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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 000064 
 
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 
FRIDAY, JANUARY 12, 2007 
 
 
In Today's Papers 
 
Speculation Continues on Moldovan Plane Crash near Baghdad 
Hurriyet, Milliyet, Sabah, Radikal, Cumhuriyet, Zaman, Yeni Safak 
and others report that an Iraqi insurgent group, Iraq Islam Army, 
has claimed responsibility for the downing of the Moldovan cargo 
plane which killed 34 people, most of them Turks, earlier this week 
north of Baghdad.  Basing its page one report on accounts by 
eyewitnesses, Cumhuriyet quotes some Turks working at the US Airbase 
Anaconda as saying the plane was shot down.  The paper adds it is 
not clear whether the plane couldn't land in its first attempt due 
to fog or Americans did not allow the landing due to heavy flight 
trafficin and out of the airbase.  Several papers say international 
wire agencies like Itar-Tass and al-Arabiya report that the plane 
was brought down.  Yeni Safak claims that Americans are holding the 
plane's black box and making no announcement about the cause of the 
crash.  All papers report that the US Ankara Embassy said a Turkish 
team has been carrying out an investigation on the crash supported 
by the US Embassy in Baghdad.  A prosecutor in Turkey's southern 
city of Adana, where the flight originated, said information 
claiming that the plane was downed "did not reflect the truth." 
 
Reaction to the New Iraq Strategy 
All papers:  The Turkish Foreign Ministry, in a written statement on 
Thursday, welcomed the plan announced by President Bush but avoided 
comment on details of the plan.  In the statement, the ministry 
recalled Turkey's own priorities, such as enhancing security and 
stability in Iraq, preserving the unity of the country and a 
consensual decision on the future of the oil-rich town Kirkuk, and 
promised to support the US within this framework.  The Ministry also 
welcomed Bush's implicit reference to the PKK that the US "will work 
with the governments of Turkey and Iraq to help them resolve 
problems along their border," and the need for the US, Turkish and 
Iraqi governments to work together to eliminate the terrorist 
threat.  Hurriyet and Vatan say that Washington passed the ball to 
the Iraqi government on the PKK issue.  Radikal says the Turkish 
Foreign Ministry gave a balanced response to the US plan. 
Cumhuriyet reported that President Bush avoided mentioning the name 
of PKK and instead referred to the issue as a 'border problem" 
between Turkey and Iraq.  Instead of seeking dialogue with Iraq's 
neighbors, Bush sent threats to Iran and Syria and the world media 
has voiced strong reactions to the new plan, Cumhuriyet added. 
Zaman said the implementation of the new Iraq plan started with a 
raid on the Iranian Consulate in northern Iraq. 
 
Erdogan on Kirkuk, Bush's New Iraq Strategy 
All papers report that in an interview with the all-news channel 
NTV, Prime Minister Erdogan rejected a recent statement by US 
Baghdad Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad that Kirkuk was Iraq's internal 
problem.  "Is Khalilzad an Iraqi national; whom is he speaking for? 
If this is an internal problem, then how can we explain the US 
presence in Iraq?" said Erdogan, stressing Turkey will not remain a 
silent bystander in the face of what is happening in Kirkuk. 
Erdogan added, "We have historic and kinship ties with the Iaqis. 
A referendum fait accompli in Kirkuk wil not be recognized by the 
international community."  Khalilzad had said at a joint press 
conference with President Talabani in Suleymaniye that intervention 
in Iraq's domestic issues by outside forces was "unacceptable," 
adding that cooperation with the Kurds was the main factor for 
progress in Iraq.  Commenting on President Bush's new Iraq strategy, 
Erdogan said Turkey expected concrete steps from the US against the 
PKK.  "We will see how honest they are, whether it will bring a 
concrete result.  We have our own strategy and tactics.  We don't 
have to disclose them, we will do what is to be done.  I'm in 
constant touch with our special anti-terror envoy Baser," Erdogan 
emphasized. 
 
Editorial Commentary on President Bush's New Iraq Strategy 
Mehmet Y. Yilmaz commented in the mass appeal Hurriyet: "It seems 
President Bush remains unaware of the real problem in Iraq.  Had he 
 
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managed to comprehend the Iraq issue correctly, he wouldn't have 
made the additional 21,500 troops the main priority.  The essence of 
Iraq's problem stems from the fact that the former Baath 
administration failed to create a real Iraqi nation.  Thus the 
enmity and mistrust among Sunni and Shiite Arabs cannot be settled 
regardless of the additional number of troops.  By insisting on that 
mistaken policy, Iraq is rushing toward division.  In reality, Kurds 
in the north have already established their state as they wait to 
implement the Kirkuk plan when the timing is right.  Everybody 
should make its plans and assessments based on these realities, 
Turkey in particular." 
 
