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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 000189 
 
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 
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2006 
 
 
THIS REPORT PRESENTS THE TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER THREE 
THEMES: 
 
HEADLINES 
BRIEFING 
EDITORIAL OPINION 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
HEADLINES 
 
MASS APPEAL 
General Wald: Ahmadinejad Regime a Threat against World - 
Sabah 
Iran Threatens World - Aksam 
Russia: Sanctions on Iran Not the Best Solution - Sabah 
Cheney Seeking Support in Egypt - Aksam 
Israel: We Won't Allow Iran to Have Nuclear Weapons - 
Hurriyet 
Henry Crumpton: Terrorist Nuclear Attacks a Strong 
Possibility - Milliyet 
Nicosia Wants Straw Visit to Turkish Cyprus Postponed - 
Milliyet 
Iran Removes Ban on CNN - Milliyet 
Hillary Clinton: Bush Administration is Awkward - Aksam 
 
OPINION MAKERS 
Powell Calls for Urgent Action against Iran - Zaman 
Powell: Iran a Potential Threat - Yeni Safak 
Israel Tries to Persuade Russia on Iran - Cumhuriyet 
Russia, China Block Submittal of Iran Nuclear Program to 
UNSC - Radikal 
Cheney Feels Pulses in Egypt for New US Strategies - Zaman 
Senator Clinton: Bush Administration among the Worst in US 
History - Yeni Safak 
Masked Gunmen Raid the PKK Office in Kirkuk, Kill Two - 
Cumhuriyet 
Iran-Iraq Troops Clash in Persian Gulf - Cumhuriyet 
10,000 Students Rally against US in Beirut - Yeni Safak 
 
 
BRIEFING 
 
Ankara Hosts General Wald:  Visiting Deputy EUCOM Commander 
General Charles Wald met with the deputy chief of Turkish 
General Staff (TGS), General Isik Kosaner, and was received 
by the Chief of TGS, General Hilmi Ozkok, in Ankara 
yesterday, papers report.  Papers quote US officials as 
saying that General Wald has told the Turks about US 
concerns over Iran, and asked Ankara to cooperate with 
Washington.  Wald did not ask for Turkish bases, and 
explained a plan which contained measures on a wide spectrum 
ranging from economic sanctions to establishment of air 
defense systems.  The sides have also exchanged information 
with regard to the PKK camps in northern Iraq.  At a 
reception in the US Embassy later in the day, Wald told 
reporters that the Iranian regime had been a bigger threat 
than the PKK.  Diplomacy is the best way to solve 
disagreements, Wald said, stressing that diplomatic efforts 
with Iran had produced no results in the last two years. 
TGS officials urged Wald to seek a diplomatic solution with 
Tehran, say papers. 
 
Erdogan Sends Warning to US on Iran:  On Tuesday, Prime 
Minister Tayyip Erdogan told his ruling AK Party group that 
Turkey had the experience for establishment of peace in the 
region, adding that both close and distant friends of Turkey 
can benefit from the Turkish expertise.  `Only weak people 
choose violence to solve their problems,' Erdogan said. 
Erdogan said that Turkey attributed importance to 
 
ANKARA 00000189  002 OF 003 
 
 
territorial integrity and political stability in neighboring 
countries.  The PM added that Turkey is pursuing policies 
that are designed to win new friends, not to generate 
hostility.  Both mainstream dailies and the Islamist- 
oriented "Yeni Safak" regard the Erdogan remarks as a 
reference to the ongoing tensions between US and Iran. 
 
MFA Denies Radar Station in Hatay Related with US:  Turkish 
Foreign Ministry (MFA) Spokesman Namik Tan said in response 
to a story carried on Tuesday in "Cumhuriyet" that the radar 
station established in Turkey's southern province of Hatay 
`is not related to the United States.'  `The radar station 
will be operated by Turkish Air Force Command for Turkey's 
security, and NATO joint funds will finance the assembling 
of the radar,' Tan said.  He noted that assembly of the 
radar had been completed, but that it had not been activated 
yet. 
 
US Experts Arrive in Turkey to Assess the Bird Flu 
Situation:  A team of US experts in animal and human health 
surveillance arrived in Turkey to assess the avian influenza 
situation in Turkey, and support efforts to stop it from 
spreading, Turkish papers report.  Papers carry a statement 
by the US Ankara Embassy which said that the US team 
comprised of experts from the Department of Agriculture, the 
Agency for International Development, the Department of 
Health and Human Services, and the Department of State will 
travel to regions of Turkey affected by the outbreak.  The 
World Health Organization (WHO) said it will continue to 
monitor the bird flu situation in Turkey closely, urging 
Ankara to keep up measures aimed at halting the spread of 
the virus.  A lawmaker from the ruling AK Party said the 
bird flu could be a biological weapon aimed at Turkey. 
 
