TURKISH MEDIA REACTION

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 001430 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 PREL KPAO SUBJECT: TURKISH MEDIA REACTION FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2009 In Today's Papers P5+1 Talks with Iran in Geneva Media today carry straightforward coverage but focus on the symbolism of the P5+1/Iran talks. Islamist oriented Zaman headlines that the high level meeting happened "For the First Time in 30 Years" and notes that Washington and Tehran relations have taken a historic step. Leftist Taraf, however, takes a more substantive stance, noting that "the symbolic importance of the P5+1 and Iran meetings is highlighted more than the content." Mainstream Haberturk writes "Iran Opens Its Nuclear Plant to Inspection," and highlights President Obama comments as "It's a productive start. Iran has to take concrete steps to show its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes." Columnists on Geneva Talks: In mainstream Milliyet, Sami Kohen notes "As a last minute diplomacy attack, Iran offered to open its second nuclear facility for inspection and the P5+1 group could not possibly ignore this move. Iran is sitting at the table with another strong helping hand from Turkey because Turkey's Prime Minister clearly stood by Tehran." In mainstream HaberTurk, columnist Soli Ozel notes the long and serious history of Iran and argues that "Iran should not be treated as a country with a bunch of fanatics who are capable of doing everything to harm international peace, even though American neo-cons suggest the opposite." For that reason, Ozel concludes "every means of diplomacy must be tried and used in this process." Gul: "If we can't solve our problems, someone else will" Papers reported extensively on the opening of Parliament, most noting that chief of the military General Staff (TGS) General Ilker Basbug and force commanders fully attending. Mainstream Vatan finds the attendance "surprising" because five months ago Basbug said he cannot stay under the same roof with the DTP officials before they end the controversy regarding their links with terror. In "If We Cannot Solve Our Problems, Someone Else Will," mainstream Hurriyet says President Gul stressed that internal problems should be resolved through democratic means. Under the headline "We must speed up the democratic move," mainstream Vatan says Gul called for "resolute action" regarding the "democratic move," stressing the ongoing positive conditions would not last forever. Headlined "Turkish nation demands democratic move," nationalist-conservative Turkiye reports Gul said a democratic state should see the social and cultural differences as its "richness," and accept such differences instead of trying to eliminate them. In "Parliament opens with democratic move," Islamist-oriented Yeni Safak says Gul expressed the importance of "keeping social and political differences alive together." Mainstream Sabah says Gul gave a "magic formula" of "unity in diversity," saying "Diversity is the backbone of democracy." Leftist Taraf comments Gul referred to the controversial 'Ergenekon' investigation when he said "Henceforth, wandering out of the boundaries of law is prohibited." Editorials on Gul Remarks at Parliament Opening: Editorials mostly commend President Gul's emphasis on democracy as well as reform. Typical is Fehmi Koru's summation in Islamist oriented Yeni Safak that Gul's speech laid down "a roadmap for Turkey's future in strong democracy and rule of law." Gungor Mengi in mainstream Vatan, however, is skeptical about real implementation, noting that Turkey's "top levels have completely lost their neutrality and act by partisan considerations . . . they cannot fulfill their responsibilities properly even if they defend the right methods." In liberal Radikal, Murat Yetkin thinks the president clearly spoke for the democratic initiative on Kurds and for reforms, and he comments "President Gul has made very clear why we need the initiatives . . . the time has come for Prime Minister Erdogan to tell the public what these initiatives actually are." In leftist Taraf, Yasemin Congar describes Gul's message as "equality and respect for each and every ethnic group under a constitutional citizenship spirit" and criticizes the opposition parties for being aloof to the reality for change. Erdogan open to constitutional changes to save DTP MPs ANKARA 00001430 002 OF 002 Media outlets report that at a reception held Thursday night in honor of the opening of the new legislative year, Prime Minister Erdogan called on the opposition parties to support a legal amendment to prevent Kurdish DTP lawmakers from being forcibly brought for deposition to the prosecutor. Erdogan told reporters, "No one, including parliamentarians, should be prosecuted because of their thoughts. We are ready for a constitutional amendment on this." Opposition CHP leader Deniz Baykal had earlier said the only way to end the crisis was to "amend the constitution" and "narrow the scope of the parliamentary immunities." Armenian lobby urges Clinton to stop pressing Yerevan Papers report the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) sent a letter to Secretary Clinton, asking her to stop putting "unfair and heavy pressure" on Yerevan to sign the protocols for normalization with Turkey. ANCA said the signing of the protocols would weaken Armenian claims. Islamist-oriented Zaman reports the ambassadors of the Minsk Group co-chairs the US, France and Russia have issued a joint statement which said the normalization process between Turkey and Armenia and the issue of Nagorno Karabakh were "separate from each other." A Shoe To IMF (Cumhuriyet) Media outlets give extensive coverage with flashy headlines to the shoe throwing protest which happened during the IMF President Dominique Strauss-Kahn's speech to the students at Istanbul's Bilgi University. In "He Throws A Shoe to IMF," liberal Radikal reports, "A protestor threw his shoe after shouting "Go Away, IMF." Leftist-nationalist Cumhuriyet says, "IMF Chief gets Bush treatment," adding, "The protestor who is working at the socialist Birg|n newspaper, was detained for a couple of hours and then released. " In "Nikesist-Leninist protest," mainstream Haberturk reports the irony that "the socialist protestor threw a fake Nike sneaker to IMF's socialist chief." Mainstream Sabah carries the headline, "The Difference In A New Turkey," and notes, "while Bush's shoe-thrower stayed nine months in prison, the protestor throwing a shoe to the IMF Chief is free." Islamist oriented Zaman says, "Capitalism Protest With A Nike Sneaker." Upcoming Events: Q President Gul today travels to Azerbaijan's Nakhcivan region to join the summit of Turkish-speaking countries. Q Foreign Minister Davutoglu today is meeting European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn in Brussels. Q The ruling AKP holds its party convention on October 3 in Ankara. The party plans to make public its deliberation on the Kurdish democratic initiative. SILLIMAN