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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 001121 
 
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, MARCH 6, 2006 
 
 
In Today's Papers 
 
Van Prosecutor Files Complaint against General Buyukanit 
All Papers:  The office of the Chief Prosecutor of the 
eastern province of Van filed a complaint against Land 
Forces Commander General Yasar Buyukanit on charges that he 
has tried to influence the trial procedures over the 
Semdinli incidents - domestic bombings for which members of 
the military have been charged. General Buyukanit had said 
about a non-commissioned officer, Ali Kaya, who is suspected 
of having been involved in bombings, "I know him, he is a 
good kid."  Because it has no jurisdiction to investigate 
him, the Chief Prosecutor's office has forwarded the file on 
Buyukanit to the Turkish General Staff (TGS) military 
prosecutor's office. 
 
The Chief Prosecutor's indictment also accuses the commander 
of the army corps in Van and two generals in Hakkari of 
abusing their authority by ordering subordinates to carry 
out illegal intelligence activities. Any investigation 
against Buyukanit and the regional commanders requires the 
permission of TGS Chief General Hilmi Ozkok.  General 
Buyukanit said he would be honored if he were tried in such 
a case.  Hurriyet says the military is uneasy with the 
prosecutor's style in the indictment, stressing that the 
charges are politically motivated. 
 
Retired generals told Sabah the indictment is a plot against 
Land Forces Commander Buyukanit to block him from becoming 
the new TGS chief in August.  Milliyet says that the 
indictment also accused Buyukanit of organized crime and 
forgery in forming a secret organization between 1997 and 
¶2000.  Justice Minister Cemil Cicek said the government had 
no role in the indictment, adding that it did not interfere 
in the "independent judiciary." 
 
Iran-related News 
Hurriyet, Milliyet, Sabah, Vatan, Cumhuriyet, Radikal, 
Zaman, Yeni Safak and others report the IAEA, after a 
meeting in Vienna today, may advise the UN Security Council 
to impose sanctions on Iran.  Iran's chief nuclear 
negotiator Ali Larijani stated that Iran will not halt 
uranium enrichment. 
 
Alaaddin Burujerdi, the head of Iranian Parliament's 
Commission of Foreign Politics, Security and Defense, met in 
Ankara with Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc, State Minister 
Besir Atalay, the head of the parliamentary commission for 
human rights Mehmet Dulger, National Security Council (MGK) 
Secretary General Yigit Alpogan, and Foreign Ministry 
 
SIPDIS 
Undersecretary Ali Tuygan to seek support in the "nuclear 
crisis," papers reported over the weekend.  Hurriyet 
reported that Turkey has urged Burujerdi not to confront the 
international community, and to consider Russia's proposal 
for cooperation in uranium enrichment.  Israeli operatives 
in northern Iraq have been working for a year to detect the 
nuclear sites in Iran, papers report. 
 
Several papers reported over the weekend that the US State 
Department plans to assign diplomats for Iran to be 
stationed in Istanbul, Dubai, London, Frankfurt and Baku. 
Monday papers cite the British Sunday Times report that the 
Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs, Elizabeth 
Cheney, has been authorized to control a USD 85 million fund 
to promote regime change in Iran through civilian efforts. 
Papers also quote Pentagon official Dan Goure as telling the 
British Times that Turkey may be used as a base during a 
possible US military operation against Iran. 
 
 
ANKARA 00001121  002 OF 003 
 
 
Commenting in the liberal-intellectual daily Radikal, Omer 
Taspinar accuses the US of applying a "double standard" for 
"tactical reasons" when it openly supported the Indian 
nuclear program but rejected the Iranian program.  Taspinar 
concludes that while "India's responsible leadership and its 
democratic regime are strong values for Washington; it 
remains to be seen whether the US administration will be 
able to convince the Congress and the world of this." 
 
