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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 004197 
 
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, JULY 19, 2006 
 
 
In Today's Papers 
 
"War of Words" over the PKK 
All papers: Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticized the 
United States on Tuesday for tolerating Israel's attacks on its 
enemies in Lebanon while refusing to allow Ankara to strike PKK 
terrorists hiding out in northern Iraq. Erdogan is under mounting 
domestic pressure to get tough with the rebels, who have killed 16 
Turkish security personnel in separate attacks over the past week. 
Papers quote the Prime Minister as saying, "The way they look at 
terror there (in Israel) and in Turkey is not the same. They show 
tolerance towards country A and show a different approach to country 
¶B. This is unacceptable." Erdogan also repeated hints that Turkey 
might send troops across the border into Iraq to tackle the rebels 
if U.S. and Iraqi troops continued to ignore Ankara's demands to 
act.  "Turkey knows how to take care of itself. The relevant 
security institutions are working on this matter," Erdogan told a 
meeting of the foreign economic relations council. 
 
Papers also report that US Ambassador Wilson said that Turkey should 
not act in a unilateral manner in response to a question on a 
possible cross-border operation.  Noting that he has read these news 
reports, Erdogan stated, ''If it is true, it is a wrong statement. 
Mr. Ambassador or other ambassadors cannot make a decision on such a 
matter. Concerned institutions of the Turkish government make such 
decisions. We give our decisions and put them into practice. But if 
there are any related countries, we also wish to make such a 
decision together with these countries.'' 
 
Opposition parties said they extend support to the government for a 
possible cross-border operation.  ANAVATAN, True Path Party [DYP], 
and Republican People's Party [CHP] noted that Turkey has this right 
and called on the government to take action.  Zaman reports the 
Iraqi National Security Advisor Muwafaq al-Rubai as warning that a 
possible Turkish cross-border operation would cause more trouble in 
the region. 
 
Editorial commentary on the PKK and US-Turkey Relations 
Mehmet Y. Yilmaz, writing in mainstream Hurriyet, recommended that 
readers "think first before getting angry at Israel": "Frankly 
speaking, it is hard to draw a direct parallel between Israel's 
action against Hamas and Hezbollah, and Turkey's possible action 
against the PKK.  This conclusion simply comes from our past 
experience as we know that only air-bombardment will not root out 
the terrorists.  Turkey can achieve a military success only if a 
strike is coordinated with ground forces, which runs the risk of a 
hot conflict with the US forces as well as northern Iraqi Kurds. 
Yet the current situation brings an undeniable question to one's 
mind:  Should we wait for the US and Barzani to come to their senses 
while we see terrorism causing funerals almost every day?  The 
Turkish government should do something about this problem, but its 
hands are not strong enough.  How is the Turkish government going to 
explain its cross border operation to the entire world while the 
same government stands against the Israeli operation as part of a 
fight against terrorism?  By showing a harsh reaction to the Israeli 
action, even harsher than the Arab world, Turkey narrowed its own 
options for action." 
 
Emin Pazarci argued in the conservative Bugun: "Patience ran out 
after seeing 14 deaths caused by terrorism in two days.  The 
government took a harsh stance and it issued a clear message to both 
the US and Iraq administrations.  Turkey's determination was 
expressed as a warning, 'either you take care of the PKK presence in 
northern Iraq, or Turkey will take necessary measures alone.'  The 
Turkish public has now started expecting a cross border operation 
since the government positioned itself at a point of no return for 
domestic as well as international audiences.  First the US will be 
deciding whether to take necessary steps, and when it does not 
happen, the second step will be taken -- a cross border operation by 
the Turkish army.  Despite the message issued from the Ankara 
 
ANKARA 00004197  002 OF 003 
 
 
government, the US did not change its stance.  Ambassador Ross 
Wilson made statements which we already know by heart.  He claimed 
that the US shares Turkey's sensitivity and talked about some 
measures to fight against PKK, while he also suggested that a cross 
border operation will not settle down the PKK issue.  Turkey really 
has no patience to listen to those words any more.  And this 
rhetoric is disturbing because everybody knows that the PKK's 
strength has increased since US troops were stationed in this area. 
Statements from the US that 'we are fighting the terrorists' sound 
like a joke when Turkey is seeing funerals everyday." 
 
