VZCZCXRO4703
OO RUEHDA
DE RUEHAK #5512/01 2631442
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 201442Z SEP 06
FM AMEMBASSY ANKARA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8864
RUEKJCS/CJCS WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEKJCS/OSD WASHDC//PA
RUEUITH/ODC ANKARA TU
INFO RUEHTH/AMEMBASSY ATHENS 7452
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 1319
RUEHDA/AMCONSUL ADANA 1125
RUEHBS/AMEMBASSY BRUSSELS 5452
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 5168
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1825
RUEUITH/DET 1 39LG ANKARA TU
RHMFIUU/USDOCO 6ATAF IZMIR TU
RHMFIUU/39OS INCIRLIK AB TU
RHMFIUU/AFOSI DET 523 IZMIR TU
RHMFIUU/39ABG INCIRLIK AB TU
RHMFIUU/AFOSI DET 522 INCIRLIK AB TU
RUEUITH/AFLO ANKARA TU

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 005512 
 
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 
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 2006 
 
 
In Today's Papers 
 
Article 301 Controversy Continues 
All papers:  On Tuesday, the Turkish Parliament held an 
extraordinary session to discuss EU adaptation bills including 
Article 301 of the penal code, under which author Elif Safak is to 
appear before an Istanbul court on Thursday for "insulting 
Turkishness" in her new novel.  Milliyet and Radikal say the ruling 
AK Party is divided on Article 301 with Foreign Minister Gul and 
chief EU negotiator Babacan saying the article should be revised and 
Justice Minister Cicek insisting there is no need to rush to change 
the law.  "We are for the free expression of non-violent ideas," Gul 
stated. Gul was also quoted as saying article 301 had become a 
source of trouble.  Prime Minister Erdogan agrees with Cicek and 
some other cabinet ministers that Turkey should wait to see the 
implementation of the controversial article before taking new steps. 
 The influential business organization TUSIAD had earlier called in 
a report for a change to Article 301.  Radikal reminds that during a 
visit to Brussels on September 9, Minister Babacan had promised to 
amend the article if necessary.  AKP lawmaker Irfan Gunduz said a 
regulation for amending Article 301 could be sent to the parliament 
in October. 
 
The Turkish translators of American writer John Tirman's "Spoils of 
War: The Human Cost of America's Arms Trade," also faces trial for 
infringing Article 301.  The publisher of the book, Fatih Tas, had 
also been on trial for insulting Ataturk, the founder of modern 
Turkey, as well as denigrating Turkishness, the republic and the 
parliament.  The prosecutor demands prison sentences up to three 
years for translators Lutfi Taylan Tosun and Aysel Yildirim. 
Amnesty International's Turkey coordinator Claude Edelman said the 
lawsuit was "unprecedented." 
 
Commentator Ismet Berkan writes in the liberal-intellectual Radikal 
that Turkey is in dire need of "changing mentalities before changing 
laws":  We have to realize that the essence of the issue is about 
freedom of speech where nobody will face prison just because he or 
she expressed an opinion.  The Turkish government presents a 
stubborn attitude on this issue which does not indicate anything 
positive for the future." 
 
Bush Slams Iran in Address to UN 
Hurriyet, Milliyet, Sabah, Cumhuriyet, Radikal, Zaman and others 
report President Bush renewed his attacks on Iran and defended 
American action in the Middle East in a speech he delivered at the 
UN General Assembly yesterday.  Bush accused Iran of developing 
nuclear weapons and sponsoring terrorism.  Bush told the Iranians 
that their government was the greatest obstacle to "a future of 
liberty, prosperity, and warm ties with the United States." 
 
International Automobile Federation (FIA) Fines Turkey $5 Million 
Sabah, Aksam, Vatan, Bugun, Zaman and others:  Turkey's Grand Prix 
organizers were fined yesterday a record $5million by the Formula 
One racing governing body for letting Turkish Cypriot President 
Mehmet Ali Talat present the winner's trophy at last month's race. 
At the ceremony, Talat was introduced as the President of the 
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), an entity recognized 
solely by Turkey.  Sabah says that the fine should be paid by those 
who suggested using the F1 for a political show.  Now, all eyes 
turned to Turkish Union of Chambers (TOBB) chairman Rifat 
Hisarciklioglu who had organized the ceremony and promised to pay 
the fine after the criticism. 
 
