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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 001411 
 
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, JUNE 6, 2007 
 
 
In Today's Papers 
 
Party Lists Cause Controversy 
All papers focus on analysis of the lists of party candidates who 
will run in the  July 22 general elections.  AKP leader Erdogan has 
removed 163 existing MPs whereas CHP took 60 off its party lists, in 
what papers are calling a "political facelift."  CHP also positioned 
30 current deputies at the bottom of the lists, making their 
election unlikely.  Prime Minister Erdogan's statement that AKP is a 
"centrist" party is reflected in the choice of candidates, as 
several MPs closely associated with former Islamist parties were 
removed and more women included.  Mainstream papers believe AKP is 
eliminating the supporters of the Islamist movement "Milli Gorus," 
pointing out that only three theologians were among the 550 
parliamentary candidates nominated by Erdogan, but that there are 95 
lawyers and 88 engineers on the party list.  Mainstream Hurriyet 
says some AKP figures known to be close to "Milli Gorus" believe 
that the list was prepared under pressure from the military.  The 
paper notes that 99 of the AKP lawmakers purged by Erdogan had 
objected to the March 1 decree to allow the transfer of US troops 
through Turkey to Iraq in 2003.  Islamist-oriented Zaman says the 
new team set up by Erdogan will help the party change the 
constitution to a more democratic and civilian one.  After the 
elections, the AKP will also prioritize solving problems with the 
judiciary, according to the paper. 
 
AKP nominated 62 female candidates and CHP 52 for the July 22 
elections.  Forty women are expected to win seats in parliament from 
the two parties, though women's organizations say most of the 
nominees are ranked near the bottom of the lists, making it unlikely 
for them to get elected. 
 
The smaller political parties nominated independent candidates over 
fears that they would not be able to cross the 10 percent threshold. 
 The pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) leader Ahmet Turk, 
leftist Freedom and Solidarity Party (ODP) leader Ufuk Uras, and the 
Conservative-nationalist Grand Unity Party (BBP) leader Muhsin 
Yazicioglu will be running as independent candidates. 
 
The High Election Board will announce the final candidate lists on 
June 10. 
 
Turkish Troops Continue Operations in Southeast Turkey 
Milliyet and Zaman report the Turkish military continues its buildup 
of troops and armored vehicles on the border with Iraq, as it 
continues carrying out operations around Cabar and Cudi mountains in 
Sirnak province along the border.  Zaman says some 50,000 troops, 
supported by jetfighters, helicopters and tanks, continued 
operations in 11 provinces in southeast Turkey after seven gendarmes 
were killed by the PKK on Monday. 
 
Turkey Mourns for its Martyrs 
Sabah, Milliyet, Hurriyet, Vatan, Cumhuriyet, Radikal and others: 
The bodies of the seven soldiers who were killed in a terrorist 
attack on a gendarmerie post in Tunceli were returned to their 
hometowns following an official ceremony in Elazig.  Military 
officers attended the funeral ceremony along with citizens carrying 
Turkish flags and chanting anti-PKK slogans.  Mainstream Hurriyet 
and Sabah, leftist-nationalist Cumhuriyet and Islamist-oriented 
Zaman report that the main goal of the PKK terrorists was to blow 
the mess hall up while all 60 soldiers were there.  Reportedly, 
while one terrorist was firing on the soldiers guarding the 
entrance, the other one attempted to enter the mess with three kilos 
of A-4 explosives on him.  He managed to throw two hand-grenades in 
the compound but was shot dead by the soldiers just before he 
entered the mess.  Mainstream Vatan highlights another fact on its 
front page: as always, all the martyrs were from poor families 
because there were no sons of politicians, generals or celebrities 
at this mountain top post. 
 
