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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 000055 
 
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 11, 2007 
 
 
In Today's Papers 
 
Turks Investigate Plane Crash in Baghdad 
All papers follow up reporting on the Moldovan Antonov-26 aircraft 
that crashed near Baghdad on Tuesday killing 34 onboard, including 
28 Turkish workers.  Milliyet reports Turkey has been investigating 
claims put forward by the Arab television broadcasts in Iraq that 
the plane had been downed by an insurgent group, Iraq Islam Army. 
Turkish Foreign Minsitry (MFA) sources told Hurriyet that they had 
no information confirming the plane had been attacked or that US 
authorities did not allow it to land in the Balad Airbase.  Zaman 
says no safety checks had been carried out on the plane in the last 
12 months.  Turkish Transportation Ministry has sent a team of three 
inspectors to Baghdad to investigate the crash, say papers. 
 
Meanwhile, Milliyet reports Iraq provides hope for unemployed Turks 
despite the bloodbath in the country.  The paper says that through 
the Turkish Employment Agency alone 20,000 Turks went to Iraq for 
jobs in the last three years. 
 
US Squadron of F-16s Land at Incirlik for First Time in Three Years 
Sabah, Vatan, Milliyet, Hurriyet, Cumhuriyet and others:  Vatan 
reports that 16 US F-16s arrived in Incirlik air base for training 
purposes for the first time in three years.  F-16s were deployed at 
Incirlik Air Base, near Adana, in accordance with a Council of 
Ministers decision taken on April 1991, after the first Gulf war. 
The planes left the base in March 2003, after the "Provide Comfort" 
Force completed its mission.  The warplanes, reportedly, will remain 
at the base for six to seven weeks to conduct training flights. 
Commenting on the squadron that has arrived at Incirlik, MFA 
spokesperson Namik Tan said that the reported activities are 
entirely training-related and that they are conducted periodically 
under the supervision of the Turkish Military, Hurriyet reports. 
Responding a question on the subject, Tan said "a NATO assigned 
squadron has landed at the Incirlik Air Base to conduct some 
training activities planned for 2007, similar to activities 
conducted in the past, within the framework of the Turkish-American 
Defense and Economic Cooperation Agreement signed on March 1980." 
 
Allegations of US Military Delegation Visiting PKK Offices in 
Northern Iraq 
Sabah, Milliyet and others:  Firat News Agency, known to be close to 
the PKK, claimed that a US military delegation visited the Kirkuk 
office of the Kurdistan Democratic Solution Party (KDSP), the PKK's 
organization in Northern Iraq,  and held meetings with the 
organization there.  An official from KDSP Diyar Xerib said, "The 
Iraq Study Group Report was discussed with the US officials.  It is 
a well-known fact that the US received the biggest support from the 
Kurds in Iraq.  Therefore, as KDSP, we issued a call to the US to 
develop strategic relationship with the Kurds." 
 
Report: 600,000 Kurds Settled in Kirkuk 
Mainstream Hurriyet says a report prepared by Turkish intelligence 
shows that 600,000 Kurds have been settled in the oil-rich city of 
Kirkuk in northern Iraq.  Kurdish families in the shantytowns across 
northern Iraq have been promised USD 10,000-20,000 if they agree to 
move to Kirkuk.  The majority of Kurds settled are not those forced 
out of Kirkuk under the reign of Saddam Hussein.  The intelligence 
report notes that according to "sources" from the time of Hussein 
and UN records, 11,800 Turkmen, Kurds, Arabs, and Syriacs were 
expelled from Kirkuk. 
 