Iraq Names Special Envoy for Countering the PKK 
All papers report that Iraq has appointed a special envoy for 
countering the PKK.  The Iraqi Ambassador to Turkey presented a note 
to the Foreign Ministry yesterday notifying Ankara that Iraq has 
appointed a special envoy.  Vatan, Bugun and others report that 
Baghdad appointed Sunni retired General Amir Ahmed Hassun as special 
 
ANKARA 00005512  002 OF 003 
 
 
envoy.  Ankara, reportedly, was pleased with the appointment. 
 
Greece Leaves Illegal Immigrants in Turkish Waters 
Hurriyet reports in a banner headline story that in May, a Turkish 
coastguard helicopter caught red-handed a Greek coastguard boat 
shoving overboard six Afghan immigrants off the Aegean town of 
Ayvalik in Turkish territorial waters.  The immigrants, left on the 
sea without shovels, were seen as trying to steer with their hands 
the lifeboat toward the Turkish shore.  In footage taken in July 
2004, another Greek coastguard boat was seen by the Turkish 
coastguard leaving a boat full of 35 immigrants in Turkish 
territorial waters, according to Hurriyet. 
 
Editorial: The Politicization of Religion 
The chief editor of mass appeal Sabah, Mehmet Barlas commented: 
"Turkey has come to understand the politicization of Christianity, 
especially after the controversial remarks of the Pope.  His remarks 
not only provoked an international reaction but also proved that 
political Islam, which we always considered a threat to 
secular-democratic system, was not alone -- the Pope represents 
political Christianity.  In addition to the Pope, we can see clear 
traces of political Christianity in the world as President Bush 
represents strong Evangelism.  Turkish opinion makers generally 
acted with prejudice by thinking Christianity was exempt from 
politicization.  Recent incidents are very obvious examples 
demonstrating the fact that Christianity is not free from political 
ideology." 
 
 
TV Highlights 
NTV (7 A.M.) 
 
Domestic News 
 
- Turkish Justice Minister Cemil Cicek maintained the government was 
not planning to change the controversial Article 301 of the penal 
code. 
 
- Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul met Greek counterpart Dora 
Bakoyannis in Istanbul to discuss the confidence-building measures 
adopted in May. 
 
- Turkey's Diyanet-Sen labor union of clerics has filed a request to 
launch legal action against Pope Benedict XVI and to arrest the 
pontiff during his visit to Turkey in late November for defaming the 
Prophet Muhammad in a speech earlier last week. 
 
- Energy Minister Hilmi Guler, testifying at the Supreme Court in 
connection with charges of irregularity against former energy 
ministers Zeki Cakan and Cumhur Ersumer, accused the two of 
inflicting losses on the public sector. 
 
- Abdullah Demirbas, a district mayor in the mainly Kurdish city of 
Diyarbakir, has been acquitted in a lawsuit for making terrorist 
propaganda in a report on "local administrations in the light of a 
multilingual population" presented to the European Social Forum. 
 
- Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality destroyed a mosque illegally 
built overnight by the residents of the Gaziosmanpasa district. 
 
International News 
 
- UNSYG Annan warned that Iraq is in danger of sliding into a 
"full-scale civil war". 
 
- Greece is rewriting its history schoolbooks in an effort to fight 
chauvinism. 
 
- The Taliban has announced they had killed a Turk abducted last 
month after the construction company he worked for ignored an 
 
ANKARA 00005512  003 OF 003 
 
 
ultimatum to leave Afghanistan.  Independent sources did not confirm 
the killing. 
 
- The European Commission said it is delaying the release of Turkey 
Progress Report by two weeks, until November 8, with an aim to give 
Ankara time to carry on with adjustment reforms. 
 
- A report released by the Council of American-Islamic Relations 
(CAIR) shows racism in the United States was up 29.6 percent from 
last year.  The report depicts 1,972 cases of anti-Islamic violence, 
discrimination and harassment, the highest number ever recorded in 
the country. 
 
 
  Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at 
 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ 
 
WILSON