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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 002381 
 
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 
MONDAY, MAY 1, 2006 
 
 
In Today's Papers 
 
Claims of Action Against the PKK in Northern Iraq 
All papers report Iraq charges that Iran went five km inside 
the Iraqi border and bombed the PKK camps near Erbil in the 
north of the country. The Turkish military has completed its 
troop buildup of the last two months on Turkey's borders 
with Iran and Iraq in an effort to prevent the PKK 
terrorists from crossing the border, and to maintain the 
security of its border area if the United States intervenes 
in Iran.  Papers claim Turkish special forces will attack 
Mount Kandil, known to be the headquarters of the PKK. 
Papers also report that Newsweek quotes an unidentified US 
official telling the northern Iraqi Kurds to do something 
against the PKK before Turkey takes action. 
 
Turkey, Russia Believe US is "Not Needed" in Black Sea 
Sabah, Vatan, Yeni Safak and others:  Turkey and Russia have 
again expressed opposition to the expansion of the mandate 
of the NATO Operation Active Endeavor fleet as a way to 
cover the Black Sea.  The Russian Navy Commander Admiral 
Vladimir Masorin said Russia strongly opposed large-scale 
exercises and the permanent presence of third country fleets 
in the Black Sea.  "Russian and Turkish navies are to kick 
off joint missions in the Black Sea after an exchange of 
letters between the two governments," Masorin said. 
 
German Marshall Fund's Brussels Summit 
Hurriyet and Milliyet report that Senator John McCain, 
Assistant Secretary Daniel Fried, and Ambassador Richard 
Holbrooke were among the participants in the German Marshall 
Fund-sponsored Brussels Summit meeting, "Transatlantic 
Challenges in the Era of Globalization," over the weekend. 
The three Americans noted the significance of Turkey for the 
West, calling on the EU to admit Turkey as a full member. 
A/S Fried objected to Holbrooke's classification of Turkey 
as being among the five global crises regions, saying that 
Turkey has "deepened" its democracy over the last 25 years, 
and that the ruling AK Party has become a part of this 
process.  Fried reportedly said the visit of Secretary Rice 
to Ankara last month was "the best meeting in the recent 
years."  "We share similar views with Turkey with regard to 
the issues of energy and the Middle East.  As with our ties 
with several European countries, we had disagreements with 
Turkey over Iraq.  However, we are now pursuing the same 
goal as Turkey on Iraq," Fried said. 
 
Commenting in mainstream Sabah on the meeting, Erdal Safak 
noted that NATO is going through a "process of redefining 
its mission concept," renewing its operational plans and 
areas of operation and that in essence, the US is "reshaping 
NATO according to its own strategic vision."  Safak explains 
that along with the war on terror, the US strategic vision 
includes "other asymmetrical threats in new potential 
conflict areas," claiming that it is not "very difficult to 
name the potential nominees for an enemy list: Russia, India 
and, more importantly, China." 
 
Also commenting on the meeting Hasan Cemal concludes in 
mainstream Milliyet that "Turkey's stock is rising 
significantly again."  Cemal notes that "the constantly 
growing Iran crisis is causing Washington to treat Turkey in 
a special manner" and that American panelists John McCain 
and Richard Holbrooke were not only making remarks valuing 
Turkey but they were also "giving a clear message to the 
Europeans: Turkey should not be lost." 
 
Erdogan to Meet Ahmadinejad; Larijani 
Vatan, Aksam, Zaman and others:  The Turkish Foreign 
Ministry (MFA) has confirmed that on May 5, Prime Minister 
 
ANKARA 00002381  002 OF 002 
 
 
Erdogan is to meet with the Iranian President Ahmadinejad at 
the annual Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) summit 
talks in Baku.  Erdogan is expected to remind Ahmadinejad 
that Iran, a member of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) 
must be more transparent in meeting the expectations of the 
international community with regard to Tehran's nuclear 
program.  Prior to the talks in Baku, Erdogan will attend 
the Southeastern Europe Cooperation Summit of the heads of 
state and government in Thessalonica, Greece, on May 4, when 
Greece will hand over the presidency to Croatia.  In 
addition, Iran's top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani is 
expected to visit Turkey in the third week of May. 
 
Gul Rejects a Report in Dubai Daily 
Vatan reports on its front page Foreign Minister Abdullah 
Gul rejected the statements attributed to him in the Dubai- 
based al-Bayan daily, saying that the report was fabricated, 
and that he had not spoken to any Arab newspaper in the last 
eight months.  Al-Bayan claimed that Gul said in an 
exclusive interview that in November, the Republicans would 
lose the midterm elections in the US, making Washington less 
likely to attack Iran, and that Secretary Rice had offered 
to build nuclear power plants in Turkey in exchange for 
access to Incirlik Airbase during military operations 
against Iran.  When that access was refused, Rice supposedly 
asked for a new air base in Van. 
 
Turkish Cyprus Holds Census 
Milliyet, Radikal, Cumhuriyet, Zaman and others:  Turkish 
Cyprus held a census on Sunday to which representatives of 
the foreign missions in Cyprus as well as UN Security 
Council, the European Commission, and the Council of Europe 
observers were invited.  Unofficial results of the census 
will be announced in three days.  The latest census was held 
in Turkish Cyprus on December 1996 in which the population 
of "TRNC" was announced as 200,587. 
 
 
TV News 
(NTV, 8.00 a.m.) 
 
Domestic News 
- Turkey's main Kurdish party DTP co-chairperson Aysel 
Tugluk said Turkey's new anti-terror bill discussed in the 
parliament had been turned into an anti-Kurdish bill. 
 
International News 
- Iraqi President Talabani said his office and the US 
officials held meetings with seven Iraqi insurgent groups in 
an effort to work out a settlement in the war-ravaged 
country. 
 
- The Arab League has sent an emergency donation of USD 
150,000 to the Palestinian Authority to help medical care 
efforts.  The Syrian government has launched a public 
fundraising campaign for the Palestinians. 
 
- The Lebanon-based Shiite Hizbullah organization said in a 
statement President Bush and his staff should be put on the 
global terror list. 
 
 
 Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at 
 
  http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ 
 
WILSON