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UNCLAS SECTION01 OF 03 ANKARA 000365 
 
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, FEBRUARY 20, 2007 
 
 
In Today's Papers 
 
Prosecutions Continue Under Article 301 
Hurriyet, Milliyet, Radikal, Cumhuriyet, Zaman and others report 
Justice Minister Cemil Cicek said after Monday's council of 
ministers meeting that the proposals coming from NGOs for amending 
article 301 are "ambiguous and not helpful."  Cicek noted that the 
provision could still be changed, however, "without touching its 
essence."  Papers report that under the controversial Article 301 of 
the Turkish Penal Code, which makes a crime "to insult Turkishness," 
some 12 people have been convicted in 21 months, while 18 court 
cases are continuing. 
 
A complaint has been filed against Aydin Engin, writer for the 
Turkish-Armenian bilingual weekly paper Agos, for insulting 
Turkishness.  The person who filed the complaint against Engin is 
the one who had also applied to the court for the prosecution of 
assassinated Armenian journalist Hrant Dink.  Engin, a respected 
veteran journalist, said after being interrogated yesterday in 
Istanbul, "This investigation is a total disgrace.  The situation is 
tragicomic -- at the moment, the Council of Ministers is discussing 
changes to Article 301, under which I'm being prosecuted." 
Meanwhile, a large group of Turkish intellectuals called for the 
complete abolition of the controversial article, saying "Article 301 
is a threat to democracy, social peace and justice.  Changes will 
bring no solution, it must be scrapped." 
 
Turkish Military, Government Divided Over Iraqi Kurds 
Weekend papers, Sabah, Milliyet, Hurriyet and others:  Last week in 
Washington, Chief of General Staff General Yasar Buyukanit accused 
two leading Iraqi Kurdish groups, the KDP and PUK, of providing full 
support to the PKK and ruled out any talks between them and his 
army.  Two days prior to the Buyukanit comments, PM Erdogan had said 
that he could meet with Iraqi Kurdish leaders, if necessary. 
Following the Buyukanit comments, Foreign Minister Gul, prior to his 
departure for Saudi Arabia, said that "the Government has a duty to 
speak all groups in Northern Iraq to help ensure they make the right 
decision.  Soldiers speak with weapons...but in order not to come to 
that point, politicians and diplomats must do their work too." 
Contact with the Kurdish Administration will now come onto the 
agenda after institutional coordination and full agreement has been 
obtained.  The first step in this coordination will be taken at the 
National Security Council (NSC) meeting on February 23. 
 
Meanwhile, Milliyet reports that Turkey's counterterrorism special 
envoy retired General Edip Baser told Haber Turk TV that Turkey does 
not have a Northern Iraq policy and that under current circumstances 
meeting with Kurdish leaders would be a distant possibility.  Sabah 
reports that the staff assignments at the Prime Ministry's 
Counterterrorism office Baser had requested long ago were officially 
completed.  Retired General Yasar Karagoz is assigned as deputy 
special envoy, and retired colonel Suat Karagollu is assigned to 
prepare reports to be submitted to the National Security Council. 
 
Kimmitt: Buyukanit Very Pleased with Washington Talks 
Columnist Cengiz Candar of the economic-political daily Referans 
reports Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Near East and 
South Asia, Mark Kimmitt, told him at the "US-Muslim World Forum" 
talks in Doha that the Turkish military officials were "very 
pleased" with their talks in the US.  Candar says: "Kimmitt, who 
participated in the meetings with Turkish General Staff (TGS) chief 
General Yasar Buyukanit, said the US took "very seriously" Turkish 
concerns over the PKK.  Philip Gordon, the National Security Council 
director for Europe under Clinton's presidency, said Kimmitt's words 
indicate that Washington has not given a green light to a Turkish 
cross-border military incursion into northern Iraq. ... No one with 
a bit of reason believes that a limited military operation of a few 
days will be enough to eliminate the PKK in northern Iraq -- as was 
the case in a 1990 Turkish military operation with 35,000 troops in 
 
ANKARA 00000365  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
cooperation with the Barzani and Talabani peshmerge, which continued 
for months without accomplishing its goal of destroying the 
terrorist organization." 
 
