VZCZCXRO6489
OO RUEHDA
DE RUEHAK #0347/01 0301659
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 301659Z JAN 06
FM AMEMBASSY ANKARA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 2801
RUEKJCS/CJCS WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEKJCS/OSD WASHDC//PA
RUEUITH/ODC ANKARA TU
INFO RUEHTH/AMEMBASSY ATHENS 6909
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 9701
RUEHDA/AMCONSUL ADANA 0337
RUEHBS/AMEMBASSY BRUSSELS 5081
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 4791
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 1407
RUEUITH/DET 1 39LG ANKARA TU
RHMFIUU/CDRUSAE IZMIR TU
RHMFIUU/USDOCO 6ATAF IZMIR TU
RHMFIUU/39OSS 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 04 ANKARA 000347 
 
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 
FRIDAY, JANUARY 27, 2006 
 
 
THIS REPORT PRESENTS THE TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER THREE 
THEMES: 
 
HEADLINES 
BRIEFING 
EDITORIAL OPINION 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
HEADLINES 
 
MASS APPEAL 
US: We Invite All Parties to Take Seriously Turkey's Cyprus 
Proposal - Vatan 
Nicosia Officially Rejects Turkey's Cyprus Proposal - 
Hurriyet 
US, Italy Support Turkey's Cyprus Plan - Milliyet 
The HAMAS Revolution - Hurriyet 
Palestine Chooses Terror Organization, Israel Worried - 
Milliyet 
Palestinians, Fed Up with Corruption, Vote for HAMAS - 
Hurriyet 
US, Israel Won't Recognize HAMAS - Vatan 
Gul Calls on HAMAS to Abide by Democratic Values - Milliyet 
HAMAS Targets Islamic State in Palestine - Aksam 
 
OPINION MAKERS 
US Supports Turkey's Cyprus Plan, Invites Parties to Talks - 
Zaman 
HAMAS Quake in Palestine - Cumhuriyet 
US Tough, EU Moderate on HAMAS Election Victory - Radikal 
Al-Fatah Turns Down HAMAS Coalition Offer, Israel on Alert - 
Radikal 
HAMAS Ends al-Fatah Leadership Since 1954 - Yeni Safak 
HAMAS Victory Will Benefit Rightist Parties in Israel - 
Zaman 
Blair: HAMAS Must Choose among Democracy, Violence - Yeni 
Safak 
Annan: HAMAS Must Abandon Arms - Yeni Safak 
International Community Calls on HAMAS to Lay Down Weapons - 
Zaman 
US Releases 419 Iraqi Prisoners to have Carroll Freed - 
Radikal 
Rugova Laid to Rest in Pristina - Cumhuriyet 
 
 
BRIEFING 
 
Ankara Hails Straw's Courage in Visiting North Cyprus: 
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul hailed British Foreign 
Secretary Jack Straw as 'courageous' for visiting Turkish 
 
SIPDIS 
Cyprus in defiance of Greek Cypriot pressure, papers report. 
Straw has been the first western minister to visit Turkish 
Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat in his offices in the north 
of the divided island.  Straw said at a joint press 
conference with Gul on Thursday that Greek Cypriots should 
also join Turkey's action plan for the resolution of the 
Cyprus problem, adding that the EU, UN and the UK had 
welcomed Turkey's new initiative.  Straw stressed that 
Turkey ought to pass the EU customs union protocol by 
parliament and to open its ports for Greek Cypriot vessels 
if Ankara wanted progress in Turkey's EU entry bid.  Gul 
warned that the Turkish side will give up its efforts for a 
settlement if the Greek Cypriots refuse to respond to the 
Turkish offers. 
 
