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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 001658 
 
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 
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27, 2007 
 
 
In Today's Papers 
 
TGS Press Tour to Commando School 
All papers report the Turkish General Staff (TGS) has arranged a 
press tour related to training given to soldiers fighting against 
the PKK in southeast Turkey, in an effort to counter charges that 
the military uses inexperienced soldiers to combat terrorists.  On 
Tuesday, a group of journalists visited Egirdir Mountain Commando 
School in the Isparta province.  Land Forces lieutenant-general 
Necdet Ozel said the school gave physical and psychological training 
to 24,000 commandos in the last 33 years.  Thus far, 80 of the 
commandoes have died in fighting with terrorists. 
 
Papers report Turkey will buy an unmanned aircraft (UAV) as well as 
use digital scanners and jammers for fighting against the PKK 
militants along the border with Iraq.  The Turkish Defense Ministry 
has drafted a bill that will permit the military to cooperate with 
GSM operators to block the PKK terrorists using mobile devices to 
trigger landmine blasts, say papers. 
 
International Energy Conference in Istanbul 
Radikal, Sabah, Milliyet and others:  Speaking at the opening 
session of the "East Meets West: New Horizons in Energy Security" 
conference organized by the Foreign Economic Relations Council 
(DEIK) and the Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA), Energy 
Minister Hilmi Guler stressed the importance of the transfer of 
Caspian natural gas to world markets via Turkey.  Guler said "Turkey 
is trying to prepare itself for the future by generating projects in 
accordance with its strategic position.  The Samsun-Ceyhan project 
will be finished on deadline, saving the Bosphorus and establishing 
a profitable route."  When questioned about whether a recent 
agreement between Russia's Gasprom and Italian ENI may bypass 
Turkey, Guler stressed that each project has its own route and they 
all have similar feasibilities.  "They are not rivals to each other 
but rather complementary," added Minister Guler.  When asked whether 
the Nabucco project is in danger after the Russian move, Minister 
Guler said that Nabucco will not face any threat since it has its 
own identity and that will not have any problems carrying Caspian 
energy resources to European markets. 
 
Judges in Van Investigated 
Bugun, Milliyet, Sabah, Hurriyet and others:  The two suspects of 
Semdinli case had filed a complaint when two judges from Van Heavy 
Penalty Court refused to forward the court file to a military court 
as had been ordered by the Court of Appeals.  Ministry of Justice 
sent inspectors to Van to investigate the Judges. The suspects, 
members of the military, were found guilty of bombing Kurdish 
bookstore in the southeastern town of Semdinli in 2005. 
 
International Press Reports PKK Active in Northern Iraq 
Liberal Radikal reports that at the time the Iraqi government 
spokesman Ali Dabbagh and the regional Kurdish administration 
security spokesman Cabbar Yavar assured Turkey that they have 
prevented PKK activities in northern Iraq, al-Jazeera TV reports and 
footage showed the PKK militants training with heavy weapons in the 
region.  Britain's Daily Telegraph also reported that the peshmerge 
warned a British correspondent passing beyond a checkpoint that they 
could not guarantee his safety because he was entering the PKK 
region. 
 
Editorial Commentary on the Middle East, Turkey-EU Relations 
Hakan Albayrak writes in the Islamist-oriented daily Yeni Safak: 
"Contrary to common belief, Palestine is not heading toward 
disaster.  West Bank and Gaza people have strong brotherly feelings 
for each other.  Moreover the Hamas operation, even though it may 
seem tragic, prevented more serious tragic events -- like the death 
of thousands -- from happening.  The isolation of Hamas and Israel's 
favoritism toward al-Fatah will eventually demonstrate the bald fact 
that Israel is not willing to fully comply with UN resolutions and 
international law under any circumstances.  For instance just wait 
 
ANKARA 00001658  002 OF 003 
 
 
and see if Israel will act in the spirit of reconciliation and agree 
to leave Eastern Jerusalem to Palestine and to withdraw settlers 
from the West Bank.  Neither of these will happen.  Once the 
illusion about Israel is over, the Palestine reality will be 
completely undeniable.  Panicking about the division of Palestine is 
a false alarm, and time will prove it." 
 
Erdal Safak writes in the mainstream daily Sabah:  "Four new 
chapters in Turkey's EU accession process have been opened. 
However, the media focused on Sarkozy's blockage of the economic and 
fiscal policy chapter and brought it up as an indication of how 
serious the slow down in the process is.  Some commentators even 
went further by suggesting the train has already been derailed. 
Given some legal and economic facts about Turkey, I tend to disagree 
with this argument.  First of all, the legal basis of the Turkey-EU 
relationship is the 1963 Ankara Agreement which clearly defines full 
membership as the final goal.  More importantly Turkey is the only 
country in the Customs Union system not a member of the EU.  It is 
fully against the nature of the Customs Union if the EU stands 
opposed to economic and fiscal unity.  Sarkozy will eventually have 
to see the truth.  Even if he does not, Turkey has a strong card to 
play -- no customs union if there's no economic union - a situation 
the EU cannot possibly afford to accept." 
 
TV Highlights 
NTV (6 A.M.) 
 
Domestic News 
 
- Meteorologists warn that Wednesday could be the hottest day in 
Turkey in 25 years.  Temperatures have climbed above 50 degrees 
Celsius in some areas and local governors have announced emergency 
measures, warning people to stay indoors. 
 
- One Turkish soldier has been killed in Sirnak and another one in 
Agri in PKK landmine attacks.  Two PKK militants have been killed in 
the Diyarbakir province. 
 
- The Court of Appeal (Yargitay) ruled that according to Lausanne 
Treaty, the Istanbul-based Greek Orthodox Patriarchate is a 
religious body without a legal entity.  The Greek Foreign Ministry 
said the court decision would not change the Christians' perception 
of the Patriarch.  "The ecumenical dimension of the Patriarchate of 
Constantinople is based on international treaties, the sacred 
regulations of Orthodoxy, on history and Church tradition," ministry 
spokesman George Koumoutsakos said. 
 
- German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has phoned Turkish 
counterpart Abdullah Gul regarding the release of a German teenager 
detained over charges of sexual assault of an underage British girl. 
 Gul said Turkey cannot do anything unless the British family pulls 
back its compliant against the boy. 
 
International News 
 
- Pope Benedict XVI has appointed French Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, 
the Vatican's foreign affairs chief from 1990 to 2003, as president 
of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue for relations 
with Muslims. 
 
- A private Armenian school in northern France will be named after 
the slain Turkish-Armenian journalist Hrant Dink. 
 
- The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) warned that Afghanistan, 
the world's main illegal opium producer, is capable of processing 
the poppy into heroin and morphine on its own territory. 
 
- Iran has launched "Press TV," an English satellite television 
channel to counter the West's influence in covering news. 
 
 
ANKARA 00001658  003 OF 003 
 
 
WILSON