Calling on all parties to think rationally, Hasan Cemal wrote in the 
mainstream Milliyet: "It is undoubtedly a sign of a double standard 
when the US supports Israeli action because it serves its interests 
and at the same time says no to Turkey.  It is a right for us to 
criticize this approach and remind the US that it must take steps 
against PKK as Turkey's friend and ally.  On the other hand, 
international politics is about double standards.  Everybody looks 
at an issue based on his own perspective and interests.  The PKK 
issue is not one-dimensional.  Even though we have the right to 
self-defense and are capable of conducting a cross-border operation, 
we should also think first in a rational manner:  What tangible 
results were achieved from Turkey's past cross-border operations? 
Is this kind of operation really needed since we will definitely 
receive opposition not only from the US but from the EU, Iraqi 
Kurds, Iraq and even from some Arab countries? We should not neglect 
the economic cost of such a military operation either.  After taking 
all these points into account, we should also remember the lesson 
that we should be taking so far.  Fighting against the PKK cannot be 
about military measures only, and it is not.  Fighting PKK terrorism 
is certainly a just and legitimate cause, but it is very wrong to 
limit the issue to the military dimension and ignore the democracy, 
human rights and economic welfare dimensions." 
 
 
Barzani Wants Friendly Ties with Turkey 
Hurriyet quoted Iraqi Kurdistan region's Prime Minister Necirvan 
Barzani quoted as saying yesterday that "we won't let anybody harm 
our neighbors from our territory.  Turkey is an important neighbor. 
The PKK issue cannot be resolved only with military measures. 
Turkey, without any question, can take measures within its territory 
to ensure the security of the country.  We want to continue our good 
relations with all our neighbors, including Turkey." 
 
Westerners Flee Lebanon after Israeli Offensive 
All papers reported that while Israel continued attacks against 
Lebanon, Hezbollah retaliated with hundreds of missile attacks on 
Israel.  Westerners and local people continued to evacuate Beirut 
yesterday amid continued Israeli attacks.  Vatan reports that 
Finland, Sweden and Ukraine have already evacuated their citizens 
from Beirut.  The US forwarded its fleet from the Mediterranean to 
Lebanon to evacuate 25,000 Americans from Beirut.  Yesterday evening 
a Greek military ship evacuated 400 Greeks from Beirut to Southern 
Cyprus.  Some of the local and foreign families in Southern Lebanon 
also fled north toward the Syria border.  Sabah reported that a 
Turkish truck was hit yesterday during an Israeli missile attack on 
Bekaa Valley. Driver Musa Sevim survived the attack and was sent to 
Turkey through Turkish Embassy in Damascus. 
 
A New Investigation into Author Hrant Dink 
Bugun and Cumhuriyet reported that Sisli prosecutor has initiated a 
new investigation against Hrant Dink in connection with reports that 
Dink had discussed Armenian Genocide in an interview with Reuters. 
Dink was tried previously for "insulting Turkishness" and his 6 
month prison sentence was postponed. 
 
 
TV Highlights 
NTV (7 a.m.) 
 
 
ANKARA 00004197  003 OF 003 
 
 
Domestic News 
 
- Turkey sent 35 trucks carrying 630 tons of flour to the 
Palestinians on Tuesday, a Turkish Foreign Ministry statement said, 
adding the Turkish Red Crescent would provide 10,000 more tons. 
Turkey will also send food aid worth USD 1 million through the UN 
Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees as well as donate USD 
1 million by the end of 2006 for the development of small and medium 
scale industries in the Palestinian territories, according to the 
statement. 
 
- Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat received DAS Matthew Bryza 
on Tuesday.  Talat's office said after the meeting Bryza raised no 
new proposal or initiative, adding that the US has reiterated 
several times its support to all efforts under a UN framework. 
 
- Prime Minister Erdogan received on Tuesday Lebanese lawmaker Saad 
Hariri, the son of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri in Istanbul. 
No statement was made after the meeting which lasted for nearly two 
and a half hours. 
 
- Turkish jandarma seized 46 kilogram of A-4 explosives and 70 hand 
grenades in the southeastern province of Sirnak. 
 
International News 
 
- Israeli jetfighters bombed Lebanon on Tuesday, killing at least 50 
people.  Prime Minister Olmert vowed Israel will continue to "target 
every terrorist" in its military campaign.  Lebanese Prime Minister 
Siniora said Israel has inflicted billions of dollars of damage to 
the country's infrastructure and is trying to set the country back 
50 years. 
 
- The President of the regional Kurdish administration, Massoud 
Barzani, said the Kurds had the right to establish their own state, 
and that these aspirations would be made a reality "at the 
appropriate time." 
 
- A report by UN Assistance Mission for Iraq said 5,818 civilians 
were killed and 5,762 wounded during May and June 2006 in the 
war-ravaged country. 
 
- A policy editorial in The Los Angeles Times sharply criticizes the 
Bush Administration for pulling back the US Ambassador in Yerevan, 
John Evans, for backing Armenian genocide claims. 
 
  Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at 
 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ 
 
WILSON