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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 000814 
 
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 
MONDAY, APRIL 9, 2007 
 
 
In Today's Papers 
 
Barzani Statement Angers Ankara 
All papers report over the weekend and today the regional Iraqi 
Kurdish administration president Massoud Barzani said in televised 
remarks on al-Arabiyah television on Saturday that Turkey must not 
interfere in Kirkuk, warning, "There are 30 million Kurds in Turkey; 
if they interfere in Kirkuk over just a couple thousands of Turkmen, 
we will interfere in Diyarbakir and other cities in Turkey."  Sunday 
papers reported the Barzani statement with headlines, "Barzani goes 
too far," "Barzani threatens Turkey," and "Barzani signals unrest 
among Turkey's Kurds."  Hurriyet reports Turkey's special Iraqi 
envoy Oguz Celikkol will be sent to the US to tell Washington that 
Turkey will take the necessary steps in response to Barzani. 
Radikal reports Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul phoned Secretary Rice 
saying that Barzani should be warned not to repeat such statements. 
 
 
Barzani continued remarks on Sunday, saying an independent Kurdish 
state could be established in 10-15 years, papers report, citing a 
report by Barzani's Kurdistan Democratic Party's (KDP) Peyamner news 
agency.  "Turkey's cause is not Kirkuk and the PKK, but the 
existence of the Kurdish people," he was also quoted as saying. 
Turkish Foreign Ministry (MFA) sources said the reason for Barzani 
to make such an inappropriate statement is "his panic due to the 
international community's rising awareness of what is going on in 
Kirkuk."  "We have always said Kirkuk is an Iraqi city," Turkish 
diplomatic sources said.  MFA sources told Cumhuriyet that "Barzani 
is sitting on a pile of dynamite, and if he lights the fuse, he will 
not even be able to pronounce the 'D' of Diyarbakir.  Barzani should 
know his place and should not dare spell Diyarbakir's name."  The 
same sources said Barzani was distressed to see no support from the 
US, the international community, and other groups in Iraq, and the 
fact that Turkey established contact not with him but Iraq's 
President Talabani.  Hurriyet says Barzani's statement would be 
discussed at the National Security Council (MGK) meeting on Tuesday. 
 
 
Editorial Commentary on Kirkuk, Barzani Warning Turkey 
Zafer Atay comments in the economic-political daily Dunya:  "There 
will no longer be any need for the Kurdish Administration in 
Northern Iraq -- developing under the US troops' wings with every 
passing day - to have a referendum in Kirkuk because the Kurdish 
Administration is carrying out an ethnic cleansing in Kirkuk and 
sending the Arab population to other places by so-called voluntary 
methods.  Barzani has managed to bring 600,000 Kurds into Kirkuk so 
far, using the excuse that he is bringing Kurds who were expelled 
back to Kirkuk.  What is going on in Kirkuk now is an 
anti-democratic, primitive cleansing.  Barzani, with the support he 
gets from the US, openly threatened Turkey and said that they will 
interfere with 30 million Kurds in Turkey.  Let us say only this 
much: the US is not going to remain there infinitely and when they 
leave Iraq, you will face us on your own.  To avoid future regrets, 
I suggest, you think before you talk." 
 
Mustafa Balbay criticizes the ruling AK Party for its Iraq policies 
in the leftist-nationalist Cumhuriyet:  "The AKP Government's stance 
clearly shows that internal and regional security issues do not 
interest the AKP.  That is why the US and others who get US support 
continue insulting Turkey.  Kurdish leader Barzani, in this recent 
interview with al-Arabiya, openly threatened Turkey, saying he would 
interfere with the Kurds living in Turkey.  On the same day, US 
former Chief of General Staff Richard Myers, in an interview with 
VOA, said that Turkey will have to face US troops if they interfere 
in Northern Iraq and the 'Suleymaniye incident' might repeat itself. 
 This is US friendship for you!  Barzani is talking about Turkish 
territory and General Myers is stressing that the US is responsible 
for northern Iraq.  Even though the situation seems complicated, in 
fact, it is very clear: the US is playing and Talabani is dancing 
and the fact is that Turkey's neighbor in the south is not Iraq but 
 
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the US." 
 
