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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 001516 
 
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 
THURSDAY, JUNE 14, 2007 
 
 
In Today's Papers 
 
Turkey to Establish "Buffer Zone" Inside Northern Iraq 
Hurriyet, Milliyet, Sabah, Radikal, Cumhuriyet, Birgun, Yeni Safak 
and others report the 
Turkish government and the military have reached consensus in a 
"security summit" held Tuesday to explore creating a "buffer zone" 
on the Iraqi side of the border and raising the number of Turkish 
troops in northern Iraq.  Cumhuriyet says Turkey will reinforce its 
2000 troops already stationed in northern Iraq and establish a 15-km 
buffer zone in Iraqi territory along the border to prevent the 
infiltration of PKK militants into Turkish territory.  Turkey is now 
trying to convince the US administration to support the plan, and 
wants a decision before the next Turkish National Security Council 
(MGK) meeting on June 20.  A possible declaration of emergency rule 
in Turkish border provinces was not discussed at the security 
meeting, according to Cumhuriyet. 
 
On Wednesday, the Prime Minister reiterated that "the priority is to 
continue the fight against terrorism within Turkey's borders." 
 
Mainstream Sabah and leftist Birgun report a delegation of AKP MP'S, 
Egemen Bagis, Reha Denemec and Mevlut Cavusoglu, arrived in 
Washington on Wednesday for talks with Americans.  Birgun claims the 
delegation will ask American officials to hand over PKK leaders to 
Turkey before the upcoming general elections July 22.  The lawmakers 
will tell the Americans that a victory in the elections depends on 
the AKP showing the Turkish nation that the ruling party has taken 
effective steps with regard to the PKK, says Birgun. 
 
Meanwhile, on Wednesday a major was killed and two privates were 
injured when a remote-control PKK roadside bomb went off as a 
military convoy was passing in Yuksekova town in the border province 
of Hakkari. 
 
Barzani Remarks 
Hurriyet, Milliyet, Radikal, Cumhuriyet:   According to the 
"Kurdistan For News" internet site, Iraqi Kurdish Leader Massoud 
Barzani, at his Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic Party's central committee 
meeting, accused Turkey of an aggressive approach towards Kurds and 
said "Turkey's problem is not the PKK or Kirkuk, but the presence of 
Kurds.  Before the toppling of the dictatorial Baath regime, we had 
bilateral ties with Turkey on a number of issues, but after the Iraq 
war, Ankara's diplomacy towards here (northern Iraq) shifted.  We 
always wish for friendly ties between the two sides without any 
interference in each other's domestic affairs.  But, this does not 
mean that we will accept aggressive approaches." 
 
Meanwhile leftist-nationalist Cumhuriyet reports that Barzani gave 
orders to replace Kurdistan flags with Iraqi flags at the Peshmerge 
points along the Turkey-Iraq border, as a precaution for a possible 
Turkish incursion. 
 
Editorial Commentary on Turkish Incursion into Iraq, Fighting in 
Gaza 
Okay Gonensin wrote in the mainstream daily Vatan (6/14):  "There is 
an ongoing misrepresentation of Turkey's Kurdish problem and 
nowadays it continues through rhetoric about northern Iraq.  The 
signs of a separate Kurdish state in the north of Iraq are 
considered a potential threat against Turkey.  It is believed that 
such a development will encourage Kurds in Turkey towards separatist 
activities.  The fact of the matter is that a Kurdish state in 
northern Iraq is coming, and we have to face it.  The only way to 
prevent this from happening is to enter northern Iraq and to defy 
the entire world.  It goes without saying that this is equal to 
complete insanity.  Debating a cross border operation into northern 
Iraq as the only way to settle the terrorism issue and solve the 
Kurdish problem is an indication of a lack of vision in Turkish 
foreign policy.  Terror is an internal problem of Turkey.  Even 
though some foreign powers meddle in this issue, it is still a fact 
 
ANKARA 00001516  002 OF 003 
 
 
that both the source and root of our terrorism problem is in Turkey. 
 And it should be Ankara's problem to handle as well as to solve 
these problems. " 
 