Editorial Commentary on New US Iraq Strategy 
Cengiz Candar comments in the economic-political daily Referans: 
"The essence of the President's new Iraq strategy is surge, not 
withdrawal.  President Bush did not meet the expectations about 
giving some indications of a pull out.  On the contrary he intends 
to control the growing violence in Iraq through more troops.  His 
strategy on Iraq is like hitting the gas pedal, rather than the 
 
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brakes.  The Bush strategy also entirely conflicts with the spirit 
of the Baker-Hamilton report.  President Bush gives his main focus 
to the stability of Iraq which is a clear diversion from the high 
ideals such as bringing democracy, but at the same time he does not 
combine the stability priority with a pull out plan.  One good way 
of looking at the new strategy is that we can see it as the last 
effort to prevent Iraq's division.  However there are many loopholes 
in the new Bush strategy.  The plan focuses on the elimination of 
the insurgency via military means but neglects the need for a 
political strategy to go along with it for absolute victory. 
President Bush does not offer a political strategy to address this 
need.  Given the lowest level of support to the US policy for Iraq, 
success is very, very difficult. " 
 
Turgut Tarhanli writes in the liberal-intellectual Radikal: "In 
2004, both the US and the UK declared the transfer of sovereignty to 
Iraq as UN resolution 1546 indicated.  We should realize that such a 
thing never happened - it remained on paper.  Iraqi authorities are 
trying to establish stability and public order but their roles and 
responsibilities stay very limited if we keep in mind that they are 
living under occupation.  The Iraq reality from a legal perspective 
is about the big difference between what's written and what's 
implemented.   Given the current situation in Iraq, it is not 
realistic for Turkey to talk about an Iraq policy filled with 'red 
lines.'  This policy may be helpful for domestic politics, but 
narrowing down all of Iraq to issues about Kirkuk's demography 
cannot be a realistic approach.  With this approach, Turkey is also 
narrowing down its role as a regional force.  The reality is that 
Iraq's north has a significant stable situation despite the chaos in 
Iraq in general.  The Kirkuk issue is undoubtedly a potential cause 
for local tension.  However, when establishing policy and talking 
about 'red lines,' we should be able to see the situation in Iraq in 
general as well as the stability in the north." 
 
ECHR Ruling Forces Turkey to Review Minority Foundations Bill 
Hurriyet, Milliyet and Radikal report Turkey signaled on Wednesday 
it could amend a bill on non-Muslim minority foundations after the 
European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that a boys school 
building confiscated from an ethnic Greek foundation be given back. 
The ECHR told Turkey on Tuesday to return the property or pay 
910,000 Euro in compensation for infringing on the foundation's 
property rights.  Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin said the 
bill might now be changed to allow payment of compensation to 
minority foundations whose properties had been confiscated and then 
sold on to third parties.  Sahin warned Turkey could face a much 
larger bill if it fails to amend the law.  Sahin noted there were 
124 such controversial assets currently under Turkish Treasury 
ownership and 28 under the Foundations Directorate, and an "unknown" 
number of properties sold on to third parties. 
 
TV Highlights 
NTV, 6.00 A.M. 
 
Domestic News 
 
- Turkey has suffered the highest human losses in Iraq after the US 
and the UK. 
 
- Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said Turkey will continue with EU 
reforms with determination, adding that 2007 will not be a lost year 
for Turkey. 
 
- The ruling AKP lawmakers have drafted a bill envisaging prison 
sentences for those who make public the messages issued by the PKK's 
imprisoned leader Abdullah Ocalan. 
 
- A new draft bill discussed by the parliamentary justice commission 
envisages prison sentences for domestic violence. 
 
- A survey by the Turkish Central Bank says yearend inflation was 
 
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expected to stand at 6.98 percent. 
 
- Dense fog has paralyzed air and maritime traffic in Istanbul. 
 
International News 
 
- Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said the execution of Barzan 
al-Tikriti and Avad al-Bender, the two co-defendants of Saddam 
Hussein, should be delayed. 
 
- Secretary Rice will travel to the Middle East and Europe on Friday 
in a drive to revive the stalled Arab-Israeli peace efforts and 
stabilize Iraq. 
 
- President Bush is expected to bolster the US presence in Iraq by 
sending at least 20,000 extra troops to Baghdad and the restive 
Anbar province. 
 
- Gunmen opened fire on two buses of pilgrims returning to the Iraqi 
Shiite city of Karbala from neighboring Saudi Arabia, killing eight 
pilgrims. 
 
- Armenian Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian said that in 2007 he 
expected important developments concerning the recognition of 
Armenian genocide claims in France and the US. 
 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ 
 
WILSON