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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 ANKARA 005862 
 
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 
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2006 
 
 
  In Today's Papers 
 
  Reaction Grows in Turkey against France's Armenian 'Genocide' 
Draft 
  All papers give extensive front-page coverage to a draft bill that 
would make it a crime in France to deny the Armenians' genocide at 
the hands of the Ottomans in the early 20th century.   The French 
Parliament is set to discuss the bill on October 12.  Justice 
Minister and Government Spokesman Cemil Cicek called on the EU to 
take action against the draft.  Cicek said Turkey has been doing 
everything to prevent the bill from being passed, but he did not 
elaborate further.  The Turkish Prime Minister's office said on 
Monday that PM Erdogan turned down the French Interior Minister and 
presidential hopeful Nicolas Sarkozy's proposals for Turkey to open 
the border with Armenia, drop the condition that only historians 
should represent both sides in a joint research committee, and scrap 
Article 301 of the Penal Code.  'Turkey is the open and transparent 
side concerning the issue,' Erdogan said, 'France should first look 
at itself.' 
 
  Papers report that EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn has urged 
French lawmakers to think twice before backing the draft, stressing 
such a move would harm Turkey-EU ties.  The EU term president 
Finland added that adoption of the bill would be a 'very erroneous 
step.'  Some unidentified senior Turkish diplomats are quoted as 
saying that Turkey expects the resolution to be approved by the 
French Parliament, and if it is approved, France would lose its 
special status in Turkey in many areas.  Dailies report that Turkey 
is gearing up for a boycott of French imports which affect around 
one billion dollars in trade.  French investors and businesses in 
Turkey have stepped up lobbying of French parliamentarians to 
discourage them from backing the bill, according to papers.  Radikal 
says Ankara might recall the Turkish ambassador from Paris.  Yasar 
Yakis of the ruling AKP and Sukru Elekdag of the main opposition CHP 
suggested some 70,000 Armenian nationals working illegally in Turkey 
should be deported in response to an adoption of the bill.  Yeni 
Safak says AKP's Abdullatif Sener opposed the suggestion, saying 
such a move 'would bring no good for anybody.'  Cumhuriyet 
speculates that if the French Parliament passes the bill, Ankara 
will pull political ties with Paris to the lowest level, French 
companies will be put on a 'red list' concerning military contracts, 
and French companies will be prevented from taking part in state 
contracts and investment in Turkey. 
 
  Agar Suggests Amnesty for the PKK 
  Hurriyet, Milliyet, Cumhuriyet, Radikal, Yeni Safak and others 
report the opposition True Path Party (DYP) leader Mehmet Agar said 
in the mainly Kurdish southeastern city of Diyarbakir yesterday that 
an amnesty could be declared for the PKK members in an effort to end 
terrorism.  'The PKK members should come down from mountains to the 
plains and engage in politics.  In democracies, the solution lies in 
politics, not terrorism,' Agar said.  Justice Minister Cemil Cicek 
said amnesty was not on his government's agenda.  The opposition CHP 
and MHP rejected the Agar suggestion, with Baykal saying his party 
would not contribute to the PKK's efforts for legalization.  The AKP 
deputy group chief Eyup Fatsa said Agar's suggestion could be 
discussed in the parliament if the DYP leader clarifies his 
proposal.  Several NGOs including the southeastern businessmen's 
association GUNSIAD and human rights associations IHD and Mazlum-Der 
welcomed the Agar statement. 
 
  The US-Backed Peshmerge Launch Security Operation in Kirkuk 
  Hurriyet and  Cumhuriyet report the northern Iraqi Kurdish 
peshmerge forces, backed by US troops, launched a security operation 
in Kirkuk over the weekend in which 14 Turkmen were killed and 150 
suspects, mostly Arabs, were detained.  Cumhuriyet sees the 
operation as an 'intimidation' campaign targeting the Turkmen and 
Arabs in the region before the upcoming referendum on the oil-rich 
city of Kirkuk in 2007. 
 
ANKARA 00005862  002 OF 004 
 
 
 
  Changes to Elections Law to Block Kurdish Candidates 
  Radikal reports the AKP, CHP and ANAP parties have reached a 'fast 
consensus' on changes to be made to the Elections Law.  The parties 
have agreed to lower the minimum age to run for office from 30 to 
¶25. and to put the names of independent candidates written on a 
combined voting slip instead of a separate one, as has been the case 
in previous Turkish elections.  Several former and existing 
lawmakers maintain that the reason behind these changes is to 
sideline Turkey's main Kurdish party DTP which is expected to win at 
least 20 seats in the parliament through fielding independent 
candidates.  With the minimum age to be elected reduced, an 
additional six million people will be eligible to run in the 
elections.  The parliament is to vote on the changes today. 
 
  Kauzlarich Attends ASAM Conference 
  Radikal reports the US National Intelligence Council member 
Richard Kauzlarich participated in a conference, 'The world and 
Turkey in 2023,' held by Turkey's Eurasia Strategic Studies Center 
(ASAM) in Ankara on Monday.  Kauzlarich delivered a speech regarding 
the Council's projections on Turkey in 2020, which included 
predictions that the EU will end its expansion by admitting Turkey 
in 2020, that China will become the second geopolitical power after 
the US, and that ethnic conflicts and biological weapons threats 
will increase around the world.  Kauzlarich said the US considers 
Turkey an important country, stressing that cooperation between the 
two allies will still be strong in 2020.  President Sezer and former 
Turkish Cypriot 'president' Rauf Denktas also attended the 
conference. 
 
