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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 001010 
 
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 
FRIDAY, MAY 30, 2008 
 
In Today's Papers 
 
Controversy Over 'CHP's Tapping' Grows 
All news outlets report the ruling AKP has proposed creating a 
parliamentary commission to investigate the "wiretapping charges" 
put forth by the CHP.  Opposition party CHP claimed someone, perhaps 
government security personnel, wiretapped their party headquarters 
and recorded a private conversation between CHP Secretary General 
Onder Sav and a former governor that was published recently almost 
verbatim in the Islamist Vakit daily.  Interior Minister Besir 
Atalay, in response to comments by CHP Deputy Chairman Hakki Suha 
Okay, said "prosecutors have launched an investigation into the 
allegations.  I also propose to set up a multi-party parliamentary 
committee to inquire into the event."  CHP demanded the resignation 
of Atalay over the bugging scandal.  Atalay, however, rejected the 
call. 
 
CHP leader Deniz Baykal said Turkey has been gradually transformed 
into a "police state," claiming the AKP has formed a secret "deep 
state network within the state apparatus."  "The problem is not only 
the CHP's problem.  The issue at stake is freedom of communication," 
Baykal said.  Opposition MHP leader Devlet Bahceli said the AKP was 
creating a "dictatorship of fear."  "The government has lost its 
political legitimacy, and it resorts to illegitimate and immoral 
methods to preserve its power," Bahceli noted. 
 
Vakit now agrees with a story circulated yesterday by Islamist 
daily, Yeni Safak, which said Sav by mistake left his mobile phone 
on after talking to a Vakit reporter, who was then able to hear the 
other conversation.  Mainstream Milliyet reports several university 
rectors and opposition MHP and the pro-Kurdish DTP lawmakers 
expressed concern over the matter, and they suspect their phones are 
tapped as well. 
 
Editorial Commentary on Turkey's Watergate: Who Bugged the 
Opposition? 
 
"Are We Being Tapped?" 
Fehmi Koru wrote in Islamist-leaning Yeni Safak (5/30):  "Following 
the CHP phone-tapping incident, everybody in Turkey recalled similar 
stories from the past.  In other words, nobody was surprised by this 
incident because the sophistication of today's high-tech devices 
makes the bugging business very easy.  In the old days, phone 
tapping required a significant budget allocation for any government. 
 However, tapping devices are now attainable on the internet  with 
the click of a mouse.  Bugging the opposition party isn't 
necessarily only possible by a government because anybody can do it 
with today's technology.  The transcript of the CHP member's 
conversation was printed in a political Islamist newspaper which 
raises some questions.  Maybe all of this was planned to confuse 
minds and create suspicions against the AKP government.  The AKP 
government should do everything necessary to uncover the truth about 
this incident.  This is the best way to address the accusations. 
Otherwise the party may face political conspiracies." 
 
"Turkey should not Live with Such Shame" 
Mustafa Unal wrote in Islamist-leaning Zaman (5/30):  "On this 
bugging issue, not only the opposition CHP, but everybody is 
reacting against it.  Nobody wants this issue to be forgotten. 
Ankara has been living with paranoia for a long time because at 
least 10 bugged or tapped files have been circulated on the internet 
in the last year.  The CHP's accusations are very serious and we 
have to remember that tapping conversations is a violation of 
constitution.  The Interior Minister has made a very good proposal 
by suggesting a joint parliamentary commission to investigate the 
incident.  The CHP's desire to put forward a censure motion in 
parliament against the ruling AKP for the incident only politicizes 
the issue more.  The paper that printed the conversation is now 
giving a laughable explanation.  It now claims the conversation was 
recorded through a cell phone that  the CHP's Onder Sav had 
 
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forgotten to turn off while having the subject conversation on 
another phone.  Well, this is easy to confirm from phone company 
records.  Whatever it is, the issue calls for immediate action, and 
whoever is responsible should be punished." 
 
Congressman Tanner in Ankara 
Milliyet, Star:  Mainstream Milliyet reports that PM Erdogan met 
with a US Congressional delegation yesterday at the AKP 
headquarters.  The delegation was led by US House of Representatives 
NATO Parliamentary Assembly (NATOPA) Group Chairman, Representative 
John Tanner.  Milliyet quotes Tanner regarding the AKP closure case 
as saying "the institutions of democracy should be respected.  We 
want the institutions of democracy to continue to function in 
Turkey.  We respect Turkey as a democracy in this region of the 
world."  When he was asked whether the US considers the AKP as a 
threat to secularism, Tanner said "Democracy is very important in 
this part of the world.  And democracy in Turkey is important for 
the US."  Conservative Star reports that Tanner's counterpart in the 
Turkish Parliament, Vahit Erdem, hosted a lunch in the parliament in 
honor of the delegation.  During the lunch, Tanner said "We want our 
Turkish friends to know that we are determined to continue our 
support to Turkey in its fight against PKK terrorism.  Democracy has 
no bigger enemy than terrorism." 
 