 
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Editorial Opinion: Cross-Border Operation 
Okay Gonensin writes in the mainstream daily Vatan:  "Turkey is 
going through a politically challenging period.  The country is in 
urgent need of stable governance and out-of-system interventions 
should be eliminated.  Regarding northern Iraq, the defenders of 
military intervention via a cross-border operation have become more 
vocal than others.  Every terrorist attack is providing more fuel to 
this debate.  We should be very careful about the ongoing and 
increasing efforts to drag Turkey into the Northern Iraqi quagmire. 
A compilation of recent newspaper stories on this matter makes me 
wonder if there is a strong hand trying to divert Turkey into 
Northern Iraq.  Turkish politics is in turbulence and there is a 
lack of successful management.  Given the current situation, the 
targets of the increased terror attacks must be carefully analyzed. 
Ankara is responsible for lifting the tarps and sharing information 
with the public.  Otherwise the northern Iraqi quagmire is ahead of 
us." 
 
Musical Message to Turkey from the EU 
Mainstream Milliyet and Vatan report that at a conference held in 
Istanbul yesterday, EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said 
"Turkey alone sets the rhythm of EU harmonization reforms.  It can 
be a quick samba or a slow waltz, but the band and the music must 
not stop."  Rehn also drew attention to the mutual interests of 
Turkey and the EU by saying "There is a wide range of geopolitical 
challenges and opportunities in the region which the EU needs to 
address together with Turkey, such as the stability of Iraq, the 
Middle East peace process, relations with Iran.  Turkey is a 
cornerstone in the wider Middle East and a key regional actor in 
South Eastern Europe."  Meanwhile, leftist-nationalist Cumhuriyet 
reports that according to EU circles, the possibility is weak that 
the three new chapters on Turkey's EU bid will be opened by June 26 
because technical preparations for the opening of the talks will not 
be completed by the date. 
 
Editorial Opinion: G-8 Summit 
Mensur Akgun writes in the business and political daily Referans: 
"The G-8 summit is convening with a loaded agenda, including global 
warming, hedge funds, the future of Kosovo and the Iranian nuclear 
program.  Given the seriousness of every issue, it will be unlikely 
to see a full consensus on them all.  Yet this time differences of 
opinion are deeper than they were at the 1994 Naples summit. 
Russia, which joined the group in 1998, is experiencing serious 
differences with the US.  Putin had enough difficulty accepting the 
NATO presence in the Russian backyard, and this time they cannot 
tolerate missiles planted from Czech to Poland.  However the tension 
is probably not going to increase more during the G-8 summit and 
leaders will come up with some middle-way formulas.  The world is 
not in post-WWII conditions politically or economically speaking. 
One thing is certain though: the honeymoon between the two worlds in 
the post-cold war era is over.  The world system, even though it 
looks like a one-polar world on the surface, is doomed to produce 
new tensions in new formats." 
 
 
TV Highlights 
NTV (6 A.M.) 
 
Domestic News 
 
- About 10,000 people staged protests in Izmir to condemn terror 
following the PKK attack that killed seven soldiers in a gendarme 
outpost in Tunceli. 
 
- A prosecutor demanded a total of 2,000 years of prison sentence 
for the chairmen of a building society which sold 86 apartment flats 
to 500 people. 
 
- Prime Minister Erdogan will join the meeting of   the World Forum 
of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) 
 
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to be held in Istanbul June 27-30. 
 
- Energy Minister Hilmi Guler said Turkey was determined to complete 
the Nabucco project for the shipment of Caspian natural gas to 
European markets. 
 
International News 
 
- President Ahmadinejad said now it was too late to stop Tehran's 
nuclear program as Western powers are launching new efforts to 
impose new UN sanctions against Iran. 
 
- Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Washington's agreement to use 
a military airbase in Kyrgyzstan was necessary to support the war in 
Afghanistan. 
 
- Amnesty International marked the 40th anniversary of the 1967 
Arab-Israel war with a call for Israel to dismantle West Bank 
settlements, for the Palestinians to end attacks on Israeli 
civilians and for the international community to monitor both sides. 
 
 
- The Basque separatist group ETA said it will end its 15 month-old 
ceasefire at midnight on Tuesday, warning Spain's government of new 
attacks "on all fronts." 
WILSON