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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 000147 
 
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, JANUARY 25, 2007 
 
 
In Today's Papers 
 
Dink Murderer Indicted, Funeral Aftermath 
All papers report Istanbul's chief prosecutor Aykut Cengiz Engin 
said five people including Ogun Samast and Yasin Hayal were indicted 
regarding the killing of Turkish Armenian journalist Hrant Dink, on 
charges of "forming an armed organization" and "inciting to murder." 
 Hayal, handcuffed under heavy security, shouted "Orhan Pamuk should 
be careful" as he was taken to an Istanbul court house for the 
killing of Dink on Friday.  Hayal has admitted to inciting his 
friend Ogun Samast, 17, to kill Dink.  Hayal had served 11 months in 
jail for the 2004 bombing of a McDonald's restaurant in his Black 
Sea home town of Trabzon.  Radikal says although the prosecutor said 
the suspects were part of an illegal network, Trabzon governor said 
the murder was committed by "amateurs," and that there was no 
organization behind the murderers. 
 
Several papers point to the positive international press coverage 
regarding the display of unity at the Dink funeral on Tuesday. 
Under the headline, "This Time World Media Applauds," Yeni Safak 
says international media strongly criticized Turkey for the murder, 
but "applauded the social and political response" at the funeral, 
writing that the threat to Turkey isn't Islamists but nationalists. 
 
 
Devlet Bahceli, chairman of the Nationalist Action Party (MHP) 
criticized yesterday the nation for not reacting to the killing of 
Turkish soldiers in the fight against the PKK, but for chanting 
slogans at the Dink funeral such as "We all are Armenians."  Bahceli 
said such slogans were an "anomaly."  Papers report the Dink family 
lawyer said that a day after the murder, Agos newspaper received an 
email from the Turkish Revenge Brigade threatening that more 
killings would come. 
 
Milliyet reports that Assistant Secretary Dan Fried told a memorial 
service for Dink organized by the Armenian Assembly of America in 
Washington that the "evil in the world can be measured by the 
hate-filled nationalist" who killed Dink but "the hope in the world 
can be measured by the tens of thousand of Armenians, Turks and 
Greeks who filled the streets" in his memory. 
 
Armenian deputy Foreign Minister Arman Kirakosian said yesterday 
after paying a condolence visit to the Dink family that Armenia was 
ready to establish diplomatic ties with Turkey without 
preconditions.  He said that he was deeply impressed with people's 
commiseration during the funeral without discrimination.  Sabah 
reports Turkish officials told Kirakosian there was no hostility 
toward Armenia in Turkey, calling on Yerevan to try to change 
Armenian diaspora's negative approach toward Turkey.  Prime Minister 
Erdogan too offered his condolences to the Dink family and to Mesrob 
II, the Patriarch of the Armenians in Turkey. 
Ismail Cem Dies 
All papers report former Turkish foreign minister Ismail Cem, who 
engineered a big thaw in Turkey's ties with Greece, died of lung 
cancer on Wednesday aged 66.  A "refined" social democrat fluent in 
English and French, Cem served as foreign minister from 1997 to 2002 
and secured Ankara's status as a European Union candidate in 1999. 
 
With his personal friend Greek foreign minister George Papandreou, 
Cem worked hard to defuse strains in the Aegean, where a few years 
earlier Ankara and Athens had come to the brink of war over the 
uninhabited Kardak (Imia) islets.  In 2002, Cem and Papandreou were 
jointly named Best Statesman of the Year 2000 for their efforts for 
bolstering Turkey-Greek ties.  "The news of Ismail Cem's death 
brought great sorrow to us who had the privilege to meet personally 
the visionary politician and share with him the faith for a steady 
improvement of Greek-Turkish ties," Greek Foreign Minister Dora 
Bakoyanni said in a statement.  President Sezer said Cem's services 
and contributions to foreign policy would always be remembered with 
 
ANKARA 00000147  002 OF 003 
 
 
appreciation.  Cem will be buried on Friday. 
 
Gul Signals Changes to Article 301 
Hurriyet, Sabah, Radikal, Zaman and others report Foreign Minister 
Abdullah Gul said on Wednesday he supported calls for changes to 
Turkish penal code Article 301, related to freedom of expression and 
seen by many as contributing to the murder of prominent Armenian 
editor Hrant Dink.  "There are some problems with the current state 
of Article 301; we recognize the need for making some changes to it. 
 We want expression of all kinds of thoughts freely which do not 
include violence or incitement" Gul said at a press briefing. 
 
Meanwhile, Hurriyet and Radikal report a court sentenced Ibrahim 
Guclu, spokesman of the Diyarbakir Kurdish Association (Kurd-Der) to 
18 months in prison for "publicly insulting Turkishness and the 
Turkish Republic" in violation of Article 301 in a press statement 
he had issued in August 2005 with regard to an incident that had 
occurred in the eastern province of Van in 1943, during which 33 
Kurds were killed. 
 
