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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 002372 
 
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, SEPTEMBER 19, 2007 
 
 
In Today's Papers 
 
Gul Visits Turkish Cyprus on First Trip Abroad as President 
All papers report Turkey's new President Abdullah Gul traveled to 
Turkish Cyprus yesterday on his first official visit abroad.  The 
President's wife Hayrunnisa Gul accompanied him but stayed in the 
background because of the heated controversy over the Muslim 
headscarf she wears.  She did not participate in the Ramadan "Iftar" 
dinner held in honor of the President.  In Lefkosa (Nicosia), no 
military ceremony was held to welcome President Gul.  Turkish 
military commanders only attended the official reception for Gul at 
the presidential palace.  Hurriyet says the military applied a 
"headscarf protocol" to avoid contacts with Gul's wife. 
 
Gul told a joint news conference after meeting with Turkish Cyprus 
leader Mehmet Ali Talat, "There are two realities on Cyprus, two 
democracies, two states, two languages, two religions....  By 
approving a previous referendum, the Turkish Cypriots showed their 
sincerity in desiring a lasting solution."  He repeated Turkey's 
call for the EU to honor its promise to lift the international 
restrictions on the north of the divided island.  "Peace will one 
day prevail in Cyprus.  Turkey, Greece and Cyprus may establish a 
major center of cooperation in the eastern Mediterranean," said Gul. 
 
 
Meanwhile, the south of the divided capital of Nicosia condemned 
Gul's trip to the north.  "Mr Gul's blatant act to pay his first 
visit as president to the territory of the Cyprus Republic which 
today is part of the EU and is under the illegal military occupation 
of Turkey constitutes a blow against the international legal order," 
the Cypriot Foreign Ministry said in a statement.  "It shows 
provocative contempt to an EU member state." 
 
Nicholas Burns Visits Turkey 
All papers report State Department Undersecretary Nicholas Burns 
told the press Tuesday after meeting with Patriarch Bartholomew I in 
Istanbul that it was the "right time" for strengthening ties with 
Turkey.  Burns added Turkey was a friend of the US and that any step 
taken by Turkey toward peace would be appreciated by the US.  Burns 
emphasized that the US acted together with Turkey regarding the 
terrorist organization PKK.  He also noted that the US supported 
Turkey's EU membership bid.  "We are on the side of the Turkish 
people.  We support the Turkish government and its efforts against 
the terrorist PKK organization.  We do not support the PKK," said 
Burns.  Burns also said the US was supporting the bid for the 
reopening of Halki Orthodox Seminary in Istanbul, adding, however, 
that this question was to be resolved between Turkey and the 
Patriarchate.  Burns noted Turkey can help make its own case with 
the European Union by reopening the Halki Seminary.  After his call 
on the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate, Burns visited the Suleymaniye 
Mosque. 
 
Mainstream Vatan expects Burns to express US concerns over the 
natural gas deal signed between Turkey and Iran and ask Ankara to 
end cooperation with Tehran.  Burns will also specify whether Turkey 
is expected to continue to play the role of "facilitator" in the 
region or to undertake a more active role by joining the 
multinational forces in Iraq and the Middle East.  Burns is also 
expected to repeat US recommendations for upholding freedom of 
expression, protecting the rights of religious minorities and 
strengthening women's rights. 
 
Papers expect the Turkish side to ask for elimination of the PKK 
presence in northern Iraq and urge the US to press the Iraqi 
government to sign the anti-terror deal with Turkey agreed on during 
the August visit of Iraqi Prime Minister al-Maliki to Ankara.  Turks 
will request details about the US investigation probing the alleged 
transfer of US-origin weapons to PKK terrorists.  Turks will also 
ask for US support for Turkish Cyprus, the breakaway statelet in the 
north of the divided island, which Burns is expected to call on in 
 
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the coming months. 
 
Burns will be in Ankara on Wednesday for talks with President Gul 
and Prime Minister Erdogan, as well as with senior diplomats at the 
Turkish Foreign Ministry, including U/S Ertugrul Apakan.   They will 
mainly discuss Iran and a possible operation against the PKK in 
northern Iraq, papers report. 
 
Editorial Commentary on Burns' Turkey Visit 
Cengiz Candar in the business daily Referans writes, "the visit by 
the U/S will demonstrate that American support for Turkey has two 
conditions: Turkey should cooperate on the Iraq issue and Turkey 
should avoid energy cooperation with Iran. These are potential 
problems between the US and Turkey, but it seems that the government 
of Turkey does not have a strategy for Iran or Iraq." 
 