US Welcomes Turkey's New Cyprus Initiative:  The US 
Administration welcomed Turkey's Cyprus action plan as a 
positive step forward that will contribute to efforts to 
solve the Cyprus problem, papers report.  On Thursday, US 
 
ANKARA 00000347  002 OF 004 
 
 
Ankara Embassy in Ankara said that the US urges the sides in 
Cyprus to consider seriously the Turkish proposal.  The US 
said that the Cyprus action plan announced by FM Gul was a 
positive and forward-looking attempt, adding that it was 
ready to back UN efforts for a settlement.  The Italian 
Embassy in Ankara announced that Rome appreciated Turkish 
efforts for a breakthrough in Cyprus.  Austria, Sweden, and 
Spain also supported the Turkish initiative, and initial 
reactions from China and Russia had been positive, according 
to papers. Kofi Annan is expected to disclose his views in a 
meeting with Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan in Davos today, 
say reports.  Erdogan said Turkey is 'at least 10 steps 
ahead' of the Greek Cypriots in seeking efforts for a 
settlement on the island.  "Radikal" claims that US 
Congressmen Robert Wexler (D) and Ed Whitfield (R) are 
planning to establish direct US flights to Turkish Cyprus. 
 
Gul, Straw Discuss Iran:  Unidentified sources told the 
Turkish press that Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul discussed 
with visiting British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw the issue 
of Iran's nuclear program.  Turkey opposed nuclear weapons 
in the region, Gul said, stressing that countries only had 
the right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.  Gul 
said Turkey told Iranian officials that Iran should 
cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) 
and the EU-troika, and should be transparent in its 
policies. 
 
Amihay Criticizes Turkey's Ties with Iran, Syria:  The 
Israeli Consul-General in Istanbul, Mordehay Amihay, 
criticized Turkey's ties with Iran and Syria, "Cumhuriyet" 
reports.  'Israel respects Turkish willingness to establish 
friendly ties with its neighbors.  However, I don't think 
that Turkey would rescue Israel in case of turmoil in the 
region.  And I don't think that Israel would ask Turkey for 
help," Amihay told a symposium on Turkey-Israel ties, 
jointly organized by Israeli Consulate and the Konrad 
Adenauer Foundation.  "Cumhuriyet" regards the remarks of 
Amihay as criticism against Turkish ties with Iran and 
Syria. 
 
Palestine Election Results:  Turkish papers give extensive 
coverage to Palestine elections, and the US reaction to the 
results.  Dailies say that the HAMAS victory has put the 
Bush administration in a difficult position, but Palestinian 
voters elected a terrorist organization. 'We will not meet 
with them.  The condition is that they must recognize 
Israel's right to exist,' papers quote President Bush. 
"Sabah" carries Secretary Rice's comment that 'You can't 
have one foot in politics and one foot in terror.' 
 
MFA Commemorates Holocaust Victims:  On Thursday, Turkish 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) released a statement to 
mark the 61st anniversary of the liberation of the former 
Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau.  The United 
Nations General Assembly unanimously approved a resolution 
on 'Holocaust Remembrance Day' on November 1, 2005, the MFA 
recalled, and noted: 'During World War II, the Nazi regime 
in Germany carried out a systematic attempt to annihilate 
the entire Jewish race.  More than 6 million Jews, together 
with countless other minorities, died at the hands of the 
Nazis.  According to the resolution, January 27th was 
established as an International Day of Commemoration in 
memory of the victims of the Holocaust.'  Turkish people 
have always assisted Jewish people throughout the history, 
the MFA added:  'In 1492, Sultan Bayezid II of the Ottoman 
Empire sheltered Jewish people who were forced to leave 
their homes by the Inquisition.  During World War II, 
Turkish diplomats such as Sebahattin Ulkumen, Necdet Kent 
 
ANKARA 00000347  003 OF 004 
 
 
and Namik Kemal Yolga saved Jewish people in Rhodes, 
Marseilles and Paris from being sent to concentration camps 
by endangering their own lives.  Jewish scientists, who took 
shelter in Turkey, were assigned in leading universities, 
contributing to education of Turkish youth.'  The MFA 
statement went on that 'on this very meaningful day, we 
commemorate all victims of the Holocaust with profound 
respect.  We hope that all humanity has learned its lessons 
from this horrifying period, and that for the benefit of 
future generations, such incomparable evil events will never 
occur again.' 
 
