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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 005109 
 
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, SEPTEMBER 5, 2006 
 
 
In Today's Papers 
 
Turkish Parliament to Discuss Joining Lebanon International Force 
All papers report that the Turkish Parliament will discuss and vote 
in an emergency session on Tuesday the government motion concerning 
participation of Turkish troops in the international peacekeeping 
force for Lebanon.  Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul will address the 
lawmakers to defend the motion.  Zaman reports Gul as saying that 
the Turkish military supported troop deployment.  Gul asked 
yesterday in an interview on the all-news broadcaster NTV why Turkey 
should not participate in the international force when Spain and 
Italy, countries which have already pulled out of Iraq, are sending 
troops to Lebanon.  Cumhuriyet reports the military believed the 
preparation and training of troops would take at least one month. 
Prime Minister Erdogan reassured that the Turkish troops will not be 
involved in the disarming of Hezbollah in Lebanon.  Erdogan stressed 
that Turkey will pull back troops if it is asked to participate in 
an effort to disarm various militia groups in the country. 
Opposition parties and NGOs are to hold a mass rally in Ankara today 
to demonstrate against the deployment as the parliament continues 
discussions.  The NGOs and the main opposition CHP have been 
maintaining a strong campaign against the deployment, claiming that 
Turkish soldiers would be forced to engage in clashes with the 
Hezbollah guerrillas.  Turkish opposition claims safety guarantees 
are not yet in place.  UNSYG Kofi Annan is due in Ankara on Tuesday 
evening for talks with Turks on Wednesday.  Papers expect some 30 
AKP MPs to vote against the motion, a number not sufficient to 
reject the bill in the 550-seat parliament in which AKP holds an 
absolute majority.  President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, who generally 
vetoes such controversial bills coming from the AKP, has no right to 
do so with the troop deployment motion.  Papers also expect some 
1000 Turkish soldiers to serve in Lebanon under the UN mandate for a 
year. 
 
Editorial Commentary on Lebanon Troop Deployment 
Sami Kohen writes in the mainstream Milliyet: "The vote in the 
Turkish parliament is not only going to determine whether Turkey 
should send troops to Lebanon but also will shape the course of 
Turkey's foreign policy.  The government predominantly seems in 
favor of sending troops while the opposition as well as political 
groups and NGOs are against it.  Recent public surveys also indicate 
a similar tendency with approximately 80 percent giving saying 'no' 
to participation.  All of this indicates that even if the government 
manages to pass the motion, the execution of this decision will not 
be very easy due to harsh criticism and accusations.  The government 
should think about postponing the decision process in light of 
popular opposition and its potential reflection in the 
implementation process." 
 
Asli Aydintasbas defends the motion in the mass appeal Sabah: 
"Sending troops to Lebanon will bring prestige to Turkey and also it 
will give Turkey a say internationally.   Turkey strives to be a 
regional player and a big state.  Big states cannot stay aloof to 
problems in their backyards.  It is also important that both 
Hezbollah and Israel are favorable to Turkey sending troops.  Ankara 
has already made it clear that disarming Hezbollah is not going to 
be the Turkish army's job.  The reasons for not sending troops are 
not justifiable especially when the EU is participating in the 
peacekeeping mission with 7000 soldiers.  In the end, there are 
certainly disadvantages, but the advantages are strong enough to 
justify that Turkey has to be there. The parliamentary motion should 
be adopted." 
 
Guneri Civaoglu observes in the mainstream Milliyet: "There is a 
vast majority, including the US, Israel, the UNSG, Islamic countries 
and Lebanon, with the exception of Armenian community, who want to 
see Turkey's participation in the peacekeeping force.  The Turkish 
army has assumed many missions abroad, from Kosovo to Somalia to 
Afghanistan, achieving many humanitarian and peace-oriented 
missions.  If the army is goes to Lebanon under a well-defined 
 
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mission plan, Ankara will have a stronger hand vis-`-vis the 
international community.  It will also help Turkey make arguments 
about the devastating PKK terrorism to the US and others.  As for 
the comparison with the March 1 [2003] parliamentary motion on the 
Iraq war, things are different at the moment.  March 1 was asking 
the Turkish army to on a foreign mission on the eve of a war, while 
this motion is in support of ceasefire and peacekeeping mission." 
 
