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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 006688 
 
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 
MONDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2006 
 
 
In Today's Papers 
 
Retired Turkish General on the Suleymaniye 'Hooding' Incident 
Hurriyet, Milliyet, Vatan, Sabah, Radikal, Cumhuriyet, Zaman and 
others report retired general Koksal Karabay, the former head of 
Turkish General Staff (TGS) Operations Unit, told a roundtable 
meeting with journalists on Haberturk TV that the Turkish team 
commander, "Major Aydin E.," ordered his men not to shoot at 
Americans during a confrontation which resulted in the arrest and 
"hooding" of an 11-member Turkish special operations team in the 
northern Iraqi city of Suleymaniye in July 2003.  Major Aydin E. 
reportedly told Karabay that "some 400 US troops were approaching, 
but they seemed so inexperienced that we could have killed at least 
60 or 70 of them if fighting had broken out."  Karabay claimed 
Kurdish leaders knew about the operation, and President Talabani's 
son was heading the peshmerge unit involved in the raid on the 
Turkish team, whom, according to Karabay, were taking medicine and 
food to the Turkmen in the region. 
 
Blair Reiterates Turkey Support on Cyprus, EU 
All papers report that over the weekend, British Prime Minister Tony 
Blair said after a joint press conference with his Turkish 
counterpart PM Erdogan in Ankara that the Turkish proposal to open 
one port and airport to Greek Cyprus was "positive."  Blair added 
the additional protocol was important but the bloc should not 
hesitate to lift the isolation of Turkish Cypriots.  If there are no 
legal obstacles, Blair said, Britain could launch direct flights to 
Turkish Cyprus.  Blair noted EU negotiations with Turkey on the 
remaining 27 chapters would continue.  Turkish papers also report 
Greek Cyprus leader Papadopoulos as saying that Blair just wanted to 
please his Turkish counterpart, "They have been trying to do so for 
three years but to no avail." 
 
Editorial Commentary on Iraq 
Semih Idiz, writing in mainstream Milliyet, comments on the ISG 
Report: "The gist of the ISG report is to find a way to get out of 
the Iraqi quagmire after establishing a certain degree of stability. 
 This approach is very much supported by the US public, which is not 
good news for the opponents of the report.  It is believed that this 
is the very reason for the recent election success of Democrats.  In 
American politics, no politician can afford to ignore public 
opinion.  We should remember that the US withdrew from Vietnam due 
to the pressure of public opinion.  The ISG report is also a 
manifestation of 'another US betrayal against Kurds.'  Ironically 
enough, the architect of this report is James Baker -Kurds remember 
him from the days of the first Gulf War when US encouraged them in 
the beginning and abandoned afterwards.  President Bush, feeling 
obliged to defend his Iraq policy, says that this is just a report 
and he does not have to take this report seriously.  Yet it is for 
sure that he cannot ignore the basic recommendations in the report. 
President Bush's mission is now to find a way to exit Iraq.  And 
such an exit inevitably requires a change of balance in Iraq.  Iraqi 
Kurds, naturally are unhappy about this development." 
 
Commenting on the Report in mass appeal Vatan, Rusen Cakir discusses 
the possibility of dialogue with Syria and Iran:  "The 
recommendation to open dialogue with Iran and Syria has become one 
of the most controversial topics in the ISG report on Iraq. 
President Bush is unlikely to accept it - at least not publicly. 
Secretary Rice already made some comments to invalidate this 
 
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argument.  Nevertheless it is still not possible to claim that the 
ISG suggestion on Iran and Syria is definitely out of question. 
From now on, no one in the US administration can place both as 
members in the axis of evil.  Moreover, the appointment of Robert 
Gates as the new Defense Secretary can be interpreted as an 
indication of Washington's desire to reestablish diplomatic ties 
with Iran.  Robert Gates chaired the Iran Working Group's efforts 
two and a half years ago.  Even at that time, the Iran Working Group 
report was advising the US to work on establishing dialogue with 
Iran on issues related to regional security.  If Robert Gates 
 
ANKARA 00006688  002 OF 003 
 
 
reintroduces his approach on Iran, he will undoubtedly get support 
from Democrats.  Democrat Senator Bill Nelson has just visited Syria 
and met with Syrian leader Assad.  More senators, including a 
Republican are planning to visit Damascus soon. If and when we see 
American senators in Tehran, we can certainly believe that many 
things are on the way to changing." 
 
