ANKARA MEDIA REACTION REPORT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 000529

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, MARCH 8, 2007


In Today's Papers

Parliamentary Observation Gallery Guards Spark Headcover Debate
Milliyet, Sabah, Radikal, Cumhuriyet and others report Turkish women
wearing hats were blocked by guards from entering the general hall
to observe a special session on International Women's Day in Turkish
Parliament. Women wearing headscarves, however, were allowed into
the parliament. Guards reportedly told the women hats were an
"accessory" whereas headscarves were "part of an outfit." "This is
the AK Party's parliament," reads a Cumhuriyet headline on page one.
Papers quote CHP lawmaker Canan Aritman as saying Parliament
Speaker Bulent Arinc was disturbed by women wearing hats, a symbol
reminding him of a "revolution of the Republic" giving women modern
rights. In a message on the occasion of International Women's Day
State Minister Nimet Cubukcu criticized the ban on headscarves,
calling it "discrimination" as well as "violence directed against
women in Turkey."

Turkish Military Prepares Report on Media Institutions
Radikal, Milliyet, Sabah, Hurriyet and others: Nokta magazine, in
its cover story carried a Turkish General Staff (TGS) report
assessing media organizations, claiming that the three page
memorandum noted that a new accreditation list was prepared by the
TGS for the media organizations based on the "credibility" and
"closeness" of these organizations to the military. In the report,
Hurriyet was described as a paper publishing balanced and objective
reports about the military; Milliyet was described as not carrying
sensational reports about the military; Sabah was called "reliable"
even though it occasionally carried sensational reports about the
military; Cumhuriyet was described as an "important paper for
advocating secularism." On other papers the report supposedly says
the following: Radikal -- even though generally negative, because of
its distinct position in the media accreditation must continue, four
writers' accreditation should be frozen temporarily; Aksam - Despite
occasional technical mistakes, a positive paper for the military;
Vatan - Although four columnists are against military intervention
in politics, in general, paper carries positive reports on the
military; Star - there are allegations that there are secret
partners in the paper from AKP, accreditation should be shelved for
a while; TRT -- Islamic and conservative programs are on increase;
Anatolia Agency - there are allegations that AA ignores
anti-government news.

Deputy Assistant Secretary Bryza on Barzani, the PKK
Radikal, Vatan and Zaman report Deputy Assistant Secretary Matt
Bryza told CNN Turk Washington is not behind the messages issued by
the northern Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani. "Barzani knows
we are against the PKK, he, however, acts independently," Bryza
said. Bryza said the two Kurdish parties in northern Iraq should
work for the elimination of the PKK threat in the region. Radikal
reports Bryza said when asked if the US would handover the PKK
leaders to Turkey, "Soon you'll see concrete results. We are trying
to make it happen, in the right place, at the right time, and all
this requires a little luck." Bryza also said northern Iraq could
have autonomy within the framework of the Iraqi constitution, but
stressed that raising options other than a unified Iraq would not
bring any good.

Lawsuits against Kurdish Politicians, Ocalan's Lawyers
Hurriyet, Milliyet, Cumhuriyet, Radikal, Zaman and others report
Turkey's main Kurdish party DTP's provincial head in the
southeastern city of Batman has been arrested for expressing support
in a press conference for the party's Diyarbakir branch head Hilmi
Aydogdu, who said last month an attack on Kirkuk would be regarded
as one made on Diyarbakir. Former Kurdish party DEP lawmaker Sedat
Yurttas has been sentenced to six months in prison for calling the
PKK's imprisoned leader Abdullah Ocalan "Mr" during a program
Yurttas attended on the Denmark-based pro-Kurdish Roj TV.
The Diyarbakir prosecutor has launched an investigation against

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Mahmut Sakar and Irfan Dundar, the lawyers of Abdullah Ocalan, for
raising charges at a news conference in Rome that their client was
intoxicated. Zaman reports Glcihan Simsek, a DTP head in the
province of Van, addressed a women's gathering in Kurdish, using the
title "Mr." when referring to Ocalan. Simsek said any threat
concerning the health of Ocalan in prison would strain the country.
She called on the women at the meeting to speak Kurdish everywhere.


