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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 000679 
 
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 PREL KPAO
SUBJECT: TURKISH MEDIA REACTION 
MONDAY, MAY 11, 2009 
 
IN TODAY'S PAPERS 
 
Baku: "No Progress in Prague" 
Sunday's Hurriyet cites Azeri media to report that Azerbaijan's 
Foreign Minister Memmedyarov denied US DAS Matt Bryza's comments 
that the progress was made at last week's meeting between the 
Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia in Prague.  Memmedyarov said 
"the two leaders were unable to advance during their meetings. 
Settlement is possible if the US shows close interest in the issue. 
Otherwise, there will be no progress." 
 
A related story was in mainstream Sabah's Sunday issue.  The 
headline read "Sargsian complained about Turkey to the US", and 
reported that Sargsian told DAS Bryza in Prague that "Turkey is not 
taking any further steps even though our road map is ready."  DAS 
Bryza talked to Sabah and said "Sargsian is disturbed by the slow 
progress of the Turkey-Armenia process.  He knows that Turkey is 
waiting for progress in Nagorno-Karabakh issue."  An official from 
the Turkish Foreign Ministry said "Of course, these two are related 
issues." 
 
PM Erdogan on Armenia/Azerbaijan 
Prime Minister Erdogan repeated the importance of resolving Nagorno 
Karabakh issue before opening of Armenian border with Turkey. 
During the weekend, Turkey's semi official news agency AA quoted him 
as saying "There is a cause and effect relationship here.  First, 
Nagorno-Karabakh was occupied by the Armenian side, then 1 million 
Azeris were forced into exile and we closed the border.  We closed 
the border.  The reason was the occupation - the result was that we 
closed the border.  So let that reason end, and let's open the 
border." 
 
President Gul: "Kurdish Issue is Turkey's Top Problem" 
Radikal, Hurriyet, Yeni Safak, Cumhuriyet:  Saturday's liberal 
Radikal reports that speaking to journalists on route from Prague to 
Ankara, President Gul said "the Kurdish issue is Turkey's top 
problem.  Turkey has to work towards a resolution of the Kurdish 
issue and everybody needs to contribute to these efforts."  Radikal 
notes President Gul's remarks last March where he said that "nice 
things will happen regarding the Kurdish issue.  The consensus among 
state institutions has offered an opportunity to make progress. 
There is an open dialogue among the civilians, military and the 
intelligence.  This is a great opportunity to make progress and we 
should not miss this opportunity."  Today's Hurriyet reports that in 
response to Gul's comments, CHP leader Baykal said "President Gul is 
talking about an historic opportunity.  He should elaborate on his 
comments and explain what he means by "historic opportunity".  Are 
we going to amend the Constitution or declare an amnesty?  If it is 
an amnesty in the fight against terrorism, it will not work." 
Islamist-oriented Yeni Safak reports that DTP leader Ahmet Turk 
welcomed Gul's comment by calling it "a very important 
development." 
 
Kurdish Studies in a Turkish University 
Daily Yeni Safak carries a short interview with Chairman of Higher 
Education Board (YOK) Yusuf Ziya Ozcan where he announced the 
approval of Kurdish Studies Center at Istanbul University Faculty of 
Literature.  "This is going to be the start of academic studies on 
Kurdish" said Professor Ozcan. 
The YOK Chairman also talked about the Board's initiative to open 
Turkish universities abroad.  Initially there are three countries 
being considered: Germany, Azerbaijan and Afghanistan. 
 
Oil from the KRG Area 
Dailies Bugun and Taraf report that oil reserves in the Kurdistan 
Regional Administration region will start flowing to Turkey's Ceyhan 
pipeline as of June 1.  Of the central administration's approval, 
Bugun says "the Oil Ministry has approved a flow of 60,000 barrels 
per day" while Taraf claims that Baghdad has not yet approved the 
measure.  KRG National Resources Minister Havrami was quoted as 
 
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saying "the revenue from these sales will go to the people of Iraq. 
With this decision, Iraq's oil export capacity will increase."  Both 
dailies note that Turkey is becoming a main venue for transfer of 
Iraqi oil to the world. 
 
Council of State President: "Pressure on Judiciary May Lead to 
Chaos" 
All papers:  Leftist-nationalist Cumhuriyet reports that Mustafa 
Birden, chief judge of the Council of State, said that the authority 
to amend the constitution is not unlimited.  "The biggest threat 
against judicial independence and neutralism is inserting politics 
into the judiciary," Birden said during the ceremony marking the 
141st anniversary of the highest Administrative Court, the Danistay. 
 Mainstream Hurriyet says Birden warned the government about social 
chaos, legitimacy, secularism and any new constitution during his 
speech.  He added "Attempts by political powers to control the 
judiciary may lead to chaos.  The judiciary must be independent and 
politics must be in line with basic rule of law."  In his speech, 
Mustafa Birden also urged the Ergenekon prosecutors to observe the 
confidentiality of the investigation and to respect the principle of 
presumption of innocence until proven guilty. 
 
Editorial Opinion on Pakistan 
 
Omer Taspinar wrote in mainstream Sabah: "Contrary to common belief, 
President Obama's biggest foreign nightmare is not Iran, Iraq or 
Afghanistan.  It is Pakistan because the country is on the verge of 
becoming fully controlled by radical Islam.  Pakistan's Pashtun 
region has already become a de facto Taliban regime.  Given 
Pakistan's nuclear capacity, Washington is very worried about these 
developments.  President Obama made Afghanistan and Pakistan an 
immediate priority as soon as he took charge in the White House. 
The President understands that Pakistan and Afghanistan must be 
treated as one policy-wise." 
 
 
TV News (CNN Turk) 
 
Domestic 
 
-  Security officials found ammunition in the sea of Beykoz district 
of Istanbul.  After a fisherman found bullets in a sack, sea-police 
divers took out hand grenades, smoke bombs, bullets, etc. in the 
sea 
 
- A three-story building collapses in Siirt.  Five workers buried 
under the rubble are rescued. 
 
- Ankara Chamber of Commerce accuses the banks of making other 
sectors pay the cost of global crisis 
 
World 
 
-  French President Sarkozy and German PM Merkel supported a 
"privileged partnership" for Turkey instead of full EU membership 
 
- Georgian President Saakashvili and opposition leaders are expected 
to meet today 
 
- Pope Benedict XVI is in Israel. 
 
- President Obama's decision to address Muslim world from Egypt 
triggers heated controversy 
 
JEFFREY