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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 005846 
 
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 
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2006 
 
 
In Today's Papers 
 
German PM Angela Merkel Visits Turkey 
All papers:  On Thursday, visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel 
said at a joint press conference after meeting with Prime Minister 
Erdogan that Turkey should grant access to Greek Cypriot vessels and 
airplanes if Ankara wants to divert a crisis during the EU 
membership process.  Erdogan responded by saying Turkey would not 
open its ports and airports to Greek Cyprus unless the international 
isolation of Turkish Cyprus is ended.  Erdogan noted the Greek 
Cypriot side had been unjustly rewarded for rejecting a settlement 
in the divided island.  Merkel said Ankara had reportedly welcomed 
EU term president Finland's proposal which might help to resolve a 
difficult problem.  The Finnish proposal is for Magosa (Famagusta,) 
a key port in Turkish Cyprus, to reopen under UN control in exchange 
for handing over the ghost-town of Maras (Varosha) to the Greek 
Cypriots.  Merkel also said Germany and Turkey should closely 
cooperate in the Middle East.  Vatan says Erdogan stands close to 
the Merkel proposal, and wants to carry bilateral ties with Germany 
to the level of 'strategic partnership' like the one that exists 
between the US and Turkey.  Merkel also said in relation to the 
problems of the Turkish community in Germany that young Turks would 
benefit more from education opportunities by learning German.  She 
said her government aimed at removing the barriers Turks face in 
integration with German society. 
 
Merkel was later received by President Ahmet Necdet Sezer before she 
flew to Istanbul with Erdogan to participate in the Turkish-German 
Economy Forum meetings on Friday.  On Thursday evening, non-Muslim 
minority leaders Greek Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew I, Armenian 
Patriarch Mesrob II, Chief Rabbi Ishak Haleva and Vatican envoy 
George Marovich joined a fast-breaking dinner (iftar) with Erdogan 
and Merkel in Istanbul. 
 
Meanwhile, EU Commissioner Olli Rehn told the press before departing 
Turkey yesterday that Turkey must be confident in its EU process. 
Rehn does not anticipate a "train crash" on Turkey's road to EU 
membership, but warns that the road ahead will be a tough one, 
advising Turkey to pass through this phase "with reforms." 
Responding to a question, Rehn stressed that EU progress reports 
were always "impartial and fair."  He also said his new book, on 
display at the Frankfurt Book Fair, would generate debates with 
regard to Turkey-EU relations. 
 
Turkish Participation in UNIFIL 
Sabah, Vatan and others report that the frigate TCG Gaziantep will 
set sail from the Aksaz Naval Base in Marmaris today for Lebanon to 
join international naval forces off the Lebanese coast.  Vessels 
from participating countries will carry out the duty in rotation.  A 
Turkish deployment of nearly 260 soldiers, most of them reportedly 
engineers, will depart for Lebanon on October 10. 
 
Opposition Party CHP Backs AKP's Bill to Lower the Election Age 
All papers report that after submitting the bill to the Parliament 
to lower the minimum age to be elected deputy to 25 from 30, two AKP 
deputies Salih Kapusuz and Sadullah Ergin met with CHP deputy leader 
Ali Topuz.  Topuz, reportedly, promised CHP support on the 
amendment.  The Constitution Committee will take up the issue today. 
 The first round of voting on the constitutional amendment will be 
made in Parliament on Tuesday and the second round on Thursday.  For 
the change be implemented in 2007 elections, it has to be adopted 
before October 20. 
 
