ANKARA MEDIA REACTION REPORT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 001301 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, JULY 21, 2008 In Today's Papers PM Erdogan in Cyprus for the 34th Anniversary of the Peace Operation. All media outlets give extensive coverage to PM Erdogan's attendance at the ceremonies in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) marking the anniversary of the "peace movement." Mainstream Milliyet quotes PM Erdogan saying "No one should expect Turkish Cypriots to give up their own administration, or their demand for equal partnership and equal status. Greek Cypriots should not expect Turkish Cypriot people to live under minority status. A comprehensive solution can only be possible in a new partnership where Turkish Cypriot people participate as a founding and equal partner. This new partnership should be established on the indispensable concepts of bi-zonal, political equality and the effective guarantorship of Turkey." Mainstream Hurriyet writes "noting that Turkish Cypriot people always favored peace, PM Erdogan said that Turkey regards the meeting of two Cypriot leaders as a positive step. Meanwhile, liberal Radikal reports Greek FM Bakoyanni in a message on the anniversary said that Cyprus has been under Turkish occupation for the last 34 years and this situation has to change. The Greek Cypriot Administration condemned the ceremonies and the PM's participation in them and, reportedly, and filed a complaint case against the ceremonies to the UN and the EU, adds Radikal. Editorial Opinion on Turkish Political Debates: "Foreigners' View on AKP Closure Case" Semih Idiz wrote in mainstream Milliyet (7/21): "Foreign diplomats in Ankara are watching the developments in the AKP closure case very seriously. The possibility of not closing the party, based on possibly negative economic and political consequences, is certainly one of the options as stated by the former US Ambassador to Turkey, Mark Parris. However, this does not represent the majority view. There are several reasons for those who believe that the court decide to close the AKP. Supporters of this view consider this case political and regard it as the last chance for extreme secularists. Otherwise, the AKP will become even stronger and pose a defeat for secularists, they argue. In sum, a majority of foreign diplomats expect to see the party closed for political reasons. Others, who are in minority, argue that the Court will take the potential �0A;chaotic consequences into consideration and not close the. Soon enough, we will see which view happens to be the right guess. Until then, Turkey will remain on everyone's agenda because what happens here has negative and positive impacts outside - whether we like it or not." DTP General Convention Sabah, Milliyet, Radikal, Hurriyet, Vatan, Cumhuriyet and others: Mainly Kurdish Party DTP held its second general convention in Ankara yesterday. All papers note that there was a Turkish flag at the convention, but the Turkish National Anthem was not played. Attendants chanted pro-Ocalan slogans and Ocalan portraits were everywhere. Ahmet Turk was elected as the party chairman and Emine Ayna as the co-chairman. Both of them repeatedly referred to jailed terrorist leader Abdullah Ocalan as "Respectful Ocalan." Emine Ayna urged Kurds not to serve as "village guards" and said a general amnesty should be declared. Ahmet Turk urged the government to establish a dialog with Kurds and said "you may close down our party, but you cannot silence the Kurds." Papers note that although the general messages at the convention were peace and a solution to the Kurdish problem, the address pointed to for a solution was "Imrali", the name of the island where Abdullah Ocalan is imprisoned. Iran's Chief Nuclear Negotiator Comes to Turkey Mainstream Milliyet reports that Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Said Jalili, came to Istanbul yesterday and met with Foreign Minister Ali Babacan. Jalili was on his way back to Tehran after ANKARA 00001301 002 OF 003 attending talks with envoys from the US and five other countries in Geneva on Saturday. At a joint press conference, Babacan said "we believe every sovereign country has the right to use nuclear energy for peaceful aims and to have that technology. However, Turkey is against nuclear weapons in its region." Jalili, on his part, said that they reviewed the relations between the two countries as well as the recent regional and international developments. Editorial Opinion on Iran: "End of US Hegemony?" Kamuran Ozbir wrote in nationalist Ortadogu (7/21): "The Tehran regime, thanks to the country's energy resources, has not only strengthened its hand internationally, but also managed to limit the US's international influence. The United States has been trying to form a unified international bloc to isolate Iran and thwart Iran's nuclear ambition, yet things have not progressed as Washington had hoped. Staunch American allies are not very enthusiastic to cooperate unconditionally with the US as they once were. On the other hand, the defiance of US enemies is getting stronger. In response to Washington's efforts to isolate Tehran, many countries, taking into consideration their oil and natural gas needs, have acted evasively or openly stood against US efforts. All of this does not necessarily rule out a military option for Washington. In the end, the Bush administration may decide to hand over the Iran crisis to the next administration. If a new American administration then goes forward with a military option, we must think about a potential regional crisis and economic fluctuations." PKK Releases Three German Mountaineers Sabah, Milliyet, Hurriyet, Yeni Safak, Turkiye and others: Three German mountaineers, abducted by the PKK 13 days ago while they were climbing Agri Mountain, were released yesterday. Mainstream Sabah quotes the Agri Governor saying "the terrorists had no choice but to release the mountaineers since they could see such tight security measures had been taken." Papers noted that the three German mountaineers were delivered to German Embassy officials who had traveled to Agri from Ankara. First Kosovo Embassy to be Opened in Turkey Hurriyet reports that after declaring its independence on February 17th , 2008, Kosovo decided to open its first Embassy in Turkey. President Gul to Pay a Visit to Baghdad Sabah reports that President Gul is planning to pay a visit to Baghdad in the autumn. The visit is expected to take place in September or October. The paper notes that two important visits are expected before Gul's trip: first, Turkey's special envoy to Iraq, Murat Ozcelik, will visit KDP leader Massoud Barzani and secondly, KRG president Nechirvan Barzani will pay a visit to Ankara. With his visit to Iraq, President Gul wants to give a message to the world that the situation in Iraq is normalizing. TV News: CNN Turk Domestic News 490 people were hospitalized in Manisa with diarrhea complaints Trabzon governor gives authorization to investigate former gendarme commander Colonel Ali Oz and intelligence chief Captain Metin Yildiz for negligence in connection with the Dink murder International News US Presidential candidate Barack Obama visits Afghanistan to assess international efforts against Al-Qaeda ANKARA 00001301 003 OF 003 Greek Cypriot newspapers give extensive coverage to the visit of Turkish PM Erdogan to Northern Cyprus Cologne police officials reject media reports that there was concrete evidence of PKK plans to conduct a terrorist attack on their city. WILSON