Gul: Greater Middle East Initiative Does Not Include 
Military Intervention 
Milliyet, Aksam, Cumhuriyet, Yeni Safak:  Foreign Minister 
Gul commented in response to a parliamentary motion by the 
main opposition CHP that the Greater Middle East Project 
does not mean "military or political intervention."  "It is 
among the priorities of Turkey's foreign policy that all 
local and international initiatives to back democratization 
efforts in the region be supported," Gul said.  Turkey will 
not present itself as a model, but will contribute to such 
efforts by sharing with regional countries its experience of 
democratization and economic development, according to Gul. 
 
Iraqi Government Formation and Turkey's Role 
Cumhuriyet, Vatan:  In a secret meeting with the Iraqi 
National Dialogue Council leader Salih Mutlak in Ankara 
before Turkey's special Iraq envoy Oguz Celikkol's visit to 
Iraq last month, Ankara asked Mutlak to mediate between the 
Sunni and Shiite groups in Iraq, Cumhuriyet reported on 
Saturday.  Ankara also urged Mutlak to support Ibrahim 
Jafari as Prime Minister.  Mutlak is expected to visit 
Ankara by late March together with the radical Shiite cleric 
Muqtada al-Sadr.  Monday Vatan claims that during his 
meeting with Prime Minister Erdogan last week, Jafari 
assured that Kirkuk will not be tied to the regional Kurdish 
administration.  President Talabani, angered by the promise 
made by Jafari, asked the Shiites' prime minister-nominee to 
resign, according to Vatan. 
 
Yilmaz Oztuna, commenting on the future of the War in Iraq 
and the US's war on terrorism in the conservative daily 
Turkiye, says that while history tells us that the US has 
entered into global scale wars and "ended up winning them," 
it also tells us "the US has always made the worst possible 
peace agreements." Oztuna warns his readers to "expect to 
see further military operations from the US because the 
global war against terrorism has just started" and to 
"expect mistakes as well." He concludes that Turkey had 
better have its own "flawless strategic plan to get the 
minimum possible harm." 
 
US Academic Sacked from University 
Aksam, Hurriyet:  American academic Van Stone has been 
sacked from Bogazici University in Istanbul for insulting 
Islam and exalting Christianity in his lessons.  His 
students complained that Stone also insulted Ataturk, and 
humiliated Turkey as being a "third world country." 
 
 
TV HIGHLIGHTS 
NTV News (7: 00 a.m.) 
 
Domestic News 
- 20,000 demonstrators protested in the eastern province of 
Erzurum against the publication of the prophet Muhammad 
cartoons. 
 
- Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu said in response to a 
parliamentary motion that 103 security personnel were killed 
and 292 others were wounded in the fight against terrorism 
 
ANKARA 00001121  003 OF 003 
 
 
last year. 
 
International News 
- Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said in an interview with 
the London-based al-Hayat daily that al-Qaida terrorists 
have infiltrated the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and their 
operations could have dire consequences for the entire 
region. 
 
- Israel's acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert plans a 
unilateral West Bank withdrawal after forming the new 
cabinet. 
 
- An unidentified senior defense source told Britain's 
Sunday Telegraph that British and US troops are to pullout 
of Iraq in early 2007. 
 
- The Chief of the US CENTCOM General John Abizaid said more 
bombings such as the Shiite shrine in Samarra may be seen in 
Iraq. 
 
- Al-Qaida's second in-chief Ayman al-Zawahiri said insults 
against the Prophet Muhammad were part of a "crusaders' 
campaign" led by the United States. 
 
- Belgian police seeks fugitive DHKP-C militant Fehriye 
Erdal.  Erdal's friends said she would turn herself in if 
Belgium guarantees that she will not be extradited to 
Turkey. 
 
Economy News 
- Prime Minister Erdogan signaled changes in Turkey's 
monetary policies after the appointment of a new Central 
Bank governor. 
 
- A Finance Ministry report on financial crimes said dirty 
money laundered in Turkey since 1997 amounts to 2,331 
trillion lira. 
 
- A report drafted by the Turkish Atomic Energy Institution 
(TAEK) offers eight possible locations for the construction 
of nuclear power plants in Turkey. 
 
WILSON