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Viewing cable 06ANKARA5733, ANKARA MEDIA REACTION REPORT

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
06ANKARA5733 2006-10-02 13:39 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED Embassy Ankara
VZCZCXRO6587
OO RUEHDA
DE RUEHAK #5733/01 2751339
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 021339Z OCT 06
FM AMEMBASSY ANKARA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9135
RUEKJCS/CJCS WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEKJCS/OSD WASHDC//PA
RUEUITH/ODC ANKARA TU
INFO RUEHTH/AMEMBASSY ATHENS 7482
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 1392
RUEHDA/AMCONSUL ADANA 1172
RUEHBS/AMEMBASSY BRUSSELS 5476
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 5196
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1850
RUEUITH/DET 1 39LG ANKARA TU
RHMFIUU/USDOCO 6ATAF IZMIR TU
RHMFIUU/39OS INCIRLIK AB TU
RHMFIUU/AFOSI DET 523 IZMIR TU
RHMFIUU/39ABG INCIRLIK AB TU
RHMFIUU/AFOSI DET 522 INCIRLIK AB TU
RUEUITH/AFLO ANKARA TU
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 005733 
 
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 
MONDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2006 
 
 
In Today's Papers 
 
Erdogan in the US to Meet President Bush 
Hurriyet, Milliyet, Sabah, Vatan, Cumhuriyet, Radikal, Zaman, Yeni 
Safak and others report President Bush and Prime Minister Erdogan 
will discuss the PKK, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, peace in the Middle East, 
Cyprus and energy issues.  Erdogan will ask President Bush to take 
action against the PKK, and will offer to send 5,000 Turkish troops 
to Baghdad if the US eliminates the PKK presence in northern Iraq, 
Cumhuriyet claimed on Saturday.  Erdogan will also tell Bush that if 
the PKK threat is removed by the US, Turkey will side with 
Washington and the international community against Iran.  Papers 
expect President Bush to call for Turkey to open its ports and 
airports to Greek Cypriot vessels and airplanes, and reopen Halki 
Seminary in Istanbul.  If Bush raises the issue of Armenia, says 
Vatan, Erdogan will say Turkey was ready to sit at the negotiating 
table with Armenia if Yerevan accepts the establishment of a 
commission of Turkish and Armenian historians to investigate 
'genocide' claims.  Today's meeting between Bush and Erdogan, the 
fourth over the past four years, will be the shortest one, lasting 
55 minutes, say papers.  Zaman says that prior to the meeting on 
Monday, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul told Newsweek that Turkey was 
ready to move against the PKK on its own if "our friends don't help 
us". 
 
Yasemin Congar, writing from Washington for the mainstream daily 
Milliyet, observes that the "fight against PKK terrorism will be the 
major agenda item" during the Bush-Erdogan meeting and "this time 
Washington is prepared" to discuss it:  "There have been some 
concrete developments following the appointment of General Ralston 
as the US special envoy.  The ceasefire declared by the PKK has 
happened after Washington exerted influence over northern Iraq. 
American officials here talk about new steps on this issue by 
emphasizing that the appointment of Ralston demonstrates the 
intention to get a tangible result on the fight against PKK and this 
message has been received by the PKK as well.  On the other hand, 
Washington also believes that some sort of legal measures by the 
Turkish government to ensure the return of PKK members to Turkey 
will be the most effective way in the end to fully eliminate the PKK 
presence in northern Iraq.  American officials are aware of Turkey's 
sensitivity on this matter and understand the need for taking 
concrete steps to ease public expectations so that the AKP 
government can consider such a step as the next measure." 
 
Writing in the Islamist-oriented intellectual daily Zaman, 
Washington-based Ali Aslan notes that American officials"feel 
uncomfortable" that  the "Turkish public's expectations are too 
high" for the Turkish Premier's visit to the White House: 
"Emphasizing the strategic vision document between the two 
countries, [US officials] suggest that such high level visits should 
be seen as routine exchanges.  It is certainly important for Turkey 
to convey its policies to the world's super power and listen to the 
US positions.  However we should not expect miraculous new 
developments related to the agenda items, including the fight 
against terror, energy, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon and Cyprus.  Generally 
speaking, PM Erdogan's visit to Washington is a routine event for 
the White House but Ankara makes more of it in light of domestic 
political concerns." 
 
Omer Taspinar of the Brookings Institute, writing on Turkish-US 
relations in the liberal-intellectual Radikal, observes that the 
events of 9/11 "shook up the international equilibrium" of the 
post-cold war era but also "created an opportunity for Turkey to 
underscore both its strategic importance and its status as a 
democratic model for the Islamic world":  "Under normal 
circumstances, Turkish-American ties could even be much better than 
they were during the cold war.  However things did not continue on 
this path for two reasons.  First of all, the US considered the 
events of 9/11 a strong excuse to initiate a military operation 
against Iraq.  This US approach caused clear opposition throughout 
 
ANKARA 00005733  002 OF 003 
 
 
the world, including in Turkey.  Everybody stood against the idea of 
connecting 9/11 with Iraq.  The US did not change its position 
despite the opposition and the US ended up alienating itself from 
the international community, Turkey included.  The growth in PKK 
terrorism following Iraq's invasion by the US has become an 
additional factor contributing to the increasing anti-Americanism in 
Turkey.  Today, PKK and Kurdish issues are the most prominently 
important ones in the relationship between Turkey and the US." 
 
