have to step down. Last week, the President's spokesperson has said that if deemed necessary, Gul was willing to resign and run again for the post. Some argue that it won't be possible because according to the current constitution, a president cannot run for office for a second time. Prime Minister Erdogan said yesterday the reforms, if approved, would apply to the election of Turkey's 12th president, and urged the nation to vote for the reforms. CHP leader Deniz Baykal, however, said the reforms aimed to elect Turkey's 11th president by a popular vote, and that the presidential elections could be annulled if the changes are approved by the referendum. Baykal said to avoid a new crisis, the clause on the "election of the 11th president" should be changed before the referendum. Turkey's High Election Council (YSK) has not clarified its position on these articles. Babacan on Middle East Tour, May Visit Baghdad Islamist-oriented Zaman reports that over the weekend, Foreign Minister Ali Babacan is to kick off a Middle East tour of Syria, Israel, Palestine, and Jordan. The tour is seen as a preparation for the expanded meeting of Iraq's neighbors to take place in Istanbul next month. In Damascus on Saturday, Babacan is expected to meet his Syrian counterpart Walid Moallem and President Bashar Assad. On Sunday Babacan will go to Israel to discuss bilateral ties and the situation in Palestine, and move on to Palestine on Monday to meet President Mahmoud Abbas. Babacan will visit Amman on Tuesday on the last leg of his tour, reports Zaman. Meanwhile, all-news channel NTV reports "high-level diplomatic sources" said Babacan could pay a "surprise" visit to Iraq on his tour of the Middle East. The FM could meet his Iraqi counterpart Hoshyar Zebari and President Talabani in Baghdad, but will not visit northern Iraq, sources told NTV. Turkey May Face Iraqi Refugee Crisis Mainstream Hurriyet warns that Turkey could face a serious refugee crisis after Ramadan when Syria closes doors to incoming Iraqi refugees. Iraqi refugees have started to leave Syria following a government announcement that visas would be required for Iraqi nationals. Official data says Turkey currently hosts 4,355 Iraqi ANKARA 00002473 002 OF 003 refugees. Iraqi Kurds: If there is no Kirkuk Referendum, Kurds will Secede from Iraq Liberal Radikal reports that the commission working on the Kirkuk referendum decided that, as the first step in referendum process, the census should take place in November 15. Meanwhile, Regional Kurdish Administration leader Mesud Barzani's spokesman Kadir Aziz said that Kurds will secede from Iraq if the referendum doesn't take place. Aziz also stressed that the Shiite-majority Iraqi government signed a security agreement with Turkey to get Ankara's support because Ankara always supports the Sunnis. "Turkey's aim is to legalize a possible cross-border operation into Northern Iraq. The Iraqi government is unable to control even Baghdad, so how would could they pursue the PKK in the Kandil Mountains?" spokesman Aziz added. Meanwhile, the commission decided to return the properties given to Arab population during the Baath regime to the Turkmen population. Editorial Commentary: Armenian Genocide Resolution, US-Turkey Relations Yilmaz Oztuna observes in the conservative daily Turkiye: "Eight former Secretaries of State recently sent a joint letter to the Speaker of the US House of Representatives. Speaker Nancy Pelosi has obviously committed herself to being sympathetic to Armenians and to defending their lies. Her first step after becoming the Speaker of the House was an effort to pass a resolution to recognize the 1915 events as Turkish genocide against Armenians. She received, in return, warnings as high as from President Bush as well as others but she seemed not to care. Given the situation, I am not very sure if the joint letter by US Secretaries will do any good. In normal conditions, such a letter should be strong enough to give politicians a wake up call, but it seems 'being wrong' is not a phrase in a politician's vocabulary. However it is very important that Secretaries with different views and from different parties have stood together to warn of the negative consequences of a resolution on the future of Turkish-American relations. It was Armenians who started mass murders in 1915 against the Turkish population and later Turks had to respond. Why is it so difficult to find out this fact?" Dogan Heper writes in the mainstream daily Milliyet: "It seems to me that there are three reasons for anti-Americanism in Turkey: the Armenian Genocide Resolution in the Congress; the situation in Iraq in its current and future form; and the US's treatment of the PKK. There is no way to see sympathy for Americans among the Turkish people as long as these three issues remain on the agenda. Particularly the PKK issue is something for which Turks will never forgive Washington. The level of anti-Americanism can only decrease when and if the US engages in a serious struggle against the PKK, a group the US, too, has declared a terrorist organization. Washington lost Turkey due to its wrong policies and it will not be easy to gain back hearts and minds." TV Highlights NTV Domestic News - French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner will pay an official visit to Ankara on Thursday to meet FM Babacan, Prime Minister Erdogan and President Gul to discuss EU-Turkey and the PKK leaders in France before leaving Turkey on Friday evening. - Foreign Minister Ali Babacan will travel to northern Cyprus on Thursday for meetings including one with "President" Mehmet Ali Talat. - An unidentified gunman shot at the Kurdish party DTP HQ in Ankara and escaped in a car, shouting "Traitors." DTP said the attack had ANKARA 00002473 003 OF 003 commonalities with the killing of 12 civilians in Sirnak and Tuesday's bomb blasts in Izmir. - Interior Minister Besir Atalay said in response to a motion by Kurdish DTP MP Hasip Kaplan that in east and southeast Turkey, 151,000 displaced people have returned to their homes and received aid totaling 57 million Turkish Lira. International News - Poland's ambassador to Iraq was wounded as explosions targeted his diplomatic convoy in Baghdad Wednesday. - Myanmar's junta has released 80 monks who were rounded up last week in a crackdown on the biggest anti-government protests in nearly 20 years. - North Korea has agreed to declare all its nuclear programs and disable its main atomic reactor under US supervision by the end of the year. - The Dutch government plans to spend 2.3 million Euro to fight "honor killings" in the country. WILSON