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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 001301 
 
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, JULY 21, 2008 
 
In Today's Papers 
 
PM Erdogan in Cyprus for the 34th Anniversary of the Peace 
Operation.  All media outlets give extensive coverage to PM 
Erdogan's attendance at the ceremonies in the Turkish Republic of 
Northern Cyprus (TRNC) marking the anniversary of the "peace 
movement."  Mainstream Milliyet quotes PM Erdogan saying "No one 
should expect Turkish Cypriots to give up their own administration, 
or their demand for equal partnership and equal status.  Greek 
Cypriots should not expect Turkish Cypriot people to live under 
minority status.  A comprehensive solution can only be possible in a 
new partnership where Turkish Cypriot people participate as a 
founding and equal partner.  This new partnership should be 
established on the indispensable concepts of bi-zonal, political 
equality and the effective guarantorship of Turkey."  Mainstream 
Hurriyet writes "noting that Turkish Cypriot people always favored 
peace, PM Erdogan said that Turkey regards the meeting of two 
Cypriot leaders as a positive step.  Meanwhile, liberal Radikal 
reports Greek FM Bakoyanni in a message on the anniversary said that 
Cyprus has been under Turkish occupation for the last 34 years and 
this situation has to change.  The Greek Cypriot Administration 
condemned the ceremonies and the PM's participation in them and, 
reportedly, and filed a complaint case against the ceremonies to the 
UN and the EU, adds Radikal. 
 
Editorial Opinion on Turkish Political Debates: 
 
"Foreigners' View on AKP Closure Case" 
Semih Idiz wrote in mainstream Milliyet (7/21):  "Foreign diplomats 
in Ankara are watching the developments in the AKP closure case very 
seriously.  The possibility of not closing the party, based on 
possibly negative economic and political consequences, is certainly 
one of the options as stated by the former US Ambassador to Turkey, 
Mark Parris.  However, this does not represent the majority view. 
There are several reasons for those who believe that the court 
decide to close the AKP.  Supporters of this view consider this case 
political and regard it as the last chance for extreme secularists. 
Otherwise, the AKP will become even stronger and pose a defeat for 
secularists, they argue.   In sum, a majority of foreign diplomats 
expect to see the party closed for political reasons.  Others, who 
are in minority, argue that the Court will take the potential 
chaotic consequences into consideration and not close the.  Soon 
enough, we will see which view happens to be the right guess.  Until 
then, Turkey will remain on everyone's agenda because what happens 
here has negative and positive impacts outside - whether we like it 
or not." 
 
 
DTP General Convention 
Sabah, Milliyet, Radikal, Hurriyet, Vatan, Cumhuriyet and others: 
Mainly Kurdish Party DTP held its second general convention in 
Ankara yesterday.  All papers note that there was a Turkish flag at 
the convention, but the Turkish National Anthem was not played. 
Attendants chanted pro-Ocalan slogans and Ocalan portraits were 
everywhere.  Ahmet Turk was elected as the party chairman and Emine 
Ayna as the co-chairman.  Both of them repeatedly referred to jailed 
terrorist leader Abdullah Ocalan as "Respectful Ocalan."  Emine Ayna 
urged Kurds not to serve as "village guards" and said a general 
amnesty should be declared.  Ahmet Turk urged the government to 
establish a dialog with Kurds and said "you may close down our 
party, but you cannot silence the Kurds."  Papers note that although 
the general messages at the convention were peace and a solution to 
the Kurdish problem, the address pointed to for a solution was 
"Imrali", the name of the island where Abdullah Ocalan is 
imprisoned. 
 
Iran's Chief Nuclear Negotiator Comes to Turkey 
Mainstream Milliyet reports that Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, 
Said Jalili, came to Istanbul yesterday and met with Foreign 
Minister Ali Babacan.  Jalili was on his way back to Tehran after 
 
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attending talks with envoys from the US and five other countries in 
Geneva on Saturday.  At a joint press conference, Babacan said "we 
believe every sovereign country has the right to use nuclear energy 
for peaceful aims and to have that technology.  However, Turkey is 
against nuclear weapons in its region."  Jalili, on his part, said 
that they reviewed the relations between the two countries as well 
as the recent regional and international developments. 
 
Editorial Opinion on Iran: 
 
"End of US Hegemony?" 
Kamuran Ozbir wrote in nationalist Ortadogu (7/21): "The Tehran 
regime, thanks to the country's energy resources, has not only 
strengthened its hand internationally, but also managed to limit the 
US's international influence.  The United States has been trying to 
form a unified international bloc to isolate Iran and thwart Iran's 
nuclear ambition, yet things have not progressed as Washington had 
hoped.  Staunch American allies are not very enthusiastic to 
cooperate unconditionally with the US as they once were.  On the 
other hand, the defiance of US enemies is getting stronger.  In 
response to Washington's efforts to isolate Tehran, many countries, 
taking into consideration their oil and natural gas needs, have 
acted evasively or openly stood against US efforts.  All of this 
does not necessarily rule out a military option for Washington.  In 
the end, the Bush administration may decide to hand over the Iran 
crisis to the next administration. If a new American administration 
then goes forward with a military option, we must think about a 
potential regional crisis and economic fluctuations." 
 
 
PKK Releases Three German Mountaineers 
Sabah, Milliyet, Hurriyet, Yeni Safak, Turkiye and others:  Three 
German mountaineers, abducted by the PKK 13 days ago while they were 
climbing Agri Mountain, were released yesterday.  Mainstream Sabah 
quotes the Agri Governor saying "the terrorists had no choice but to 
release the mountaineers since they could see such tight security 
measures had been taken."  Papers noted that the three German 
mountaineers were delivered to German Embassy officials who had 
traveled to Agri from Ankara. 
 
First Kosovo Embassy to be Opened in Turkey 
Hurriyet reports that after declaring its independence on February 
17th , 2008, Kosovo decided to open its first Embassy in Turkey. 
 
President Gul to Pay a Visit to Baghdad 
Sabah reports that President Gul is planning to pay a visit to 
Baghdad in the autumn.  The visit is expected to take place in 
September or October.  The paper notes that two important visits are 
expected before Gul's trip: first, Turkey's special envoy to Iraq, 
Murat Ozcelik, will visit KDP leader Massoud Barzani and secondly, 
KRG president Nechirvan Barzani will pay a visit to Ankara.  With 
his visit to Iraq, President Gul wants to give a message to the 
world that the situation in Iraq is normalizing. 
 
TV News: 
CNN Turk 
 
Domestic News 
 
490 people were hospitalized in Manisa with diarrhea complaints 
 
Trabzon governor gives authorization to investigate former gendarme 
commander Colonel Ali Oz and intelligence chief Captain Metin Yildiz 
for negligence in connection with the Dink murder 
 
 
International News 
 
US Presidential candidate Barack Obama visits Afghanistan to assess 
international efforts against Al-Qaeda 
 
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Greek Cypriot newspapers give extensive coverage to the visit of 
Turkish PM Erdogan to Northern Cyprus 
 
Cologne police officials reject media reports that there was 
concrete evidence of PKK plans to conduct a terrorist attack on 
their city. 
 
WILSON