Follow-up Iraq Meeting to be Held in Sharm al-Sheikh 
Hurriyet, Milliyet, Sabah, Radikal, Cumhuriyet, Zaman and others 
report a follow up meeting of Iraq, its neighbors and officials from 
G8 nations and the European Union will be held in Egypt in the first 
week of May, Iraq's Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said over the 
weekend.  The gathering had been expected to take place in Istanbul 
in early April but Zebari said the Iraqi government wanted it to be 
"in Egypt on May 3-4."  Unnamed Turkish Foreign Ministry sources 
told Radikal that Iraqi Kurdish leaders Barzani and Talabani had a 
role in shifting the venue from Istanbul to Egypt's Sharm al-Sheikh 
resort.  They also said Kurdish leaders exploited the US reaction to 
an alleged al-Qaeda linked Iraqi Sunni group meeting in Istanbul in 
February.  The paper claims Secretary Rice told Foreign Minister Gul 
that she will work for another Iraq meeting to be held in Turkey. 
Zaman reports Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Muhammad Ali 
Huseyni said, despite the announcement by Zebari, the date and venue 
of the meeting was not yet set.  Huseyni also said a meeting between 
Iranian and American officials was "not on their agenda." 
 
9 Soldiers, 4 PKK Fighters Killed in Southeast Turkey 
All papers report Turkish military operations against the PKK 
militants in southeast Turkey left nine members of security forces 
and four PKK fighters dead over the weekend.  In Ankara over the 
weekend, thousands attended the funeral of a second-lieutenant 
killed by a PKK landmine in the southeastern province of Bitlis. 
The funeral was also joined by Turkish General Staff (TGS) chief 
Yasar Buyukanit, force commanders, Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul, and 
some parliamentarians.  In the eastern province of Erzurum on 
Sunday, some 20,000 participated in the funeral of a sergeant killed 
by the PKK in Bitlis. 
 
Supporting Human Rights and Democracy 2006 Report 
Mainstream Sabah carried on Saturday excerpts from US State 
Department "Supporting Human Rights and Democracy: The US Record 
2006" report, the US has been pressing for the opening of the Greek 
Orthodox Halki Seminary in Istanbul.  The report says non-Muslim 
religious groups and Alevis continued to face restrictions on 
practicing their religion, and that religious communities such as 
Protestants, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Bahai have been banned in 
Turkey.  Milliyet reports on Sunday the report says the AKP 
government "faced major challenges, such as reducing restrictions on 
free speech, and modernizing societal attitudes with respect to 
practices such as 'honor killings' of women."  "Although reform of 
the criminal code helped to reduce torture and improve due process 
for defendants, the government struggled to fully implement the new 
laws," the report is cited as saying. 
 
TV News: 
(NTV, 8 A.M.) 
 
Domestic News 
 
- Over the weekend, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said in a meeting 
with businessmen and NGO representatives in Bursa that the AKP had 
still made no decision about its presidential candidate. 
 
- Deputy Prime Minister Abdullatif Sener said all 353 AKP MPs 
support Erdogan as president. 
 
- A woman PKK terrorist and her two accomplices were captured after 
she left a bag containing 3kg of A-4 explosives in front of a kiosk 
in Istanbul's crowded Taksim square. 
 
- Three members of the extreme leftist DHKP-C (Dev-Sol) terrorist 
organization were captured while preparing to stage bomb attacks in 
Istanbul and Adana. 
 
- The Turkish Council of State (Danistay) has rejected the 
 
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objections of Diyarbakir Mayor Osman Baydemir to an investigation 
into a Kurdish-language invitation distributed by Diyarbakir 
Municipality. 
 
International News 
 
- A car bomb killed 17 people and wounded dozens in Mahmudiya town 
south of Baghdad, and four US soldiers were killed in an explosion 
in north of the capital. 
 
- Iranian state television reported an Iranian diplomat freed two 
months after being abducted in Iraq accused the CIA of torturing him 
during his detention. 
 
- Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said Ankara is working to rescue two 
Turkish engineers abducted on Friday night in volatile oil-rich 
southern Nigeria. 
 
- Israel is reportedly reviewing the names of hundreds of 
Palestinian prisoners that Gaza militants want released in exchange 
for the Israeli soldier Ghilad Shalid abducted in June by Hamas. 
 
WILSON