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DEPARTMENT FOR INR/R/MR, EUR/SE, EUR/PD, NEA/PD, DRL
JCS PASS J-5/CDR S. WRIGHT
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TAGS: OPRC KMDR TU
SUBJECT: ANKARA MEDIA REACTION REPORT
THURSDAY, JUNE 14, 2007
In Today's Papers
Turkey to Establish "Buffer Zone" Inside Northern Iraq
Hurriyet, Milliyet, Sabah, Radikal, Cumhuriyet, Birgun, Yeni Safak
and others report the
Turkish government and the military have reached consensus in a
"security summit" held Tuesday to explore creating a "buffer zone"
on the Iraqi side of the border and raising the number of Turkish
troops in northern Iraq. Cumhuriyet says Turkey will reinforce its
2000 troops already stationed in northern Iraq and establish a 15-km
buffer zone in Iraqi territory along the border to prevent the
infiltration of PKK militants into Turkish territory. Turkey is now
trying to convince the US administration to support the plan, and
wants a decision before the next Turkish National Security Council
(MGK) meeting on June 20. A possible declaration of emergency rule
in Turkish border provinces was not discussed at the security
meeting, according to Cumhuriyet.
On Wednesday, the Prime Minister reiterated that "the priority is to
continue the fight against terrorism within Turkey's borders."
Mainstream Sabah and leftist Birgun report a delegation of AKP MP'S,
Egemen Bagis, Reha Denemec and Mevlut Cavusoglu, arrived in
Washington on Wednesday for talks with Americans. Birgun claims the
delegation will ask American officials to hand over PKK leaders to
Turkey before the upcoming general elections July 22. The lawmakers
will tell the Americans that a victory in the elections depends on
the AKP showing the Turkish nation that the ruling party has taken
effective steps with regard to the PKK, says Birgun.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday a major was killed and two privates were
injured when a remote-control PKK roadside bomb went off as a
military convoy was passing in Yuksekova town in the border province
of Hakkari.
Barzani Remarks
Hurriyet, Milliyet, Radikal, Cumhuriyet: According to the
"Kurdistan For News" internet site, Iraqi Kurdish Leader Massoud
Barzani, at his Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic Party's central committee
meeting, accused Turkey of an aggressive approach towards Kurds and
said "Turkey's problem is not the PKK or Kirkuk, but the presence of
Kurds. Before the toppling of the dictatorial Baath regime, we had
bilateral ties with Turkey on a number of issues, but after the Iraq
war, Ankara's diplomacy towards here (northern Iraq) shifted. We
always wish for friendly ties between the two sides without any
interference in each other's domestic affairs. But, this does not
mean that we will accept aggressive approaches."
Meanwhile leftist-nationalist Cumhuriyet reports that Barzani gave
orders to replace Kurdistan flags with Iraqi flags at the Peshmerge
points along the Turkey-Iraq border, as a precaution for a possible
Turkish incursion.
Editorial Commentary on Turkish Incursion into Iraq, Fighting in
Gaza
Okay Gonensin wrote in the mainstream daily Vatan (6/14): "There is
an ongoing misrepresentation of Turkey's Kurdish problem and
nowadays it continues through rhetoric about northern Iraq. The
signs of a separate Kurdish state in the north of Iraq are
considered a potential threat against Turkey. It is believed that
such a development will encourage Kurds in Turkey towards separatist
activities. The fact of the matter is that a Kurdish state in
northern Iraq is coming, and we have to face it. The only way to
prevent this from happening is to enter northern Iraq and to defy
the entire world. It goes without saying that this is equal to
complete insanity. Debating a cross border operation into northern
Iraq as the only way to settle the terrorism issue and solve the
Kurdish problem is an indication of a lack of vision in Turkish
foreign policy. Terror is an internal problem of Turkey. Even
though some foreign powers meddle in this issue, it is still a fact
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that both the source and root of our terrorism problem is in Turkey.
And it should be Ankara's problem to handle as well as to solve
these problems. "
Soli Ozel wrote in the mainstream daily Sabah (6/14): "The power
struggle between two Palestinian groups in Gaza has turned into a
civil war. Torn by the situation, Palestinians living in Gaza have
started to escape, and some of them even wish for Israel to return
to the area. The disunity among Palestinians which ended in this
current disastrous situation stems from two reasons. First the
ongoing embargo against Hamas caused terrible suffering for people
of Palestine. Secondly, Palestinians failed to come up with a
unified policy for their future and failed to shape realistic policy
stances. The current situation in the region also indicates the
need for the outside world to accept Hamas as a negotiating partner.
The Hamas election victory in Gaza showed the political demise of
Al Fatah. In addition, Hamas is disturbed by the Al-Qaeda linked
movements in Gaza in the same way Lebanon, Iraq and other Arab
nations are worried about the emergence of Al Qaeda linked
organizations in their countries. There is a major difference
between organizations with nationalistic goals, such as Hamas, and
organizations with destructive goals, such as Al Qaeda. There will
be an eventual chance for engaging in political dialogue with the
former, yet negotiation with the latter under any circumstances is
impossible."
Paper on the "Terror Atmosphere in Turkish Politics"
Liberal Radikal, under a page one headline "Terror atmosphere in
politics," says party leaders are directing serious accusations
against each other ahead of the July 22 elections. Prime Minister
Erdogan condemned efforts to exploit funerals of martyred soldiers
for political goals, denouncing opposition parties for their
supposed complicity in these politicization efforts. Erdogan said
he and his party valued the blood of martyred soldiers more than all
the seats in the parliament. Erdogan also maintained that the main
opposition party, CHP, established its political strategy by
violating all boundaries of democracy and that it committed the
greatest mistakes in its history during the recent presidential
elections. Opposition CHP leader Deniz Baykal said Erdogan's
statement that Turkey should first fight terrorists at home echoed
the views of Kurdish leaders Barzani and Talabani. Baykal added
Erdogan and his AKP government were the biggest obstacles to the
fight against terrorism. The far-right MHP leader Devlet Bahceli
claimed that Erdoda'sn failure in the fight against terror caused
the sharp public reactions and that the PM was the architect of
escalating terror in Turkey.
570 Kilo Al-Qaeda Heroin Seized in Istanbul
Mainstream Sabah reports that Gendarmerie forces in Istanbul were
informed that 570 kg heroin, in a truck coming from Afghanistan and
transiting Iran, would be passing through Turkey to Europe. When
the smugglers in the truck realized the Gendarmerie had set up a
control point in the Pendik region of Istanbul, the gang off loaded
the heroin in a dried out stream bed on the route. The gendarmerie
seized the heroin from there.
TV Highlights
NTV
Domestic News
- Opposition party CHP plans to hold election rallies in 40
provinces.
- President Sezer has approved a controversial bill granting
extensive powers to the police.
- A court in Istanbul has sentenced Irfan Dundar, the lawyer of the
PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, to three years and nine months in prison
for meeting with PKK leaders in Kandil Mountain and for aiding the
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terrorist organization.
- Foreign investments in Turkey in 2006 totaled to USD 20.2 billion.
International News
- An explosion from a bomb-rigged car killed the anti-Syrian
lawmaker Walid Eido and nine others on Beirut's seafront Wednesday.
- The Knesset has elected Shimon Peres, Israel's deputy prime
minister and Nobel peace laureate, as the country's new President.
- The EU Commission spokeswoman Krisztina Nagy said negotiations
with Turkey on three new chapters, including monetary union, were
set to open as scheduled on June 26.
- The EU has approved a European visa data system which will store
biometric information like fingerprints and photos on 70 million
visa-holders who pass through the EU's borderless travel zone each
year.
WILSON