Mehmet Y. Yilmaz comments in the mainstream Hurriyet: "The number 
three of the US State Department lined up at passport control and 
walked out of the international terminal carrying his suitcase just 
like any ordinary passenger.  The reason Burns acted like an 
ordinary person despite being one of the most influential names in 
American diplomacy is very simple: Nicholas Burns is not used to 
using VIP lounges. Putting on airs and graces if you occupy a higher 
rank is entirely from the eastern culture.  Eastern politicians 
immediately consider themselves above the ordinary people and look 
for privileged treatment.  And it is ironic that in Turkey even 
children of politicians use the VIP while an important figure of US 
State Department did not even think of using it." 
 
Patriarch Mutafyan in the US 
Leftist-nationalist Cumhuriyet reports that the Patriarch of 
Armenians in Turkey, Mesrob Mutafyan, will participate in a Ramadan 
"Iftar" dinner held at the US Congress today and will deliver a 
speech at Washington's Georgetown University on Thursday.  Harut 
Sassounian, publisher of The California Courier, criticized Mutafyan 
in an editorial for not backing the Armenian genocide thesis.  The 
editorial quotes American Armenians' Archbishop Barsamian as saying 
Mutafyan's remarks that Turks and Armenians lived together for 
centuries under the Ottoman Empire as words coming from "a prisoner 
of conscience of the Turkish government."  Sassounian also claimed 
Mutafyan's visit, which came shortly before the debate over the 
Armenian Genocide Resolution in the US Congress and Patriarch 
Karekin's visit to the US, was organized by the Fettullah Gulen 
community. 
 
'Autumn Operation' against the PKK 
Sabah and Cumhuriyet report that some 10,000 Turkish troops launched 
a sweeping operation against PKK militants in the southeastern 
provinces of Sirnak, Siirt and Hakkari.  The operation, joined by 
village guards, aims at preventing terrorists' retreat to their 
shelters in the winter, say papers. 
 
A Message to the US from PM Erdogan Regarding the PKK 
All papers:  Prior to his trip to the US, PM Erdogan gave a message 
on terrorism at a ceremony held at the Police Academy.  Erdogan was 
quoted as saying "several countries are reluctant to adopt necessary 
measures to combat global terror.  There should be global 
cooperation against terrorism.  Declaring some organizations 
terrorist would not be enough; effective struggle against them is 
required.  The fire that burns us now may fall on your house as 
well." 
 
Important Messages from Hillary Clinton 
Mainstream Hurriyet carried what it characterized as "important 
messages" from Hillary Clinton on its front page.  During a 
reception in Washington, Clinton reportedly told Hurriyet's 
editor-in-chief Ertugrul Ozkok that if she was elected President, 
she would tell people that 'the cowboy period is over....  People do 
not respect the US anymore.  If I become president, I will end the 
war in Iraq, because it jeopardized not only the US, but also 
 
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Turkey, Israel and Jordan.  I will travel the world and make efforts 
to mend broken ties.' 
 
TV Highlights 
 
NTV 
 
Domestic News 
 
- Turkey's draft new constitution was submitted Tuesday to Prime 
Minister Erdogan, who is to make final decisions regarding several 
critical issues, including whether to continue the Muslim headscarf 
ban. 
 
- Huseyin Bektasoglu, the pro-Kurdish DTP provincial head in 
Erzincan, has been sentenced to three years for referring to 
Abdullah Ocalan as "Mr." and making propaganda for the terrorist 
organization.  His lawyers have appealed the ruling. 
 
- Visiting British Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks said in Istanbul 
that he valued the Turkey-Iran energy agreement, stressing Turkey 
would become an important energy corridor. 
 
International News 
 
- Belgium's Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that fugitive Turkish 
leftist terrorist Fehriye Erdal can be tried in Belgium for crimes 
she is accused of committing in Turkey.  Erdal was sought by Turkey 
for her alleged part in the murder of prominent businessman Ozdemir 
Sabanci and two other people in January 1996.  She was arrested in 
Belgium in 1999 and sentenced to four years in jail, but Belgium 
refused to extradite her because she could have faced the death 
penalty in Turkey.  However, she escaped before her conviction and 
remains on the run.  Her case will proceed in absentia if she is not 
caught. 
 
- The Federal Reserve cut interest rates for the first time in four 
years, seeking to prevent a housing slump and turbulent markets from 
triggering recession.  The rate cut will eventually lead to lower 
borrowing costs for consumers and businesses. 
 
- Greek PM Karamanlis unveiled his new cabinet yesterday with most 
of the top posts remaining unchanged, including Foreign Minister 
Dora Bakoyannis and Defense Minister Evangelos Meimarakis. 
 
WILSON