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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 000721 
 
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 
THURSDAY, APRIL 17, 2008 
 
 
In Today's Papers 
 
AKP's Constitutional Reforms Package 
All papers report the ruling AKP government has prepared a package 
of constitutional reforms.  Leftist-nationalist Cumhuriyet and 
liberal Radikal indicate the package includes provisions that ban 
political parties only in cases where the parties support violence 
and terror.  Other provisions in the package propose new laws 
regarding gender equality and children's rights.  Papers expect 
Prime Minister Erdogan to finalize the reform package and then the 
Council of Ministers will discuss the reforms at an April 21st 
meeting.  Afterwards, AKP leaders will reach out to opposition 
parties and independent lawmakers in an effort to secure support for 
the package. 
 
Papers: AKP Asks EU to Condemn Party Closures 
All papers report Luis Mario de Puig, the new President of the 
Parliament Assembly of Council of Europe (PACE), said "the Turkish 
delegation demanded PACE release a declaration condemning the ban of 
political parties."  The declaration is expected to denounce the ban 
of political parties not linked to violence.  Opposition CHP deputy 
chairman Onur Oymen commented, "The AKP is the first Turkish 
political party to ask foreigners for support.  Turkey is not a 
colony."  AKP lawmaker and head of the Turkish delegation to PACE 
Mevlut Cavusoglu denied Puig's claims, saying his party would never 
ask European institutions to take steps against Turkey, papers 
report. 
 
Parliament Committee Approves Changes to Articles 301, 305 
Hurriyet, Milliyet, Sabah, Radikal, Taraf, Cumhuriyet, Zaman and 
others report changes in Articles 301 and 305 of the penal code were 
approved Wednesday by the parliament's EU harmonization committee. 
Currently, Article 301 criminalizes the act of insulting 
"Turkishness."  According to the changes, the term "Turkishness" 
will be replaced by the "Turkish nation."  The bill requires 
prosecutors to obtain approval from the presidency before they 
charge someone with violating the law.  The changes also lower the 
maximum prison sentence to two years, which opens the way for the 
suspension of the prison terms of those already convicted under 
Article 301.  The bill will be debated at the Parliament's Justice 
Committee on Friday. 
 
Editorial Commentary on Article 301 
 
"Why Not Bring The Death Penalty Back!" 
Mehmet Ali Birand wrote in tabloid Posta (4/17): "I am literally 
tired of this Article 301 issue.  The current debate over Article 
301 is empty talk and has no value in being part of the public 
discourse any longer.  The harms caused by 301 have been raised by 
many, including myself, during the last 2-3 years.  Our prosecutors 
have a tendency to interpret 'insulting Turkishness' in the most 
exaggerated sense.  The nuance between an insult and a criticism is 
often ignored.  After hundreds of articles about the harms caused by 
301 and the need for its abolishment, the government refused to act 
and said, 'there is no need to do anything.'  The government has 
created a mess of the Article 301 debates.  By looking at the 
overall atmosphere on Article 301, I suggest that 301 should remain 
on the books and all of Turkey's EU reforms be reversed.  Who knows, 
we may protect Turkey much better if we re-introduce the death 
penalty and torture." 
 
"The 301 Debate" 
Ali Sirmen wrote in leftist-nationalist leaning Cumhuriyet (4/17): 
"It is terrible to see that the new Article 301 draft introduces new 
obstacles to the freedom of thought even though it seeks to abolish 
obstacles to freedom of thought. It is equally bad that outside 
pressures instead of internal dynamics have led to this process. 
The substance of the proposed changes in Article 301 does not even 
deserve debate.  What good could possibly come out of a mandate 
given to president?  In addition, we actually need a comprehensive 
 
ANKARA 00000721  002 OF 002 
 
 
change in mentality, especially within the legislative, executive 
and judicial branches.  However, the public must also change their 
mentality.  Democratic standards are measured by a country's 
constitution, its laws and its public mentality.  I am sure if we 
try to implement Turkey's current laws in another contemporary 
democratic country, the actual implementations would look much 
different than Turkey.  Changes to Article 301 should not be about 
dancing around words.  Turkey must attain a mentality of full 
democratization; trivial changes in the way laws are written will 
not eliminate the problems." 
 
TGS: Turkish Warplanes Strike PKK Groups in Northern Iraq April 15 
All papers report the military General Staff (TGS) announced Turkish 
fighter jets "neutralized" a group of PKK terrorists in northern 
Iraq on April 15th.  According to the TGS announcement, the group 
was preparing to stage terrorist attacks in Turkey.  A TGS statement 
said Turkish warplanes launched air strikes in Avasin and Basyan 
regions in northern Iraq when they identified a group of PKK 
terrorists preparing to cross the border.  The statement added 
operations against the PKK continued in the provinces of Sirnak and 
Diyarbakir.  Papers report convoys of military vehicles were 
deployed from Cizre to Cudi and Gabar mountains. 
 
 
 
 
A cartoon in the April 17 edition of "Aksam" daily: 
TV Announcer: "And now the latest on the Dollar, the Euro, Oil, and 
Rice..." 
 
TV Highlights 
CNN Turk 
 
Domestic News 
 
- Labor unions plan to stage a rally with the participation of 
around 500,000 workers on May 1 in Istanbul. 
 
- Pro-Kurdish DTP MP Aysel Tugluk said the Kurdish question could be 
resolved within the framework of EU reforms, and warned that failure 
to take democratization steps would boost radical trends among the 
Kurds. 
 
- President Abdullah Gul invited leaders of political parties in the 
parliament to the presidential palace for a luncheon on April 23. 
 
International News 
 
- Pope Benedict XVI arrived Tuesday in Washington on his first visit 
to the United States as pontiff. 
 
- Bilal Huseyin, a Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer working for 
the Associated Press in Iraq, was freed from U.S. military custody 
on Wednesday after being held for two years. 
 
- Israeli forces killed 13 Palestinians, most of them civilians, in 
the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip.  Reports indicate a cameraman 
working for Reuters was killed when an Israeli tank opened fire. 
 
DEBLAUW