Poll Speculates on Chances for 'Election Alliances' 
Cumhuriyet carries on its front page a public opinion survey 
commissioned by SONAR polling company which indicates that the three 
left-wing parties, namely CHP, DSP and SHP, would have nearly the 
same percentage of votes as the ruling AKP if they formed an 
alliance in elections.  If general elections were held today, the 
AKP would lead by 27.80 percent of votes followed by the 'leftist 
 
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alliance' CHP-DSP-SHP 27.06, DYP 13.94, and MHP 13.12.  According to 
a second scenario, if only DSP and SHP enter into an election 
alliance, they will receive 12.43 percent of votes, with AKP still 
leading with 28.85 percent, followed by CHP 17.31, DYP 13.17, and 
MHP 12.80.  The third scenario speculates an alliance between DYP 
and ANAP which is predicted to receive 18.82 percent after AKP with 
28.82 and CHP 19.29, followed by MHP with 12.44.  The survey was 
conducted in 14 major Turkish provinces in October. 
 
Editorial Commentary on War on Terror and the PKK 
Writing in the nationalist Ortadogu, Kamuran Ozbir argues that as it 
is a "local" terror issue, the fight against the PKK is not a 
priority for the US:  "The US has always seen the terrorism threat 
on an international scale.  Local terrorism, such as the PKK, is not 
part of the US official perception of the terrorism threat.  US 
official documents are enough to validate this argument since they 
always refer to 'international terrorism' which basically is about 
the threat against American interests in the world.  The PKK does 
not fall into that category and nowadays we see the continuation of 
efforts to distract Turkey's attention from a possible cross border 
operation.  Terrorism 'coordination' is also a part of this effort 
which basically has two hidden goals: politicization of the PKK and 
prevention of Turkey's intervention in northern Iraq.  The current 
US administration put together an anti-terrorism strategy but it 
didn't help in the fight against terrorism. It actually helped the 
growing anti-American sentiment throughout the world, and provided 
more ground to radical Islamist terrorism.  The Bush administration 
and his neo-cons should realize that the current anti-war strategy 
is useless and the use-of-force policy should be abandoned." 
 
Erdal Guven, commenting in the liberal-intellectual Radikal, also 
says the PKK is not a priority for the US, but for different 
reasons: "Given the current circumstances, the US does not support 
the PKK but cannot do anything against it either.  This does not 
mean that the US is supporting and sheltering the PKK.  What it 
means is that in Washington's analysis of threats vis-`-vis Iraq and 
the Middle East, the PKK is not a primary figure.  A military option 
against the PKK by American forces is a remote possibility as the US 
has enough to deal with in the Middle East, including the Iraq 
situation, Hamas, Hezbollah and others.  At the same time, 
Washington is aware of the fact that the PKK attacks in Turkey 
constitute the main reason for growing anti-Americanism and feels 
obliged to take action on the issue.  Appointment of a special envoy 
to counter PKK, public relation efforts in Turkey - the program with 
families of martyrs -- and lengthy announcements from the White 
House about the Bush-Erdogan meeting are all a result of this 
feeling." 
 
 
TV Highlights 
NTV (8 a.m.) 
 
Domestic News 
 
- Turkey's religious affairs directorate Diyanet said in a report 
that 1000 Koran courses have been opened in Turkey since 2002, with 
one million attendants annually. 
 
- A prosecutor demanded 4.5 years of prison sentence for novelist 
Ipek Calislar, who was put on trial for insulting in her novel the 
memory of the founder of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. 
 
- An IMF delegation will visit Turkey on Monday for the fifth review 
inspection. 
 
- State Minister for economy Ali Babacan predicted the year-end 
inflation rate to be below ten percent. 
 
International News 
 
 
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- European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso warned that a 
sudden refusal to admit Turkey into the bloc could make the EU seem 
hostile to Islam. 
 
- A new coalition government between the CTP and ORP parties in 
Turkish Cyprus has been given vote of confidence in the parliament 
yesterday. 
 
- Dutch politicians are concerned that Turkish voters might boycott 
the approaching general elections as three candidates of Turkish 
heritage have been suspended for declining to accept 'genocide' of 
Armenians at the hand of Ottomans during World War I. 
 
 
- The British Guardian reports Iraq's school and university system 
is in danger of collapse across the country as pupils and teachers 
flee in the face of threats of violence. 
  Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at 
 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ 
 
WILSON