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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 002439 
 
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, OCTOBER 1, 2007 
 
 
In Today's Papers 
 
PKK Kills 12 Civilians in Sirnak 
All papers report over the weekend and today that on Saturday PKK 
terrorists attacked a minivan in the southeastern province of 
Sirnak, killing seven village guards and five construction workers 
employed on a nearby water channel project.  The attack is the first 
one exclusively targeting civilians in recent years.  President 
Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Erdogan strongly condemned the 
attack.  Erdogan stressed that such attacks will not interrupt the 
fight against terror, adding that the attack was the last throes of 
terrorism.  The victims were laid to rest in Sirnak on Sunday with 
the participation of a crowd of 2,500.  Hurriyet says the attack 
aimed to block infrastructural services in the southeast. 
 
The pro-Kurdish DTP released a statement condemning the massacre and 
also blaming the ruling AKP government for making no efforts to open 
up political channels.  "The insensitivity of the government and the 
fact that no measures were taken also have a role in the massacring 
of our 12 citizens.  It is the government's duty to find the 
perpetrators and reveal the truth in this incident," the DTP 
statement said. 
 
Start of the New Legislative Year 
Hurriyet, Radikal, Sabah and others:  Papers report that the Turkish 
Parliament will start the new legislative year with the speech of 
President Gul at 15:00 today.  Mainstream Hurriyet says it is 
learned that in his speech Gul will make remarks to ease the 
concerns with regard to secularism and reiterated that the guarantee 
for secularism is the Presidency.  Liberal Radikal says that in a 
meeting with representatives of labor union Turk-Is, Gul urged the 
government to unveil the draft constitution and to start the public 
debates on the draft. 
 
Parliament Speaker Koksal Toptan will host a reception at the 
Parliament this evening for the start of the new legislative year. 
Vatan and Sabah report that the military won't attend the General 
Assembly or this evening's reception because the Commanders will be 
in Istanbul today for the opening of the War Academies. 
 
Rumors that Ralston Has Resigned 
Mainstream Hurriyet cites reliable sources in reporting that General 
Ralston, the US Special Envoy to Combat the PKK Coordinator, has 
submitted his resignation to the State Department.  Reportedly, 
General Ralston claimed that the mechanism doesn't work and he 
doesn't want to continue to work as the counter-terrorism special 
envoy.  Joseph Ralston has been exerting efforts to create new 
policies for countering PKK terrorism, since August 2006.  His 
Turkish counterpart was retired General Edip Baser for a long time. 
After Baser's resignation, his successor Ambassador Akgunay and 
Ralston had only one courtesy call over the phone. 
 
International Kurdish Conference Held in Diyarbakir 
Hurriyet, Milliyet and Radikal report the "Kurds in Turkey and Basic 
Requirements for Peace" conference, the first international Kurdish 
conference held in Diyarbakir by the German Heinrich Boll Stiftung 
Foundation and Diyarbakir Bar Association, called for an end to 
violence on Sunday, the last day of the gathering.  Tennessee 
Technology University member Professor Michael Gunter said if 
Ataturk were alive he would agree with the Kurds on some points 
within the territorial integrity of Turkey.  Columnist Cengiz Candar 
called on the Kurds to "be careful" while taking forward steps as 
not to harm the Kurdish state that has been forming in northern 
Iraq.  "Kurds must stay away from violence and thus discourage 
Turkey from intervening in northern Iraq.  They must also support 
Turkey's EU process," Candar said.  The pro-Kurdish DTP deputy group 
chief Selahattin Demirtas turned down calls for his party to declare 
the PKK a terror organization.  "You could not manage to resolve the 
problem because you have been using this rhetoric for some 30 years. 
 We will not name terror what you call terror.  The state should 
 
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establish channels for the PKK to lay down arms," Demirtas said. 
 
Editorial Commentary on Turkey-Iraq Security Agreement 
Semih Idiz writes in mainstream Milliyet: "With the signed 
agreement, Iraq has committed to blocking the military, political 
and financial activities of PKK.  Yet it is not clear how the 
central government will be able to persuade Iraqi Kurds on this. 
Iraqi Kurds demonstrated their influence by intervening in the 
discussion on the content of the Turkey-Iraq security agreement. 
Their message was basically this: if Ankara does not want us to be a 
part of security negotiations then we will show our power through 
outside interference.   If the Congressional resolution regarding 
the division of Iraq is implemented -- which is not unlikely -- 
Turkey will find itself alone arguing that Baghdad is the sole 
counterpart for discussions.  Turkey remains blind to the 
developments regarding the new Iraq, which was shaped by Shiites and 
Kurds.  This approach potentially puts Turkey in some undesirable 
de-facto situation.  Even though Turkey has the right to and is 
capable of taking steps despite the will of the international 
community, I think, we should make a good analysis before taking any 
steps and try not to row against the current.  There are already two 
good examples of rowing against the current to learn from: The US in 
Iraq and Israel in Lebanon." 
 
TV News: 
NTV 
 
Domestic News 
 
- CHP deputy chairman Onur Oymen said the anti-terror agreement 
signed between Turkey and Iraq was a "hollow deal." 
 
- Prime Minister Erdogan denied reports that he implied to The Wall 
Street Journal that Ataturk's time was over. 
 
- Labor unions will send a letter to the AKP government before the 
Council of Ministers makes a decision with regard to the wages of 
civil servants in 2008. 
 
- Foreign trade deficit increased by 10.9 percent in the first eight 
months of the year and reached USD 40.4 billion. 
 
International News 
 
- EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said the EU will not meddle 
in headscarf debates in Turkey.  "The EU's main concern is that a 
planned new Turkish constitution should enhance fundamental 
freedoms, especially freedom of expression and religion," Rehn said. 
 
 
- On Sunday, the US military in Iraq said it had seized 
sophisticated Iranian-made surface-to-air missiles that were being 
used by insurgents in the war-torn country. 
 
 
WILSON