Gungor Mengi wrote in the mass appeal Vatan: "Here are the facts; 
see if you can call it justice: The US and Iraq committed the same 
crimes, while one leader was hanged, and the other is offerng a 
solution for the devastation that he aused.  The Bush plan actually 
does not provide any dim hope for a solution to Iraq.  When it comes 
to the PKK issue, President Bush does not seem to be reading the 
problem correctly.  He did not mention the PKK's name -- that only 
was mentioned in the outline document without giving any guarantees. 
 Instead President Bush, in his address, described the issue as a 
problem to be worked on under Iraq's leadership.  Even average 
American tourists who happen to visit Turkey can understand that the 
nature of the PKK problem actually goes beyond being a border issue. 
 President Bush looks like a defeated figure wondering what to do in 
the midst of the debris he created." 
 
Derya Sazak commented in the mainstream Milliyet (1/12): "Although 
the Bush plan is called a new strategy, the fact of the matter is 
that there is nothing new except sending an additional 20,000 troops 
to Iraq.  History repeats itself as the US administration reminds us 
of the Vietnam era.  The more it tries to get out, the more it finds 
itself swamped.  Bush also made threatening remarks against Syria 
and Iran.  The US operation on the Iranian representatives in Erbil 
proved that he means it.  Regarding the PKK, Turkey's expectations 
from the US remain up in the air.  The Turkish PM Erdogan fails to 
understand the fact that the US is building Iraq's future with a 
Kurdish and Shiite alliance and he will not take any concrete steps 
against Kurds during the election year." 
 
Armenian Genocide Resolution Alarm in Turkish Parliament 
Radikal reports that the Foreign Relations Committee in the 
Parliament decided to send a delegation to the US to lobby against 
the Armenian Genocide Resolution.  During the one hour meeting 
yesterday, the Commission members highlighted the fact that with the 
assignment of Nancy Pelosi to the House of Representatives, the 
possibility for the resolution to pass in Congress increased 
immensely.  Commission leader Mehmet Dulger was assigned to set the 
travel date together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 
 
 
TV Highlights 
NTV (6 a.m.) 
 
Domestic News 
 
- Turkish Parliament's foreign affairs commission plans to invite US 
counterparts to Turkey and to send a delegation to Washington to 
fight against Armenian genocide claims. 
 
- Turkey's Kurdish question will be discussed at a conference in 
Ankara on Saturday and Sunday.  President Sezer and Prime Minister 
Erdogan have been invited to the opening which will be addressed by 
acclaimed novelist Yasar Kemal. 
 
- Turkish General Staff Chief General Yasar Buyukanit said Turkey 
extends support to the EU membership of Bulgaria and Romania. 
 
- Top state and government officials joined a reception held 
yesterday evening to mark the 80th anniversary of the national 
 
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intelligence service MIT. 
 
- Turkish Parliament has approved a bill for the appointment of 15 
new university rectors, overriding the veto of President Sezer. 
 
- The Turkish Central Bank Governor Durmus Yilmaz acknowledged 
responsibility for the failure to meet the 5 percent inflation 
target in 2006.  Yilmaz also warned companies about a new financial 
market shock, telling them to manage exchange rate risks better. 
 
International News 
 
- US forces stormed an Iranian government representative office in 
the northern Iraqi city of Erbil and arrested five people, including 
diplomats and staff. 
 
- The Financial Times said the removal of Lokmaci footbridge in the 
buffer zone in Nicosia has bolstered the standing of Turkish Cyprus 
leader Mehmet Ali Talat with the Greek Cypriots and the European 
Union. 
 
- German Government commissioner for migration and refugees said 
Turks who have lost German nationality for keeping secret their dual 
Turkish nationality will not be expelled from Germany. 
 
- The trial of former Bosnian Serb general Dragomir Milosevic, 
accused of directing the siege of Sarajevo that caused more than 
10,000 deaths during the Bosnian war, began yesterday before the UN 
war crimes tribunal in The Hague. 
 
- The New York based Human Rights Watch said in its annual report 
released Thursday that Israel and Hezbollah violated war laws this 
summer. 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ 
 
WILSON