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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 006747 
 
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, DECEMBER 26, 2006 
 
 
ANKARA 00006747  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
In Today's Papers 
 
Parliament Approves 2007 Budget 
All papers report that, after two sleepless nights and heated 
debates, the Parliament adopted the 2007 budget last night.  Tension 
escalated at Parliament during yesterday's debates.  AKP deputies 
reacted to statements of main opposition party CHP leader Deniz 
Baykal who said, "The headscarf is only a cloth which covers hair, 
it cannot cover a person's shame."  ANAVATAN leader Erkan Mumcu said 
that a person who told lies to his people cannot become the next 
president.  Responding to the opposition parties' criticism, PM 
Erdogan said, "I condemn such language under the roof of the 
Parliament."  Concerning criticism for his connections to Saudi 
businessman Yasin Al-Kadi, PM Erdogan said, "I know him very well 
and I trust him." 
 
Levent Bilman to be New Foreign Ministry Spokesperson 
Hurriyet, Sabah, Cumhuriyet, Radikal and others:  The Turkish 
Foreign Ministry's new spokesperson will be Levent Bilman, an expert 
on Greece and Cyprus, Foreign Ministry confirmed on Monday.  Bilman 
will replace Namik Tan, who will be Turkey's new Ambassador to 
Israel.  Meanwhile, Murat Esenli, who is also the son-in-law of 
Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim, was appointed as the new 
top advisor to Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul. 
 
Natural Gas Deal with Georgia 
Sabah, Radikal, Cumhuriyet and others:  Sabah reports about the 
Georgian Energy Ministry announcement saying that Turkey and Georgia 
signed an agreement for Georgia to buy 800 million cubic meters of 
Azeri gas from Turkey in 2007.  The deal with Turkey reduces 
Georgian dependency on Russian natural gas and pulls down the cost 
of natural gas for Georgia, Radikal notes.  Cumhuriyet and Referans 
report that the Turkish pipeline company Botas has rejected the 
Georgia's claims that a natural gas deal has been reached, and 
announced that the Energy Ministers of Azerbaijan, Turkey and 
Georgia will meet in Istanbul to discuss the distribution of 
Shahdeniz natural gas. 
 
Presidential Election Debates 
Cumhuriyet reports that the Honorary Chairman of the Court of 
Appeals Sabih Kanadoglu said that the government will fail to elect 
a new president because AKP votes are not sufficient to elect a new 
president.  Kanadogly said the Constitution requires at least 
two-thirds of the deputies be in quorum for the presidential 
election to be considered, which is more than AKP's members alone.. 
 
Editorial Opinon: Iran and UN Resolution 
 
"The Name of Fear is Ahmedinejad" 
Kubilay Celik commented in the conservative Tercuman (12/26): "The 
recent UN resolution to impose sanctions on Iran due to its nuclear 
program has been in the process for the last five months.  In other 
words, it took five months for the permanent members of the UN 
Security Council to reach a consensus, as Russia and China always 
stood against punishing Iran.  In the end, these two members could 
not bear the growing pressure any more, resulting in the decision to 
impose sanctions.  As for the Iran angle, Ahmedinejad has already 
defied the decision and described the resolution as just a piece of 
paper.  More, importantly he gave an ultimatum by saying to the 
Western world, 'You will regret this.'  As a matter of fact, his 
statement merits more careful examination, given his very radical 
character.  He may carry out an act of insanity, such as sending a 
nuclear missile to Israel.  Even the thought of this insanity is 
enough to give us the creeps." 
 
"Iran" 
Mustafa Balbay observed in the leftist-nationalist Cumhuriyet: 
(12/26):  "The UN decision, on a series of sanctions against Iran 
because of its nuclear program,  was finally passed.  However the 
tone of the resolution is softer than anticipated.  According to the 
 
ANKARA 00006747  002 OF 002 
 
 
resolution, Iran is banned from purchasing nuclear supplies from 
outside.  The fact of the matter is that these supplies were illegal 
and Iran was not supposed to have them anyway.  The UNSC has turned 
what is well known into a resolution -- that's all.  Historically 
speaking, Iran's nuclear program is the  result of US efforts during 
the Shah regime, Germany's facilitative assistance during the 
fundamentalist Islamist Khomeni regime, and finally Russia's current 
encouragement.  The comprehensive report on Iran's nuclear program 
was available in June 2003 (interestingly enough, right after the US 
invasion of Iraq).  It said that Iran's nuclear capability is far 
greater than had been expected.  The US since then has been asking 
for sanctions against Iran, but China-Russia-EU did not concur. 
This is the basic reason for the UNSC resolution with softened 
terms.  The US failure in Iraq, and mistrust in international public 
opinion against Washington, became other major factors for the 
softened resolution against Iran." 
 
 
TV Highlights 
NTV, 6.00 A.M. 
 
Domestic News 
- The prosecutor has issued an order for the arrest of 17 suspects 
taken into custody in connection with irregularities in state 
tenders 
- The National Security Council (NSC) will hold a meeting on 
December 28 to discuss counterterrorism and EU entry bid 
- AKP deputy Fatma Sahin has filed a motion for parliamentary 
inquiry into climate change and related risks for Turkey 
 
International News 
 
- Ethiopian forces bombed Somalia's two main airports on Monday 
- British troops carry out a massive raid on a police station in 
Basra after receiving intelligence that dozens of prisoners were 
tortured there 
- At least 87 people died after floods and landslides battered 
Indonesi's Aceh and North Sumatra provinces. 
 
  Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at 
 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ 
 
WILSON