Erdogan 'Indifferent' to Suffering of Families of Terrorism Victims 
All papers:  Addressing a crowd at a ground breaking ceremony in the 
western Turkish city of Balikesir, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan 
said in response to shouts from the crowd protesting a recent 
killing of conscripts in the southeast by the PKK that the fight 
against terrorism was a long-term campaign that inevitably would 
claim lives.  "The military is no place for soldiers to be idle and 
do nothing.  Turkish parents used to send their children to the army 
telling them to get martyred if necessary," Erdogan stated.  Radikal 
says Erdogan later tried to soften his words by saying that military 
compounds were different from tourist facilities and that military 
service involved risks.  "It is not easy to become a martyr," 
Erdogan said.  Mainstream papers strongly criticize the PM for being 
indifferent to the grievances of the people. 
 
Critical Turkey Report from the European Parliament 
Cumhuriyet, Hurriyet, Radikal, Sabah and others:  The Committee on 
Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament (EP) adopted the report 
on Turkey's progress towards accession on Monday.  The committee 
added some paragraphs to the report which include harsher language 
against Turkey.  The draft report criticized a number of issues, 
including Cyprus, a slowdown in the EU reform process, the situation 
in the southeast, problems with religious minorities, cultural 
rights and civilian-military relations.  The EP, in the report, 
reiterated its call to Turkey to recognize so-called Armenian 
genocide prior to its full EU membership.  The report claimed that 
Turkey committed genocide against Pontus Greeks and Assyrians in 
addition to Armenians. 
 
Imam's Murderer Lynched at Ismailaga Mosque in Istanbul 
All papers (today and yesterday):  An angry group of worshippers 
lynched a man at the Ismailaga Mosque in Istanbul's conservative 
district of Fatih, minutes after he stabbed a retired imam during 
religious debates.  Both the Imam, Bayram Ali Ozturk, and the 
attacker, Mustafa Erdal, were killed in the incident on Sunday 
morning.  Although autopsy reports confirmed that Erdal was lynched, 
and the Ismailaga religious community, on their internet site, 
reported that they lynched Mustafa Erdal, police did not detain 
anyone in connection with the killing of Erdal. Moreover, they 
announced that Erdal committed suicide.  Yesterday's Hurriyet 
reported that the Ismailaga sect is one of the most radical groups 
of the Naksibendi religious sect and linked to the Islamic terrorist 
group IBDA-C.  This is the second attack on an imam inside the 
mosque, as in 1998 another imam was shot dead while preaching to a 
group, Hurriyet adds. 
 
 
TV Highlights 
NTV (8 A.M.) 
 
Domestic News 
 
- At least 10,000 attended the funeral of a Turkish soldier killed 
in fighting with the PKK militants in the mainly Kurdish 
southeastern province of Diyarbakir. 
 
- The Turkish General Staff (TGS) said it captured the defector 
accused of causing the killing of Turkish soldiers in the Hakkari by 
informing to the PKK the positions of troops       in the 
southeastern border province. 
 
- President Kurmanbek Bakiyev of Kyrgyzstan arrived in Ankara on 
 
ANKARA 00005109  003 OF 003 
 
 
Monday as the official guest of President Ahmet Necdet Sezer. 
Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha will pay a visit to Turkey on 
September 5-6. 
 
- International investor Morgan Stanley has predicted the year-end 
inflation in Turkey will stand at 9.2 percent with the country's 
economy showing signs of normalization. 
 
International News 
 
- United Nations Secretary General Annan stated Israel and Hezbollah 
have agreed to have the UN act as a go-between in the dispute over 
the abduction of an Israeli soldier which sparked a month-long war. 
 
- Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat, visiting Pakistan as the 
official guest of President Musharraf, secured the backing of 
Islamabad concerning the removal of international sanctions on 
Turkish Cyprus. 
 
- Britain's Independent said President Bush's policy of using 
excessive military force to fight fundamentalism seems to have 
backfired, spawning an epidemic of global terrorism. 
 
  Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at 
 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ 
 
WILSON