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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 001789 
 
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, APRIL 4, 2006 
 
 
In Today's Papers 
 
Violence Continues in Southeast Turkey, New Terror Law 
Coming 
All papers:  Violence continued for the seventh day in the 
southeast with the unrest in Diyarbakir spilling over to 
Viransehir, Sanliurfa near the Syrian border.  Papers report 
the death toll in the region rose to 12, with 9 occurring in 
Diyarbakir.  Police fired tear gas and water cannons to 
break up a crowd of some 500 protesters in Viransehir, 
chanting slogans in support of jailed PKK leader Abdullah 
Ocalan.  The protestors threw Molotov cocktails and stones 
at the security forces and local buildings.  In the eastern 
province of Agri near the Iranian border, around 1,000 
protesters threw stones at offices of the ruling AKP and 
clashed with police who responded by firing tear gas into 
the crowd.  Following the killing of three people in a 
municipality bus set to fire by pro-Kurdish protestors in 
Istanbul over the weekend, police announced that civilian 
policemen would be placed in commuter busses to prevent new 
attacks. 
 
Turkey's main Kurdish party DTP released a statement to 
condemn the bus attack in Istanbul.  DTP co-chairpersons 
Ahmet Turk and Aysel Tugluk said they asked for a meeting 
with PM Erdogan whereas Justice Minister and Government 
Spokesman Cemil Cicek said the DTP first had to declare 
openly that the PKK was a terrorist organization. 
Cumhuriyet says that the PKK had spent USD 1 million to set 
up attack teams in major Turkish cities.  Zaman reports the 
Turkish Foreign Ministry (MFA) is preparing attempts to 
silence the PKK propaganda abroad and to cut foreign 
financial support for the organization.  The government will 
"encourage" TV and radio outlets in the southeast 
broadcasting in line with state policies, says the paper. 
 
Minister Cicek told the press after Monday's Council of 
Ministers meeting people in eastern and southeastern Turkish 
cities did not support "the terrorist organization" during 
the recent incidents.  ''The parliament will discuss the 
issue tomorrow.  Terrorism and public peace have always been 
the priorities of our government.  A new anti-terror draft 
bill will be submitted to the parliament next week," Cicek 
emphasized.  Cicek noted that the legal period for detention 
will not be extended. 
 
Cuneyt Arcayurek commenting in the leftist-nationalist 
Cumhuriyet calls on the government to warn citizens and take 
action against the instigators: "No announcements have ever 
been made to warn the people, nor any operations launched 
against the terrorist fronts present in almost every corner 
of each city.  The AKP government is not capable of stopping 
these developments but, at least, they should remember that 
Turkey is a state of laws and should bring the DTP mayors, 
who are acting against the law, to justice."  Arcayurek 
concludes, "There is one fact that arises from these 
developments -- the leaders of the uprising continue to get 
all kinds of support from western sources." 
 
US State Department Condemns Violence in Southeast Turkey 
Hurriyet, Sabah, Star, Cumhuriyet quote State Department 
Spokesman Adam Ereli as condemning PKK actions and the 
violence of what he called "PKK sympathizers" over the 
weekend in the southeast.  "We call on all parties to 
exercise restraint, and we reiterate our strong condemnation 
of all terrorist groups, including the PKK," Ereli said, and 
added: " Turkey is a valued ally and close friend.  We call 
on all parties to exercise restraint and we reiterate our 
strong condemnation of all terrorist groups, including the 
 
ANKARA 00001789  002 OF 003 
 
 
PKK.  It's important to condemn this violence and stand 
against terrorists and their supporters." 
 
In his column in the mainstream daily Hurriyet, Cuneyt 
Ulsever notes that US-Turkish military-to-military relations 
seem to be better than government-to-government relations: 
"Washington is well aware that until there is a political 
alternative to the current government, it has to deal with 
the AKP.  This being the case, Washington is making efforts 
to perfect the relationship between Turkish and US 
militaries and that's why dialog has intensified between the 
generals of the two countries.  Now the reason why the AKP 
government is in a fast-moving decline with the US, EU, IMF, 
businessmen and the civil bureaucracy, and why the Prime 
Minister has turned into a nervous wreck is clear.  Because 
the Government believes its base is its only shelter, so it 
has gone back to populism to solidify the base, and it will 
stay like this until the next election." 
 