CHP Report on East, Southeast Turkey
The intellectual/Islamist-oriented Zaman reports a delegation from
the main opposition party CHP submitted a report, "Problems in East
and Southeast Turkey," to their leader Deniz Baykal after touring 10
provinces in the region, meeting local politicians, NGOs, and
others. "The Kurdish party DTP is very effective in the region
where the main problems are unemployment and poverty," the report
says. It adds the region's ethnic structure and piety were the main
reasons that people there stay away from CHP, a party they regard as
aloof to religion. The report notes southeast Turkey was under the
growing influence of the northern Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud
Barzani, stressing Turkey needs a special regional development fund
amounting to five percent of the national budget.

Editorial Commentary on the Middle East, Iraq
Cengiz Candar observes in the economic daily Referans: "Turkey is
increasingly turning inwards. In the meantime, the Middle East is
going through a climate change as diplomacy prevails and regional
actors along with the US enter into the scene in order to help out
to end violence and war. Saudi Arabia began to play a significant
role and helped Palestinians to reach a consensus. Shortly after
that we have seen another remarkable development when the leaders of
Iran and Saudi Arabia met, the two opposite sides of the Middle East
political scene. The upcoming Arab Summit in Riyadh needs to be
watched closely because it will most likely create a significant
impetus to the Middle East peace process. Turkey has an important
role to play in this political scene. However its role and
influence is mostly captivated by domestic political concerns and
election-related considerations. Turkey's relationship with the EU
suffers from the same situation. Given situations like this, any
state is in need of a genuine statesman at an international caliber.
Whether Turkey has that is the question."

In the economic-political daily Dunya, Zafer Atay comments on the
situation in Iraq: "According to the US General Petraeus aptly
evaluates, the current magnitude of the US forces in Iraq is not
good enough to finish the job. That means the additional 21,500
forces should be approved one way or the other. American forces in
Iraq are demoralized and also there is confusion about priorities
between Washington and Baghdad. Some American thinkers, like Henry
Kissinger and Mike McConnell express concern over the possibility of
intervention by Turkey and Iran in the event of growing civil war in
Iraq after the US completely pulls out. The magnitude of the fire
in the region, if this happens, is frightening just to imagine."

Greece to Postpone Maneuvers before Upcoming Gul Visit
The intellectual/Islamist-oriented Zaman reports Foreign Minister
Dora Bakoyannis wanted the Greek-Greek Cypriot joint military
exercises "Toksotis" to be postponed over concerns that the
maneuvers would coincide with an upcoming visit by Foreign Minister
Abdullah Gul to Athens on March 28-29. Defense Minister Evangelos
Meimarakis, however, objected, saying maneuvers should be held on
time as scheduled earlier, on March 27-28. Zaman cites Greek daily
Ta Nea as reporting Toksotis will be postponed once again due to
pressure coming from the US.

Conditional Access to You Tube
Hurriyet, Vatan, Sabah, Milliyet, Bugun and others: Papers report
that a court in Istanbul has ruled that it would revoke the ban on
the YouTube, the video social networking web site owned by Google,
as soon as it ascertained that the offending videos had been removed

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from the website. Earlier, access to YouTube's web site was blocked
because of videos insulting Turkey's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk.


TV Highlights
NTV, 6.00 A.M.

Domestic News

- Volkan Karaova, the suspect who fired in the air during a mass
held in Istanbul's Virgin Mary Church to commemorate slain
journalist Hrant Dink, said he was planning to kill Armenian
Patriarch Mesrob Mutafyan.

- Arzuhan Yalcindag, chairwoman of Turkey's elite business grouping
TUSIAD, told the press after meeting the opposition CHP leader Deniz
Baykal that Prime Minister Erdogan could become the new president if
elected by the parliament. A disillusioned Baykal intervened,
saying in a sarcastic tone, "And TUSIAD has no objections to Erdogan
as president."

- Prime Minister Erdogan, accompanied by Turkish Cyprus leader
Mehmet Ali Talat, will travel to Baku today to attend the "First
Forum of World Azerbaijani and Turkish Diaspora Organizations."

- Justice Minister Cemil Cicek paid a visit to women inmates in a
prison in Ankara on the eve of International Women's Day. Prime
Minister Erdogan will participate in Women's Day celebrations in the
central Anatolian city of Nevsehir on today.

International News

- The London-based al-Sharq al-Awsat claims Ali Reza Asqari, the
Iranian former deputy defense minister who went missing in Turkey,
is being interrogated by Americans in a north European country.

- Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki announced Iran will
attend Iraq's neighbors' meeting to be held in Baghdad over the
weekend.

- President Bush has called for an end to communism in Cuba after
Fidel Castro passes away.

- Mark Mobius of Franklin Templeton Investments said turmoil at
emerging markets would continue for another two or three months.

http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/

WILSON