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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 000073 
 
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, JANUARY 16, 2007 
 
 
In Today's Papers 
 
AKP to Call Parliamentary Meeting on Iraq 
All papers report the main opposition CHP leader Deniz Baykal said 
Turkey should send troops into northern Iraq to crush the PKK 
terrorists there, provided the Parliament approves a cross border 
incursion.  Deputy Prime Minister Abdullatif Sener said after the 
Council of Ministers meeting Monday that AKP would call for a debate 
on Iraq in Parliament this week.  Responding to a question, Sener 
said the procedure for getting authorization for cross-border 
incursions was different, adding that no decision about Iraq would 
be adopted during the debate in Parliament. 
 
"Kirkuk 2007" Panel in Ankara 
Hurriyet, Milliyet, Sabah, Radikal, Cumhuriyet, Zaman, Yeni Safak 
and others report Iraqi Sunni and Shiite representatives 
participated in the "Kirkuk 2007" conference held in Ankara by the 
Turkish Global Strategy Institute to discuss the future of the 
oil-rich northern Iraqi city.  The northern Iraqi Kurdish parties 
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and Kurdistan Democratic Party 
(KDP), blamed for mving Kurds into Kirkuk to alter the demographic 
structure of the city, were not invited to the gathering.  KDP 
Turkey representative Omar Mirani said since the Iraqi Kurds were 
not invited the meeting was "not important."  He said the problems 
of Kirkuk should be tackled in Iraq, not in other countries.  Iraqi 
Ambassador to Turkey Sabah Umran said the conference was an 
"intervention" in Iraq's internal affairs.  Turkish Foreign Ministry 
(MFA) said in the face of criticism that the meeting was an 
"academic" one. 
 
Conference Calls for More Rights for Turkey's Kurds 
All papers report a conference, "Turkey Seeking Peace," called in 
its final declaration for economic support and development in the 
mainly Kurdish southeast Turkey.  It called for a "mutual end to 
armed fighting," and for amnesty for the outlawed PKK in a way which 
will "not hurt the conscience of the nation."  The declaration said 
political obstacles in front of Kurdish parties and language should 
be removed, unsolved murders resolved, and the village guards system 
abolished. 
 
Addressing the two-day gathering held in Ankara over the weekend, 
the acclaimed Turkish novelist Yasar Kemal has said Turkey called 
its "guerrillas" "terrorists," underlining that the low-intensity 
war has been going on in the mainly Kurdish southeast Turkey for the 
past 25 year.  "We became a country fighting its own people," Kemal 
maintained, "What people in Turkey should understand is that if we 
have a single friend it is the Iraqi Kurds."  Kemal's remarks caused 
controversy with reaction coming from two Kurdish parties in Turkey, 
KADEP and HAKPAR, saying there should have been a broader 
participation of Kurds in the conference.  Several columnists 
criticized the meeting for not displaying clear opposition to the 
terrorist PKK. 
 
Speculation Continues on Plane Crash near Anaconda Airbase 
Hurriyet, Milliyet, Sabah, Radikal, Cumhuriyet and others continue 
reporting over the weekend and on Monday about a Moldovan plane 
crash which killed 34 onboard, mostly Turkish workers, near Anaconda 
Airbase north of Baghdad last week.  Bad weather conditions were 
blamed for the crash, but there was also speculation that the plane 
was shot down by an Iraqi insurgent group, Iraq Islam Army. 
Transport Minister Binali Yildirim has told Sabah that the US 
removed the wreckage of the plane before waiting for the arrival of 
a Turkish investigation team.  Hurriyet and Radikal reported over 
the weekend that the widespread belief at the airbase is that the 
plane was brought down.  Sabah quotes a forensic medicine expert 
saying proper tests were not carried out on the bodies.  A Turkish 
Foreign Ministry (MFA) source told the English language daily 
Turkish Daily News that Americans have been helpful, that US 
officials at the airbase had offered to send a military helicopter 
to Baghdad to transport Turkish Embassy officials.  The Turkish 
 
ANKARA 00000073  002 OF 003 
 
 
government's request to send an investigation team to the crash area 
was accepted both by the Iraqi government and the American forces in 
Iraq, MFA sources said. 
 