 
Iranian Ambassador: US Aims at Confronting Turkey-Iran 
The Iranian Ambassador in Ankara, Firuz Dowlatabadi, said in 
an exclusive interview with Milliyet that the US "Broader 
Middle East Project" included the goal of an independent 
Kurdistan.  Dowlatabadi said during the first years of the 
revolution in Iran, the US had provoked ethnic unrest in 
Kurdistan, Huzistan, and Gumbat provinces "with no success 
at all."  "After the establishment of Kurdistan, the US will 
pursue a policy of carving land from Iran and Turkey in an 
effort to annex new territories to the newly independent 
state," Dowlatabadi claimed, warning that only joint 
policies pursued by Turkey, Iran, and Syria could block such 
a development.  He stressed that the US wanted to confront 
Turkey and Iran.  Dowlatabadi denied reports that if 
attacked by the US, Iran would strike the Incirlik Airbase 
in south Turkey:  "Turkey and Iran are two nations living in 
friendship for 1100 years -- such claims are ignorant lies." 
The Iranian Ambassador said the US had the capacity to 
eliminate the PKK threat in a week.  "General Peter Pace 
made it clear that the US and Turkey agree 90 percent of the 
times and disagree 10 percent of the time.  That 10 percent 
is the PKK," Dowlatabadi said. 
 
Turkish Captive Claims He was Tortured in US 
Hurriyet, Sabah, Radikal, Yeni Safak cite a New York Times 
story which said Ibrahim Turkmen, a Turkish national who was 
arrested in New Jersey for overstaying his visa after 9/11, 
said that inmates were subjected to torture with dogs during 
the four months he spent in Passaic State Penitentiary.  A 
Canadian national who was in the same prison confirmed the 
story told by Turkmen, who is now living in the central 
Anatolian city of Konya. 
 
 
TV Highlights 
NTV (8 a.m) 
 
Domestic News 
- Five universities in the Aegean city of Izmir have 
released a joint statement, urging the government, the 
parliament and all constitutional institutions to take 
measures to prevent domestic and foreign provocations 
against the integrity of Turkey. 
 
- The provincial head of Kurdish party DTP in the 
southeastern city of Batman, Ayhan Karabulut, has been 
arrested for making a statement to the Copenhagen-based Ro 
TV before tensions flared up in the city. 
 
 
ANKARA 00001789  003 OF 003 
 
 
- Renowned Israeli author Amos Oz met with PM Erdogan on 
Monday.  Oz, a peace activist, signed a book for the PM, and 
said Erdogan was a good opportunity for the Middle East. 
 
- President Sezer will pay a two-day state visit to 
Azerbaijan as the guest of President Aliyev on April 4-5. 
 
International News 
- Secretary of State Rice and British Foreign Secretary 
Straw held a series of private meetings with leaders of 
Iraq's rival political groups in an effort to speed up 
government formation work. 
 
- A car bomb attack killed at least 10 people near a Shiite 
mosque in Baghdad. 
 
- Iran challenges the international community, and tests the 
"Hut" torpedo during the "Great Prophet" military maneuvers 
in the Persian Gulf. 
 
- The new Israeli cabinet will declare Prime Minister Ariel 
Sharon "permanently incapacitated" at its meeting next week, 
Yediot Ahronot daily reported. 
 
Economy News 
- National Bank of Greece has bought 46 percent of Turkey's 
Finansbank at Euro 2.3 billion. 
 
- A joint delegation of IMF and World Bank officials are in 
Turkey for talks until April 18.  A delegation headed by 
State Minister for Economy, Ali Babacan, will attend IMF- 
World Bank spring meetings in Washington on April 22-23. 
 
 
 Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at 
 
  http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ 
 
MCELDOWNEY