Soli Ozel wrote in the mainstream daily Sabah (6/14):  "The power 
struggle between two Palestinian groups in Gaza has turned into a 
civil war.  Torn by the situation, Palestinians living in Gaza have 
started to escape, and some of them even wish for Israel to return 
to the area.  The disunity among Palestinians which ended in this 
current disastrous situation stems from two reasons.  First the 
ongoing embargo against Hamas caused terrible suffering for people 
of Palestine.  Secondly, Palestinians failed to come up with a 
unified policy for their future and failed to shape realistic policy 
stances.   The current situation in the region also indicates the 
need for the outside world to accept Hamas as a negotiating partner. 
 The Hamas election victory in Gaza showed the political demise of 
Al Fatah.  In addition, Hamas is disturbed by the Al-Qaeda linked 
movements in Gaza in the same way Lebanon, Iraq and other Arab 
nations are worried about the emergence of Al Qaeda linked 
organizations in their countries.  There is a major difference 
between organizations with nationalistic goals, such as Hamas, and 
organizations with destructive goals, such as Al Qaeda.  There will 
be an eventual chance for engaging in political dialogue with the 
former, yet negotiation with the latter under any circumstances is 
impossible." 
 
Paper on the "Terror Atmosphere in Turkish Politics" 
Liberal Radikal, under a page one headline "Terror atmosphere in 
politics," says party leaders are directing serious accusations 
against each other ahead of the July 22 elections.  Prime Minister 
Erdogan condemned efforts to exploit funerals of martyred soldiers 
for political goals, denouncing opposition parties for their 
supposed complicity in these politicization efforts.  Erdogan said 
he and his party valued the blood of martyred soldiers more than all 
the seats in the parliament.  Erdogan also maintained that the main 
opposition party, CHP, established its political strategy by 
violating all boundaries of democracy and that it committed the 
greatest mistakes in its history during the recent presidential 
elections.  Opposition CHP leader Deniz Baykal said Erdogan's 
statement that Turkey should first fight terrorists at home echoed 
the views of Kurdish leaders Barzani and Talabani.  Baykal added 
Erdogan and his AKP government were the biggest obstacles to the 
fight against terrorism.  The far-right MHP leader Devlet Bahceli 
claimed that Erdoda'sn failure in the fight against terror caused 
the sharp public reactions and that the PM was the architect of 
escalating terror in Turkey. 
 
570 Kilo Al-Qaeda Heroin Seized in Istanbul 
Mainstream Sabah reports that Gendarmerie forces in Istanbul were 
informed that 570 kg heroin, in a truck coming from Afghanistan and 
transiting Iran, would be passing through  Turkey to Europe.  When 
the smugglers in the truck realized the Gendarmerie had set up a 
control point in the Pendik region of Istanbul, the gang off loaded 
the heroin in a dried out stream bed on the route. The gendarmerie 
seized the heroin from there. 
 
TV Highlights 
NTV 
 
Domestic News 
 
- Opposition party CHP plans to hold election rallies in 40 
provinces. 
 
- President Sezer has approved a controversial bill granting 
extensive powers to the police. 
 
- A court in Istanbul has sentenced Irfan Dundar, the lawyer of the 
PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, to three years and nine months in prison 
for meeting with PKK leaders in Kandil Mountain and for aiding the 
 
ANKARA 00001516  003 OF 003 
 
 
terrorist organization. 
 
- Foreign investments in Turkey in 2006 totaled to USD 20.2 billion. 
 
 
International News 
 
- An explosion from a bomb-rigged car killed the anti-Syrian 
lawmaker Walid Eido and nine others on Beirut's seafront Wednesday. 
 
 
- The Knesset has elected Shimon Peres, Israel's deputy prime 
minister and Nobel peace laureate, as the country's new President. 
 
 
- The EU Commission spokeswoman Krisztina Nagy said negotiations 
with Turkey on three new chapters, including monetary union, were 
set to open as scheduled on June 26. 
 
- The EU has approved a European visa data system which will store 
biometric information like fingerprints and photos on 70 million 
visa-holders who pass through the EU's borderless travel zone each 
year. 
 
WILSON