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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 001378 
 
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, MARCH 15, 2006 
 
  In Today's Papers 
 
  Finance Minister Survives Motion 
  All papers:  On Tuesday, the ruling AK Party government 
  defeated a motion brought by the main opposition CHP 
  against Finance Minister Kemal Unakitan over alleged 
  irregularities and abuse of authority.  Unakitan rejected 
  the charges, saying the motion was part of a CHP "slander 
  campaign."  The motion was rejected 341 votes to 172. 
  Tuesday's motion was the third the CHP has filed against 
  Unakitan over the last five months.  Prime Minister 
  Erdogan had earlier urged his party group to stand firmly 
  behind the finance minister. 
 
  Syrian Kurdish Congress in Washington 
  Aksam, Tercuman, Milliyet:  A group of Syrian Kurds 
  opposing the Baath regime, arranged a conference at the 
  US Senate in Washington.  In the brochures distributed at 
  the conference, a map of Kurdistan included Ankara, 
  Trabzon and Antalya in its borders.  Moreover, a 
  Kurdistan flag which is used by the Kurdish parties in 
  northern Iraq, was placed on the podium.  Kurdish 
  opposition leaders expressed their appreciation to 
  President Bush and Secretary Rice for their support for 
  democracy and freedom in the Middle East, and wished for 
  the wind of freedom to blow through Syria as well. 
 
  "Armenian Genocide": European Financing of Italian 
  Film/Turkish and Armenian Ambassadors to Discuss Issue on 
  Italian TV 
  Sabah, Vatan, Yeni Safak:  The European Council's movie 
  production company EURIMAGE decided to give financial 
  support to an Italian movie about the so-called Armenian 
  Genocide.  Supporting the EURIMAGE production company 
  every year with one million Euro, the Turkish Government 
  reacted to this decision by saying "are we going to 
  support these allegations with our own money?'   Due to 
  Turkey's reaction, Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi 
  stepped in and asked the movie production company to 
  soften the scenario.  Sabah correspondent Yasemin Taskin 
  reports from Rome that with the initiative of Turkish 
  Ambassador to Rome Ugur Ziyal, he and Armenian Ambassador 
  Rouben Sugaryan will discuss the Armenian Genocide issue 
  on Italian RAI TV on March 20 at 09.00.  Ambassador Ziyal 
  said that one historian from both countries will 
  participate at the program together with the Ambassadors. 
 
  Iraqi Turkmen Establish New Organization 
  Cumhuriyet:  The Turkmen Autonomy Organization, founded 
  in Iraq last week under the chairmanship of Dr. Muzaffer 
  Aslan, the Iraqi Presidency Board member for the Turkmen, 
  said it targeted the recognition of the Turkmen as the 
  third main element in Iraq.  Aslan said US authorities 
  approved of the formation of the organization, saying it 
  was the Turkmen's legitimate right.  A statement by the 
  new organization said Kirkuk was the capital of the 
  autonomous Turkmen region, stressing that the struggle to 
  keep the special status of Kirkuk will continue. 
 
  New State Incentives for Private Schools 
  Radikal:  The Education Ministry submitted to parlia-\kt 
  a draft bill that envisages financial state assistance 
  worth TL 1,000 (USD 739) to each student attending 
  private schools in Turkey.  The ministry will pay half of 
  the interest rates of education bank loans in an effort 
  to support families with children attending private 
  intermediate education institutions.  Minority schools in 
  Turkey will also benefit from the new state incentives 
  introduced in the draft law. 
 
ANKARA 00001378  002 OF 003 
 
 
 
  Commentary on Iran 
  Writing in mainstream Milliyet, Sami Kohen notes that the 
  Bush administration hopes to change the Ahmedinejad 
  regime by "weakening it and helping the opposition to 
  grow" in what will be "long term psychological war." 
  Noting that this method has work in Eastern Europe, Kohen 
  questions the validity of the approach for Iran: "Reality 
  tells us that the Ahmedinejad regime has more capacity 
  for domestic radicalism and it had the courage to defy 
  the international community." 
 
  Kamuran Ozbir, in his column in the nationalist daily 
  Ortadogu, notes that unlike the situation with Iraq, the 
  Bush administration is "avoiding the use of war rhetoric 
  in the case of Iran" and is trying to formulate a "joint 
  rhetoric against Iran with the EU and other allies," as a 
  military strike against Iran will result in "colossal 
  consequences and will not be able to fully eliminate 
  Iranian nuclear capacity." 
 
  General Smith in Istanbul 
  Milliyet, Cumhuriyet:  NATO Allied Transformation 
  Commander General Lance Smith told the press in Istanbul 
  that "Multinational Experiment-4" military exercises 
  aimed at improved collective maneuver and better 
  organization.  Responding to a question on "Valley of the 
  Wolves-Iraq," General Smith said he did not see the 
  movie.  "From what I have heard, I can tell that it is a 
  very good piece of science-fiction," Smith said. 
 
  TV Highlights 
  NTV, 8 AM 
 
  Domestic News 
  - Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said yesterday Turkey had 
  been too late in making nuclear energy investments. 
 
  - The Turkish parliament is to pass amnesty for 5100 
  people who have lost their Turkish nationality for 
  failing to fulfill compulsory military service.  Defense 
  Minister Vecdi Gonul had earlier announced that the 
  government would introduce alternative service for 
  conscientious objectors. 
 
  International News 
  - Israeli troops stormed a Palestinian prison in the West 
  Bank city of Jericho and captured Popular Front for the 
  Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) leader Ahmed Sadat and 
  five others.  PFLP vowed to retaliate. 
 
  - Prime Minister Erdogan will address the opening of the 
  March 28-29 meeting of the Arab League in Sudan. 
 
  - A Serbian court dropped an arrest warrant for the wife 
  of Slobodan Milosevic, clearing the way for her to attend 
  a funeral to be held in Belgrade for former Yugoslav 
  president. 
 
  - The lawyers of the outlawed DHKP-C organization have 
  appealed against a Bruges court ruling which had 
  convicted Fehriye Erdal, Dursun Karatas, Zerrin Sari and 
  Akar Ozordulu, DHKP-C members sought by Turkey. 
 
  - Financial Times reported two outlawed Iranian Kurdish 
  parties have launched satellite TV stations, joining the 
  five Kurdish-language channels already beamed into Iran. 
 
  Economy News 
 
ANKARA 00001378  003 OF 003 
 
 
  - Erdem Basci has been appointed as Central Bank acting 
  governor.  Outgoing CB governor, Sureyya Serdengecti 
  called for the preservation of the bank's independence in 
  his farewell speech. 
 
WILSON