Agca Released Early:  Turkish Justice Ministry asked the 
Supreme Court to reverse a decision to release Mehmet Ali 
Agca, the man who tried to assassinate Pope John Paul II in 
1981, early from prison lastweek, saying he has not served 
enough time behind bars, papers report.  Agca served 19 
years in prison in Italy and then just five-and-a-half years 
in a Turkish jail. 
 
Former Inmate Tells About Torture in Abu-Ghraib:  The 
Islamist-oriented "Yeni Safak" features an exclusive 
interview with Ali Kaysi, the Abu Ghraib prisoner who 
appeared in an infamous photo hooded, standing on a small 
box, with electric wires attached to his hands.  Under the 
headline, `They Raped our Country and our Women,' Kaysi, a 
former preacher in the rural areas of the Abu Ghraib region 
in Baghdad, says that he was arrested by US troops and taken 
to Abu Ghraib prison.  `Their real intention was not 
interrogation, but to humiliate us.  They asked whether I 
was a Sunni or Shiite, or an enemy of the Jews.  I was 
tortured by 10-12 American soldiers, some of them women, who 
were laughing and taking photographs.  They raped women 
prisoners in front of their husbands.  Every inmate was 
given a nickname -- mine was Colin Powell,' Kaysi said. 
 
ECHR Rules in Favor of Turkey on Internally Displaced 
Peoples Case:  The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) 
decided to not to discuss the application of Turkish 
national Aydin Icver who was forced to leave his house in a 
village in the eastern province of Tunceli during military 
operations against the PKK.  ECHR said that Turkey had 
established a Compensation Commission in July 2004 to meet 
the losses of displaced people.  Nearly 177,000 people have 
applied for compensation for losses caused by the Turkish 
military's anti-terror campaign in the 1980s and 1990s. 
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul told reporters on Wednesday 
 
ANKARA 00000189  003 OF 003 
 
 
that the ECHR ruling had freed Turkey from paying an 
additional 20 million USD in compensation to the villagers 
forcibly expelled from their homes in the eastern and 
southeastern provinces.  `Turkey has to protect its 
nationals' rights.  If we harmed our nationals while 
fighting terrorism or in any other way, we certainly have to 
compensate those losses,' Gul said.  The ECHR ruling affects 
some 1,500 cases piled up before the Strasbourg court, say 
papers. 
 
 
EDITORIAL OPINION:  Iran 
 
"Iran is not Iraq, Ahmadinejad is not Saddam" 
Rusen Cakir wrote in the mass appeal "Vatan" (1/18):  "At 
last, the West realized that Iran is not another Iraq.  This 
is a good sign.  However, there is one more issue the West 
has to accept: Iranian President Ahmadinejad is not another 
Saddam.  Nationalism has always been very strong in Iran, 
and lately, especially after the weakening of Islamism, such 
sentiments have grown more powerful.  It is a fact that, if 
there were to be an occupation, the US would face much 
stronger resistance in Iran than Iraq.  The Tehran 
Administration is over confident that the US and the West 
need Iran for its oil resources and for stability in the 
region.  However, all of a sudden, all these trump cards may 
carry Iran into huge trouble. The Iranian Administration 
should always remember the fact that the US is still the 
only super power in the world." 
 
"Iran Issue" 
Yilmaz Oztuna commented in the conservative-nationalist 
"Turkiye" (1/18):  "Iran is struggling to save its empire. 
If Iran has an atomic bomb it will definitely feel more 
powerful.  There isn't a single country in the world which 
approves of Iran's nuclear program, but no powers other than 
the UN or the US can prevent this program.  The US is 
determined to prevent it.  Iran is threatening the US and 
Israel continuously, just like Saddam did in the past. 
Compared to Saddam, the Iranian president is less 
experienced in world politics, but more radical and honest. 
The Ottoman Empire is a very good example of a situation in 
which radical nationalist leaders led a state to its end. 
In any case, Iran will not be able to obtain nuclear 
weapons.  Moreover, Iran will not be able to control Turkey, 
the Caucasus and the Turkic and Arab worlds under its 
hegemony.  There is zero possibility of that happening.  It 
may seem that Iran has as much right to nuclear weapons as 
other countries do.  However, international policies do not 
run according to such logic.  International politics proceed 
under very variable conditions and shape history." 
 
WILSON