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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 002080 
 
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, AUGUST 14, 2007 
 
 
In Today's Papers 
 
AKP Names Gul as Presidential Candidate 
All papers report Turkey's ruling AKP will re-nominate Foreign 
Minister Abdullah Gul as its sole candidate to stand in the 
presidential election, to be conducted in the parliament next week. 
Papers report Gul, accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Ali 
Sahin and Labor Minister Murat Basesgioglu, will first meet with 
opposition party leaders Tuesday to garner support before officially 
announcing his bid for the presidency. 
 
Deniz Baykal, leader of the main opposition CHP, said he is opposed 
to Gul as president because of Gul's Islamist past, not because of 
his wife's headscarf.  Baykal said CHP has "serious doubts about 
Gul's loyalty to republican values."  CHP has not yet responded to 
Gul's request for an appointment with Baykal.  The far-right MHP 
said it does not want chaos in the presidential election, signaling 
it will cooperate with the AKP.  MHP leader Devlet Bahceli will meet 
with Gul on Tuesday.  MHP Secretary General Cihan Pacaci said Gul's 
nomination was "expected," noting that as already announced, the MHP 
will attend the session on the presidential elections.  The 
pro-Kurdish DTP, which has 20 MPs, welcomed Gul's nomination and 
said they were not concerned about the headscarf issue.  DTP 
lawmaker Sirri Sakik said the DTP wants a president that "would 
cover all the 72 million people in Turkey," hoping that Gul would 
put forward projects for freedom, democracy, and human rights. 
 
Under the page one headline "Headscarf on its way to the Palace," 
leftist-nationalist Cumhuriyet says Gul chose to ignore calls for 
compromise in pressing ahead with his presidential bid.  Mainstream 
Milliyet is asking whether Gul, if elected president, will take his 
headscarf-wearing wife to the August 30 Victory Day reception to be 
hosted by the Turkish General Staff (TGS).  The Islamist-oriented 
Yeni Safak says Prime Minister Erdogan fully backs Gul, rejecting 
speculation the PM did not want Gul to run again for the presidency 
because of possible strains with the secular establishment.  The 
paper also expects some CHP lawmakers to support Gul in the 
secret-ballot voting. 
 
SIPDIS 
 
The first round of voting has been set for August 20.  Gul is not 
expected to win until the third round on August 28 when he needs 
only a simple majority of votes in the parliament. 
 
Editorial Commentary on Gul's Presidential Bid 
Okay Gonensin writes in the mainstream daily Milliyet: "The main 
cause of the most recent political crisis was Abdullah Gul's 
presidential candidacy.  However, the results from the ballot boxes 
proved that one of every two voters favored Gul and his party, the 
AKP.  On the other hand, it will certainly be very difficult for 
many people to digest the idea of Gul in the presidential seat with 
his wife wearing a headscarf and having sued Turkey in the European 
Court of Human Rights over her right to wear it.  Democracy requires 
that we get used to seeing undesired things or circumstances in 
order to preserve the fundamental principles of the regime. Given 
Gul's performance as Foreign Minister as well as Prime Minister, 
calling his presidency a potential disaster would be an emotional 
overreaction.  Gul will have the time to eliminate worries during 
his presidency.  The most important thing is to judge him by what he 
does, whether we like him or not." 
 
Seyfettin Gursel writes in the business and political daily Referans 
(8/14): "I have no problem with Gul and no problem with his wife's 
headscarf.  Turkey's real problem is its maturing democracy which 
requires fundamental constitutional changes in order to pave the way 
for contemporary liberal tendencies and to reshape the army's role. 
Unfortunately Gul's presidency will be a reason to slow down or even 
prevent the new constitution process.  The debate and paranoia over 
his presidency will diminish the energy as well as enthusiasm for a 
democratic constitution.  The AKP should have thought about naming 
someone with a lower profile and then exerting all of its energy on 
 
ANKARA 00002080  002 OF 003 
 
 
getting the reforms." 
 
Erdogan to Submit Cabinet List to Sezer Thursday 
All papers report Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin said Prime 
Minister Erdogan could submit his new cabinet list to President 
Sezer on Thursday, ending ongoing speculation in the Turkish media 
that Erdogan would wait for the election of a new president before 
submitting his cabinet list for approval by the head of state. 
Papers note if Sezer objects to some names in the list, Erdogan will 
wait to re-submit it to the new president. 
 
Zebari: Talabani, Barzani Support MOU with Turkey 
Milliyet, Radikal, Cumhuriyet and Zaman report Iraq's Foreign 
Minister Hoshyar Zebari said on Monday President Jalal Talabani and 
Kurdistan regional administration leader Massoud Barzani fully 
support the Memorandum of Understanding signed between Prime 
Minister Nouri al-Maliki and his Turkish counterpart Erdogan in 
Ankara last week. 
Maliki told Turkey's English-language daily The New Anatolian's 
internet edition that the objections by unqualified Iraqi Kurdish 
officials to the MOU signed by Maliki should be disregarded.  Zebari 
said Talabani and Barzani have no objections to Maliki's statement 
that the Iraqis are opposed to all terrorist organizations including 
the PKK operating on Iraqi territories. 
 
Kurdish MPs Want to Attend Funerals of Soldiers Killed by PKK 
Mainstream Hurriyet reports Kurdish party DTP MPs, after having 
shaken hands with nationalist MHP and announced they would go to the 
games of the Turkish national soccer team, are now searching for 
ways to attend the funerals of martyred soldiers killed in fighting 
with the PKK militants.  DTP party group chairman Selahattin 
Demirtas welcomed the proposal put forth by Kurdish MP Sebahat 
Tuncel, but warned that the funerals have been exploited for 
political goals and that the participation of DTP members could stir 
tensions. 
 
Government to Mediate Between Turkish Airlines, Unions 
All papers report the Turkish government has set up a commission to 
prevent a Turkish Airlines (THY) strike, Deputy Prime Minister 
Mehmet Ali Sahin said on Monday.  Sahin said the commission 
comprising himself, Finance Minister Kemal Unakitan and Labor 
Minister Murat Basesgioglu would work for compromise between THY and 
labor unions which are reportedly demanding higher wages and 
expanded benefits.  The cabinet has the authority to postpone any 
strike at companies deemed "strategic," including THY. 
 
TV Highlights 
NTV, 7.00 A.M. 
 
Domestic News 
 
- More than 10 days have passed after a main water pipeline burst 
and was repaired in Ankara, but some neighborhoods in the capital 
still have no water. 
 
- A group of suspected PKK militants threw Molotov cocktails into an 
empty commuter bus and street car in Istanbul Monday night. 
 
- Energy Minister Hilmi Guler will travel to Tehran on Friday to 
finalize an electricity and natural gas agreement. 
 
- More than 40 passengers were injured when a sea bus collided with 
a Ukrainian cargo vessel off the Zeytinburnu district in Istanbul. 
 
 
International News 
 
- Ankara has offered to host an autumn international conference on 
the Middle East peace, first proposed by the US.  Israel reportedly 
supports the Turkish proposal. 
 
ANKARA 00002080  003 OF 003 
 
 
 
- Greek Cypriot Foreign Minister Erato Kozakou Markoulli said 
Turkish troops, "occupiers" in northern Cyprus, should pull out of 
the divided island. 
 
- Karl Rove, a political advisor to President Bush, will resign at 
the end of this month. 
 
- Two South Korean women held hostage by the Taliban for more than 
three weeks in Afghanistan were freed on Monday. 
 
MCELDOWNEY