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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 000529 
 
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 
THURSDAY, MARCH 8, 2007 
 
 
In Today's Papers 
 
Parliamentary Observation Gallery Guards Spark Headcover Debate 
Milliyet, Sabah, Radikal, Cumhuriyet and others report Turkish women 
wearing hats were blocked by guards from entering the general hall 
to observe a special session on International Women's Day in Turkish 
Parliament.  Women wearing headscarves, however, were allowed into 
the parliament.  Guards reportedly told the women hats were an 
"accessory" whereas headscarves were "part of an outfit."  "This is 
the AK Party's parliament," reads a Cumhuriyet headline on page one. 
 Papers quote CHP lawmaker Canan Aritman as saying Parliament 
Speaker Bulent Arinc was disturbed by women wearing hats, a symbol 
reminding him of a "revolution of the Republic" giving women modern 
rights.  In a message on the occasion of International Women's Day 
State Minister Nimet Cubukcu criticized the ban on headscarves, 
calling it "discrimination" as well as "violence directed against 
women in Turkey." 
 
Turkish Military Prepares Report on Media Institutions 
Radikal, Milliyet, Sabah, Hurriyet and others:  Nokta magazine, in 
its cover story carried a Turkish General Staff (TGS) report 
assessing media organizations, claiming that the three page 
memorandum noted that a new accreditation list was prepared by the 
TGS for the media organizations based on the "credibility" and 
"closeness" of these organizations to the military.  In the report, 
Hurriyet was described as a paper publishing balanced and objective 
reports about the military; Milliyet was described as not carrying 
sensational reports about the military; Sabah was called "reliable" 
even though it occasionally carried sensational reports about the 
military; Cumhuriyet was described as an "important paper for 
advocating secularism." On other papers the report supposedly says 
the following: Radikal -- even though generally negative, because of 
its distinct position in the media accreditation must continue, four 
writers' accreditation should be frozen temporarily; Aksam - Despite 
occasional technical mistakes, a positive paper for the military; 
Vatan - Although four columnists are against military intervention 
in politics, in general, paper carries positive reports on the 
military; Star - there are allegations that there are secret 
partners in the paper from AKP, accreditation should be shelved for 
a while; TRT -- Islamic and conservative programs are on increase; 
Anatolia Agency - there are allegations that AA ignores 
anti-government news. 
 
Deputy Assistant Secretary Bryza on Barzani, the PKK 
Radikal, Vatan and Zaman report Deputy Assistant Secretary Matt 
Bryza told CNN Turk Washington is not behind the messages issued by 
the northern Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani.  "Barzani knows 
we are against the PKK, he, however, acts independently," Bryza 
said.  Bryza said the two Kurdish parties in northern Iraq should 
work for the elimination of the PKK threat in the region.  Radikal 
reports Bryza said when asked if the US would handover the PKK 
leaders to Turkey, "Soon you'll see concrete results.  We are trying 
to make it happen, in the right place, at the right time, and all 
this requires a little luck."  Bryza also said northern Iraq could 
have autonomy within the framework of the Iraqi constitution, but 
stressed that raising options other than a unified Iraq would not 
bring any good. 
 
Lawsuits against Kurdish Politicians, Ocalan's Lawyers 
Hurriyet, Milliyet, Cumhuriyet, Radikal, Zaman and others report 
Turkey's main Kurdish party DTP's provincial head in the 
southeastern city of Batman has been arrested for expressing support 
in a press conference for the party's Diyarbakir branch head Hilmi 
Aydogdu, who said last month an attack on Kirkuk would be regarded 
as one made on Diyarbakir.  Former Kurdish party DEP lawmaker Sedat 
Yurttas has been sentenced to six months in prison for calling the 
PKK's imprisoned leader Abdullah Ocalan "Mr" during a program 
Yurttas attended on the Denmark-based pro-Kurdish Roj TV. 
The Diyarbakir prosecutor has launched an investigation against 
 
ANKARA 00000529  002 OF 003 
 
 
Mahmut Sakar and Irfan Dundar, the lawyers of Abdullah Ocalan, for 
raising charges at a news conference in Rome that their client was 
intoxicated.  Zaman reports Glcihan Simsek, a DTP head in the 
province of Van, addressed a women's gathering in Kurdish, using the 
title "Mr." when referring to Ocalan.  Simsek said any threat 
concerning the health of Ocalan in prison would strain the country. 
She called on the women at the meeting to speak Kurdish everywhere. 
 
 
CHP Report on East, Southeast Turkey 
The intellectual/Islamist-oriented Zaman reports a delegation from 
the main opposition party CHP submitted a report, "Problems in East 
and Southeast Turkey," to their leader Deniz Baykal after touring 10 
provinces in the region, meeting local politicians, NGOs, and 
others.  "The Kurdish party DTP is very effective in the region 
where the main problems are unemployment and poverty," the report 
says.  It adds the region's ethnic structure and piety were the main 
reasons that people there stay away from CHP, a party they regard as 
aloof to religion.  The report notes southeast Turkey was under the 
growing influence of the northern Iraqi Kurdish leader Massoud 
Barzani, stressing Turkey needs a special regional development fund 
amounting to five percent of the national budget. 
 