Kurdistan Regional Parliament's Extraordinary Session on Kirkuk 
Milliyet, Radikal, Cumhuriyet, Zaman and others report Kurdistan 
regional parliament in northern Iraq held an extraordinary session 
to discuss ties with Turkey following the Turkish parliament's 
secret session on developments in Iraq.  Meanwhile, Kurdistan 
 
SIPDIS 
parliament Speaker Adnan Mufti chaired the extraordinary meeting. 
Kurdistan Region Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani praised the 
15-year relationship between the Kurdistan Region and Turkey.  He 
pointed out that neither Turkey nor any other country can deploy 
troops in Kurdistan because, as he said, the issue was more 
sensitive than Turkish media's portrayal.  He said a military 
incursion into northern Iraq would damage Turkey. 
 
Editorial Commentary on Northern Iraq, Anti-Americanism 
Sahin Alpay argues in the Islamist-oriented intellectual Zaman that 
in northern Iraq Turkey's "most effective power is not armed force 
but gentle force": "Speculation about Turkish military intervention 
in Iraq has intensified recently.  According to the speculation the 
intervention has many aims: eliminating the PKK in Northern Iraq, 
preventing Kirkuk from turning into a Kurdish province, preventing 
Iraqi Kurds from becoming an example for Turkish Kurds in their 
fight for independence, preventing Iraq's disintegration, which 
would damage the stability in the Middle East.  Ankara might be 
right in wanting Kirkuk oil to be used by all Iraqis and in support 
of Iraq's integrity.  Ankara could do whatever it can to reach these 
targets, through diplomatic means.  However, in the end, Iraqis will 
be the only ones to decide on Iraq's future.  The most effective way 
for Turkey to prevent Northern Iraq from becoming a base for the PKK 
and also to protect Turkmen minority rights in Northern Iraq, is to 
gain Iraqi Kurds trust and friendship.  Turkey's most effective 
power is not armed force but gentle force.  To be able to protect 
its integrity and security, Turkey, first of all, should strengthen 
its democracy internally and should be loyal to diplomatic and 
peaceful methods abroad." 
 
Murat Celik observes in the tabloid Bugun that anti-Americanism is 
not unique to Turkey:  "There are so many commentaries in Turkey 
lately implying that only Turks have anti-American sentiments. 
Recently, British BBC-TV conducted a survey in 25 countries, 
surveying 26,000 people.  The question was "Is the US influence in 
the world positive or negative?"  Sixty-nine percent of people in 
Turkey said it was negative, along with 74 percent in Germany, 71 
percent in Indonesia, 69 percent in France and 57 percent in the UK 
who also said it was negative.  Only 7 percent in Turkey believe 
that it is positive.  One other important question of the survey was 
about US Iraq policy.  Ninety percent of Turks, 94 percent of 
French, 82 percent of Russians and 81 percent of British people 
believed that the US Iraq policy was wrong.  The result of the 
survey is very clear: Half of the world believes that the US is 
harmful to the world.  So, let us all remember that when you hear a 
 
ANKARA 00000147  003 OF 003 
 
 
comment starting by saying 'anti-Americanism is increasing in 
Turkey', this situation does not apply to Turkey only." 
 
 
TV Highlights 
NTV, 6.00 A.M. 
 
Domestic News 
 
- The Turkish Finance Ministry reportedly launched an investigation 
into unauthorized inquiries in affiliate tax offices regarding the 
wealth and possessions of top state officials such as President 
Sezer, Prime Minister Erdogan and the Chief of the General Staff 
General Buyukanit. 
 
- Geoff Hoon, the British Minister for Europe, said Article 301 of 
the Turkish Penal Code should be changed or abolished. 
 
- EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn said isolation of prisoners 
held in high security prisons remained a serious problem in Turkey. 
 
 
- Former IMF President Fischer said Turkey needs further cooperation 
with the IMF to cope with possible economic turmoil. 
 
International News 
 
- The European Court of Human Rights has accepted to investigate an 
application that had been submitted by slain journalist Hrant Dink 
against a Turkish court ruling penalizing him for "insulting 
Turkishness." 
 
- Greek Prime Minister Karamanlis told the Council of Europe's 
parliamentary assembly that a divided Cyprus remains one of the last 
hurdles on the way toward the reunification of Europe. 
 
- Israeli Foreign Minister Livni called on President Katsav to 
resign in the face of increasing charges of rape and abuse of power. 
 
 
- An armed hijacker diverting a Sudanese airliner to neighboring 
Chad has been arrested and the passengers are released unharmed. 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ 
 
WILSON