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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 006651 
 
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 
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2006 
 
In Today's Papers 
 
Erdogan Rejects Calls from President and Opposition for Early 
Elections 
All papers report President Sezer called for early general elections 
in April, saying that Turkey has entered a "problematic period." 
Opposition leaders Deniz Baykal of CHP and Mehmet Agar of DYP 
supported the call, but Prime Minister Erdogan maintained elections 
will be held on schedule and not before.  Erdogan said the existing 
parliament will elect the president as scheduled.  "The Constitution 
has a provision regarding the presidential elections and it cannot 
be changed according to anybody's wishes," he stressed.  "Those who 
cannot even tend to a flock of two sheep [i.e. handle the simplest 
of tasks] are talking about early polls," remarked an angry Erdogan. 
 Erdogan also claimed most lawmakers in the parliament oppose early 
elections because they are afraid of not being re-elected. 
 
Blair to Pay a "Surprise Visit" to Turkey 
Hurriyet, Milliyet, Sabah, Radikal, Yeni Safak:  On Friday, British 
Prime Minister Tony Blair will pay a brief visit to Ankara 
immediately after EU leaders wrap up a Brussels summit that would 
see a decision to slow down Ankara's membership talks.  Sabah 
expects Blair to urge Erdogan to stick with the EU entry bid.  Yeni 
Safak claims Blair is coming to Turkey to announce an EU decision to 
open discussions on four new negotiation chapters.  Blair and 
Erdogan will also discuss Cyprus and the Middle East.  Following his 
contacts in Ankara, on Saturday Blair will go to Egypt, the first 
leg in his Middle East tour of four countries.  The details of his 
program have not been revealed, except for a meeting with 
Palestinian President Abbas in Ramallah on Monday. 
 
Urbancic Meets Turkish Press on the PKK 
Hurriyet, Milliyet, Sabah, Radikal, Cumhuriyet, Zaman, Yeni Safak 
and others report 
Principal Deputy Coordinator for Counterterrorism Frank Urbancic 
briefed Turkish journalists in Washington on the US steps to counter 
the PKK, particularly in Europe.  Urbancic stressed that the US 
wants an end to the PKK.  "The PKK must lay down arms.  We are not 
interested in establishing contact with the organization, ceasefire, 
or meeting with them," Urbancic told the Turkish press.  Cumhuriyet 
reports on its front page that the US will pressure Europe to end 
support of the PKK, by putting an end to PKK propaganda, cutting off 
financial sources and not providing political asylum to the PKK 
members.  Zaman quotes Urbancic extensively under a headline, "Call 
Me a Liar if you Want, but We are Sincere about the Fight against 
the PKK."  "A Turk killed in southeast Turkey is a serious concern 
for us; it's not different than an American being killed in Izmir or 
California," he said.  Several papers carry Urbancic's statement 
that the PKK "is like an octopus" with Milliyet quoting him as 
saying "The PKK in Europe has many methods of operation - even doing 
things like extorting protection money from kebab sellers.  We 
expect new anti-PKK steps from Europe."  Papers report that, 
accompanied by the State Department Southeast Europe Director Doug 
Silliman, Urbancic visited six European countries in ten days in an 
effort to "stop the PKK's activities."  In an interview with the 
all-news NTV, Urbancic said his visits together with some top US 
officials to Europe would continue next year. 
 
Sabah meanwhile says in a front page report that Turkish special 
envoy for countering the PKK, retired General Edip Baser, might quit 
his job after arguing with some bureaucrats at the Prime Ministry 
when his large staff of 13 was not given offices in the same 
building as Baser. 
 
A/S Peter Rodman in Turkey for High Level Defense Group Meeting 
Aksam, Zaman, Vatan, Yeni Safak and others:  In Turkey to chair the 
visiting US Defense delegation, which visited Turkey for the 
Turkey-US High Level Defense Group Meeting, Assistant Secretary of 
Defense Peter Rodman said during a roundtable with reporters that 
the "US wants to be a reliable ally of Turkey.  We attach great 
 
ANKARA 00006651  002 OF 003 
 
 
importance to Turkey's contribution to attaining stability in the 
region.  Therefore, we are trying to give the appropriate responses 
to the concerns of Ankara.  All of us expect concrete results in the 
fight against the PKK.  Turning the Turkey-Iraq border into a border 
of peace is a main goal of the US." 
 
