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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 001619 
 
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, JUNE 25, 2007 
 
In Today's Papers 
 
AKP Unveils Election Manifesto 
All papers report Turkey's ruling AKP unveiled its election 
manifesto on Sunday, pledging to trim the powers of the president. 
AKP said in its manifesto it would change the constitution, but 
through "the broadest social consensus," and would also reform the 
judiciary.  It also says that by 2013, the AKP aimed for Turkey's 
income per capita to rise to USD 10,000 from around USD 5,000.  The 
manifesto notes fiscal discipline would remain tight, and envisages 
single digit inflation, lower unemployment, and yearly exports of 
over USD 200 billion.  Papers note that some perennial issues such 
as the headscarf problem, the Imam-Hatip Islamic cleric-training 
schools, and immunity for parliamentarians were not mentioned in the 
AKP manifesto. 
 
Editorial Commentary on Turkish General Elections and the PKK 
Yilmaz Oztuna comments in the conservative daily Milliyet:  "Even 
though every party leader makes speeches and pledges to people as 
part of the election campaign, two issues are certain to result in 
crisis after the election, as has been suggested by PM Erdogan. 
First of all, electing a president is going to be the first duty of 
the brand new parliament.   If a parliamentary consensus on this 
issue is not achieved, we will end up having a political crisis 
immediately.  Secondly the ongoing crisis related to PKK terrorism 
will remains a fact before and after the elections.  In this 
election atmosphere, a cross-border operation by Turkey will create 
an impact on domestic politics.  Just as the outside world expects 
from Turkey, it will be rational to wait until the election is over 
and a new political equilibrium emerges before taking any 
operational action." 
 
Black Sea Economic Cooperation Summit (BSEC) 
Vatan, Sabah, Milliyet and others report that the BSEC summit will 
be held in Istanbul today, marking the 15th anniversary of the 
group's establishment.  President Sezer will open the meeting with 
the remarks at the Ciragan Palace today.  Turkey attaches great 
importance to the meeting and is planning to call for increased 
efforts in the areas of transport, energy, trade, environment and 
combating terrorism.  Russian President Putin, Azerbaijan President 
Aliyev, Serbian President Tadjic, Bulgarian President Pirvanov, 
Moldovan President Voronin, Ukrainian President Yuschenko and 
Georgian President Shaakashvili as well as Prime Ministers of 
Armenia, Greece and Albania will attend the summit. 
 
Meanwhile, mainstream Sabah and Vatan report that Istanbul police 
detained five people with suspected al-Qaeda links, one of whom was 
from with Chechnya. The group is suspected of having been preparing 
to launch an attack against the BSEC summit. 
 
Weekend Rallies Protest Terrorism, PKK Attacks 
Sabah, Milliyet, Radikal, Bugun, Posta and others:  Papers report 
that there were rallies in Ankara, Istanbul, Bursa, Antalya, 
Trabzon, Manisa, Mugla and Kirklareli during the weekend to protest 
terrorism as PKK attacks continued claiming lives.  Mainstream 
Milliyet reports that despite the heat, 5,000 people gathered in 
Bursa but only 100 people turned out in Istanbul. 
 
All papers and TV channels report on a foiled suicide attack by PKK 
in Tunceli.  Reportedly, PKK terrorists stopped a fuel tanker truck 
on the Tunceli-Ovacik highway and one terrorist, armed with 
explosives, got in the vehicle with the driver.  The terrorist 
forced the driver to drive toward the Karsilar security post in 
Tunceli.  However, the guards opened fire and the tanker caught fire 
and exploded killing the terrorist and the driver.  Meanwhile, the 
Hakkari governor said that the three PKK terrorists responsible for 
the killing of a major in Yuksekova were killed by security forces. 
Mainstream Milliyet reports that one village guard was killed in the 
Silvan rural area by the PKK and two terrorists were arrested. 
 
 
ANKARA 00001619  002 OF 002 
 
 
Gul Interviewed by Greek Daily 
Islamist-oriented Yeni Safak reports Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul 
told the Greek daily Kathimerini Turkey expects the US and the Iraqi 
government to take decisive steps against PKK terrorism. 
"Fully-pledged support from high-level US officials including 
President Bush has created expectations among Turkish people with 
regard to the fight against the PKK.  We have established a 
bilateral negotiating mechanism with the US, but saw no concrete 
steps taken against the terror organization," Gul emphasized.  On 
the probability of a Turkish cross-border military incursion into 
northern Iraq, Gul, said "all options are on the table," stressing 
his government was determined to eliminate the terror threat coming 
from northern Iraq. 
 
Editorial Commentary on Guantanamo 
Zafer Atay writes in the business and political daily Dunya: 
"Guantanamo base has turned into a prison camp for terrorist 
suspects.  Most of those prisoners were caught in Afghanistan and 
Pakistan.  However they have not been officially charged with crimes 
since 2002 and some were even released without any further 
explanation.  There are 380 prisoners left currently in Gitmo.  As 
the military court ruled for a Canadian and a Yemeni prisoner, the 
US administration's accusation was wrongful. Now the Bush 
administration is worried that all Gitmo prisoners will be taken out 
of American legal authority.  Gitmo is a place where all human 
rights are ignored and torture is used as a common practice.  It 
seems that the Bush administration, not only messed up the war in 
Iraq and Afghanistan, but also messed up everything related to 
justice." 
 
TV News: 
(NTV, 8 A.M.) 
Domestic News 
 
- Turkish citizens living abroad are to cast their votes at border 
crossings beginning today (June 25) for the upcoming July 22 
parliamentary elections. 
 
- Police in the eastern province of Van captured 47 handguns 
smuggled from Iraq and meant to reach the PKK. 
 
- Eni and Gazprom have signed a memorandum of understanding to build 
a new natural gas pipeline that will transport Russian gas to Europe 
across the Black Sea. 
 
- The 10th annual international energy conference "East Meets West" 
will be held in Istanbul on June 26-28 under the auspices of 
President Sezer.  The presidents of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia, 
the energy ministers of Egypt, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Israel, 
India and China, and OPEC officials will join the meeting. 
 
International News 
 
- The Israeli cabinet approved the release of frozen tax funds to 
Palestinian President Abbas. 
 
- Ali Hassan al-Majid, Saddam Hussein's cousin also known as 
"Chemical Ali," has been sentenced to death by the Iraqi High 
Tribunal for atrocities against the Kurds. 
 
- 202 members of the 435-member US House of Representatives are said 
to support a bill for the recognition of Armenian genocide claims. 
 
 
- Five Spanish UN peacekeepers were killed by a roadside bomb in 
southern Lebanon on Sunday. 
 
WILSON