VZCZCXRO6055
OO RUEHDA
DE RUEHAK #0399/01 0541412
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 231412Z FEB 07
FM AMEMBASSY ANKARA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 1069
RUEKJCS/CJCS WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEKJCS/OSD WASHDC//PA
RUEUITH/ODC ANKARA TU
INFO RUEHTH/AMEMBASSY ATHENS 7839
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 2185
RUEHDA/AMCONSUL ADANA 1683
RUEHBS/AMEMBASSY BRUSSELS 5760
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 5505
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 2132
RUEUITH/DET 1 39LG ANKARA TU
RHMFIUU/USDOCO 6ATAF IZMIR TU
RHMFIUU/39OSS INCIRLIK AB TU
RHMFIUU/AFOSI DET 523 IZMIR TU
RHMFIUU/39ABG INCIRLIK AB TU
RHMFIUU/AFOSI DET 522 INCIRLIK AB TU
RUEUITH/AFLO ANKARA TU

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 000399 
 
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, FEBRUARY 23, 2007 
 
 
                                                   A QUICK LOOK AT 
THE TURKISH PRESS 
                                                   February 23, 
2007 
 
 
 
In Today's Papers 
 
Gul on Iraqi Kurdish Leaders, Possible Iraq Division 
Hurriyet, Milliyet, Sabah, Radikal, Cumhuriyet, Zaman, Yeni Safak 
and others report Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, commenting on how 
to tackle the PKK in northern Iraq, told the Islamist-oriented Kanal 
7 TV that Turkey should talk "even with its enemies" if need be. 
"Talabani and Barzani have visited Turkey several times.  Our 
meetings with them will not amount to recognition of an independent 
region; we can show them their mistakes," said Gul, adding, "The US 
and Europeans think Turks and Kurds are enemies -- we are not."  He 
also stressed that an independent state in the north of Iraq was a 
"pipe dream," and that the Iraqi Kurdish leaders knew that such a 
thing was "not possible."  Gul noted that a fragmentation of Iraq 
would inevitably pull in neighboring ountries.  "A division of Iraq 
will stoke unending wars," said the FM. 
 
Missing US Guns Used in Turkey in Political Killings 
Hurriyet, Milliyet, Radikal, Cumhuriyet, Zaman, Yeni Safak and 
others say some of the guns donated by the United States to Iraq 
that went missing have been found in Turkey.  Fourteen of the 
missing guns, produced by the Austrian company Glock, were used in 
politically motivated assassinations --- in the Council of State 
(Danistay) attack and in the murder of Roman Catholic priest Andrea 
Santoro in the Black Sea city of Trabzon.  The Danistay attack in 
Ankara last year left one senior judge dead and four others wounded.rsing guns 
were seized `perationision, which cancelled the Cabinet decision freezing 
the assets of Yasin Al-Qadi, a wealthy Saudi businessman on then UN 
list of terror financiers.  Acting in line with the UN request to 
freeze assets of terrorists appearing on updated the UN terror list 
after 9/11, Turkey in 2001 froze the assets of Yassin Al- Qadi, who 
allegedly has ties with a number of AK party members, including 
Finance Minister Kemal Unakitan, and banned him from entering the 
country.  However, Al-Qadi challenged the Cabinet decision and 
started a long legal fight, in which the government and Prime 
Minister Erdogan later intervened. The result was that the Council 
of State 10th department's overturned the Cabinet decision on 
Al-Qadi, releasing his assets. As a result of the most recent 
decision, the assets have been frozen again.  Since the decision of 
the Board is binding and final, Al-Qadi cannot have a say on his 
properties in Turkey unless the Cabinet makes a new decision. 
 
Editorial Commentary: Iran 
Yilmaz Oztuna observes in the conservative Turkiye:  "The UNSC 
deadline for Iran to stop its uranium enrichment program has 
expired.  Iran previously defied the US and reiterated that the 
nuclear program would continue.  However, the Iranian long term 
attitude to the UNSC may be not as harsh as one would expect from 
the current Iranian regime.  Iran may use soft language in order to 
gain another six months, and to tie the hands of the US.  Recent 
reports indicate that both the US and the UK have concluded their 
war plans against Iran.  Given those military plans, Iran will do 
its best to invalidate a war strategy against itself.  It is likely 
that Iran will eventually agree to compromise and use this as a 
 
ANKARA 00000399  002 OF 003 
 
 
trump card to get some serious concessions from Israel and the US. 
Given the success of the blackmailing technique used by North Korea, 
we have reason to believe that Iran will go for the same tactic as 
well." 
 
