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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 002308 
 
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, SEPTEMBER 10, 2007 
 
 
In Today's Papers 
 
Claims of Israeli Airspace Incursions; Syria's Muallem Visits Ankara 
 
All papers report over the weekend and today on the Syrian claim 
that Israeli jetfighters violated Syrian airspace and the Turkish 
claim that two fuel tanks from Israeli planes were found in fields 
in Hatay and Gaziantep provinces on the Turkish side of its border 
with Syria.  On Saturday, Hurriyet carried photographs of what it 
said were fuel tanks dropped by Israeli F-151s gathering 
intelligence on Syrian installations near the Turkish border.  The 
event came late on Thursday; hours after Damascus had accused Israel 
of bombing its territory.  The Turkish Foreign Ministry asked Israel 
for an explanation, but Israel's Foreign Ministry reportedly 
declined to comment.  Mainstream Vatan reports, citing the 
DEBKAfile, Israeli jetfighters actually aimed to test Iranian air 
defense systems in Syria as part of US preparations for an attack on 
Iran. 
 
Syria's Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem arrived in Ankara for 
pre-planned talks with his Turkish counterpart Ali Babacan, Prime 
Minister Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul.  Cumhuriyet reports 
Muallem is expected to submit evidence to Turks showing airspace 
violations by the Israeli planes.  Papers say Muallem may ask Turkey 
to act as an intermediary between Syria and Israel.  "We are ready 
to defend ourselves against Israel's aggression plans, but our main 
priority is still a comprehensive settlement," Muallem told 
reporters at the airport on his arrival in Ankara on Sunday. 
 
CHP Celebrates Anniversary; Opposition Faction Calls for Baykal's 
Resignation 
All papers report that on Sunday, CHP leader Deniz Baykal and his 
party board members, joined by some 40,000 supporters, marched to 
Ataturk's mausoleum to mark the 84th anniversary of the founding of 
their party.  An opposition faction within CHP, headed by Istanbul's 
Sisli Mayor Mustafa Sarigul, backed by some 7,000, rallied on the 
same day in front of the party headquarters in Ankara to demand the 
resignation of Baykal.  Sarigul said Baykal, who has failed in seven 
elections, should hand over the party to the young generation. 
Mainstream Vatan says CHP gives a picture of a party divided into 
two and liberal Radikal says Baykal is leading in the race with 
Sarigul. 
 
For First Official Visit President Gul Chooses the Southeast 
Milliyet, Star, Hurriyet, Vatan, Cumhuriyet and others:  Papers 
report that President Gul will be starting his first official visit 
tomorrow, going to Van, Hakkari and Sirnak.  Mainstream Hurriyet 
reports that Gul will be in Sirnak on the first day of the Ramadan 
and will have his iftar meal together with the soldiers of the 
Gendarmerie Brigade in Sirnak.  Mainstream Vatan and 
leftist-nationalist Cumhuriyet report that responding to a question 
TGS Chief General Buyukanit said that he will not accompany the 
President on his trip, instead, following the normal procedure, the 
commandants of the military units in each province Gul will visit, 
will host the President. 
 
Message from Iraqi Government to its Neighbors 
Yeni Safak, Hurriyet, Milliyet, Radikal and others:  The second 
session of the Iraq Neighbors Conference was held in Baghdad 
yesterday with the attendance of the G-8 countries, Iraq's 
neighboring countries, and the five permanent members of UN Security 
Council.  The main issue on the agenda was security.  Iraqi PM 
Maliki and FM Zebari warned that the violence in Iraq could spread 
to neighboring countries and urged them to actively work on 
controlling the borders and prevent terrorists from infiltrating 
across into Iraq.  Papers report that Iraq's appeal to its neighbors 
occurred on the eve of the congressional hearings in Washington on 
Iraq's progress by US Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker and General 
Petraeus. 
 
