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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 005883 
 
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 11, 2006 
 
 
  In Today's Papers 
 
  Reaction to France Continues in Turkey 
  All papers report Prime Minister Erdogan told his ruling AKP group 
yesterday that the approval of the genocide bill in France would not 
bring any changes for Turkey, but would have 'disastrous 
consequences' for France.  Erdogan denounced the Armenian genocide 
bill, which will be discussed in the French Parliament on Thursday, 
as an 'eclipse of reason' marking a 'return to the Middle Ages.' 
 
  Several papers stress that if the bill is passed, French 
businesses would be excluded from up to $20 billion in investment in 
Turkey.  Some French companies were preparing participate in a state 
contract for the construction of a USD 5 billion nuclear power plant 
in the Black Sea province of Sinop, some others were short-listed in 
a bid to purchase of USD 2 billion in subway trains for the Istanbul 
Municipality, and the French Eurocopter manufacturers were among the 
hopefuls in the helicopter purchases recently announced by the 
Turkish Defense Industry Undersecretariat. 
 
  Papers report former French culture minister and presidential 
hopeful Jacques Lang told Liberation that the Armenian genocide bill 
constituted a violation of the French constitution.  Yeni Safak 
claims Armenian President Robert Kocharian warned President Chirac 
during a visit to Paris to withdraw the bill, stressing an adoption 
would damage Yerevan's improving ties with Turkey.  The paper also 
claims the Turkish Foreign Ministry (MFA) would apply to the 
European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in a preemptive effort to 
block other European parliaments to follow suit. 
 
  The Patriarch of the Armenian community in Turkey, Mesrob II, said 
the bill would damage ties between the Turks and Armenians, 
strengthening nationalists on both sides. 
 
  Turkey's main Kurdish party DTP leader Ahmet Turk said Europe had 
weakened initiatives for democratization in Turkey by raising 
Armenian genocide claims without waiting for a settlement of the 
Kurdish problem in Turkey. 
 
  Ralston Due to Visit Ankara 
  Radikal, Cumhuriyet, Milliyet and Yeni Safak report the US Special 
Envoy for Countering the PKK, retired General Joseph Ralston will 
visit Ankara on Monday to hold talks with his Turkish counterpart 
Edip Baser, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul and other officials. 
Cumhuriyet reports, citing unidentified security sources, that it 
was still unclear whether the Iraqi envoy Shirwan al-Walily will 
join Ralston and Baser in Ankara.  Ralston and Baser will discuss 
the PKK ceasefire decision, says Cumhuriyet, quoting unnamed 
diplomatic sources saying the US 'overemphasized' the call by the 
PKK, and that Ralston might ask the Turks to take steps in reaction 
to the ceasefire.  Ralston will ask for an 'integration process' for 
any PKK militants laying down arms, and will even offer funds to 
facilitate the efforts, according to the paper. 
 
  Turkish Military Delegation Visits Beirut 
  Milliyet, Cumhuriyet, Sabah, Yeni Safak, Turkiye and Radikal 
report an eight-member delegation from the Turkish General Staff 
(TGS) traveled to Beirut to inspect the areas where the first 
dispatch of Turkish military engineers will be stationed as well as 
to hold talks with the Lebanese authorities.  A 260-strong Turkish 
contingent is to be deployed soon to the coastal city of Sur to join 
UNIFIL. The Turkish Navy's 'TCG Gaziantep' frigate, which left 
Turkey for Lebanon on Friday, will assume its duties as of October 
¶15.  Turkiye reports that USD 15 million in Turkish aid to help in 
the recovery of war-stricken Lebanon continued. 
 
  Editorial Commentary on North Korea 
 
  Mehmet Barlas wrote in the mass appeal Sabah (10/11):  "We are 
 
ANKARA 00005883  002 OF 003 
 
 
living in the 'information and communication' century.  Even China 
decorates its shelf of communism, not with its nuclear power, but 
with its production and export capacity.  The atomic bombs they 
produced to use against each other, does not give either Pakistan or 
India their "Super Power" status in the world politics.  Israel's 
nuclear power is a serious problem for the Middle East.  How could 
Iran defend its uranium enrichment program if Israel did not have 
nuclear power?  While the world recognizes South Korea with the 
goods they produce, all everyone knows about North Korea is that 
they are a communist regime.  While the people in South Korea live a 
prosperous life, North Koreans suffer poverty.  And now, 
additionally, North Korea possesses a nuclear bomb.  In short; from 
now on, North Korea is a poor and isolated country with nuclear 
power.  In the end, South Korea's development beats North Korea, 
just as the West Germany's development beat East Germany's 
ideology." 
 
