Cablegate: Ankara Media Reaction Report

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DEPARTMENT FOR INR/R/MR, EUR/SE, EUR/PD, NEA/PD, DRL
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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OPRC KMDR TU
SUBJECT: ANKARA MEDIA REACTION REPORT
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2006

In Today's Papers

Turkey Names Retired General as PKK Coordinator
Cumhuriyet, Radikal, Zaman, Yeni Safak report that Turkey has named
retired general Edip Baser as the PKK special coordinator, following
the appointment of former NATO Commander General Joseph Ralston by
the US Administration for the same job. President Sezer approved
the appointment. Papers claim Baser will meet with Ralston during
his visit to Turkey on September 13.

Buyukanit Turns Down NATO Call for ISAF Reinforcement in
Afghanistan
All papers report General Yasar Buyukanit, the chief of the Turkish
General Staff (TGS) said in response to NATO calls for more troops
from member countries that Turkey would send "not a single soldier"
to Afghanistan. "We assumed the command of ISAF twice in the past.
Our duty in the Kabul regional command is also continuing. In the
future, Turkey will continue to contribute to NATO within this
framework," Buyukanit said. Turkish papers reported top NATO
commander US General James Jones as calling on allied countries to
send reinforcements to restive southern Afghanistan to fight against
the Taliban. On Turkey's participation in the peacekeeping force in
Lebanon, he said Turkish civilian personnel would go to Lebanon to
provide humanitarian aid, and that they must be protected. "We are
actually going to Lebanon to protect our own nationals, and we will
assume no duty other than that," said Buyukanit.

Kamuran Ozbir argues in the nationalist Ortadogu that Turkish
participation in UNIFIL inevitably means that Turkey will be drawn
into a war: "With the aim of eliminating Hezbollah, Israel, as a
proxy for the US, will re-start the war in Lebanon. It is a huge
possibility that during this second round, by hitting certain
targets, Israel will spread the war to Syria as well. UN Resolution
1701 is worded in favor of the US and Israel. And the UN force to
be deployed in Lebanon is going to protect these two countries
interests in there. What does this mean? Since Turkey's has
decided on participation in the UN force, Turkey, involuntarily,
will be participating in the plan the US started in the Middle East
with Iraq operation. When Turkey decided to stay out of the Iraq
war by the March 1 [2003] motion, we all thought that it was the
right decision. Unfortunately, regardless of the purpose, since
Turkey decided to send troops to Lebanon, we will automatically
become a part of the war the US is determined to continue.
Moreover, with a great possibility, Turkey will be involved in armed
clashes."

Babacan Meets Rehn on Europe Tour
All papers: Turkey's chief EU negotiator Ali Babacan met yesterday
with EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn and other EU officials in
Brussels.
Rehn expressed EU concerns over Article 301 of the penal code
[related to freedom of expression], urging Turkey to amend the
controversial provision. Babacan and Rehn discussed the shape of
Turkey's EU process following the European Parliament Foreign
Relations Committee's recent approval of a negative draft report on
Turkey's progress. Rehn also reiterated an EU call for Turkey to
meet its obligations by expanding customs union agreement in a way
to cover EU member Cyprus. Babacan told the press Turkey believed
the Cyprus issue should not block EU membership talks with Turkey.

Hoagland Approved as US Ambassador to Yerevan
Milliyet, Sabah, Radikal, Cumhuriyet, Zaman, Yeni Safak say the
Armenian lobby suffered a defeat in the US Congress when a Senate
panel backed the appointment of Richard Hoagland as ambassador to
Armenia after a heated debate over the withdrawal of the previous
envoy John Evans who had sparked controversy with references about
the genocide of Armenians at the hand of Ottoman forces during World
War I.

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Bush Acknowledges Secret Detention Centers
Hurriyet, Sabah, Yeni Safak report President Bush has acknowledged
for the first time the existence of secret CIA detention centers in
a speech at the White House on Wednesday. Bush noted that 14 top
terror suspects, including the 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh
Mohammed and lead operative Ramzi Binalshibh, were interrogated in
those centers before being transferred to the military prisoner in
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He rejected charges that US applied torture
during the interrogation of suspects. Sabah reports analysts said
the surprise statement by Bush was a tactic aimed to shift attention
from Iraq to the global struggle against terrorism before the
upcoming US Congressional elections in November.

Ibrahim Karagul urges the Turkish government to go public regarding
cooperation with the US over "secret prisons" in the
Islamist-opinion maker Yeni Safak: "Secretary Rice was lying to the
entire world when she made a statement last year denying the
existence of torture planes - even as people were dying in these
torture centers. Now President Bush has admitted that there were
CIA detention centers, which means the US has finally confessed its
responsibility for a crime against humanity. Prior to this
confession, the EU report in fact told the whole story behind the
CIA torture planes and also named the collaborating countries,
including Turkey. On this matter so far we only heard denials from
Turkish authorities about actual involvement of the Turkish
airports, Istanbul, Incirlik and Diyarbakir, for the detention
planes. The Turkish authorities had better be thinking of changing
this attitude and becoming transparent on the issue. While they are
putting every effort into denying such stories, the US is going to
admit it eventually anyway. What happens next, I wonder. Are we
going to issue a statement denying what President Bush has admitted?
Turkey should act before the US does to make public the details of
Turkey's involvement in this particular crime against humanity."

TV Highlights
NTV (6 a.m.)

Domestic News

- On Saturday, a Turkish military team headed by Brigadier-General
Tahir Bekiroglu will travel to Lebanon to examine the area where
Turkish peacekeepers will be deployed.

- Financial Times says Turkey's parliament has voted to send troops
to join the international force for Lebanon as it seeks to join the
EU and to win a seat on the UN Security Council in 2009-2010.

- German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, on a visit to
Turkey, promised to work together with Ankara to remove the barriers
in front of Turkey's EU membership drive.

International News

- Israel said it lifted the two-month-long air blockade of Lebanon
but kept its naval blockade in place until international forces can
take over.

- US Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International
Security, Robert Joseph, said the time has come to impose sanctions
on Tehran, adding Turkey was expected to comply with the UN Security
Council resolutions in this issue.

- Tony Blair has pledged to step down as Prime Minister within 12
months in the face of growing criticism calling for him to quit.

Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at

http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/

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WILSON

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