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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 005774 
 
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, OCTOBER 4, 2006 
 
In Today's Papers 
 
EU Repeats Reform Demands from Turkey 
Hurriyet, Milliyet, Sabah, Cumhuriyet, Radikal, Zaman and others: 
Under a front page headline, "Turkey Returns to its EU Agenda," 
conservative/intellectual Zaman says prior to the EU Progress Report 
to be released November 8 and a looming crisis over the Cyprus 
question, the Turkish Parliament will speed up the enactment process 
of the Ninth Adjustment Package of EU reforms, and the influential 
business group TUSIAD will intensify lobbying efforts in Europe. 
 
The European Commission representative in Turkey, Ambassador 
Hansjorg Kretschmer, said when commenting on the Turkish General 
Staff (TGS) chief General Yasar Buyukanit's remarks earlier this 
week about the fundamentalist threat that the EU had no intention of 
dividing Turkey.  "EU's position with regard to civilian-military 
ties is clear.  The role of the military in Turkey is different from 
that in European countries.  We will see if it changes during the 
negotiation process -- I think it's possible," Kretschmer stressed. 
Visiting EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn gave "softer" 
messages at a joint press conference with Turkish labor union 
leaders in Ankara yesterday.  "We have great respect for the 
professionalism of the Turkish military, but as in any other 
European democracy, the military must be under full civilian 
control," Rehn maintained.  Rehn underlined that Ankara had to lift 
curbs on free speech, and particularly abolish Article 301 of the 
Turkish Penal Code.  He urged Ankara to adopt a draft law on 
religious foundations that will allow non-Muslim minorities to buy 
property.  Rehn said Turkey had put an end to systematic torture in 
prisons and police stations.  "We can really avoid a train crash if 
we have the political will," Rehn emphasized, implying the danger of 
a possible suspension of accession negotiations with Turkey. 
 
Bush-Erdogan Meeting - the Aftermath 
In the aftermath of Monday's Bush-Erdogan meeting in White House, 
leftist/nationalist Cumhuriyet as well as several columnists claim 
there is no sign that the meeting has produced a concrete result 
regarding the fight against the PKK, ending the international 
isolation of Turkish Cyprus, Turkey's drive to join the EU, or 
cooperation in the Middle East.  Papers say after the meeting with 
Erdogan, President Bush merely said that the US was determined to 
fight against terrorism, without even pronouncing the name of the 
PKK.  Aksam and Hurriyet quote Erdogan's advisors as saying that it 
was the most "useful" and "friendly" meeting that had been held with 
Bush.  The pro-AKP government Yeni Safak comments that the visit can 
best be described with the remarks of Erdogan who had said the 
diversity of the matters discussed at the meeting indicated that the 
US was a "strategic partner" of Turkey. 
Papers report US Ambassador to Turkey, Ross Wilson told a press 
briefing at the Foreign Press Center in Washington that "Turkey is a 
strong, stable, and secular democracy in a part of the world where 
many of those things are relatively rare commodities."  On the 
ongoing debate concerning the threat of fundamentalism in Turkey, 
Wilson said there was always "a certain amount of cacophony" in 
Turkish domestic politics and in the media.  "There's nothing that I 
see imminently on the horizon that makes me worried about Turkey's 
democracy," Wilson said, adding "the US has strongly supported the 
political reforms to strengthen Turkish democratic institutions." 
"I continue to be struck by both the political noise and the 
political activities by a whole wide range of actors in Turkey, 
including people in the military, and by the strength and resilience 
of Turkey's institutions to deal effectively with what are very 
complicated issues," said the US Ambassador.  Wilson noted that 
General Yasar Buyukanit would be invited to the US after the visit 
of US counterpart Peter Pace to Turkey in March next year, without 
elaborating more. 
 
Cengiz Candar comments in the conservative Bugun that for some the 
visit "was a complete failure" while others "said entirely the 
opposite," but that one of the ways to understand the importance of 
 
ANKARA 00005774  002 OF 003 
 
 
visits at this level is to "check the Washington Post" to see how 
the visit was portrayed: "PM Erdogan's fourth trip to the White 
House has actually made news with content.  The WP highlighted 
Bush's support for Turkey's EU accession and mentioned the 
international topics that two leaders discussed.  The meeting at the 
White House went beyond a protocol visit both in terms of its length 
and content.  The Turkish PM, following his trips to Washington and 
London, must immediately focus on the EU agenda and work on 
democratization policies to refresh his political environment.  This 
will be both good for his political future and for the country's 
future." 
 
Oktay Eksi observes in the mass appeal Hurriyet that expectations 
were at an unrealistically high level for the visit: "We certainly 
look for positive and long-lasting results from the Turkish 
Premier's visits to foreign countries.  However, looking at the 
comments and expectations during the Bush-Erdogan meeting, it is 
hard to ignore that there was a certain degree of euphoria. 
Creating an atmosphere of exuberance over the Bush-Erdogan meeting 
and justifying it by highlighting the extended duration of the 
bilateral talks is not a realistic approach.  There is nothing new 
out of the White House talks.  Erdogan says he saw that Bush was 
very determined about the fight against PKK.  This should indeed 
come from Bush himself.  Regarding the EU, Middle East and Iraq, 
there are no new things about which to be overly optimistic and 
overjoyed." 
 
