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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 006421 
 
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, NOVEMBER 15, 2006 
 
 
In Today's Papers 
 
New Initiative from Turkey on Armenian Issue 
Milliyet reports that Turkey is getting ready to take a critical 
step toward making changes in its Armenian policy.  Foreign Minister 
Abdullah Gul signaled that Turkey, following its proposal to form an 
international commission composed of prominent historians to study 
Armenian allegations, has been preparing to make another very 
important move.  Gul was quoted as saying "Turkey has been exerting 
sincere efforts in order to bring clarification to a historical 
issue.  We are considering various alternatives, including judicial 
action." CHP member Sukru Elekdag said that the 'judicial action' 
mentioned by Gul was "international arbitration."   Milliyet notes 
that the recent victory of the Democrats in the US Congress had made 
Ankara accelerate its steps to block the campaign of the Diaspora. 
 
If an Election Were Held Today 
Yeni Safak reports that a poll, conducted by ANAR for Yeni Safak, 
showed that if elections were held today only two parties, AKP and 
CHP would enter parliament.  According to the survey, AKP would get 
29%, CHP 12%, MHP 6%, DYP 5.6%, DTP 5.3%, Genc Party 3.6%, Anavatan 
2.7%.  The poll showed that almost half of the people have not 
started thinking about the Presidential election.  29.7 % said 
Erdogan should become President and 13.4 % preferred that he 
continue as PM. 
 
Commentary on Iraq 
While all papers carry stories regarding the chaotic situation in 
Iraq, commentators focused on the possibility of the US and UK 
changing their current strategy, particularly in light of the Iraqi 
Working Group meeting and Tony Blair's recent remarks. 
 
In the Islamist-intellectual daily Zaman Abdulhamit Bilici offers a 
sarcastic "good morning" as he notes that the West may have finally 
woken up to the facts in the Middle East: "Interestingly enough, the 
responsible ones for the current swamp in Iraq are working to find a 
way to exit.  The daily realities of Iraq provide absolutely no hope 
for the future as it goes through an undeclared civil war.  In this 
respect, the upcoming report on Iraq by the 'Iraq Working Group' is 
very important to watch since it will shape the process.  President 
Bush is proud of not changing his faith and stances on the issues, 
but when it comes to Iraq, even he started talking about 'constantly 
changing tactics' in an effort to sell the fiasco to the public. 
The Iraq war was started before doing a proper analysis and making 
reasonable plans, and unfortunately Bush accepted everything offered 
by the neo-cons.  The current picture of Iraq only proves how 
perfect the neo-con plan was!  Not only on the Iraq issue, but also 
on the Middle East there seems to be some common sense emerging. 
Tony Blair has come to accept the reality that a settlement for the 
Middle East should start with the Palestinian problem.  We can only 
say 'good morning' to this analysis.  Nevertheless it is better to 
see reality eventually." 
 
Sami Kohen in the mainstream Milliyet draws attention to the fact 
that two members of the axis of evil are now on the good list: 
"Iran and Syria were on the axis of evil list until a few days ago, 
and now they are mentioned as countries to cooperate with on Iraq. 
Tony Blair has already called for initiating contact with Tehran and 
Damascus for the sake of Iraq and the Middle East issues.  The 
co-chairmen of the Iraq Working Group, James Baker and Lee Hamilton 
also suggested a change in the American strategy for Iraq and 
advised efforts be made to get Iran and Syria's support.  It would 
be unrealistic to expect an immediate change in American strategy 
but the trend is likely to shift toward making changes in early 
¶2007.  Americans have already started brainstorming to find ways to 
establish dialogue with Iran and Syria.  Organizing a conference for 
broader Middle East countries is one of the ideas circulating.  This 
effort not only makes Syria and Iran very happy, but also paves the 
way for both to impose their conditions on the US.  Regarding 
finding a settlement on Iraq, it is really questionable to what 
 
ANKARA 00006421  002 OF 002 
 
 
extend they can really be helpful.  The truth is contributions from 
Iran and Syria are needed on the Iraq issue, which clearly indicates 
the helplessness of the Western powers on this issue." 
 
Fethullah Gulen Denies Grant Allegations to Hartford Seminary 
Zaman reports that Dr. Ali Bayram, representative of Turkish 
theologian and religious leader Fethullah Gulen, denied reports that 
they donated $ 2 million to the Hartford Seminary.  Bayram stressed 
that their sponsorship agreement with the Hartford Seminary aims to 
establish an Islamic Studies Position at the seminary and to support 
the academic projects of the students. 
 
Turkey's Crime Rate Increased 60% 
Radikal, citing Security Department reports as its source, reports 
that while there were 1,336 crimes committed per day in all of 2005, 
the number reached 2,191 within the first six months of 2006. 
 
TV Highlights 
NTV (7 A.M.) 
 
Domestic News 
 
- Journalist/writer Perihan Magden was acquitted of charges in two 
cases: one for insulting the father of the assassin of the priest in 
Trabzon in her articles; and the other for criticizing the delay of 
the announcement of a verdict in the Pinar Selek case. 
- Prosecutor demands life in prison for Syrian terrorist Luai Sakka 
in connection with the 2003 Istanbul bombings 
- Rahsan Ecevit said that the grave of Bulent Ecevit will be moved 
from State Cemetery to a place in Golbasi as Ecevit liked that area 
very much 
- Greenpeace activists stage protests in front of Parliament to 
protest a bill for the construction of a nuclear plant 
 
 
International News 
 
- Gunmen wearing Iraqi police uniforms kidnapped as many as 150 
people from the Education Ministry building in central Baghdad 
- British PM Blair says Syria and Iran could be the key to reducing 
bloodshed in Iraq 
 
  Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at 
 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ 
 
WILSON