Article 301 to Remain Unchanged Until after Elections 
The liberal/intellectual Radikal reports Volkan Bozkir, Turkey's 
ambassador to the EU, has told The Financial Times that there would 
be no changes to Article 301 of the penal code until after the 
general elections, in a statement confirmed by some unidentified AKP 
officials.  The European Union wants the article which has been used 
to prosecute writers and intellectuals to be scrapped.  Radikal 
comments that the ruling AKP was concerned not to scare nationalist 
votes away before the upcoming polls in November.  If the AKP wins 
the elections, it will replace the expression "Turkishness" in 
article 301 with the expression "Turkish nation" to prevent 
arbitrary lawsuits filed against intellectuals.  Some AKP officials 
including Justice Minister Cemil Cicek oppose changes to the 
article, according to Radikal. 
 
Editorial Commentary on the Middle East, President Bush's New Iraq 
Strategy 
Sami Kohen commented in the mainstream Milliyet: "Secretary Rice's 
Middle East tour, which started right after the Presidential 
announcement of the new Iraq strategy, is aiming at getting support 
for this policy from Arab countries.  Putting the ideals of 
democracy and freedom on the shelf, President Bush seems focused on 
settling Iraq's stability, and developing more strategic ties with 
the regional countries.  The countries the US considers for 
establishing strategic ties are all Sunni nations, which is not 
surprising at all.  The US realized that Middle East geography is in 
the process of shaping up based on the Sunni-Shiite axis, and 
decided to encourage and support a Sunni alliance in the region. 
These are all intentions and time will show how much success will 
come out of it.  Secretary Rice is making her eighth trip to the 
region since she was appointed.  Given the chaotic situation in this 
region, there is no hope for a better success this than during her 
previous seven visits." 
 
Haluk Ulman wrote in the economic-political daily Dunya: "President 
Bush announced a new strategy for Iraq but it was not taken 
seriously, simply because nobody believes that it can provide peace 
and stability to Iraq.  The upcoming events will eventually throw 
this plan, like the previous ones, into history's waste basket. 
Interestingly enough, those who were supportiveof Bush policy 
regardless of its nature, are now vocal enough to state that the new 
strategy will not work.  This is only stating the obvious and it is 
utterly too late to make such an observation.  The arguments that 
the Bush administration is using in order to persuade Congress for 
the approval of the new strategy do not have any validity either. 
The Bush team is claiming that if the new strategy is not approved, 
the region will drag into chaos where a division of Iraq as well as 
Shiite-Sunni clashes will occur.  This must be political blindness. 
What they are claiming is that something that actually began right 
after the American occupation "may happen" in the future. 
Shiite-Sunni conflict is an everyday reality and Kurds have already 
separated themselves from the central authority.  The American 
administration continues to make mistakes and pursue unrealistic 
goals.  The new strategy hopes that the Iraqi administration with 
its Shiite majority will fight against Shiite militants, and also 
will pave the way for a larger Sunni participation.  This can only 
be called daydreaming." 
 
"Honor Killings" Rising in Istanbul 
Mainstream Milliyet reports an alarming rise in "honor killings" in 
Istanbul, with 25 women killed last year alone for "disrepute of 
family honor."  Officials from the Istanbul Governor's Office said 
most of the victims were women who left their homes together with 
their children to escape from domestic violence.  Findings by a 
parliamentary commission also indicate that Istanbul has risen to 
top the list with regard to honor killings.  The paper notes last 
 
ANKARA 00000073  003 OF 003 
 
 
year police received 3,670 applications complaining about violence 
against women and children in Istanbul. 
 
 
TV Highlights 
NTV, 6.00 A.M. 
 
Domestic News 
 
- Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych will pay a state visit 
to Turkey on January 17-18 at the invitation of his Turkish 
counterpart Erdogan. 
 
- Four members of the outlawed PKK have been killed in recent 
operations held in the southeastern provinces of Diyarbakir and 
Bingol.  Two terrorists fleeing from the PKK in northern Iraq were 
handed over to the security forces. 
 
- Traffic experts dismiss Prime Minister Erdogan's suggestion for 
curbing congestion in Istanbul, saying Turkey should instead 
consider levying a road tax inside the city.  Erdogan had suggested 
a "visa regime" involving a freeze on the number of new cars allowed 
on Istanbul's roads. 
 
- Turkey's former foreign minister Ismail Cem is receiving emergency 
treatment in an Istanbul hospital for lung cancer. 
 
International News 
 
- Iraqi President Talabani met with Syrian President Assad in 
Damascus on Sunday.  The two leaders are expected to come together 
for a second time before Talabani leaves Syria on January 19. 
 
- President Ahmadinejad lashed out at the US for trying to hide its 
failures in Iraq by accusing Iran of funding Iraqi insurgents. 
 
  - Germany is to introduce legislation to the European Union during 
its six-month presidency to ban the display of Nazi symbols. 
 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ 
 
WILSON