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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 005090 
 
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, SEPTEMBER 1, 2006 
 
 
In Today's Papers 
 
PM Erdogan on Turkish Participation in Peacekeeping Forces 
All papers covered PM Erdogan's half-hour address to the nation 
yesterday.  PM Erdogan talked about the situation in the Middle East 
and said "the only way to protect Turkey's national interests is to 
get involved in the developments in the Middle East."  PM Erdogan, 
in his speech, defended the government's decision to send troops to 
Lebanon.  Milliyet quotes the PM as saying that "an attitude of 'I 
do not care' will be treason towards our history, future and supreme 
interests of our nation."  Yeni Safak reports that the PM noted that 
the government has decided to send troops to Lebanon since all of 
the three conditions it had set have been met: 1) Turkey demanded a 
UN resolution; 2) Turkey asked for a ceasefire to be declared; and 
3) Turkey wanted all parties involved to welcome Turkey's 
contribution.  PM Erdogan underlined that the UN peace force does 
not have the duty of disarming Hezbollah. 
 
Commentaries on the Lebanon Peacekeeping Force and Turkey's Role 
Writing in the leftist Birgun, Hrant Dink is squarely against 
participation: "It looks like sending Turkish soldiers to a place 
which is very vulnerable to provocations will be a historic mistake. 
 When the Turkish parliament makes its decision on Lebanon on 
September 5, let's hope it will be the same as the decision 
regarding sending troops to Iraq." 
 
Hasan Aksay argued in the fundamentalist Vakit that there is "no 
need to even discuss the topic" as "you simply cannot have a 
discussion about the obvious":  "Here the obvious thing is the fact 
that sending troops to Lebanon is being part of Israeli violence and 
being part of the Greater Middle East project. The peacekeeping 
force cannot be a solution to the problem because in this case the 
solution is coming from the aggressor." 
 
Also weighing in against sending troops, Derya Sazak observes in the 
mainstream Milliyet that the Turkish government insistence that 
"Lebanon is different from the Iraq" and that "Hezbollah will not 
harm Turkish soldiers just because of they are Muslim" is "nothing 
but a cheap distortion." Sazak concludes: "The Turkish parliament 
should reject the deployment of troops to Lebanon.  Currently a 
bloody game is being staged in the Middle East and what we are 
seeing now is only the action in south Lebanon.  When the next act 
is staged we might end up finding ourselves a part of a big war 
against Syria and Iran." 
 
Writing in the Islamist-opinion maker Yeni Safak, Fehmi Koru says 
that Turkey should evaluate the purpose of the force: "The question 
we should ask is what kind of project are we about to become a part 
of.  In the Lebanon situation, the current peacekeeping project is 
designed to provide Israel's security.  Turkey should be a part of 
efforts to establish a balance of power in the Middle East where the 
existence of both the states of Israel and Palestine are recognized. 
 The current peace effort is only about bringing peace through war 
and use of force." 
 
 
Non-Commissioned Officer Investigated for Dancing with Diyarbakir 
Mayor 
Aksam, Zaman and others:  Elazig's Gezin town gendarmerie commandant 
Azim Basol faces an investigation for taking part in the local 
'halay' folkdance accompanied by Kurdish songs along with Diyarbakir 
Mayor Osman Baydemir.  Reportedly, a captain from the Gendarmerie 
Provincial Command questioned Basol yesterday, following the reports 
in papers about Basol taking part in a summer camp for economically 
disadvantaged children organized by the Diyarbakir Municipality. 
 
DTP Siirt Members been taken to Custody 
Cumhuriyet, Radikal, Yeni Safak:  Papers report that the police 
launched an investigation into the offices of predominantly Kurdish 
Democratic People's Party (DTP) in the southwestern city of Siirt 
 
ANKARA 00005090  002 OF 002 
 
 
and confiscated some documents and computers.  Yeni Safak reports 
that the police took 8 party members into custody. 
 
Ankara Looks for a Peaceful Settlement in Iran 
Milliyet reports MFA Spokesman Namik Tan in his weekly press 
conference yesterday expressed Ankara's firm expectation that a 
diplomatic resolution to the international dispute over Iran's 
controversial nuclear program would be found. 
 
TV Highlights 
NTV (6 a.m.) 
 
Domestic News 
 
Q Opposition party CHP has denounced the comments of Istanbul Police 
Chieh Celalettin Cerrah praising the mob attacks against anti-war 
demonstrators in Istanbul. 
Q DYP Leader Mehmet Agar urged the government to clarify the purpose 
of the deployment of Turkish troops in Lebanon and the details of 
the mission. 
 
 
International News 
 
Q Americans view Turkey as the third closest ally, after Israel and 
Kuwait, of the US among 13 Middle East Countries, according to the 
results of a new Harris Interactive Poll. 
Q US Special Envoy for the PKK General Joseph Ralston plans to visit 
Ankara in the coming weeks. 
 
  Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at 
 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ 
 
WILSON