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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 001227 
 
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 
THURSDAY, MARCH 9, 2006 
 
 
In Today's Papers 
 
Justice Ministry to Investigate Prosecutor Charging General 
Buyukanit 
All papers:  The "mole" leaking information to the Van 
prosecutor which led to a clash between the judiciary and 
the military turned out to be the ruling AK Party lawmaker 
Musa Sivacioglu, who also chairs the parliamentary 
commission probing the Semdinli bombings.  Sivacioglu 
admitted that he sent the transcript of the testimony of a 
local businessman who accused Land Forces Commander Yasar 
Buyukanit of forming a gang in the region between 1997 and 
2000 to Van prosecutor Ferhat Sarikaya on February 16.  The 
main opposition CHP party leader asked Sivacioglu to step 
down for leaking critical information to the prosecutor. 
Justice Ministry on Wednesday ordered the investigation into 
Prosecutor Sarikaya for attempting to undermine General 
Buyukanit, tipped to become the chief of Turkish General 
Staff (TGS) in August.  Sarikaya had charged that the 
illegal group allegedly set up by Buyukanit was behind the 
bombing of a bookshop in the southeastern town of Semdinli 
last November with the aim of provoking the government into 
blocking freedoms for Kurds, thus jeopardizing Turkey's EU 
membership talks.  The Van Bar Association denounced the 
investigation against Sarikaya as intervention in the 
proceedings of the judiciary.  In a snap poll commissioned 
by Vatan, 70.5 percent of respondents said they do not 
believe the allegations against General Buyukanit.  The 
survey, conducted by Sonar polling company, asked opinions 
of 1211 people in Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir.  Of those 
polled 68.5 percent said Buyukanit should be appointed the 
chief of the TGS despite the allegations. 
 
Iranian Ambassador Proposes Uranium Enrichment in Turkey 
Hurriyet, Milliyet, Sabah, Cumhuriyet, Radikal, Zaman, Yeni 
Safak and others report Iran's Ambassador in Ankara, Firuz 
Dowlatabadi, as telling the English-language daily The New 
Anatolian that Iran was ready to carry out uranium 
enrichment in Turkey.  Dowlatabadi invited Turkish companies 
to join nuclear projects in Iran.  He claimed that the US 
had long-term plans for the disintegration of Turkey, Iran 
and Saudi Arabia.  Cumhuriyet comments that pressure from 
the West prompted the offer. 
 
Commenting on the Iran issue in the tabloid Star, Washington- 
based Tulin Daloglu observes that two groups within the US 
government are debating the Iran case from different 
perspectives.  Ms. Daloglu writes: "One group draws 
attention to the ideology of the Iranian regime and talks 
about a long standing struggle against the mentality 
represented by Iranian official ideology.  The other group, 
on the other hand, expects a change of regime in Iran 
without intervention from outside.  The same group also 
argues that the acquisition of nuclear weapons will start 
the process of the demise of the current regime. Considering 
Cheney's recent remarks on Iran, we still cannot argue that 
the current debate is over between the two groups within US 
agencies.  However, there is something which both groups 
agree on:  they both believe that there is unprecedented 
international support for the US on the Iran case. But this 
view does not reflect reality.  There is nothing at the 
international public opinion at the moment to justify an 
American military operation against Iran." 
 
US Human Rights Report 
Hurriyet, Milliyet, Sabah, Vatan, Cumhuriyet, Radikal, 
Zaman, Yeni Safak and others report that the State 
Department Human Rights Report issued March 8 said torture, 
mistreatment, and restrictions on free speech and press 
 
ANKARA 00001227  002 OF 002 
 
 
continue in Turkey.  Yeni Safak criticizes the US for 
reporting abuses by insurgents in Iraq while not mentioning 
at all the torture inflicted by US troops.  Milliyet says 
the report cited the suits filed by Prime Minister Erdogan 
against political cartoonists.  Vatan underlines that this 
year the report did not mention the influence of the 
military in politics in Turkey. 
 
Annan Criticizes US, Baghdad Administration in Iraq Report 
Cumhuriyet, Radikal and Zaman carry international wire 
reports that UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, in a report, 
accused the coalition forces and the Baghdad administration 
of breaching international law by arbitrarily detaining 
thousands of people in Iraq.  Annan also expressed concerns 
over the prison system in Iraq. 
 
TV Highlights 
NTV, 8 AM 
 
Domestic News 
- High Board to Combat Terrorism warned that the 
fundamentalist Turkish Hizbullah had begun recovering, and 
that thousands of PKK militants had spent the winter in 
Turkey for the first time in long years on the eve of 
Nevruz. 
 
International News 
- IAEA is to refer Iran to UN Security Council which will 
probably impose sanctions against Iran at a meeting next 
week. 
 
- Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt said the escape of 
leftist militant Fehriye Erdal has created the impression 
that Belgium was not pressing hard to fight terrorism. 
 
- Britain's top military commander in Baghdad said the first 
pull-out of British troops from Iraq could begin in a matter 
of months, with a final withdrawal by mid-2008. 
 
- The majority of Americans want Saddam Hussein executed if 
convicted, AP-Ipsos polling said.  In eight other countries, 
where the death penalty was abolished, the majority of 
people prefer that Hussein spend the rest of his life in 
prison. 
 
- The Labor Party and the Socialist Party were the biggest 
winners in the Dutch local elections on Tuesday.  Ninety 
Turks were elected to Dutch city councils. 
 
Economy News 
- Current deficit reaches USD 2.5 billion in January - 70 
percent above the figure for the same month last year. 
 
- The tourism sector in Turkey demands state support 
following the grant of government incentives to poultry 
producers and textile sector. 
 
WILSON