 
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Death of Nigerian Citizen under Police Custody in Istanbul 
Mainstream Sabah reports Saturday the UN High Commissioner for 
Refugees (UNHCR) and the Embassy of Nigeria in Turkey have requested 
information from Ankara concerning the death of Nigerian citizen 
Festus Okey while under police custody in Istanbul.  Another 
Nigerian, who was reportedly the only witness of the murder, has 
been taken into protection by the Helsinki Citizens Association. 
After a 20-day silence, on Saturday the Istanbul security 
directorate said that Okey was accidentally killed while trying to 
seize the gun of a policeman, and that cocaine was found on the 
Nigerian.  The incident came amid press reports of growing police 
mistreatment and violence against civilians in Istanbul after the 
authority of the police was expanded by the ruling AKP government. 
 
 
Turkey Lobbies for Support for UNSC Seat 
Leftist-nationalist Cumhuriyet reports on Sunday Turkey has secured 
the support of the majority of the less developed countries for its 
bid for a temporary seat on the UN Security Council; 128 countries 
have reportedly pledged Turkey support.  Cumhuriyet says Turkey has 
assisted the countries in ways such as constructing a market place 
in Zimbabwe and a water purification plant in Nigeria, donating 250 
computers to five Caribbean countries, contributing medical 
equipment worth USD 300,000 to Kyrgyzstan, and training Ghana 
officials in public administration. 
 
Editorial Commentary on 9/11 Anniversary 
Ali Aslan wrote in the Islamist-leaning Zaman (9/10):  "Bush, 
especially in the aftermath of 9/11, believed in the need for a 
crusade against terrorism and its source, Islamic fundamentalism. 
He was seeking ways to topple regimes in the Muslim world and 
replace them with democratic order.  That approach was mainly taking 
the entire world as the core of US foreign policy.  When President 
Bush said 'you are either with us or against us' that was not only 
his sincere attitude, it was also a statement of defiance against 
the whole world.  Afraid of being labeled a 'supporter of 
terrorism,' at first the international and American publics gave 
clear support to the Afghanistan operation.  Yet the events that 
followed created legitimacy for interventionist policies in the 
future.  The Iraq war, for instance, was done with the near total 
ignorance of the international community.  On the anniversary of the 
9/11 attacks, the international community is more focused on the 
methods by the US - for instance, the many examples of disrespect 
for international human rights standards, including CIA prisons, and 
arrest without court cases.  Even though President Bush makes a 
comparison between the Cold War and the fight against terrorism, the 
former was a fight against an ideology.  During the Cold War era, 
the US gained sympathy from the communist world with its respect for 
law and democratic values.  The Bush administration, however, is 
losing ground everyday at home and abroad - particularly in the 
Islamic world -- through its non-legitimate acts and insulting 
policies." 
 
TV News: 
NTV 
 
Domestic News 
 
- Some members of Turkey's elite business forum TUSIAD disagree with 
their chairwoman Arzuhan Dogan Yalcindag, the daughter of media 
tycoon Aydin Dogan, who had claimed last week the AKP government 
program does not meet TUSIAD's expectations.  They say the new 
government should be given at least one year to prove itself. 
 
- Turkey's main Kurdish party DTP MP Sabahat Tuncel, visiting the 
Hasankeyf culture festival in Batman, rejected an appeal from Prime 
Minister Erdogan that her party condemn the PKK as a terrorist 
organization.  "Nobody should expect us to call our children 
terrorists," said Tuncel. 
 
 
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- A court in Istanbul suspended the pro-Kurdish Gundem daily for 30 
days for making separatist propaganda by printing two articles in 
early September by the PKK leader Murat Karayilan. 
 
- Finance Minister Kemal Unakitan has signaled that the Turkish 
government did not decide yet whether or not it would make a new 
agreement with the IMF. 
 
International News 
 
- Ahead of EU's Turkey Progress Report to be released in November, 
the EU Commission has urged Ankara to ensure the inclusion of all 
political views in Turkey in the preparation of a new constitution. 
 
 
- Greek Prime Minister Karamanlis said Athens supported the European 
future of Turkey. 
 
- Morocco's oldest political party Istiqlal won 52 seats in the 
parliamentary elections while the Islamist Justice and Development 
party or PJD gained 47 seats. 
 
- Hunt Oil company of Texas has signed a deal with the regional 
Kurdish administration to explore oil in northern Iraq. 
 
WILSON