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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 001024 
 
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, MAY 1, 2007 
 
In Today's Papers 
 
Presidential Debates Continue in Turkey 
All papers report that the ruling AKP is awaiting the result of the 
Constitutional Court deliberation on opposition CHP's application 
for a suspension of presidential election, while the opposition has 
renewed its call for an early election to resolve the crisis.  The 
court decision is due on Tuesday or early Wednesday.  The 
"rapporteur" for the Constitutional Court has recommended the court 
reject the CHP challenge to the presidential election, but the 
recommendation is not binding.  Parliament is due to hold a second 
round of voting in the presidential election on Wednesday.  If the 
voting goes ahead as planned, Gul, the only candidate standing, is 
expected to win the presidency in the third round on May 9. 
 
CHP leader Deniz Baykal, speaking to press yesterday, said it's 
important that the Constitutional Court deliver "a ruling which 
would prevent Turkey from drifting into a crisis."  Dengir Mir 
Mehmet Firat, a prominent figure in the ruling AKP, accused Baykal 
of threatening the high court.  Opposition Anavatan Party leader 
Erkan Mumcu urged Abdullah Gul to withdraw his candidacy without 
waiting for the high court's decision.  "Gul's withdrawal will open 
the way to democracy," Mumcu told press yesterday.  Prime Minister 
Erdogan appealed for national unity in a television address on 
Monday night, stressing continuing Turkey's strong economic growth 
requires stability and peace. 
 
Mainstream Vatan says political sources in Ankara cite August 5 as a 
possible date for early elections, while the AKP believes a poll 
could be held on July 1 or 8 if preparations are completed on time. 
After two mass meetings in Ankara and Istanbul in defense of 
secularism and democracy in Turkey, similar protests are to be held 
in the Aegean cities of Manisa and Izmir in the first half of May, 
say papers. 
 
Rattled by the military's threat to intervene in the presidential 
process, say papers, Turkish financial markets recorded their 
biggest decline in a year on Monday. 
 
Editorial Commentary on Turkish Democracy 
Oral Calislar writes in the leftist-nationalist daily Cumhuriyet: 
"We have to face reality.  Unless Turkey goes through a fundamental 
system change, the crisis will never end.  Turkey's current 
political system, a product of the September 12, 1980, coup, plays a 
role in preventing Turkey from becoming a developed, progressive 
country.  It seems the current crisis in the parliament will only be 
transferred to the next parliament, whatever the composition.  In 
other words, elections under the current system will bring only an 
interim solution.  If Turkey changes its Election Law and Political 
Parties Law, it can facilitate a solid democracy which also will be 
a reassurance for eliminating worries about secularism." 
 
Sahin Alpay wrote in the Islamist-intellectual daily Zaman: 
"Secularism requires showing respect for all faiths and treating 
then equally. It can only be safe under a democratic regime. 
Expanding freedoms and democracy will help secularism be adopted by 
the vast majority.  The ruling AKP has its share of responsibility 
for the [April 27] military warning.  It was obvious from the very 
beginning that the presidential election should be carried out 
through consensus between the ruling party and the opposition, 
between the civilian and military bureaucracies.  It was also 
obvious that in the absence of consensus, a general election would 
be necessary.  Yet the AKP treated the matter as if it was an 
internal party issue." 
 
Sezer Brings Together Karzai, Musharraf 
All papers report President Sezer hosted a meeting with Afghan and 
Pakistan presidents Hamid Karzai and Pervez Musharraf in Ankara on 
Monday.  Karzai and Musharraf issued a joint statement, the Ankara 
Declaration, which reiterates the two leaders' commitment to 
 
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fighting all forms of "extremism and terrorism through coordinated 
action."  "The two leaders agreed to further strengthen bilateral 
ties, respect for territorial integrity and non-interference in each 
others' internal affairs," the declaration said.  Karzai and 
Musharraf also called for concerted efforts to tackle increased 
poppy cultivation in Afghanistan, underlining its role in spreading 
drug trafficking and organized crime in the region. 
 
Journalists Sued under Article 301 
Liberal Radikal reports following an application by Turkish Justice 
Ministry, a prosecutor in Istanbul has filed under Article 301, the 
law that makes it illegal to "insult Turkishness," a lawsuit against 
journalists Lale Sariibrahimoglu and Ahmet Sik for "discouraging 
Turkish citizens from military service" in an interview in the 
political weekly magazine Nokta after the murder of Armenian-Turkish 
journalist Hrant Dink.  Sariibrahimoglu, a senior defense 
correspondent working for Jane's Defense Weekly and other 
publications, reportedly discussed the conflict between Turkish 
military and police in the interview with Sik.  Prosecutors also 
launched another lawsuit under Article 301 against Nokta 
correspondent Banu Uzpeder for an interview they held on the 
anniversary of gendarmerie operations against political prisoners. 
The operations, which occurred about ten years ago, resulted in the 
killing of scores of political prisoners. 
 
Turkish Truck Drivers Abducted in Iraq 
Milliyet, Sabah, Radikal, Cumhuriyet, Zaman and others report gunmen 
from the insurgent "Tawhid al-Jihad" group set fire to 15 fuel 
trucks on the Samarra-Ramadi highway south of Kirkuk on Sunday and 
kidnapped all the drivers including two Turks.   Over the weekend, 
two Turkish truck drivers were killed near Tikrit. 
 
US Annual Intellectual Property Rights Report 
Mainstream Milliyet reports 12 countries including Turkey have been 
listed in the US annual Intellectual Property Rights report as 
countries under the "priority watch list," for failing to protect 
producers of copyrighted, patented and trademarked materials, such 
as movies, music, and computer programs. 
 
TV Highlights 
NTV, 7.00 A.M. 
 
Domestic News 
 
- Istanbul's governor has enforced a security clampdown around 
Taksim Square to prevent May Day rallies on Tuesday, rejecting labor 
unions' request to demonstrate in the city centre.  Some 17,000 
policemen have been stationed across the city. 
 
- Independent MPs Hakki Akalin, Ersoy Bulut and Mustafa Sayar have 
urged the AKP government to call early polls. 
 
- Prosecutor demands 216-year prison sentence for former Housing 
Minister Koray Aydin accused of rigging state auctions. 
 
- CHP MP Inal Baku has resigned from his party and joined opposition 
center-right DYP. 
 
International News 
 
- EU term president Germany has called on Turkey to uphold 
democracy.  EU officials said the Turkish government should take 
into account the democratic protests voiced at a rally in Istanbul 
on Sunday. 
 
- The Financial Times says as Turkey ponders a military incursion 
into northern Iraq against the PKK, the US warned Ankara to learn a 
lesson from Israel's "strategic defeat" in Lebanon last summer. 
 
- French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said Europe and 
 
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France attach special importance to protection of secularism in 
Turkey. 
 
- Five British men with links to al-Qaida have been sentenced to 
life in prison after being found guilty of plotting a series of bomb 
attacks in Britain. 
 
WILSON