Sezer Addresses Parliament Inauguration 
All papers report the speech delivered yesterday by President Ahmet 
Necdet Sezer at the inauguration of Turkish Parliament warned of a 
continued Islamic fundamentalist threat in Turkey and said the 
military, the guardians of the secular system, must be kept 
powerful.  Sezer spoke of increased attempts to "roll back" the 
gains of the secular republic, including the appointment of Islamist 
officials to key civil service positions and efforts to "make 
religion part of society and politics."  Sezer, whose term in office 
is to end May 2007, said freedoms could be restricted to protect 
secularism.  Mainstream papers comment that the warnings of Sezer 
came as a response to Prime Minister Erdogan who had recently stated 
that there was no fundamentalist threat in Turkey. 
 
On Iran, Sezer said Turkey respects Iran's right to pursue a nuclear 
program for civilian and peaceful purposes, but that Iran had to 
inspire trust in the international community.  He reiterated the 
Turkish policy of supporting Iraq's unity and territorial integrity. 
 With respect to ties with the US, Sezer said Turkey's cooperation 
with the US against international terrorism and particularly in 
northern Iraq was a "significant test" and would be followed 
carefully by the Turkish nation. 
 
Talabani Says the PKK is Finished 
Hurriyet, Milliyet, Sabah, Cumhuriyet, Radikal, Zaman and others 
carry the Iraqi President Jalal Talabani remarks made to the Greek 
daily Elefterotipia in which he said the PKK was "finished," and 
that it had no future.  "I believe that we have entered into a 
period of normalization of ties with Turkey.  The PKK had been a 
'thorn' blocking establishment of confidence in ties between Iraq 
and Turkey, but now it is finished," said Talabani.  The Iraqi 
President also called on Turkey to declare amnesty for the PKK 
members in Mount Kandil. 
 
Over the weekend, the outlawed PKK called a new unilateral ceasefire 
as of October 1, papers report on Sunday citing a pro-PKK website. 
The PKK said its militants would not use arms "unless attacked by 
the Turkish military."  The announcement came after the statement of 
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani earlier last week that he persuaded 
the PKK to declare a ceasefire, and of the jailed leader of the 
group, Abdullah Ocalan, who made a ceasefire call for the PKK on 
Thursday. 
 
Bahros Galali, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) representative 
in Ankara, told the Turkish press that Talabani had made his 
statement regarding the PKK ceasefire in line with the requests 
coming from Turkish officials. 
 
Gonul Tells Rumsfeld of 'Map Incident' in Rome 
Radikal reports Turkish Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul asked Secretary 
Rumsfeld at a NATO meeting in Slovenia on September 28-29 for an 
explanation concerning the use of a map depicting Turkey 
disintegrated by an American military officer at a NATO Defense 
College lecture in Rome.  Gonul said Rumsfeld, unaware of what 
happened, said he was sorry and that he would order an investigation 
into the incident.  Gonul underlined that the incident on September 
15 was leaked to the press just days before Erdogan's travel to the 
US, speculating that someone wanted to disrupt the Turkish PM's 
visit. 
 
 
 
ANKARA 00005733  003 OF 003 
 
 
TV News: 
(NTV, 7.00 A.M.) 
 
Domestic News 
 
- Justice Minister Cemil Cicek said fundamentalism was no crime 
according to existing laws, adding that fundamentalism was "a 
political concept." 
 
- On October 3, Turkey's influential businessmen's grouping TUSIAD 
will hold ceremonies in Brussels, Paris and Berlin to mark the first 
anniversary of the opening of EU entry talks with Turkey. 
 
- Opposition CHP said compromise with the ruling AKP regarding 
constitutional changes in election regulations was hardly possible. 
CHP said it will support only regulations for pulling down the 
election age to 25 years. 
 
- One PKK terrorist was killed in fighting with the security forces 
in the southeastern province of Mardin. 
 
- An explosion at a pipeline between Iran and Turkey near the 
Iranian town of Bazargan has disrupted gas shipments to Turkey. 
 
International News 
 
- International Herald Tribune claims the main purpose of Pope 
Benedict's visit to Turkey in November is to see the most senior 
cleric of the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Greek Patriarch of 
Constantinople, Bartholomew I. 
 
- Over the weekend, President Bush signed legislation that would 
impose mandatory sanctions on entities that provide goods or 
services for Iran's weapons programs. 
 
- Two have been killed and 75 others wounded in clashes between 
al-Fatah militants and security forces linked with the ruling Hamas. 
 
 
- Britain's Independent warns Iraq may witness a new war between 
Arabs and Kurds in the northern provinces. 
 
- A reformist party pulled out of Serbia's coalition government on 
Sunday because of its failure to capture war crimes suspect General 
Ratko Mladic. 
 
  Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at 
 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ 
 
MCELDOWNEY