  Poll: Support for AKP Declines 
  Vatan reports that, according to a public opinion poll 
commissioned by the AKP and conducted by Pollmark Co. in September, 
support for the ruling AKP party fell to 26.2 percent from nearly 33 
percent in July.  The September survey indicated support for the 
main opposition CHP as 15.5 percent, followed by MHP at 9 and DYP 
with 8.2.  The 'undecided' vote stood at 32%. 
 
 
  Editorial Commentary on North Korean Nuclear Test 
 
  Ismet Berkan commented in the liberal-intellectual Radikal 
(10/10):  "Predictions continue that North Korea is producing 
nuclear arms, proved by the nuclear test North Korea carried out 
last weekend.  From now on, North Korea's nuclear weapons are an 
undeniable fact.  With this test, North Korea became one of the 
eight countries that conducted a nuclear test without giving any 
prior indications that they possessed nuclear weapons.  While many 
other countries, including the US, have much more powerful nuclear 
weapons, why should one worry about North Korea producing nuclear 
weapons?  Of course, the best thing is for no country to produce 
nuclear weapons, but, unfortunately, these weapons do exist and it 
is impossible to turn back time.  Right now,  everyone's main effort 
is to prevent other countries from producing nuclear weapons. 
Unfortunately, today North Korea has produced them and maybe 
tomorrow Iran will be next.  North Korea and Iran are the most 
dreaded countries to think of as nuclear weapon producers, because, 
both have declared their mortal enemies: North Korea has South Korea 
and Iran has Israel.  When the cold war between the US and the 
Soviet Union ended in 1989, the whole world relaxed.  Unfortunately, 
the same old concerns are disturbing the world once again, because 
some countries, who have openly announced their enemies, are 
establishing nuclear capability.  And, this could easily take us 
back to the dark days of the possibility of nuclear war." 
 
  Sami Kohen observed in the mainstream daily Milliyet (10/10): 
"When North Korea announced last week that it was going to carry out 
a nuclear test, only close neighbors like China, Japan and Russia 
took this announcement seriously and tried to warn the Kim-Jong-Il 
administration.  But, the North Koreans were determined to carry out 
 
ANKARA 00005862  003 OF 004 
 
 
their first atomic bomb test.  That is why North Korea's nuclear 
test did not come as a surprise but, undoubtedly immensely 
frightened the international community, including the countries in 
the region.  North Korea's nuclear test might encourage some other 
countries as well to produce nuclear weapons and with this 'chain 
reaction' the numbers will increase in the coming years.  Why does 
North Korea need nuclear weapons while its economy is weak and its 
people are suffering from poverty?  To own an atomic bomb is very 
important for Kim Jong-Il from two angles; one is to protect his 
dictator regime.  This is the most powerful way to stand against the 
pressures of the US and his other enemies.  Secondly, he wants to 
boost the morale of his people and to give the Koreans in the North 
a separate identity, by producing nuclear weapons. What results will 
come out of this leader's ambition and efforts?  Clearly the 
pressure over North Korea will increase, the country will be 
isolated and the country's poor will suffer even more." 
 
 
  TV Highlights 
  NTV (8 A.M.) 
 
  Domestic News 
 
  - A Turkish contingent of 260 soldiers, most of them military 
engineers, will fly to Lebanon on Tuesday to join UNIFIL. 
 
  - Turkey's chief EU negotiator Ali Babacan launched an EU tour 
covering Spain, Germany and Belgium.  Babacan will meet on Tuesday 
with EU officials and business representatives in Madrid. 
 
  - Turkey's budget deficit for the first eight months of the year 
reached USD 22.4 billion. The figure for the year 2005 was USD 23.1 
billion. 
 
  - The IMF delegation, headed by Turkey representative Hugh 
Bredenkamp, kicked off its fifth review inspection with meetings in 
the business world in Istanbul. 
 
  International News 
 
  - North Korea has placed its military on alert after carrying out 
a nuclear test that has not yet been confirmed by the US.  The UN 
Security Council met to discuss the situation.  The Turkish Foreign 
Ministry said in a statement, "We strongly condemn this act of North 
Korea, despite a UN Security Council request not to go ahead with 
the test as it would jeopardize peace, stability and security in the 
region." 
 
  - Russian President Putin is under strong criticism after Anna 
Politkovskaya, a prominent Russian journalist known for her critical 
coverage of the war in Chechnya, was shot dead in Moscow on October 
¶6. 
 
  - James Baker, a former secretary of state and the chairman of the 
Congressional Iraq Study Group, signaled that the Bush 
Administration is likely to shift course with regard to its Iraq 
policy. 
 
  - A senior Shiite Muslim cleric, Ayatollah Muhammad Kazemeini 
Boroujerdi, has been put under house arrest for challenging the 
Tehran Administration by calling for a separation of religion and 
politics. 
 
  - At least 13 have been killed and another 46 wounded yesterday 
when a car bomb exploded in a busy market in northeast Baghdad. 
 
 
  Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at 
 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ 
 
ANKARA 00005862  004 OF 004 
 
 
 
WILSON