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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 001203 
 
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 
FRIDAY, MAY 18, 2007 
 
 
In Today's Papers 
 
CHP, DSP Agree on Election Pact 
All papers report following talks on Thursday, opposition parties 
CHP and DSP leaders Deniz Baykal and Zeki Sezer announced their 
decision to cooperate in the parliamentary elections to be held July 
¶22.  According to the deal between the two parties, DSP candidates 
will run on the CHP card in the elections without necessarily 
resigning from their party.  Sezer said he will not run for 
parliament, and added that after the elections, DSP and CHP would 
continue cooperation as two separate groups in the parliament.  The 
move follows a similar electoral pact between center-right parties 
Anavatan and DYP as Turkey gears up for the July election. 
 
Former Kurdish MPs' DTP Membership Cancelled; Law on Independent 
Candidates Approved 
All papers report Turkey's Supreme Court Chief Prosecutor's Office 
has issued an official warning to the mainly Kurdish DTP that former 
DEP members could not be included on DTP membership rolls.  The 
prosecutor said former [pro-Kurdish] DEP MPs including Leyla Zana, 
Hatip Dicle, Selim Sadak and Orhan Dogan had been found guilty of 
terrorism-related charges, making it illegitimate for them to join 
political parties.  The Turkish High Election Board (YSK) will rule 
whether they can run for parliament as independent candidates in the 
July 22 general elections. 
 
Meanwhile, President Sezer approved a law that calls for inclusion 
of names of independent candidates in the combined ballot papers in 
the general elections.  The bill was criticized by commentators for 
being an attempt to block Kurdish candidates from entering 
parliament, underlining that enforcement will make it more difficult 
for the less educated supporters of DTP in east and southeast Turkey 
to pick out their candidates on an already long and confusing ballot 
list.  Former Kurdish MPs told the press the court made a political 
decision, stressing they would take the issue to the European Court 
of Human Rights (ECHR). 
 
Editorial Commentary: Elections 
Ali Bayramoglu writes in the Islamist-oriented daily Yeni Safak: 
"Turkey is heading toward polarization and the picture before or 
after the elections will not change unless the country resolves its 
fundamental problems.  Normalization is what Turkey needs but it 
looks like the election mottos of the two leading parties, AKP and 
CHP, will be 'democracy at stake' and 'regime at stake' 
respectively.  In the election aftermath, regardless of the results 
Turkey is going to face the Kurdish issue and strong nationalism 
even though neither of them is a part of the debate right now.  The 
mainly Kurdish DTP decided to run their parliament candidates as 
independents.  However as long as the official policy line regarding 
the Kurdish issue remains the same, independent (Kurdish) members of 
parliament run the risk of creating new tension, not solving the 
issue.  If the election process is made tougher for independents, 
which both the AKP and CHP support, then the Kurdish issue will 
inevitably lead to a point of growing conflict.  Turkish politics is 
trying to expand itself on one hand while narrowing its limits on 
the other." 
 
Guneri Civaoglu writes in the mainstream daily Milliyet: "The 
election alliances on the center right and center left are 
historically important, and have the potential to change the course 
of the upcoming elections.  In the last elections, in 2002, the DYP 
had the potential of 30 percent representation in the parliament if 
it hadn't been for the 10 percent threshold requirement.  The 
alliance by DYP and ANAP as well as DSP and CHP will be able to 
produce some results which might change Turkey's political destiny. 
Their cooperation will certainly give a big impetus to unhappy or 
undecided voters.  Given the current situation, it is almost certain 
that three parties will be represented in the parliament, namely 
AKP, CHP-DSP, and DYP-ANAP.  There is also a strong possibility that 
MHP will exceed the ten percent threshold and that independent names 
 
ANKARA 00001203  002 OF 002 
 
 
on behalf of DTP could win.  All of those are strong possibilities 
and remind us of a fact that Turkish politics has witnessed before 
-- one party, in this case AKP, can enjoy as much as 40 percent of 
the votes but not have enough seats to be the ruling party." 
 
Operations against PKK along Turkey-Iraq Border Continue 
Milliyet, Sabah, Zaman and others:  Mainstream Sabah reports that 
around 20,000 Turkish troops increased their activities in 
operations against the PKK along the Turkey-Iraq border.  In order 
to prevent the infiltration of PKK terrorists, troops have been 
deployed at strategic points along the border to form a buffer zone. 
 Many tanks with long-range missiles have been dispatched to the 
region.  Islamist-oriented Zaman says that Turkish Security Forces 
are on the alert because the PKK's self-declared cease-fire expires 
on May 18.  Mainstream Milliyet reports that the operations are 
backed by Sikorsky and Cobra helicopters, as well as F-16 jets. 
 
One Year Anniversary of Danistay Assassination Commemorated 
All papers report on memorial ceremonies for Yucel Ozbilgin, a 
member of the Turkish Council of State (Danistay) who was killed in 
an armed attack one year ago. The Supreme Court did not invite the 
any members of the AKP government to the ceremony held at the 
Council of State headquarters. 
 
TV Highlights 
NTV, 7.00 A.M. 
 
Domestic News 
 
- Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul has rejected a proposal coming from 
the French President Sarkozy to form a "Mediterranean Union," urging 
the EU to honor its pledges to Turkey. 
 
- The Turkish Parliament has approved a bill to establish new 
universities in 17 provinces. 
 
- A mass gathering, one in a series of rallies in support of the 
secular republic, will be held in the Black Sea city of Samsun on 
May 20. 
 
- The second "Iraq International Fair" will be held in the 
southeastern city of Gaziantep from May 23-27 under the auspices of 
the Iraqi Ministry of Trade and Forum Exhibitions. 
 
International News 
 
- The US State Department confirmed on Thursday senior US and 
Iranian officials will meet in Baghdad on May 28 to discuss the 
security situation in Iraq. 
 
- Outgoing British Prime Minister Tony Blair has defended the 
"special relationship" with the US, warning it would be a "dark day" 
for Britain if it was ever abandoned by Washington. 
 
- A decades-old rift in the Russian Orthodox Church was mended when 
Patriarch Alexy II and Metropolitan Laurus, who heads the exiled, 
New York-based Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia, signed 
Thursday a "historic" unification act in a ceremony in Moscow. 
 
- A report by the Royal Institute for International Affairs says the 
Iraqi government is now powerless in many parts of the country, 
warning Iraq faces the distinct possibility of collapse and 
fragmentation. 
 
WILSON