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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 001426 
 
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, MARCH 17, 2006 
 
  In Today's Papers 
 
  Foreign Minister Gul to Meet with Rice, Hadley in the US 
  Sabah, Turkiye, Referans, Yeni Safak:  Foreign Minister 
  Abdullah Gul, State Minister Kursad Tuzmen, Energy 
  Minister Hilmi Guler, Tourism Minister Atilla Koc, and 
  Farming Minister Mehdi Eker will travel to the United 
  States to participate in the 25th annual conference of 
  the Turkish American Business Council (TABC), American 
  Turkish Council (ATC) and American Friends of Turkey 
  (AFOT) to be held on March 26-29.  Gul will discuss Iran, 
  the Hamas visit to Turkey, and Turkish concerns regarding 
  Kirkuk and Iraq with US officials.  Sabah expects 
  Secretary Rice to ask Gul for Turkish support to isolate 
  Tehran, whereas Yeni Safak, basing its report on US 
  sources, says Iran will not be raised during the Rice-Gul 
  meeting.  During talks with the Americans, Gul will 
  express Turkey's readiness to support UN sanctions 
  against Iran.  Rice will tell the Turks that the Hamas 
  visit to Turkey had caused a "confidence crisis" in ties 
  with Turkey.  Sabah claims Ankara is concerned anger over 
  the Hamas visit to Turkey may cause the Jewish lobby to 
  cease supporting Turkey in the face of Armenian 
  "genocide" claims in the United States.  Gul will also 
  meet with NSA Director Stephen Hadley and some Jewish 
  lobbying groups in Washington.  Gul will be accompanied 
  by a large delegation of Turkish businessmen who will 
  push Americans to increase trade between the two 
  countries to USD 70 billion from the existing USD 10 
  billion. 
 
 
  Stability and Consensus Needed in Iraq 
  Yeni Safak:  Speaking to NTV, Turkey's special envoy to 
  Iraq, Ambassador Oguz Celikkol said  that Iraq had "never 
  come so close to a civil war."  Celikkol noted that Iraq 
  was being dragged towards a civil war which could be 
  prevented by the political process in the country. 
  Celikkol stated that Turkey was in favor of the formation 
  of a government consisting of the representatives of all 
  groups in Iraq as soon as possible.  If the new 
  government could take concrete steps against the PKK, 
  this would have a positive effect on relations between 
  the two countries.  Celikkol added that meetings with 
  various groups in Iraq were continuing and the Turkish 
  Consulate General in Mosul would be opened after finding 
  a suitable location. 
 
  Columnist Murat Yetkin emphasizes that a secure and 
  stable Iraq is in everybody's interest. In his analysis 
  in the liberal-intellectual Radikal he wrote: "Given the 
  current situation, a national unity government for Iraq 
  seems like a distant dream.  The Turkish special envoy 
  for Iraq characterizes the current situation as being 
  close to a civil war.  The surprising development that 
  the US and Iran will talk about Iraq is important at this 
  point.  Iran's suggestions might be helpful in clearing 
  up the confusion in Iraq.  There is actually a common 
  point which brings the US, Turkey as well as Iran 
  together:  the urgent need for peace in Iraq." 
 
  Danistay Rejects Annulment of Use of Turkish Bases by 
  Allies 
  All papers:  The Danistay (Turkish High Court) rejected a 
  request by the Istanbul Bar Association to annul a 
  council of ministers bill that permits Turkey's allies to 
  use Turkish bases for one-year period.  The council of 
  ministers had decided in June 23, 2003 to allow the US to 
  use Turkish bases, ports and airports for operations with 
 
ANKARA 00001426  002 OF 003 
 
 
  regard to Iraq, and had extended it in 2004 and 2005. 
  The Danistay said the council of ministers decision was 
  in line with UN Security Council resolutions, and 
  rejected the appeal for annulment, in a move regarded by 
  the papers as "a visa to the US for Turkish bases." 
 
