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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 ANKARA 003368 
 
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, JUNE 8, 2006 
 
In Today's Papers 
 
President Sezer Visits Israel 
All papers:  Turkish President Sezer and Israeli President 
Mose Katsav held a joint press conference in Tel Aviv on 
Wednesday, in which Sezer expressed support for the UN 
framework for a settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian 
conflict.  Katsav stated that the visit of Sezer shows the 
strong relations between the two countries, and that Israel 
saw Turkey as its ally.  Katsav stressed that Turkey's EU 
membership would be a great contribution to regional 
stability, and also a positive step for world economy, and 
lauded the Erez industrial zone project in the Gaza Strip, 
launched through the initiative of Turkey.  Both presidents 
expressed concern over Iran's nuclear activities, with Sezer 
saying Iran could not be criticized if it pursued a peaceful 
nuclear program, adding that different aspirations would 
create risks for the region. 
 
Sezer later took the floor at the Knesset, saying that 
Turkey considers it a "responsibility to enjoy the privilege 
of having the trust of both the Israelis and Palestinians, 
and we hope that Prime Minister Olmert is going to meet 
President Abbas soon.''  He noted that Turks and Jews 
"always rushed to help each other in difficult times.  We 
will never forget the help of our Israeli friends during the 
massive earthquake in Turkey in 1999.  Friendship and 
solidarity constitutes the basis of our cooperation.'' 
Sezer stressed that Turkey may present large opportunities 
to its neighbors and allies, such as the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan 
(BTC) oil pipeline, which has vital importance regarding the 
establishment of stability and economic development in the 
region.  The President also expressed Turkey's determination 
to improve cooperation with Israel by all means.  Sezer also 
mentioned the victims of the Holocaust.  The Turkish 
President received a standing ovation when he completed his 
speech by saying "Shalom" (peace) and "Toda raba" (thank 
you) in Hebrew. 
 
Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik said Israel will never forget 
that Ottoman Empire sheltered the Jews exiled from Spain 500 
years ago, and that Turkey welcomed Jewish scientists who 
had to flee Nazi Germany.  Deputy Prime Minister Shimon 
Peres said Israel supported Turkey's EU membership bid. 
Peres lauded Sezer by saying that he symbolized the values 
of modern Turkey.  President Sezer later laid a wreath to 
Holocaust Memorial in memory of the victims of Holocaust 
before moving on to Palestine to meet with President Abbas. 
Sabah says Sezer told the Israelis the Hamas delegation was 
invited to Ankara by the ruling AK Party, not by the state, 
underlining that the invitation did not reflect the official 
policies of the Turkish state. 
 
Writing in the daily Dunya, Zafer Atay argues that 
Palestinian people are suffering because neither the western 
nor Arab nations have offered aid: "The US and the EU 
stopped their financial aid to Palestine and soon after 
Israel did the same.  Muslim-dominated OPEC countries, on 
the other hand, did nothing to address the dire needs of the 
Palestinian people.  What we have seen so far from the 
Islamic world is only words and no deeds.  According to 
recent figures, more than three million Palestinians are 
living in famine conditions.  Hospitals can only operate on 
the most severe emergency cases.  The pain and agony of the 
people should be considered more important than political 
fights and rhetorical games.  The Western community should 
feel ashamed for punishing innocent people in contradiction 
to their strong rhetoric on human rights.  And the Islamic 
world should be doubly ashamed for doing nothing despite 
 
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their oil-rich revenues." 
 
Turkey Wants UN, EU Concerns on Iran Included in OIC 
Communiqu 
Yeni Safak reports that at the June 19-21 foreign ministers 
meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) 
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul will ask for inclusion of UN 
and EU concerns with respect to Iran's nuclear activities in 
the final communiqu.  Despite persistent efforts by the 
international community over the past three years, OIC had 
declined to adopt a resolution against its member Iran.  OIC 
communiqus had merely stated support for peaceful nuclear 
activities, criticizing the double-standard displayed by 
world nations on nuclear energy. 
 
 
 
Volatility Continues in Turkish Markets 
All papers:  The Turkish Central Bank (CB) increased 
interest rates by 1.75 percent to 15 percent, the first such 
increase in the last five years, following the disclosure of 
higher-than-expected inflation figures for May.  The 
increase also came when the current account deficit has 
reached a record USD 12.7 billion, a 45 percent increase 
over the same period last year.  There has been strong 
volatility in the Turkish markets for the last three weeks 
with the Turkish lira depreciating and the stock exchange 
markets losing value.  Over recent weeks, the Turkish Lira 
has fallen by 17 percent against the USD and the Euro, 
prompting investors to move away from emerging markets, 
including Turkey.  Hwever, Turkey's situation took a turn 
for the worse with higher-than-expected inflation figures 
for April and May, and rising political strains after a 
deadly gun attack on the Council of State which left one 
judge dead and four others injured.  Analysts said the 
ruling AK Party government still faced the threat of missing 
the 5.0 percent year-end inflation target.  The failure to 
rein in inflation creates difficulty for Prime Minister 
Erdogan, who is counting on continued economic progress to 
boost his position ahead of presidential and general 
elections next year.  A recent poll showed that 56.7 percent 
of Turks saw unemployment as the biggest problem facing 
Turkey today. 
 