Sami Kohen comments in the mainstream daily Milliyet:  "Following 
the expiration of the UNSC deadline, the Iran crisis went back to 
its starting point.  From now on we will probably see scenarios 
resembling tiffs more than dialogue.  Washington has already started 
giving signals in this regard.  US military ships were sent to the 
Gulf while international outlets, including BBC, highlight that the 
war plans against Iran to damage the country's military and 
strategic infrastructure are ready.  Even though such plans do not 
necessarily indicate an actual war situation, the overall tension 
and scenes of shows of force are always reason for worry.  The 
sensible way of dealing with the Iran issue goes through diplomacy, 
but Iran does not seem willing to be a part of it.  The alternative 
is the imposition of more sanctions by the UNSC against Iran, but it 
is not easy to adopt another list of sanctions neither is there a 
guarantee of achieving the desired result.  In this picture, the 
North Korean example comes in. There are differences between Iran 
and North Korea nevertheless that does not rule out the possibility 
for settling the crisis in the same way as the North Korean crisis 
wasverything, there is still Kurds in Turkey 
will regard an attack against Kirkuk as an attack directed against 
them.  Kirkuk is an internal matter for Iraq and any attack on it 
will bring Kurds against the Turkish state."  Yeni Safak reports 
that the Diyarbakir prosecutor has initiated an investigation 
against Aydogdu for his remarks. 
 
Meanwhile, Milliyet reports that two officials from the DTP branch 
in Van have been arrested following a police search of the office. 
Reportedly, many publications linked to the PKK were seized by the 
police during search. 
 
Survey: AKP, CHP will Pass the Election Threshold, DTP to Run 
Independents 
Milliyet carries the results of a public opinion survey conducted by 
the ruling AKP in 81 provinces with 200,000 people.  The survey 
shows that only AKP and CHP will be able to pass the ten-percent 
threshold, with AKP getting 40 percent of votes and CHP 20 percent. 
In southeast Turkey, only AKP and the Kurdish DTP will manage to 
pass the threshold. 
 
Meanwhile, papers report the Kurdish party DTP has decided to run 
independent candidates in the upcoming general elections in Turkey. 
DTP's vote of 6.2 percent in the last elections was not sufficient 
to pass the threshold.  The party expects to win 20-25 seats in the 
parliament by the votes it hopes to receive in south and southeast 
Turkey.  If it secures 20 seats or more, the DTP will be able to 
form a group in the parliament. 
 
Crime Rate Increased Sixty Percent in Turkey 
According to Turkish Security Department reports, the crime rate has 
incrd 785,510 crimes were commurkey 
la3 committed daily.  TeQn 2005, rose to 294 in 206.ncial offences, 11,747 narcotics 
smuggling, 1742 organized crime, 84 large smuggling, and 8 nuclear 
smuggling.  Radikal says the decreasing number of detentions -- 61 
percent rise in crimes compared to only 11 percent rise in 
detentions -- strengthened the claims that the Turkish police has 
 
ANKARA 00000399  003 OF 003 
 
 
gone on a "work slowdown" to protest EU adjustment laws. 
 
 
TV Highlights 
NTV (6 a.m.) 
 
Domestic News 
 
- A prosecutor in Istanbul has asked the Interior Ministry for 
permission to initiate a lawsuit against Mayor Mustafa Sarigul and 
organizers of the Hrant Dink funeral march for the placards that 
said "We are all Armenians" and the "racist slogans" that were 
chanted at the funeral of slain Armenian journalist Hrant Dink. 
 
- The Turkish parliamentary commission for the investigation of 
"honor killings" has decided to set up a special committee to 
monitor incidents of domestic violence. 
 
- On February 27, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands will travel to 
Turkey to meet with President Sezer, Parliament Speaker Ariincluding 
schools and hospitals in Turkey are not built to the right 
specifications and are in danger of collapsing.   A five-storey 
apartment block in Istanbul collapsed earlier this week. 
 
International News 
 
- Turkish Cyprus "foreign minister" Turgay Avci said his country was 
planning to open representation offices in ten countries by the end 
of the year. 
 
- Greek Cypriot Archbishop Chrysostomos II and Turkish Cypriot 
religious leader Ahmet Yonluer met for the first time since 1974. 
The meeting was hosted by Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of 
Europe (PACE) President Rene van der Linden, who traveled to Cyprus 
in an effort to promote dialogue between the two communities. 
 
- The Chinese government has launched a nationwide campaign after a 
survey found that nearly 14 percent of teens in China are prone to 
becoming "Internet addicts."  Treatment reportedly includes electric 
shocks. 
 
- Norway hosts a 48-nation meeting in support of a ban on cluster 
bombs which campaigners blame for killing and maiming thousands of 
civilians, many of them children. 
 
 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ 
 
WILSON