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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 001346 
 
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 
TUESDAY, MARCH 14, 2006 
 
 
In Today's Papers 
 
Gul: US-Turkey Work Together to Bring Freedom, Democracy to 
Muslim World 
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul told the ruling AK Party 
lawmakers at a group gathering near Ankara over the weekend 
that Turkey is working with the United States to help bring 
democracy and freedom to the Islamic world under 
Washington's Greater Middle East Project, Radikal reports. 
Gul said Turkey supported the US Broader Middle East and 
North Africa Initiative (BMENAI,) a project "parallel to 
Turkish foreign policy goals and principles."  Gul stressed 
the importance of freedoms, saying that AKP could not have 
come to power without democracy.  Responding to lawmakers' 
questions with regard to the crisis between Iran and the 
international community, Gul said Turkey must be prepared 
for a possible US intervention in Iran.  Gul noted that 
Turkey would have to "close the door on Iran" in case of 
negative developments in the region, adding that an 
intervention in Iran will inflict serious losses on Turkey. 
The FM pointed to Pakistan and Israel as other countries 
declining to join international treaties on nuclear energy, 
and said that Turkey cooperated with the UN to pursue 
policies deterring Iran. 
 
In his column in the economic-political daily Dunya, foreign 
affairs writer Haluk Ulman draws attention to the growing 
anti-Americanism in the Islamic world and elsewhere.  Ulman 
writes that global anti-Americanism stems from "a fury 
against the Bush administration's policy on the use of 
force." Citing a Pew poll, Ulman notes that that citizens of 
foreign nations generally believe that the "global war on 
terrorism" is not only about security but is "more about 
controlling Middle East oil, changing Muslim regimes, 
protecting Israeli interests and ruling the world." Ulman 
concludes, "In other words, nobody thinks that President 
Bush's democracy rhetoric is sincere.  The Bush 
administration should look inside and acknowledge its policy 
mistakes instead of blaming others for the growing anti- 
Americanism in international public opinion." 
 
 
Ankara Not Happy with New UN Cyprus Envoy 
Ankara has conveyed to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan 
concerns over the Annan statement after meeting with 
Papadopoulos in Paris last week, in which Annan implied that 
Turkey should take new forward steps in Cyprus such as the 
demilitarization of the island and the transfer of 
Gazimagusa (Famagusta) to the Greek Cypriots, Hurriyet 
reports.  Ankara criticized Annan for being the victim of 
Greek Cypriot maneuvers to delay a solution in the divided 
island.  The UN General Secretariat has responded by saying 
that the statement of Annan had been misinterpreted, 
stressing that Annan supported Turkey's action plan for 
Cyprus.  The economic/political daily Referans commented 
that Ankara still trusted Annan, but that Turks believed the 
UN Special Cyprus Representative Michael Moller was 
"biased."  Ankara believes that Moller's attitude favoring 
the Greek Cypriots influenced the developments in Cyprus. 
 
Unemployed Turkish Workers Find Jobs in Iraq, Afghanistan 
Yeni Safak reports Turkey's labor force has shifted to 
Russia and the newly-independent Turkish states in Central 
Asia as well as to war-ravaged Iraq and Afghanistan, 
countries in the process of rebuilding.  In 2005, 1,237 
Turkish workers went to Iraq, 6,048 to Afghanistan, 6,452 to 
Saudi Arabia, 19,540 to Russia, and 5,775 to Kazakhstan. 
Qualified Turkish workers are paid monthly an average of USD 
600, and engineers USD 2,000. 
 
ANKARA 00001346  002 OF 003 
 
 
 
Allegations on a CIA Plane Landing in Diyarbakir in 2002 
According to mainstream daily Hurriyet, the Turkey angle to 
the alleged CIA detention flights landing in the third 
countries deepens with every passing day.  Earlier, it was 
reported that one of these CIA planes had landed in 
Istanbul's Sabiha Gokcen airport and the second one had 
landed in Adana.  According to the new allegation, a 
'Gulfstream V' type CIA plane landed in Diyarbakir on 
November 25, 2002.  This plane, owned by "Premier Executive 
Transport Services' company (a side contractor), took off 
from Frankfurt and landed in Diyarbakir.  There is no 
information on how long the plane stayed in Diyarbakir, the 
number of passengers aboard or where the plane went after 
Diyarbakir. 
 
Change in the Turkish Citizenship Law 
Hurriyet:  The Government decided to make an amendment to 
the Turkish Citizenship Law as a part of the reform 
framework for EU harmonization.  According to the latest 
draft presented to the Council of Ministers, conscientious 
objection to compulsory military service will no longer be 
grounds for annulment of Turkish citizenship.  Government 
spokesman Cemil Cicek signaled there would be a change in 
the compulsory military service law as well. 
 
TV Highlights 
NTV (8 a.m) 
 
Domestic News 
- The head of the Turkish General Staff, General Hilmi 
Ozkok, said a provincial prosecutor's charges that Land 
Forces Commander General Yasar Buyukanit abused his 
authority have actually shown Buyukanit's greatness. 
 
- Turkish Parliament on Tuesday will vote on a motion filed 
by the main opposition CHP against Finance Minister Kemal 
Unakitan for irregularities.  The ruling AK Party said the 
motion was politically motivated. 
 
- The jandarma will hand over to the police the task of 
Turkish border security.  A police force of 70,000 will 
protect Turkish borders.  The EU will extend Euro 685,000 
for the restructuring of border security in line with EU 
rules. 
 
- Armenian historians said they will not join the Armenian 
conference to be held in Istanbul University on March 15-17 
with the participation of more than 50 specialists from 
Turkey and abroad, including US Professor Justin McCarthy. 
 
- A conference on "Turkey's Kurdish Question" over the 
weekend at Istanbul's Bilgi University proposed Kurdish 
should be accepted the second official language in Turkey. 
 
International News 
-Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis said Greece was not 
ready for Turkey's EU membership. 
 
- The radical Shiite leader, Muqtada al-Sadr said there was 
civil war in Iraq, and called for calm. 
 
- The Iraqi Turkmen Front claimed the Kurdish peshmerge in 
the Iraqi National Guard had attacked the Turkmen village of 
Tuzhurmatu last week. 
 
- The British Defense Secretary John Reid announced that 
about 800 British troops will be withdrawn from Iraq in May. 
 
 
ANKARA 00001346  003 OF 003 
 
 
- The Iraqi Special Tribunal adjourned the hearing of Saddam 
Hussein and seven aides until Wednesday, March 15. 
 
- Dutch officials said Slobodan Milosevic deliberately took 
the wrong drug, Rifampicin, to neutralize heart medication 
in an attempt to force The Hague to transfer him to Moscow 
for treatment.  The family of former Yugoslav president 
pushed for a Belgrade state funeral for the indicted war 
criminal. 
 
- A US judge adjourned the death penalty trial of al-Qaida 
conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui for 48 hours after what she 
termed a violation of rules against witnesses by a 
government lawyer. 
 
Economy News 
- The ruling AK Party government will not hurry to seek 
President Sezer's approval to appoint  Erdem Basci to govern 
Central Bank (CB), but will wait to see Turkish market 
support for Basci, the current CB deputy governor. 
 
- Austria's oil company OMV announced that it bought a 34 
percent stake in Turkish oil corporation Petrol Ofisi, owned 
by the media mogul Aydin Dogan. 
 
WILSON