Editorial Commentary on the Middle East, Iraq 
Cengiz Candar observes in the economic daily Referans:  "Turkey is 
increasingly turning inwards.  In the meantime, the Middle East is 
going through a climate change as diplomacy prevails and regional 
actors along with the US enter into the scene in order to help out 
to end violence and war.  Saudi Arabia began to play a significant 
role and helped Palestinians to reach a consensus.  Shortly after 
that we have seen another remarkable development when the leaders of 
Iran and Saudi Arabia met, the two opposite sides of the Middle East 
political scene.  The upcoming Arab Summit in Riyadh needs to be 
watched closely because it will most likely create a significant 
impetus to the Middle East peace process.  Turkey has an important 
role to play in this political scene.  However its role and 
influence is mostly captivated by domestic political concerns and 
election-related considerations.  Turkey's relationship with the EU 
suffers from the same situation.  Given situations like this, any 
state is in need of a genuine statesman at an international caliber. 
 Whether Turkey has that is the question." 
 
In the economic-political daily Dunya, Zafer Atay comments on the 
situation in Iraq:  "According to the US General Petraeus aptly 
evaluates, the current magnitude of the US forces in Iraq is not 
good enough to finish the job.  That means the additional 21,500 
forces should be approved one way or the other.  American forces in 
Iraq are demoralized and also there is confusion about priorities 
between Washington and Baghdad.  Some American thinkers, like Henry 
Kissinger and Mike McConnell express concern over the possibility of 
intervention by Turkey and Iran in the event of growing civil war in 
Iraq after the US completely pulls out.  The magnitude of the fire 
in the region, if this happens, is frightening just to imagine." 
 
Greece to Postpone Maneuvers before Upcoming Gul Visit 
The intellectual/Islamist-oriented Zaman reports Foreign Minister 
Dora Bakoyannis wanted the Greek-Greek Cypriot joint military 
exercises "Toksotis" to be postponed over concerns that the 
maneuvers would coincide with an upcoming visit by Foreign Minister 
Abdullah Gul to Athens on March 28-29.   Defense Minister Evangelos 
Meimarakis, however, objected, saying maneuvers should be held on 
time as scheduled earlier, on March 27-28.  Zaman cites Greek daily 
Ta Nea as reporting Toksotis will be postponed once again due to 
pressure coming from the US. 
 
Conditional Access to You Tube 
Hurriyet, Vatan, Sabah, Milliyet, Bugun and others:  Papers report 
that a court in Istanbul has ruled that it would revoke the ban on 
the YouTube, the video social networking web site owned by Google, 
as soon as it ascertained that the offending videos had been removed 
 
ANKARA 00000529  003 OF 003 
 
 
from the website.  Earlier, access to YouTube's web site was blocked 
because of videos insulting Turkey's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. 
 
 
TV Highlights 
NTV, 6.00 A.M. 
 
Domestic News 
 
- Volkan Karaova, the suspect who fired in the air during a mass 
held in Istanbul's Virgin Mary Church to commemorate slain 
journalist Hrant Dink, said he was planning to kill Armenian 
Patriarch Mesrob Mutafyan. 
 
- Arzuhan Yalcindag, chairwoman of Turkey's elite business grouping 
TUSIAD, told the press after meeting the opposition CHP leader Deniz 
Baykal that Prime Minister Erdogan could become the new president if 
elected by the parliament.  A disillusioned Baykal intervened, 
saying in a sarcastic tone, "And TUSIAD has no objections to Erdogan 
as president." 
 
- Prime Minister Erdogan, accompanied by Turkish Cyprus leader 
Mehmet Ali Talat, will travel to Baku today to attend the "First 
Forum of World Azerbaijani and Turkish Diaspora Organizations." 
 
- Justice Minister Cemil Cicek paid a visit to women inmates in a 
prison in Ankara on the eve of International Women's Day.  Prime 
Minister Erdogan will participate in Women's Day celebrations in the 
central Anatolian city of Nevsehir on today. 
 
International News 
 
- The London-based al-Sharq al-Awsat claims Ali Reza Asqari, the 
Iranian former deputy defense minister who went missing in Turkey, 
is being interrogated by Americans in a north European country. 
 
- Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki announced Iran will 
attend Iraq's neighbors' meeting to be held in Baghdad over the 
weekend. 
 
- President Bush has called for an end to communism in Cuba after 
Fidel Castro passes away. 
 
- Mark Mobius of Franklin Templeton Investments said turmoil at 
emerging markets would continue for another two or three months. 
 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ 
 
WILSON