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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 001066 
 
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 
MONDAY, MAY 7, 2007 
 
 
In Today's Papers 
 
Gul Withdraws Candidacy; Preparations for Parliamentary Elections 
Continue: 
 
All papers report that Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul withdrew his 
candidacy for the Presidency on Sunday after the Parliament again 
failed to reach the quorum needed to elect a new president. 
Parliament was short of the 367 legislators needed to proceed with 
the vote after holding two separate roll calls. Following the 
parliamentary session, the sole candidate in the Presidential 
elections, Foreign Minister Gul announced his withdrawal saying that 
it would be meaningless to proceed with the next rounds of voting. 
Following Gul's announcement, PM Erdogan, in response to 
journalists' questions implied that he would not try to push through 
the constitutional change to allow direct elections of the President 
by the public in time for the upcoming parliamentary elections on 
July 22 saying, "it seems that there will be one ballot box put in 
front of the voters on July 22." 
 
Turkish Parties Unite before July's General Elections: 
 
All papers report over the weekend and Monday that two Turkish 
center-right opposition parties, Anavatan and DYP, merged on 
Saturday in an effort to strengthen opposition against the ruling 
AKP in July's general election.  Anavatan and the DYP are now 
expected to formalize the merger at upcoming party conventions, 
slated for June 2 and May 20 respectively, under the name "Democrat 
Party."  Agar and Mumcu will lead the party as rotating co-chairmen. 
 Center-left opposition leaders Deniz Baykal of the CHP and Zeki 
Sezer of the DSP met Saturday night to discuss ways to unite after 
Sezer rejected a call from Baykal to close down his party and merge 
with the CHP.  The two leaders agreed DSP members would join the CHP 
without closing down the DSP.  The first stage of the union is for 
the DSP, which has no seats in the parliament, to go to the polls 
under the CHP card before the second stage of a full union, which 
could happen after the election. 
 
EDITORIAL OPINION: Turkey's Political Situation and the US approach 
 
Several US-based Turkish columnists analyzed Washington's approach 
to the current political situation in Turkey. 
 
Rusen Cakir writes in the mainstream daily Vatan: "When President 
Sezer was warning against the danger of moderate Islam transforming 
eventually into radical Islam, he was not only targeting the ruling 
AKP but also was giving a message to the Western world, particularly 
the US.  The fact of the matter is that there are many high-level 
American officials who totally agree with this view, including 
President Bush, VP Cheney and their staffers.  Even though Turkey's 
staunchly secular society strongly believes that the US is behind 
the AKP since this is all part of the 'moderate Islam project,' 
there are many in the Washington administration who are against the 
AKP.  The Bush administration lost its full trust in the AKP as of 
March 1, 2003, and has worked closely with the military in order to 
balance the relationship.  The main wish in Washington for Turkey's 
future is to see a centrist political and civilian alternative to 
the AKP." 
 
Yasemin Congar writes in the mainstream daily Milliyet: "Washington 
started with balanced statements about the military warning by 
trying to stay neutral between politicians and the military, but 
supporters of a military coup have taken Washington's statement 
positively.  Five days later, the Bush administration changed its 
rhetoric and made it clear that 'military intervention in the 
Constitutional process is unacceptable.'  Secretary Rice also added 
her comments on this matter by stating that the US view is in line 
with the EU view.  Regardless of the speculation on why it happened, 
the fact of the matter is that the US administration changed its 
position in a week from 'we do not take sides' to the 'military 
 
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should not intervene'." 
 
Ali H. Aslan writes in the intellectual Islamist-oriented daily 
Zaman: "Contrary to common belief in Turkey, the Pentagon does not 
necessarily support military coups even though Pentagon officials 
may remain silent if they think the situation works for US 
interests.  The September 12, 1980, military coup in Turkey did not 
receive a lot of criticism from Washington simply because its main 
target was communist movements -- also on the US list of threats. 
As for the military warning process on February 28, 1997, it also 
worked toward the American interests because its main target was the 
Islamists.  Now the most recent military warning on April 27 is 
under the protection of some at the Pentagon who consider the ruling 
AKP a threat.  Currently the US does not want to be supportive of 
the Islamist AKP but at the same time does not want to be seen as 
advocating a coup either.  Washington's position can be summed up as 
a 'military warning is okay but a military coup is definitely not.' 
In other words, the military warning functioned as a 'fine tuning' 
of AKP policy and the US did not make a big fuss about it." 
 
Rumors of Haniyah Visit to Turkey in May: 
The leftist-nationalist Cumhuriyet reports Palestine Embassy 
officials in Ankara said Prime Minister Ismail Haniyah will visit 
Turkey later this month as part of a tour of Indonesia, Malaysia and 
South Africa.  The Turkish Foreign Ministry (MFA) declined comment. 
Cumhuriyet reports that in a meeting in Riyadh earlier this year, 
Prime Minister Erdogan had invited Palestine president Mahmoud Abbas 
and Haniya to Turkey, but the Turkish PM's office stated in the face 
of strong reactions from the US and Israel that Haniyah was not 
invited. 
 
Turkey Wants Command of UN's Kosovo, Lebanon Sea Operations: 
 
Tabloid Aksam reports Turkey is to take over the command of UN 
peacekeeping force in Kosovo as of May 16 for a one-year term, 
during which Turkish troops in the UN force will be increased. 
Turkey also wants to take the command of the UN naval force 
patrolling the Mediterranean, according to Aksam. 
 
TV News: 
(NTV, 8 A.M.) 
 
Domestic News 
 
- Two Turkish soldiers have been killed in Sirnak and two PKK 
militants in Hatay in skirmishes between the security forces and PKK 
terrorists over the weekend. 
 
- On Saturday, tens of thousands voiced support for the secular 
republic at rallies in the cities of Manisa and Canakkale. 
 
- Turkey's High Electoral Board has announced 21 parties will 
participate in the parliamentary elections on July 22. 
 
- Turkish Central Bank expects the decrease in inflation to 
continue, and warned the government to take budget spending under 
control on the eve of the upcoming general elections. 
 
International News 
 
- Kurdish regional administration president Massoud Barzani is set 
to address the European Parliament Foreign Relations Committee on 
Tuesday. 
 
- Some 2,000 Turks held a protest rally in Duisburg, Germany in 
support of the secular regime in Turkey. 
 
- A car bomb killed 37 people and wounded 80 in a crowded market in 
a Shiite district of Baghdad. 
 
 
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- Eight Afghan policemen and 17 Taliban insurgents were killed in a 
conflict in the Farah province west of Afghanistan. 
 
WILSON