Turkey-US High Level Defense Group Meets 'Secretly' 
Sabah reported on Sunday that the Turkey-US High Level Defense Group 
meeting was held "secretly" in Ankara earlier last week, with the 
Turkish delegation headed by deputy chief of the General Staff Ergin 
Saygun, and the US delegation by "Pentagon's Number 4," Peter 
Rodman.  At the meeting US officials tried to convince Turks that 
Russia was a potential threat for Turkey with its energy policies, 
and that Iran's nuclear program was a threat for stability in Turkey 
and in the region.  US officials also tried to ease Turkish concerns 
about the establishment of American military bases in Black Sea 
countries such as Romania, underlining that the US would not make 
any move against Turkey's interests in the Black Sea.  The Turkish 
side conveyed to the US its expectations for concrete action against 
the PKK.  Sabah says US officials rejected the suggestions of the 
Iraq Study Group for establishing contacts with Iran and Syria. 
 
Turkey Discards Eurofighter from Jetfighter Bid 
Hurriyet, Milliyet, Sabah, Radikal, Cumhuriyet, Yeni Safak and 
others report that Ankara dropped from the list Eurofighter, sending 
a "USD 10 billion message" to the European Union.  Defense minister 
Vecdi Gonul blamed the Greek Cypriots for the exclusion of 
Eurofighter, because its consortium members Italy, Britain, Germany, 
and Spain had failed to remove Greek Cypriot obstacles to Turkey 
joining the European Defense Agency (EDA.)  Papers say Turkey was 
now planning to buy "USD 10 billion worth of F-35s". 
 
Iraqi Kurdish Administration Opens Representation in Bern 
Milliyet reports that the northern Iraqi Kurdish administration has 
opened a representation office, with "all the requirements of an 
embassy," in Bern, at a ceremony joined by several European 
ambassadors as well as the US Embassy Charge d'Affaires.  Kurds' 
"Switzerland Consul-General" Fevzi Kaddur hoisted a Kurdish flag 
during the ceremony, saying "Kurdistan had been partitioned by the 
imperialist powers in Lausanne.  I hope that one day, my people will 
get over this division and live freely on their land."  The regional 
Kurdish government in northern Iraq has representation in 14 
countries. 
 
 
TV News: 
(NTV, 7.00 A.M.) 
 
Domestic News 
 
- Yasar Yakis, the head of the parliamentary commission for EU 
harmonization, said the opening of Turkish ports to the Greek 
Cypriots would not amount to recognition of the Greek Cypriot state. 
 
 
- Turkey's main Kurdish party DTP leaders and members continue their 
march to Ankara in an effort for seeing an end to the fighting in 
southeast Turkey. 
 
- Ahmet Ertegun, the co-founder of Atlantic Records, will be laid to 
rest in Istanbul today. 
 
- Turkish Foreign Ministry (MFA) Spokesman Namik Tan has been 
appointed Turkish ambassador to Israel.  President Sezer's chief 
advisor, Sermet Atacanli, will be appointed to Japan and Derya 
Kanbay to Iraq. 
 
International News 
 
 
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- Greek Cypriot Foreign Minister George Lillikas vowed not to allow 
the EU to open new negotiating chapters with Turkey as long as 
Turkey continues to block Greek Cypriot membership to international 
organizations. 
 
- British Prime Minister Tony Blair paid a surprise visit to Iraq 
for a meeting with Prime Minister al-Maliki. 
 
- President Talabani criticized Turkey for hosting a meeting of 
Iraqi Sunni groups, saying that Ankara backed a meeting of groups 
supporting violence in Iraq. 
 
- Iranian Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki lashed out at the UN 
Security Council for doing nothing about Israel's nuclear arsenal. 
 
 
- The rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas reached a tentative 
cease-fire to end days of bloody fighting in the Gaza strip. 
 
- The European Parliament wants to extend funds to Turkish Cyprus to 
support the restoration of Greek Orthodox churches in the north. 
 
 
  Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at 
 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ 
 
WILSON