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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 005992 
 
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, OCTOBER 17, 2006 
 
In Today's Papers 
 
Iraqi Prime Minister Cancels Scheduled Visit to Turkey 
All papers report the Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki cancelled 
his scheduled trip to Turkey at the last minute due to a sandstorm 
at the Bagdhad airport.  Vatan and Cumhuriyet think there were other 
reasons for the cancellation, that Maliki could not leave Iraq at a 
time of growing debates regarding a partition of Iraq; that the US 
authorities in Baghdad and the Iraqi Kurdish groups are concerned 
that while in Turkey the Iraqi PM could make pledges impossible to 
meet; or that President Talabani, being denied by Ankara an official 
visit to Turkey, blocked al-Maliki from going. 
 
Gul on Article 301, Cyprus 
Hurriyet, Milliyet, Sabah, Radikal,, Cumhuriyet, Zaman and others 
report Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul told the press en route to 
Ankara from Monday's Turkey-EU Troika foreign ministers' meeting in 
Luxembourg that Turkey will revise the controversial Turkish penal 
code's Article 301, which is seen as restricting free speech.  EU 
Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn during a joint news conference 
with Gul yesterday said that 'Accession negotiations are not just a 
technical exercise, but a political process; and progress depends 
first and foremost on reforms.'  Rehn said he hoped there would be 
'concrete results' before the report is published on November 8, 
adding that 
'Turkey will not repeat the mistake made by France.' 
 
Rehn also described Finnish proposals on Cyprus as being 'balanced 
and realistic,' stressing that they could be a 'last window of 
opportunity' on the divided island.  Finland has proposed a two-year 
solution to the Cyprus problem focused on Turkey opening its ports 
and airports to Greek Cypriot vessels and airplanes.  Ankara 
proposed a four-way summit with the EU, Greek and Turkish Cypriot 
representatives to negotiate the matter. 
Gul's conditions for debating the EU plan are that the control of 
Cypriot ports should be given to the UN instead of the EU, and the 
issue of the ghost-city of Maras (Varosha) should not be taken up as 
a separate issue. 
 
Turkish Peacekeepers to be Deployed in Shadiyah in Lebanon 
Sabah, Radikal, Cumhuriyet, Zaman and others report the United 
Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and Turkish delegation 
have agreed that Turkish troops would be deployed in Shadiyah 
village near the southern Lebanese city of Tyre.  Papers say the 
previously agreed area of Baqbuq to the north of Tyre was 'unsafe,' 
and relocated the Turkish military engineering contingent of 261 
personnel to Shadiyah village. 
 
The Vatican Confirms Pope Benedict Visit to Turkey 
Sabah, Milliyet, Radikal, Zaman and others report Monday the Vatican 
press office announced that Pope Benedict XVI will pay an official 
visit to Turkey November 28--December 1.  The Pope will arrive in 
Ankara, then move on to Izmir and Ephesus on November 29, ending up 
in Istanbul where he will participate in the Saint Andreas feast on 
November 30 at the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate.  In Ankara, Benedict 
XVI will call on the head of Turkish Religious Affairs Diyanet 
Professor Ali Bardakoglu, in a 'gesture' regarded by Turkish papers 
as an effort to reduce negative reactions towards the pontiff over 
his recent controversial statement about the Prophet Muhammad and 
Muslims. 
 
US Army Commander to Visit Turkey 
Sabah reports US Land Forces Commander General Peter Schoomaker will 
come to Turkey on October 26-27 to discuss military ties as well as 
the recent situation with the PKK and Iraq.  Schoomaker will meet 
Land Forces commander General Ilker Basbug and the Turkish General 
Staff (TGS) chief General Yasar Buyukanit. 
 
Washington Times Predicts that the AKP Will Loose the Majority in 
 
ANKARA 00005992  002 OF 003 
 
 
the Next Elections 
Sabah, Radikal:  A recent Washington Times article argued that the 
AK Party could lose its parliamentary majority in Parliament after 
the next general elections and could receive around 25 percent of 
the vote.  As a result of this, a coalition government could be 
established.  The piece also argued that the result of next year's 
elections may well determine whether Turkey remains a friend of the 
West, or slips deeper into a hostile Islamist Middle East. 
Commenting on the terrorism threat Turkey faces, The Washington 
Times argued that the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) has won the 
support of the people because the AKP has failed to deal with the 
PKK.  The paper added that the PKK issue has proven to be one 
obstacle in restoring the US-Turkey relationship that soured in 2003 
when Turkey denied the US use of its territory during the war in 
Iraq.  Radikal reports that, in an interview, PM Erdogan 
acknowledged the fact that support for his party has declined to 27 
percent.  The AK Party received 34.4% of the votes at the last 
elections. 
 
Iraq Becomes Hope for the Unemployed 
Milliyet cites a report published by the Employment Association as a 
source in saying that the number of Turkish workers who went to Arab 
countries like Jordan, United Arab Emirates and Qatar, increased 
noticeably in 2005.  According to the report, over sixty thousand 
Turkish workers went to foreign countries in 2005 to work.  Despite 
the security risks, the number of Turkish workers who traveled to 
Iraq, increased 68% in 2005, from4,900 Turkish workers in Iraq in 
2004 to 8,237, in 2005. 
 
 
TV Highlights 
NTV (8 A.M.) 
 
Domestic News 
 
- Professor Erdogan Tezic, the chairman of the Turkish High 
Education Board YOK returned his Commandeur Chirac medal to the 
French Embassy in Ankara in protest over the French adoption of a 
bill concerning Armenian genocide claims.  The Turkish parliament 
will hold a special session on Tuesday to discuss the approval of 
the controversial bill by the French Parliament.  Lawmakers are 
expected to draft a strong response to France, including a trade 
boycott. 
 
- The New York Times describes the Nobel-winning Turkish novelist 
Orhan Pamuk as "a writer above politics." 
 
- A Turkish pilot died on Monday when his F-16 jetfighter crashed in 
the mountainous province of Bitlis in southeast Turkey, Turkish Air 
Force said. 
 
- The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) 
World Investment Report for 2006 released yesterday said Turkey 
moved up to 22nd place on the index of countries receiving direct 
foreign investment with USD 9.7 billion of direct investment. 
 
International News 
 
- An unidentified French Foreign Ministry official said President 
Chirac did not promise to block the genocide bill from becoming law 
in a recent phone talk with Prime Minister Erdogan. 
 
- Greek and Greek Cypriot papers claim the US intervened to forge a 
compromise over a Finnish formula on Cyprus on the eve of the 
release of a EU Commission report on the divided island. 
 
- The OECD will release two major reports: one on corporate 
governance in Turkey and the other an economic survey of the 
country, during an upcoming visit to Istanbul and Ankara by the 
Organization's Secretary-General, Angel Gurra on October 17 and 18. 
 
ANKARA 00005992  003 OF 003 
 
 
 
 
 
- On Monday, 91 people were killed in sectarian fighting between 
Sunnis and Shiites in Iraq. 
 
 
  Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at 
 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ 
 
WILSON