TURKISH MEDIA REACTION

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SUBJECT: TURKISH MEDIA REACTION
MONDAY, MAY 11, 2009

IN TODAY'S PAPERS

Baku: "No Progress in Prague"
Sunday's Hurriyet cites Azeri media to report that Azerbaijan's
Foreign Minister Memmedyarov denied US DAS Matt Bryza's comments
that the progress was made at last week's meeting between the
Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Prague. Memmedyarov said
"the two leaders were unable to advance during their meetings.
Settlement is possible if the US shows close interest in the issue.
Otherwise, there will be no progress."

A related story was in mainstream Sabah's Sunday issue. The
headline read "Sargsian complained about Turkey to the US", and
reported that Sargsian told DAS Bryza in Prague that "Turkey is not
taking any further steps even though our road map is ready." DAS
Bryza talked to Sabah and said "Sargsian is disturbed by the slow
progress of the Turkey-Armenia process. He knows that Turkey is
waiting for progress in Nagorno-Karabakh issue." An official from
the Turkish Foreign Ministry said "Of course, these two are related
issues."

PM Erdogan on Armenia/Azerbaijan
Prime Minister Erdogan repeated the importance of resolving Nagorno
Karabakh issue before opening of Armenian border with Turkey.
During the weekend, Turkey's semi official news agency AA quoted him
as saying "There is a cause and effect relationship here. First,
Nagorno-Karabakh was occupied by the Armenian side, then 1 million
Azeris were forced into exile and we closed the border. We closed
the border. The reason was the occupation - the result was that we
closed the border. So let that reason end, and let's open the
border."

President Gul: "Kurdish Issue is Turkey's Top Problem"
Radikal, Hurriyet, Yeni Safak, Cumhuriyet: Saturday's liberal
Radikal reports that speaking to journalists on route from Prague to
Ankara, President Gul said "the Kurdish issue is Turkey's top
problem. Turkey has to work towards a resolution of the Kurdish
issue and everybody needs to contribute to these efforts." Radikal
notes President Gul's remarks last March where he said that "nice
things will happen regarding the Kurdish issue. The consensus among
state institutions has offered an opportunity to make progress.
There is an open dialogue among the civilians, military and the
intelligence. This is a great opportunity to make progress and we
should not miss this opportunity." Today's Hurriyet reports that in
response to Gul's comments, CHP leader Baykal said "President Gul is
talking about an historic opportunity. He should elaborate on his
comments and explain what he means by "historic opportunity". Are
we going to amend the Constitution or declare an amnesty? If it is
an amnesty in the fight against terrorism, it will not work."
Islamist-oriented Yeni Safak reports that DTP leader Ahmet Turk
welcomed Gul's comment by calling it "a very important
development."

Kurdish Studies in a Turkish University
Daily Yeni Safak carries a short interview with Chairman of Higher
Education Board (YOK) Yusuf Ziya Ozcan where he announced the
approval of Kurdish Studies Center at Istanbul University Faculty of
Literature. "This is going to be the start of academic studies on
Kurdish" said Professor Ozcan.
The YOK Chairman also talked about the Board's initiative to open
Turkish universities abroad. Initially there are three countries
being considered: Germany, Azerbaijan and Afghanistan.

Oil from the KRG Area
Dailies Bugun and Taraf report that oil reserves in the Kurdistan
Regional Administration region will start flowing to Turkey's Ceyhan
pipeline as of June 1. Of the central administration's approval,
Bugun says "the Oil Ministry has approved a flow of 60,000 barrels
per day" while Taraf claims that Baghdad has not yet approved the
measure. KRG National Resources Minister Havrami was quoted as

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saying "the revenue from these sales will go to the people of Iraq.
With this decision, Iraq's oil export capacity will increase." Both
dailies note that Turkey is becoming a main venue for transfer of
Iraqi oil to the world.

Council of State President: "Pressure on Judiciary May Lead to
Chaos"
All papers: Leftist-nationalist Cumhuriyet reports that Mustafa
Birden, chief judge of the Council of State, said that the authority
to amend the constitution is not unlimited. "The biggest threat
against judicial independence and neutralism is inserting politics
into the judiciary," Birden said during the ceremony marking the
141st anniversary of the highest Administrative Court, the Danistay.
Mainstream Hurriyet says Birden warned the government about social
chaos, legitimacy, secularism and any new constitution during his
speech. He added "Attempts by political powers to control the
judiciary may lead to chaos. The judiciary must be independent and
politics must be in line with basic rule of law." In his speech,
Mustafa Birden also urged the Ergenekon prosecutors to observe the
confidentiality of the investigation and to respect the principle of
presumption of innocence until proven guilty.

Editorial Opinion on Pakistan

Omer Taspinar wrote in mainstream Sabah: "Contrary to common belief,
President Obama's biggest foreign nightmare is not Iran, Iraq or
Afghanistan. It is Pakistan because the country is on the verge of
becoming fully controlled by radical Islam. Pakistan's Pashtun
region has already become a de facto Taliban regime. Given
Pakistan's nuclear capacity, Washington is very worried about these
developments. President Obama made Afghanistan and Pakistan an
immediate priority as soon as he took charge in the White House.
The President understands that Pakistan and Afghanistan must be
treated as one policy-wise."


TV News (CNN Turk)

Domestic

- Security officials found ammunition in the sea of Beykoz district
of Istanbul. After a fisherman found bullets in a sack, sea-police
divers took out hand grenades, smoke bombs, bullets, etc. in the
sea

- A three-story building collapses in Siirt. Five workers buried
under the rubble are rescued.

- Ankara Chamber of Commerce accuses the banks of making other
sectors pay the cost of global crisis

World

- French President Sarkozy and German PM Merkel supported a
"privileged partnership" for Turkey instead of full EU membership

- Georgian President Saakashvili and opposition leaders are expected
to meet today

- Pope Benedict XVI is in Israel.

- President Obama's decision to address Muslim world from Egypt
triggers heated controversy

JEFFREY