Turkey's Business Elite Oppose Early Polls, Call for 
Judicial Reform:  Turkey's elite business group TUSIAD 
Chairman Mustafa Koc said on Thursday that elections should 
take place as scheduled for the sake of economic and 
political stability in the country.  Turkish presidents are 
elected by parliament members in Turkey every seven years. 
The next parliamentary elections will be held in November 
2007 while the presidential elections will be held in May 
¶2007.  The CHP and leftist groups want to prevent the 
election of the next president by members of the current 
parliament which is dominated by conservative AK Party 
lawmakers.  On Cyprus, Koc said that TUSIAD backed the AKP 
government's push to resolve the problem.  Koc also called 
for a complete reformation of the Turkish judicial system 
which came under attack over the court case brought against 
novelist Orhan Pamuk, and over the premature release of Pope 
John Paul II's attacker Mehmet Ali Agca. 
 
EU to Give Turkey 10.4 Million USD to Fight against Bird 
Flu:  Turkey's Bird Flu National Coordination Center stated 
on Thursday that 1,427,000 poultry have been culled so far 
across Turkey due to bird flu disease.  EU health 
commissioner Markos Kiprianu said at a joint press 
conference after visiting Turkish Health Minister Recep 
Akdag in Ankara on Thursday the EU will soon release 8.5 
million Euro (10.4 million USD) in support of Turkey's fight 
against the bird flu outbreak that has claimed four lives, 
the first human bird flu fatalities outside Southeast Asia 
and China.  The European Commission on Thursday warned 
countries bordering Turkey not to hush up possible bird flu 
cases, following accusations by Ankara that some of its 
neighbors are concealing the disease. 
 
 
EDITORIAL OPINION:  Palestine Elections 
 
"What Choice Will Hamas Make?" 
Sami Kohen commented in the mainstream "Milliyet" (1/27): 
"The election results indicate a complete reshuffle of 
balances in Palestine, because even the leaders of Hamas 
were not expecting such a big victory.  In this regard, the 
Hamas victory and Fatah's defeat can be characterized as a 
political tremor in Palestine. . The air is full of 
speculation about what Hamas will do in the coming days.  At 
this point, nobody knows whether Hamas will be able to 
change after coming to power, and whether it will carry out 
its political responsibilities as a ruling party.  One 
possible option is that Hamas will go through a period of 
transformation, including giving up its doctrine concerning 
the elimination of Israel, restart the peace process with 
Israel, and abandon violence. . The other option is for 
Hamas to pursue its radical line and to try to implement it 
in daily lives.  In this case, to what extent can we say 
that Hamas has met the expectation of the Palestinians who 
voted for it?  In sum, the Palestinians have chosen Hamas - 
now we will see what choice Hamas will make." 
 
 
ANKARA 00000347  004 OF 004 
 
 
"Resistance Came From the Ballot Box" 
Kenan Akin commented in the nationalist "Ortadogu" (1/27): 
"The outcome of the Palestinian elections clearly indicates 
that the Middle East is a region of contradiction and 
conflicts.  After gaining the majority of votes, Hamas 
immediately announced that it will not change its policy on 
the resistance.  For its part, Israel announced that it will 
not recognize Hamas as the legitimate administration in 
Palestine until after it abandons its weapons.  The election 
process was difficult enough, but the results will have the 
effect of creating more tension in the region.   As a 
result, efforts to bring democracy in Palestine will bring 
terrorism and clashes as well.  The majority of Palestinians 
-- tired of many years of occupation and resistance, and in 
a state of economic collapse - prefer an honorable peace. 
Although the majority of the Palestinians voted for Hamas, 
the main reason for this was to show their reaction to the 
current administration.  But it does not seem possible that 
Hamas will abandon its radical policies easily.  A radical 
Hamas administration will turn the Middle East into a very 
dangerous place once again." 
 
WILSON