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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 001288 
 
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, JULY 17, 2008 
 
In Today's Papers 
 
Court Rapporteur Advises against Closing AKP 
All news outlets report Constitutional Court head Hasim Kilic said 
Wednesday the court rapporteur has submitted his report on the 
merits of the closure case against the ruling AKP to court members. 
The submission of the report is the final step before the chairman 
announces a date to debate the case.  Kilic said a date for the 
hearing would be decided after talks with all other members of the 
court.  Papers say in his "non-binding" report, Osman Can has 
recommended the court not to close the party or deprive it from 
Treasury funds.  Can reportedly said the AKP-MHP backed headscarf 
reforms should be seen as an "act carried out by the parliament." 
He also noted the AKP members' statements should be evaluated under 
"freedom of expression."  Can is also reported to have said the ban 
of political parties happened only in "extreme situations" in modern 
democracies.  In March, Can recommended rejection after the case was 
filed, but the court accepted it.  The Constitutional Court deputy 
chairman, Osman Paksut, has earlier said the case could be finalized 
within 4-5 weeks, signaling a decision could come at the end of July 
or early August. 
 
Turkey at the Center of Iranian Diplomacy.  Today's lead news story 
focuses on Turkey setting its sight on solving the crisis over 
Iran's nuclear program through talks with both the U.S. National 
Security Advisor and the Iranian Foreign Minister.  Mainstream 
Milliyet writes "Iran Traffic in Ankara," noting that "U.S. National 
Security Advisor Stephen Hadley comes to Turkey today, and Iranian 
Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki will come to Turkey tomorrow." 
Liberal Radikal, in "Babacan: Turkey Plays an Unnamed Role for 
Iran," quotes Foreign Minister Babacan's remarks on NTV that "after 
working as a mediator in the indirect talks between Syria and 
Israel, Turkey would also be effective in the dialogue between Iran 
and the world."  Leftist Cumhuriyet writes "U.S. and Iran are on the 
Way to Ankara," saying "subsequent contact with U.S. and Iranian 
officials reveals that Turkey is at the center of the diplomacy 
traffic." 
 
Former U.S. Ambassador Parris Comments on AKP Closure Case.  Media 
outlets report that former U.S. Ambassador to Turkey Mark Parris 
discussed recent developments in Turkey at the Center for Strategic 
and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington.  With regard to the 
AKP closure case, mainstream Milliyet reports Parris said "If the 
AKP had given priority to the EU process and the constitutional 
reforms after July 22, everything would be fine now.  Unfortunately 
they did not and the coalition of different groups supporting AKP 
started to break down last autumn.  Many corruption files started 
surfacing.  At that moment, the closure case became like a savior to 
the AKP."  Mainstream Sabah's headline reads "Parris gave a date for 
AKP closure case," reporting that Parris said "if the AKP is closed, 
this decision will negatively affect Turkey-U.S. relations as well 
as Turkey's EU membership process."  Parris added that he expects 
the decision on the closure case sometime in mid-August or in the 
third week of August, and most likely on a Friday evening. 
 
Editorial Commentary on Ergenekon Indictment and Turkish Political 
Debates 
 
"Civilization and Democratization" 
Soli Ozel wrote in mainstream Sabah (7/17):  "The Ergenekon case, 
even with its pluses and minuses, is an historic breakthrough in 
Turkish political history.  It marks the end of a coup-mongering 
mentality and hopefully, it will also pave the way for a clean up 
the system via the judicial process.  However, a bigger struggle is 
ahead of Turkish democracy: democratization.  The aftermath of 
Ergenekon will help move Turkey towards a better civil society, but 
it does not necessarily automatic democratization.  Democratization 
requires a full-scale supremacy of rule of law.  From now on, given 
the current circumstances, Turkey's democratization is very much 
tied to the nature of its relationship with the Western alliance and 
 
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on the next phases in the EU process." 
 
"Taking A Lesson From History" 
Ismet Berkan wrote in liberal-intellectual Radikal (7/17): "As 
Turkey continues to debate the essence of democracy, the world's 
first republic concluded that debate some 210 years ago.  It was 
1797 when Thomas Jefferson defined the political parties into two 
categories: 'those who fear from people' and 'those who don't.'  In 
the aftermath of the 1800 elections, all U.S. parties, regardless of 
their political stance, came to a unanimous belief in the legitimacy 
of the American Constitution.  The United States has had only two 
constitutional crises; during the civil war and in the debate on the 
abolishment of slavery.  And that was it, in more than 200 years of 
its constitution.  As for Turkey, we are still struggling in the 
midst of a constitutional crisis, not to mention the fact that we 
have had six completely new constitutions since 1786.  What Thomas 
Jefferson said then is valid for us now." 
 
Humanitarian Support for Consulate Attack Victims.  Mainstream Sabah 
writes in "Support Promise from Wilson to the Martyr Family," 
quoting Ambassador Ross Wilson's remarks to CNNTurk, that "the U.S. 
is planning humanitarian support for the families of the martyred 
policemen," and that "Consulate and Embassy staff will also 
contribute."  Meanwhile, mainstream Hurriyet reports that "the 
Istanbul Police Directorate has opened a bank account at Vakifbank 
for donations to the families of the martyred." 
 
U.S. Envoy to Attend Nuclear Talks.  News outlets also give 
extensive coverage to the U.S. sending a top ranked diplomat to 
attend international nuclear talks with Iran on Saturday, marking a 
major shift in the U.S. policy on Iran.  Mainstream Sabah carries 
the headline "U.S. Will Talk to Iran on Nuclear for the First Time," 
saying "Undersecretary William Burns will attend the meeting in 
Geneva between EU Foreign Policy Chief Solana and Tehran's nuclear 
negotiator Jalili, which is a first in the negotiations with 
Tehran."  Leftist Cumhuriyet writes in "U.S. for the First Time at 
Negotiating Table," that "U.S. attitude shows a significant change 
in its Iran policy and strengthens the belief that the problem could 
be solved by negotiations."  Liberal Radikal carries the headline 
"U.S. is This Close to Iran," saying "the U.S. is involved in 
nuclear talks with Iran for the first time."  Leftist Taraf carries 
the headline "U.S. will Attend Iran's Nuclear Negotiations Too." 
 
TV Highlights 
CNN Turk 
 
Domestic News 
- The Turkish General Staff said since July 13, 11 PKK terrorists 
were killed in operations in the southeastern border province of 
Hakkari. 
 
- Prime Minister Erdogan, accompanied by a delegation of six cabinet 
ministers, is to travel to Turkish Cyprus on July 18 to meet Turkish 
Cypriot leaders including those of opposition parties as well as NGO 
representatives. 
 
- Turkish Truckers Association said it will use alternative routes 
for shipping goods to Europe to avoid an extra USD 271 fee charged 
by Bulgaria. 
 
International News 
 
- Armenian President Serzh Sarksyan's op-ed in The Wall Street 
Journal calls for "dialogue with Turkey for the normalization of 
ties and the opening of the border." 
 
- Russian President Dimitri Medvedev said plans to deploy parts of 
the U.S. missile shield in the Czech Republic "deeply distresses" 
Moscow. 
 
 
ANKARA 00001288  003 OF 003 
 
 
- The U.S. Treasury Department prohibits all transactions with four 
Iranian firms which are known to be close to Tehran's nuclear and 
missile programs. 
 
WILSON