  Cuneyt Ulsever commented in the mass appeal Hurriyet (10/11): 
"North Korea was encouraged by Pakistan's struggle to possess 
nuclear power and make world accept it.  Now, there is no excuse 
left for Iran not to follow North Korea's example.  The observers 
believe that if the UN Security Council applies political and 
economic sanctions against North Korea and Iran, they will be 
discouraged to continue their nuclear programs.  However, the same 
observers believe that Russia and China would not approve such 
sanctions.  Being aware of the situation, President Bush said 'we 
can not keep a blind eye to North Korea selling nuclear weapons to 
other countries and organizations', while four years ago he was 
saying that 'it is unacceptable for North Korea to possess nuclear 
power'.  Assuming that the US has lost the power struggle with North 
Korea, Turkey should not be happy with these developments.  Iran 
will be encouraged to produce a nuclear bomb now and Turkey should 
consider the dangers of nuclear weapons possessed by Iran and 
Al-Qaeda in the Middle East.  North Korea's test and it's impact on 
the US is an important topic for the entire world.  The reaction of 
the US will determine the Middle East's future." 
 
  Kurdish Party Wants Ethnic Parties Allowed 
  Following a statement of the True Path Party (DYP) leader Mehmet 
Agar earlier in the week Yeni Safak reports that an amnesty could be 
considered for the PKK members to lay down arms and engage in 
politics, the Kurdish party DTP has sent a letter to Turkish 
Parliament, AKP, CHP, and ANAP asking for removal of the 10 percent 
threshold in general elections in Turkey, and the establishment of 
parties based on ethnic grounds.  Cumhuriyet says Agar's proposal 
has been welcomed by AKP lawmakers from east and southeast Turkey, 
but that the 'nationalists' in the ruling party have reacted 
negatively. 
 
  Turkish Teenage Priest Killer Sentenced to 18 Years 
  Hurriyet, Milliyet, Sabah, Cumhuriyet, Radikal, Zaman and others 
report a Turkish court on Tuesday sentenced a 16-year-old boy to 18 
years in jail for shooting dead an Italian Catholic priest, Father 
Andrea Santoro, while he was praying in his church in the Black Sea 
city of Trabzon in February.  The court in Trabzon said the boy had 
been found guilty of 'premeditated murder, possessing a weapon 
without a license and endangering public security.'  Under Turkish 
penal standards, the boy will likely only serve 10 years in prison. 
 
 
  Turkish Embassy Car Burned in Athens 
  Cumhuriyet reports a guard's car at the Turkish Embassy in Athens 
was burned on Monday night.  Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul is to 
visit Athens next week.  Last year, the mayor of Istanbul, Kadir 
Topbas, cancelled a visit to Athens when Greek officials added to 
his program a ceremony for the opening of a monument in honor of the 
Pontus people who had migrated from Turkey's Black Sea region to 
Greece.  Also last year, the Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis 
cancelled his trip to Turkey, drawing criticism from his Turkish 
counterpart Tayyip Erdogan. 
 
ANKARA 00005883  003 OF 003 
 
 
 
 
  TV Highlights 
  NTV (7 A.M.) 
 
  Domestic News 
 
  - Turkish associations in Europe will stage protest rallies 
against the Armenian genocide bill in Paris. 
 
  - One Turkish soldier drowned while trying to rescue two illegal 
immigrants in Habur River near the southeastern border town of 
Sirnak.  The two immigrants went missing. 
 
  - Turkish and Syrian electricity institutions agreed to sell 
Turkish electricity to Syria. 
 
  - A visiting IMF delegation pressed the Turkish government to 
stick to its 6.5 percent primary surplus target, giving up subsidies 
for state economic enterprises and electricity production. 
 
  - Mayor Kadir Topbas said the Istanbul Municipality would kick off 
the construction of a third bridge over the Bosphorus in 2007. 
 
  International News 
 
  - The Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said North Korea had 
de facto become the world's ninth nuclear power. 
 
  - Iranian lawmakers called on President Ahmadinejad to cut 
economic ties with Denmark after Danish television showed a cartoon 
video on the Prophet Muhammad. 
 
  - Iranian officials stressed the European Union had been rigid in 
negotiating with Tehran and pressed the EU to resume talks on trade 
ties which had been suspended because of the ongoing nuclear row. 
 
  - An Italian prosecutor investigating the hijacking of a Turkish 
airliner to Italy said it will take about two years to launch a 
court case against the suspected Turkish hijacker. 
 
  - Iraqi police found 60 bodies dumped across Baghdad, thought to 
have been the victims of sectarian death squads. 
 
 
  Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at 
 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ 
 
WILSON