Columnist faces Trial for Defending Conscientious Objection 
Hurriyet, Radikal, Birgun:  Perihan Magden, a renowned 
Turkish novelist and columnist, appeared in an Istanbul 
court on Wednesday in the first hearing of a lawsuit filed 
against her for defending conscientious objection to 
military service.  The Turkish General Staff (TGS) had 
complained that Magden attempted to "deter people from 
fulfilling their military service" in a weekly news magazine 
in December.  The prosecutor seeks up to three years in 
prison for Magden.  Before the court hearing was launched, 
demonstrators who describe themselves as "relatives of 
terror victims" tried to attack her.  "I believe that both 
the TGS's denunciation of me and the prosecutor's lawsuit 
against me is a disproportional use of force," Magden told 
the court.  On the other hand, renowned Turkish novelist 
Elif Safak faces trial for "denigrating Turkishness" in her 
second English language novel "The Bastard of Istanbul" in 
which Safak tells the tale of two families, an exiled 
Armenian family living in San Francisco and the Kazancis of 
Istanbul, whose contemporary stories conjoin through a 
family secret that began in 1915 and played out in the lives 
of their daughters today. 
 
Poll: Three Parties to Enter Turkish Parliament in General 
Elections 
Aksam carries a public opinion survey conducted between May 
 
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20 and June 3 by Sonar Polling Co through one-on-one 
interviews with 1,837 people in 15 provinces across Turkey. 
According to the survey, if general elections were held 
today, the AK Party would emerge as the winner by 23.6 
percent, followed by CHP with 15.1.  Other parties behind 
these two would be DYP 10.0 percent, MHP 6.6, DSP 5.7, ANAP 
5.1, and the pro-Kurdish DTP 4.5.  With the distribution of 
21.2 percent of "undecided votes" among the parties, the 
percentage of votes would be:  AKP 29.9, CHP 19.2, DYP 12.6, 
MHP 8.4, DSP 7.19, ANAP 6.5.  Respondents said by 56.7 
percent that Turkey's biggest problem today was 
"unemployment," followed by "poverty" with 15.3, "terrorism 
and the Kurdish problem" with 6.0, "corruption" with 3.7. 
Only 1.7 percent of the respondents believe the "headscarf" 
controversy to be the top problem of Turkey, according to 
the survey. 
 
 
Editorial Comment: Human Trafficking 
Mim Kemal Oke commented in the conservative Tercuman:  "The 
State Department's annual report on human trafficking 
highlighted the problem in Turkey.  Human trafficking by its 
nature is the postmodern slavery of the global era.  It is a 
grave problem for the world which only helps to accelerate 
the collapse of moral values, and the growth of crime and 
unemployment.  Turkey, due to its location and its economic 
situation, is a target country for human traffickers.  In 
addition to the fact that citizens of certain countries, 
such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran and Bangladesh 
have been using Turkey as a transit route to their European 
destinations, being a transit route also covers terrorist 
activities.  Turkish security institutions are taking this 
issue seriously but, as the report indicates, more should be 
done." 
 
 
TV Highlights 
NTV, 8.00 a.m. 
 
Domestic News 
 
- The main opposition CHP has asked the AK Party government 
to explain allegations in a US report that 90 nuclear bombs 
had been deployed in Incirlik Airbase in south Turkey. 
 
- In a joint press availability in Ankara yesterday, Prime 
Minister Tayyip Erdogan and visiting Lebanese Prime Minister 
Fuad Siniora sent covert warnings to Iran by denouncing the 
deployment of WMD in the Middle East. 
 
- A court ruled the banned Islamist leader Necmettin Erbakan 
could serve a 28-month prison sentence at home.  He was 
found guilty of financial irregularities in spending of 
party funds 
 
- Staff of the TRT demonstrated in Istanbul against alleged 
interference by the government through partisan appointments 
in the state-owned broadcaster. 
 
International News 
 
- Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat will travel to 
Berlin on Friday to meet with German Foreign Minister 
Steinmeier. 
 
- Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alemo said the 
withdrawal of Italian troops from Iraq would be completed by 
the end of the year. 
 
- Organization of Islamic Conference's (OIC) Turkish 
 
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Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu met President Putin 
 
SIPDIS 
during a visit to Moscow. 
 
- 17 terror suspects detained in Canada are accused of 
plotting to storm the Canadian Parliament and behead the 
Prime Minister. 
 
 
 Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at 
 
  http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ 
 
WILSON