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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 007630 
 
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, DECEMBER 29, 2005 
 
 
THIS REPORT PRESENTS THE TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER THREE 
THEMES: 
 
HEADLINES 
BRIEFING 
EDITORIAL OPINION 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
HEADLINES 
 
MASS APPEAL 
Private TV Kurdish Broadcasts to Begin in January - Hurriyet 
FM Gul: "301 Cases Have the Same Effects as `Midnight 
Express' -Hurriyet 
A New `Midnight Express' Incident - Sabah 
Gul Comments on Article 301 Cases - Aksam 
President Bush in Preparation for Retirement - Sabah 
Critical Terror Report on Today's NSC Agenda - Milliyet 
Israel Attacks Lebanon - Milliyet 
Le Figaro: "Illegal Immigrants Enter EU through Northern 
Cyprus" - Vatan 
Secretary Rice to Visit Turkey in the First Months of 2006 - 
 
SIPDIS 
Star 
The Countdown for EU Entry has Started - Turkiye 
Washington Times: `Turkey is Right on the PKK Issue' - 
Turkiye 
 
OPINION MAKERS 
Gul: "Article 301 could be Amended" - Radikal 
Gul compares Effects of Article 301 to Film "Midnight 
Express" - Yeni Safak 
New Hopes for QIZ with the US - Radikal 
MFA Spokesman Tan: "No Israeli Request for Joint Military 
Exercises" - Radikal 
The Last NSC Meeting of 2005 - Cumhuriyet 
Sanctions from US to Iran - Cumhuriyet 
Khalilzad: "PKK is a Terrorist Organization and shouldn't be 
Sheltered in Northern Iraq" - Zaman 
Israeli Planes Bombed Palestinian Camps in Lebanon - Yeni 
Safak 
Kurdish Broadcasting Begins in January - Yeni Safak 
 
BRIEFING 
 
Gul Comments on Article 301:  Today's papers give extensive 
front page coverage to the comments of Foreign Minister 
Abdullah Gul on the trial of Orhan Pamuk and the 
investigation against EP member Lagendijk.  "Radikal" quotes 
Gul as saying "article 301 could be amended if necessary." 
"Yeni Safak" quotes Gul as saying "the suits filed for 
violations of article 301 caused as much damage to Turkey's 
image as the movie `Midnight Express' did."  "Sabah" reports 
that the EU officials were stunned by the developments in 
Turkey, and especially the investigation against Lagendijk. 
EU sources say that even if article 301 is abolished, the 
latest developments show that there is no freedom of 
expression in Turkey. 
 
The Last National Security Council (NSC) Meeting of 2005: 
"Hurriyet", "Milliyet" and "Cumhuriyet" report that the last 
NSC meeting of 2005 will be held today.  It is expected that 
the military will present the NSC with a report on the 
minority identity controversy.  "Hurriyet" says there are 
allegations that the Military was uneasy about the comments 
of PM Erdogan on the issue.  The Military is expected to 
express this uneasiness in the report, saying that according 
to article 66 of the Constitution, every citizen of Turkey 
is a Turk.   PKK, Cyprus and Iraq will be the other issues 
to debated at the NSC. 
 
 
ANKARA 00007630  002 OF 002 
 
 
Israel Attacks Lebanon:  "Milliyet" and "Yeni Safak" report 
that Israel, in retaliation for Palestinian rocket attacks, 
launched an operation against Palestinian guerilla camps in 
Lebanon. 
 
Sanctions from US to Iran:  "Cumhuriyet" says the US has 
confirmed the application of sanctions against 6 Chinese, 2 
Indian and 1 Austrian company for selling Iran equipment and 
technology for military purposes. 
 
Free Trade opes Between the US and Turkey:   "Radikal" 
rports that the meetings between Turkey and the US to 
increase trade and investment will resumeafter a three year 
break.  The TIFA Council (Trade and Investment Frame 
Agreement) was unable to convene for the last three years. 
The establishment of Qualified Industrial Zones (QIZ) is 
among the issues going to be discussed at the meeting. 
 
EDITORIAL OPINION:   Iraq; Turkey-EU 
 
"Will Elections Bring Peace to Iraq?" 
Zafer Atay observed in the economic-political daily "Dunya" 
(12/29):  "Iraq has gone through a multiple election process 
for the first time in its history.  However, the election 
process has not brought peace to Iraq let alone eliminated 
the potential threat of division.  This is because the 
elections were a race between ethnic and religious groups, 
proving that the people of Iraq have no concept of `being 
Iraqi'. During the elections, Shiites were backed by Iran 
which helped most of the pro-Iranian figures to win.  As for 
the Sunnis, even though there was significant participation 
in the elections, the results were not satisfactory since 
the Sunnis did not run as a united bloc. The Iraqi 
parliament is expected to convene before the end of 2005 to 
elect a president and two deputy presidents.  Afterwards the 
establishment of the government will start.  A Shiite 
premier is expected to take charge and form a national unity 
government.  But a Sunni boycott is also possible, so is 
resistance by Sunni groups.  In sum, Iraq will have to wait 
for a while to achieve real democracy because currently all 
parties in Iraq are interpreting democracy according to 
their own interests." 
 
"Relations with the EU Could Be Frozen in 2006" 
Semih Idiz asserted in the mainstream daily "Milliyet" 
(12/29): "It is obvious that the year 2006 will bring 
tension between Turkey and the EU on the Cyprus issue as 
well as on Turkey's perceived insufficient application of EU 
reforms.  The problems related to freedom of expression are 
going to be the major concern in 2006. Turkey presents a 
lame image when it comes to the full implementation of 
freedom of expression, and it doesn't look like this will 
change in 2006.  Given the current developments, we can 
conclude that the year 2006 will go even worse in that 
respect.  There are of course some circles in Turkey who 
desire cutting off relations with the EU. Turkey launched a 
start toward EU membership in 2005 but it is unrealistic to 
hope for some concrete steps in 2006.  This is not 
pessimism, but simply drawing a conclusion after evaluating 
the available data." 
 
WILSON