Editorial Commentary on Iraq, Russia 
Ilter Turkmen observes in the mass appeal Hurriyet:  "Turkey's Iraq 
policy has some obvious contradictions.  Ankara seems committed to 
the territorial integrity of Iraq yet insists on not inviting the 
symbol of this unity, President Talabani, to Turkey.  As for the 
northern Iraqi administration, we insist on not keeping a channel 
for dialogue open with them even though they have full control over 
their region, unlike the central Baghdad authority.  Realistically 
speaking, there is no point in making the Baghdad government our 
interlocutor for issues related to the PKK.  The fact of the matter 
is that Baghdad's authority does not cover the north.  And the US is 
not willing to take up the full responsibility by itself on this 
issue.  Suspicion that the Kurdish leaders support the PKK should 
not be a reason for cutting off the dialogue.  Haven't we talked 
with Syria for years despite their protection and sheltering of the 
PKK?  On Iraq and other important issues, Turkey has failed to take 
initiatives and to come up with a creative policy. Domestic 
political concerns lead Turkey to think about a zero-risk approach 
and block Ankara from seeing the long term risks." 
 
Soli Ozel comments in the mass appeal Sabah:  "Russia has started 
making efforts to restore its pride, particularly after restoring 
its economic situation.  With their imperial background, the Russian 
people continue to feel humiliated in the aftermath of the Soviet 
Union, and very much miss the days of Moscow being an important 
player in international politics.  And Rin 
this regard, pursuinpoward former Soviet U@ 
game, butng enough yet to be a plaQ new 
world order.  Both the world and the international relations 
stQucture are in the process of being reshaped.  Neither the US nor 
Russia has enough influence to impose their terms unilaterally in 
this process.  Therefore, Putin's remarks about the US should not be 
interpreted as a sign of the return of a bi-polar world.  This is 
basically one of the bargaining stages of a new world order." 
 
 
New Poll on Turkish Attitudes 
Hurriyet reported that a poll conducted by MetroPoll survey company 
showed that 57.3 percent of those surveyed said that current Prime 
Minister Erdogan should not become President; 72.5 percent had no 
idea what Article 301 was, 56 percent said that Turkey should launch 
cross border operations to Northern Iraq and 68.9.2 percent of 
people believed that the assassination of Hrant Dink was the act of 
an organized group, not an individual.  In the poll 2,403 people in 
27 provinces were surveyed. 
 
Official Visitors from Iran and Iraq 
Milliyet and AA:  PM Erdogan met with Iran Islamic Consultative 
Assembly President Gholam Ali Haddal Adel yesterday.  During the one 
hour meeting, they discussed bilateral and commercial relations as 
well as Iran's nuclear energy program.  Erdogan urged Iran on the 
nuclear energy program to act with restraint and noted that he 
wishes the issue to be resolved through diplomacy.  Meanwhile, AA 
announced that Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki will 
arrive in Ankara today and will meet with PM Erdogan, FM Gul and 
will attend Turkey-Ipo, Iraqi Vice Presidencluding President Sezer and Prime Minister Erdogan as well as 
 
ANKARA 00000365  003 OF 003 
 
 
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and Kurdistan regional president 
Massoud Barzani to attend ar Arinc came together with Turkey's anned Islamist leader, 
former Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan, at a funeral at Kocatepe 
Mosque in Ankara yesterday.  Arinc kissed the hand of the veteran 
Islamist leader as a sign of respect while Erdogan shook hands and 
had a brief chat with Erbakan.  Erbakan's Felicity Party (SP) is a 
strong critic of the ruling AKP government, accusing Erdogan and his 
friends of "treason" for parting ways with Milli Gorus, a 
Germany-based influential Islamist grouping formed by Erbakan 
decades ago. 
 
 
TV Highlights 
NTV, 6.00 A.M. 
 
Domestic News 
 
- On Monday, Government Spokesman Cemil Cicek said Turkey will hold 
general elections in November as scheduled, echoing a statement by 
Prime Minister Erdogan late Sunday. 
 
- Police conducted a search at the pro-Kurdish DTP offices in the 
eastern city of Van, seizing some documents of the outlawed PKK. 
Twenty DTP members have been detained. 
 
- Economy Minister Ali Babacan said a new legislation governing 
mortgages will boost the housing market and lower interest rates, 
creating a second hand market in terms of residential properties. 
 
International News 
 
- Council of Europe Parliamentarians Assembly Speaker Rene van der 
Linden urged the EU to meet promises for lifting the sanctions on 
Turkish Cyprus. 
 
- Greek Cypriot Foreign Minister Yorgo Lillikas said during a visit 
to Slovenia that Turkey must quit threatening its neighbors before 
joining the EU. 
 
- Attacks across Iraq claimed 41 lives on Monday, including 5 US 
troops killed in Baghdad. 
 
- Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Muhammad Ali Husayni said 
Tehran will not recognize the February 21 deadline set by the UN for 
a suspension of nuclear enrichment program. 
 
- Syria's head of state Bashar Assad said after meeting with 
President Ahmadinejad that Damascus and Tehran should cooperate 
against the US-Israeli intentions. 
 
 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ 
 
WILSON