Editorial Commentary on Iraq, EU 
Yilmaz Altug, writing in the conservative Turkiye, warns of the 
implications of the escalating Sunni-Shiite violence in Iraq: "There 
is a civil war in Iraq between Shiites, trained by Iran, and Sunnis. 
 The Shiite groups resemble an army under al-Sadr.  Fearing Iranian 
influence, Saudis are now talking about intervening, as there is 
growing fear about Sunnis being wiped out after an ethnic cleansing. 
 On the other hand, President Bush seems to be listening to advice 
in the Baker-Hamilton report and working on a pull-out program. 
Even if the US works on strengthening the central government in 
Iraq, hoping that it will take measures to decrease the level of 
violence, reality indicates the opposite will happen.  When the US 
forces pull out of Iraq, the fight between Sunnis and Shiites will 
accelerate even more.  Given the fact that Lebanon is also going 
through a civil war, the Middle East will eventually find itself in 
greater turmoil.  When we look at the big picture, can we possibly 
talk about a federal Iraq where Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds will be 
live together?" 
 
Camel Sacrifice at Istanbul Airport Sparks Debate 
All papers:  On Tuesday Turkish Airlines (THY) publicly sacrificed a 
camel on the tarmac to mark the retirement of a fleet of aircraft 
associated with accidents.  Yesterday's mainstream dailies gave 
extensive front page coverage to the incident with photos of the 
camel and THY personnel holding the sacrificed animal's flesh in 
their hands.  There was a huge reaction to the incident and 
Transportation Minister Binali Yildirim announced the suspension of 
the THY manager who was responsible for arranging the slaughter. 
Meanwhile, opposition party ANAVATAN deputy Huseyin Guler launched a 
formal legislative query into the incident yesterday and asked "Is 
this brutal event something that serves the image of contemporary 
Turkey on the way to membership in the European Union?" 
 
Increased Violence in the Universities Protested 
Cumhuriyet reports that a group of professors and students from 
Ankara University protested recent violence and "fascist attacks" 
against students.  There were protests at the Middle East Technical 
University as well to criticize violent attacks all over Turkey 
mainly against male students who "have long hair, wear earrings or 
are of Kurdish origin." 
 
 
TV Highlights 
NTV, 6.00 A.M. 
 
Domestic News 
 
- Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk returned to Istanbul from Stockholm 
late on Wednesday, saying he accepted the prize for Turkey as fans 
applauded at Istanbul's Ataturk Airport. 
 
- Lawyers from Istanbul Bar Association will stage demonstrations on 
December 15 to protest the isolation of inmates in F-type prisons. 
 
 
- 20,000 jobseekers have applied for 1500 vacant posts at the 
state-owned tea producer Caykur in the Black Sea city of Rize, 
revealing the striking dimensions of unemployment in Turkey. 
 
- The Turkish Central Bank sets 4 percent inflation target until 
¶2009. 
 
- World Bank projects Turkey's current deficit to reach 8 percent by 
the end of 2006, and to decline to 7.5 percent in 2007 and to 6.4 in 
 
ANKARA 00006651  003 OF 003 
 
 
¶2008. 
 
- A World Economic Forum report says Turkey surpassed EU member 
Poland and would-be members Bulgaria and Romania in economic 
reforms. 
 
International News 
 
- EU leaders are expected to approve at the December 14-15 summit 
talks in Brussels the EU foreign ministers' decision for partially 
freezing talks with Turkey.  Olli Rehn, the EU commissioner for 
enlargement, said the EU had managed to avoid a train crash with 
Turkey. 
 
- A two-day conference in Iran which called into question the Nazi 
Holocaust has sparked outrage among Holocaust survivors. 
 
- Unidentified gunmen shot dead a judge from the governing Hamas 
movement in front of a courthouse in Gaza. 
 
- Workers began a nationwide 24-hour strike in protest at the 
government's tight 2007 budget proposal, paralyzing transportation 
in Athens. 
 
  Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at 
 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ 
 
WILSON