FM Babacan Draws Reaction 
Hurriyet, Milliyet, Vatan, Aksam:  Foreign Minister Babacan's 
remarks during his speech at the European Parliament, suggesting 
that not only non-Muslim minorities but also Muslims in Turkey have 
problems with religious freedoms, drew wide reaction from the 
opposition parties and from his own AK Party.  Accusing Babacan of 
not knowing a statesman's code of conduct, deputies from the AKP and 
the opposition parties said that Turkey is the only country in the 
Muslim world where religious beliefs could be practiced in a most 
extensive and perfect sense.  Milliyet reports that CHP and DSP 
deputies have already submitted several question motions to 
parliament about Babacan's remarks. 
 
McClellan Hits Bush over Iraq 
All news outlets continue to report on former White House Secretary 
Scott McClellan's charges in his explosive new book, focusing on the 
public and Administration responses.  Mainstream Sabah titles 
"Anti-Bush Book is Number One," noting "McClellan's book, which 
criticizes the Bush administration, is ranked number one at Amazon." 
The paper also adds Secretary Rice's response to questions about the 
book, "we tried to do our best in Iraq."  Islamist-oriented Yeni 
Safak writes in "White House Puzzled: This is Not the Scott We 
Knew," that the White House accused McClellan of "dissatisfaction 
and revenge for positions he couldn't acquire."  Leftist Taraf 
carries the headline "Knocking Down Saddam Was the Best Thing to 
Do." 
 
State-Run TRT to Kick Off Kurdish Broadcasts 
All papers report the Turkish Parliament approved Thursday a 
proposal for starting broadcasts "in languages other than Turkish" 
including Kurdish, Arabic and Persian, on state-run TRT television. 
The proposal was supported by the AKP and the DTP.  Opposition far 
right MHP lawmaker Oktay Vural said Kurdish language broadcasting 
was violation of the constitution's provision that Turkish is the 
official language of the country.  "They want to found a new 
television similar to the Roj TV," said Oktay. 
 
Court Bans Istanbul's Sole Gay Rights Association 
Liberal Radikal and nationalist-oriented Cumhuriyet report a court 
closed Istanbul's sole gay rights association, LambdaIstanbul, on 
Thursday after the prosecutor said it broke "public morality laws." 
The prosecutor argued LambdaIstanbul aims broke the law concerning 
the protection of family and public morality, and a court ruled in 
favor of closing the association.  LambdaIstanbul, set up in 1993, 
is the first gay rights association closed by a European Union 
candidate nation, says Radikal.  A gay rights activist in 
 
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LambdaIstanbul said, "We are in a country where a closure case has 
been opened against the ruling party.  The political atmosphere is 
anti-democratic and it lacks tolerance."  The association will 
appeal against the court decision, and, if necessary, will go to the 
European Court of Human Rights, according to papers. 
 
Headscarved Women Protest Male Passengers Seated Next to Them in THY 
Flight 
Leftist-nationalist Cumhuriyet reports 18 women passengers on their 
way back to Turkey from the Hajj in Saudi Arabia, walked out of a 
Turkish Airlines (THY) plane in Istanbul Airport in protest because 
male passengers were seated next to them.  THY officials in Istanbul 
sent the women to Ankara on another plane, making sure no males were 
seated next to them.  Aviation experts told Cumhuriyet allowing 
passengers to leave the plane with excuses other than health reasons 
is a "breach of security" since the passengers could have left a 
bomb inside the plane. 
 
Turkish Jets Bomb 16 Targets in Northern Iraq 
Sabah, Milliyet, Hurriyet, Turkiye, Vatan and others:  The Turkish 
General Staff (TGS) announced on their website yesterday that 
Turkish Air Force jets hit and demolished 16 targets in the Hakurk 
region of Northern Iraq.  Meanwhile, Sabah reports that military 
operations continue in Cudi, Gabar and Bestler-Dereler regions in 
the east of Turkey.  Sabah also reports that six people were 
detained in Izmir while they were preparing plans to attack police 
stations and military units.  Reportedly, they confessed they had 
had bomb training in the PKK camps in Northern Iraq. 
 
TV Highlights 
NTV 
 
Domestic News 
 
- PM Erdogan and his ruling AKP lawmakers are to go into their 
"Kizilcahamam" camp near Ankara for three days to discuss a 
"roadmap" regarding the closure case against their party. 
 
- The Turkish General Staff (TGS) is to hold a symposium on the 
future of the Middle East on June 5-6 in Ankara. 
 
- Iran resumes supply of natural gas for Turkey.  An explosion, 
suspected by some Turks as sabotage, had disrupted the pipeline May 
¶26. 
 
International News 
 
- At a UN gathering in Sweden on Iraq, PM Nuri al-Maliki called on 
neighboring countries to write off Iraq's debts and waive 
compensation payments for wars fought under Saddam Hussein. 
 
- Austria has taken over from Turkey the command of KFOR (Kosovo 
Force). 
 
- France is projected to have a population of more than 70 million 
by 2050, with nearly one person out of three being over 60 years. 
 
WILSON