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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 004835 
 
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, AUGUST 18, 2006 
 
 
In Today's Papers 
 
Debate over Turkish Troops to Lebanon 
All papers:  Turkish Foreign Ministry (MFA) Spokesman Namik Tan said 
at a weekly press briefing that no decision has been taken with 
regard to the deployment of Turkish troops to South Lebanon as part 
of a UN peacekeeping force.  "If Turkey sends troops, it will only 
be for humanitarian and logistical purposes," Tan stated, stressing 
that Turkish soldiers would not be tasked with disarming Hezbollah. 
Tan said the government was debating the issue with military 
officials and regional countries.  Sabah reports Foreign Minister 
Abdullah Gul as warning that Turkey would have a serious "prestige 
problem" if it abstains from taking part in the international force 
for Lebanon.  "Being the successor of the Ottoman Empire that has 
controlled the region for centuries, and the strongest state of the 
Middle East, Turkey might have serious prestige problems if it 
abstains from sending troops to Lebanon.  Sending troops to Lebanon 
would be the right thing for everybody to do," Gul told the press in 
Ankara on his return from Lebanon yesterday.  The main opposition 
CHP leader Deniz Baykal said "Turkey must give priority to the 
elimination of PKK terrorism instead of dealing with the situation 
in Lebanon.  First of all, we must control our own border." 
 
Cumhuriyet says the Turkish military was right in believing Turkey 
should not hurry to participate in an international force for 
Lebanon while Arab countries were hesitant to do so.  Papers say 
Turkish troops in Lebanon should only work to reinforce stability 
and distribute humanitarian aid.  Yeni Safak reports Turkey was 
planning to send between 600-800 soldiers to Lebanon as well as 
doctors, nurses, veterinary specialists, and imams.  Zaman says 
although Americans respected Turkish conditions for joining the 
international Lebanon force, they still insist that Turkey's 
participation was necessary. 
 
Mark Malloch Brown, UN Deputy Secretary-General, said Turkey has 
expressed a willingness to contribute to the international force for 
Lebanon.  Brown noted the peacekeeping contingency would be a 
"Muslim-European" one.  Lebanese Prime Minister Siniora invited 
Turkish soldiers to Lebanon, saying even the Armenian minister in 
his cabinet backed the idea of Turkish peacekeepers in the country. 
 
 
Ali Bulac, commenting in the Islamist-oriented Zaman urges Turkey to 
"keep its distance" from the "chamber of fire" that is Lebanon:  "It 
is not clear that the so-called ceasefire in Lebanon will hold. 
Even if it holds for a while, if the US and Israel don't give up 
their plans, they will attack Iran and Syria in the end.  It is a 
well-known fact that Israel was preparing to attack Lebanon for 
months and the US had knowledge of this plan.  Israel wasn't able to 
eliminate Hezbollah with this war, on the contrary, Hezbollah 
managed to strengthen its power.  This brings us to the conclusion 
that Hezbollah is going to attack Israel if there is an attack on 
Syria or Iran. Where does Turkey stand in case of such an attack? 
Turkey should carefully consider the reasons why the US and Israel 
are insistently asking Turkey to send troops to Lebanon. Israel aims 
to use the UN force to eliminate Hezbollah.  Turkey should do its 
best to keep its distant from this chamber of fire." 
 
Israel Asks Turkey to Block Arms Flow to Hezbollah 
Radikal cites a Reuters report in which a senior Israeli security 
source said on Thursday that Israel has asked Ankara to impose an 
air and land embargo to prevent Iranian weapons from being funneled 
to Hezbollah in Lebanon through Turkish territories. 
The source said the arms traffic through Turkey was important as 
other routes for arms transfer to Hezbollah through Jordan and Iraq 
had been cut off.  The source said a successful implementation of 
the international arms embargo would determine the success of the UN 
effort in Lebanon.  Turkish Foreign Ministry (MFA) Spokesman Namik 
 
ANKARA 00004835  002 OF 003 
 
 
Tan said Turkey would not allow illegal arms transfers, underlining 
that Turkey would make its own decision regarding Israeli demands 
for embargo.  Tan also confirmed a Hurriyet report on Wednesday that 
Iranian planes had been forced to land at Diyarbakir airport on July 
27 and on August 8 on suspicion that they were carrying arms, but 
that no military equipment was found. 
 
Reaction to US Call for PKK to Disarm 
All papers:  Turkish Foreign Ministry (MFA) Spokesman Namik Tan, 
commenting on a statement recently released by the US State 
Department calling on the PKK to disarm, said, "We expect concrete 
action regarding the PKK rather than statements on what we already 
know," Tan said.  Tan added that talks with the PKK were not 
possible even if the terrorists decide to abide by the US call. 
Cumhuriyet reports Tan also said it was Turkey who had asked the US 
to name a special PKK coordinator. 
 
Hasan Mesut Hazar commenting from Washington in the 
conservative-nationalist daily Turkiye, argues that the US needs to 
"eliminate the PKK" as soon as possible:  "It is difficult to 
understand why the US acts this slowly on the PKK issue when the US 
and Israel are bombing all the settlements in Lebanon and Iraq, 
using as an excuse that they are potential future threats.  Of 
course, it will be in Turkey's benefit to fight against the PKK in 
coordination with the trilateral mechanism (Turkey, the US and 
Iraq).  However, it is very disappointing for the US to delay the 
start of this mechanism. In order to improve the strategic 
partnership, the Turkey-US relationship, coordination on the Greater 
Middle East Project, and coordination in countering global 
terrorism, the US should eliminate the PKK as soon as possible. 
Otherwise the increasing anger toward the US in the Turkish public 
is going to have a serious effect on world peace." 
 
Germany to Send Syriac Immigrants Back to Turkey 
Radikal reports some 10,000 Syriacs who had been granted temporary 
asylum in Germany faced deportation to Turkey.  Saliba Ozmen, the 
Metropolitan of Deyrulzaferan Monastery in Mardin in southeast 
Turkey, said Germany had granted temporary residence for the Syriacs 
until peace and stability were restored in Turkey, and now was 
sending the migrants back home due to the improving conditions in 
the region. 
 
 
TV Highlights 
NTV (8 a.m.) 
 
Domestic News 
 
- The Turkish government and civil servant labor unions fail to 
agree in the second round of collective bargaining talks on 
Thursday. 
 
- Turkey's National Security Council (MGK) is to convene on August 
21 to discuss the situation in the Middle East, developments in 
northern Iraq, and the fight against terrorism. 
 
- Earthquakes which hit Turkey between 1976 and 2005 cost the 
country USD 8.5 billion.  The biggest natural disaster logistics 
support center in Europe and the Middle East has been opened in 
Istanbul. 
 
- Ankara leads Turkish cities in terms of domestic violence with 10 
percent of women in the Turkish capital beaten or killed by their 
husbands. 
 
International News 
 
- Hezbollah is providing a year's ent and new furniture for every 
family whose house has been destroyed by the Israeli attacks in 
south Lebanon. 
 
 
ANKARA 00004835  003 OF 003 
 
 
- The Armenian party in Lebanon, holding six seats in the 
parliament, expressed opposition in a statement to participation of 
Turkish troops in the prospective peacekeeping force for Lebanon. 
 
- President Ahmadinejad said Iran would not give up its right to 
continue nuclear enrichment work. 
 
 
  Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at 
 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ 
 
WILSON