Writing in leftist-nationalist Cumhuriyet, Cuneyt Arcayurek argues: 
"The Turkish Premier was expecting to get some concrete measures 
against the PKK, but in the end he had to be happy with the 
expression of determination.  Our PM is still trying to justify the 
fact that President Bush did not mention the PKK during remarks by 
saying that we did not want to make propaganda for the organization. 
 This statement can only be an attempt at humor.   Did not we, 
Turkey, push for the inclusion of PKK's name in the Strategic Vision 
Document and express joy afterwards when it was mentioned?  Let's 
not forget the fact that President Bush repeatedly mentions other 
terrorist organizations, like Al Qaeda, during his remarks almost 
every day.  Anyway, in the end, Erdogan received praise from Bush as 
being a man of peace and a friend.  Being praised by a man who is 
hated in the world is really something!" 
 
Erdogan Meets Blair in London 
Hurriyet, Milliyet, Sabah, Cumhuriyet, Radikal, Yeni Safak and 
others report en route to Turkey from Washington on Tuesday, Prime 
Minister Erdogan stopped over in London to meet his British 
counterpart Tony Blair to discuss the EU, Cyprus, Iran, and the 
Middle East problem.  Turkish papers comment Erdogan went to London 
to "bid farewell" to his friend Blair who is to step down as Labor 
Party leader in a couple of months.  Blair said a crisis linked to 
the Cyprus issue must be prevented, and stressed the importance of 
Turkey's participation in the international force for Lebanon. 
Erdogan thanked Blair for his support regarding Turkey's EU 
aspirations. 
 
Draft Dodger Hijacks Turkish Airliner 
All papers report that Tuesday night a Turkish man who hijacked a 
Turkish Airlines flight carrying 113 passengers and six crew from 
Tirana to Istanbul, diverted the plane to Italy before surrendering 
to Italian police.  Early reports said that there were two hijackers 
and they were protesting against the upcoming Pope visit to Turkey, 
but the Turkish authorities said the hijacker's aim was to seek 
political asylum from Italy.  The hijacker was later identified as 
Hakan Ekinci, reportedly a convert to Christianity who had written 
to the Pope in August, asking for the pontiff's help not to do 
obligatory military service in Turkey.  Turkish authorities said 
Ekinci had been convicted of fraud and pickpocketing.  Turkish 
papers report a Vatican spokesman as saying the November 28-December 
1 Papal trip to Turkey would go ahead. 
 
 
ANKARA 00005774  003 OF 003 
 
 
Poll: AKP, CHP, DYP Will Enter Parliament in General Elections 
Aksam carries a public opinion survey carried out by the polling 
company SONAR which indicates that if general elections were held 
today, AKP would lead the vote with 31.24 percent, followed by CHP 
with 17.80, DYP 11.77, MHP 8.97, ANAP 7.29, and Kurdish DTP 5.89.  A 
sound 60.9 percent said they opposed Tayyip Erdogan's presidency 
with only 27.7 approving.  65.4 percent said the opposition in 
Turkey did not do its job. 
 
 
TV Highlights 
NTV (7 A.M.) 
 
Domestic News 
 
- Istanbul Chief Prosecutor's Office has relaunched a lawsuit 
related to the dealings of Saudi businessman Yasin al-Qadi, who is 
on the UN list of terrorism sponsors. 
 
- The main opposition CHP leader Deniz Baykal said the recent 
anti-fundamentalist messages given by President Sezer and top 
military chief General Yasar Buyukanit should be regarded as 
warnings for the future of Turkey, not attempts to suspend 
democracy. 
 
- Turkish university rectors warned against fundamentalism at 
ceremonies at the opening of the new academic year, saying no 
concessions will be made to those who attempt to manipulate Islam 
for political ends. 
 
- Mayor Osman Baydemir has defended before a court the speeches he 
delivered during the public unrest in the mainly Kurdish city of 
Diyarbakir in late March. 
 
- Turkey's Alevis applied to the European Court of Human Rights 
against Turkey for violating freedom of religion by enforcing Sunni 
religious classes in Turkish schools. 
 
International News 
 
- Secretary Rice said the international community will have no 
choice but to impose sanctions if Iran does not halt uranium 
enrichment. 
 
- The White House said President Bush and President Putin agreed on 
the need to maintain unity in pressing Iran to quit its nuclear 
program. 
 
- Moscow has cut all road, air and sea links with Georgia and 
blocked money transfers after the ex-Soviet state freed four Russian 
soldiers accused of espionage. 
 
- North Korea announced Tuesday it will conduct a nuclear missile 
test in the face of an alleged "extreme threat of a nuclear war" 
coming from the United States. 
 
  Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at 
 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ 
 
MCELDOWNEY