  EU Education Ministers Conference in Austria 
  Milliyet, Aksam, Cumhuriyet:  The EU Education Ministers' 
  unofficial meeting started in Austria yesterday.  During 
  the two-day meetings Turkish Education Minister Huseyin 
  Celik will respond to the EU's demand for Turkey to re- 
  open the Halki seminary and to start Kurdish language 
  education.  The EU has signaled that it would discuss 
  issues related to political criteria, such as Kurdish 
  courses and the opening of Halki seminary under the 
  technical 'education and culture' section.  The Turkish 
  Foreign Ministry, in return, instructed its Ambassadors 
  in EU countries to prevent this decision which would mean 
  an act of double standard towards Turkey and would cause 
  a further drop in Turkish public support for the EU 
  process.  Turkish diplomats stressed that accession talks 
  on education and culture with the past 10 candidate 
  countries did not include political conditions and Turkey 
  should not be an exception. 
 
  RTUK Poll on TV Viewership in Turkey 
  A survey conducted by television and radio watchdog RTUK 
  on TV viewership in Turkey showed that 56.7 percent 
  trusted TV news while 34 percent did not.  56.5 percent 
  said newspapers are reliable while 29.9 percent 
  disagreed.  In terms of most viewed programs, newscasts 
  lead by 74.8 percent, followed by Turkish soap operas 
  (56.8), music and talk shows (42.2), documentaries 
  (40.8), movies (40.8), religious programs (40.5), and 
  roundtable discussions (40.4).  The survey was conducted 
  in 14 cities with 4,606 people over 15 in December and 
  January. 
 
  Assistant Secretary Fried Visits Ankara 
  Milliyet, Radikal, Yeni Safak:  US Assistant Secretary of 
  State for European and Eurasian Affairs Dan Fried said, 
  after meetings at Turkish Foreign Ministry (MFA) 
  yesterday, that the United States expected progress in 
  Turkey-Armenia relations.  Fried told the Turks to open 
  the border with Armenia.  The Turkish side said that they 
  supported peace initiatives by the US, but that there 
  must first be progress on the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. 
  Ambassador Steve Mann accompanied Fried at meetings in 
  Ankara. 
 
  TV Highlights 
  NTV (7 a.m.) 
 
  Domestic News 
  - 23 NGOs issued a call for common sense on the eve of 
  Nevruz celebrations in Turkey. 
 
  - Five military officers died in a military helicopter 
  crash after hitting high-voltage lines in the eastern 
  province of Erzincan. 
 
  - Turkish and Armenian historians have agreed to work on 
  a joint project for the investigation of Armenian 
  genocide claims in the second day of the Armenian 
  conference held by Istanbul University. 
 
  - President Sezer approved a bill for the founding of 15 
  new universities in Turkey, but will apply to the 
  Danistay (Turkish High Court) for the annulment of a 
 
ANKARA 00001426  003 OF 003 
 
 
  provision of the law authorizing the education minister 
  and the prime minister to nominate university rectors. 
 
  International News 
  - 1500 US and Iraqi troops launched an air and ground 
  military assault against the insurgents in Samarra.  The 
  operation was the largest in Iraq since the 2003 
  invasion. 
 
  - 275 Iraqi lawmakers took oath at the first meeting of 
  the parliament since it was elected in December. 
 
  - The updated US national security strategy says Iran and 
  its nuclear program are the biggest future challenges to 
  the US. 
 
  - The Israeli acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's Kadima 
  party, the frontrunner in the forthcoming March 28 
  elections, increased its votes after the raid on the 
  Palestinian prison in Jericho, a public opinion survey 
  said on Thursday. 
 
  Economy News 
  - In its third review in Turkey, IMF officials will ask 
  for new measures to compensate the losses after the VAT 
  discount granted to the textile sector. 
 
  - Turkey is preparing to introduce a "chip and PIN" 
  credit card system by the end of this month. 
  -    Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at 
 
  http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ 
 
WILSON