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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 002408 
 
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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 
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2007 
 
In Today's Papers 
 
Basbug Warns on Northern Iraq, Constitutional Change in Turkey 
All papers report the head of the Turkish land forces, General Ilker 
Basbug, issued a "tough warning" to the US related to the activities 
of the PKK in northern Iraq. Speaking at the opening of the military 
academy's academic year in Ankara, Basbug said now was the time for 
action against the terrorists.  Basbug pointed to the fact that the 
developments in north of Iraq have given "political, legal, military 
and psychological strength" to Kurds living in the region.  "We must 
be careful about the developments in northern Iraq as these may give 
some of our citizens a feeling of belonging to this region," said 
Basbug.  He stressed that the US must understand that the presence 
of the terror organization in north of Iraq is a serious threat to 
Turkey.  "The US must understand that a solution reached without 
Turkey's backing in Iraq won't be a lasting one," Basbug added. 
 
Basbug also said the Turkish military cannot be impartial in debates 
about secularism, stressing the military has always protected the 
structure and the characteristics of the Turkish state.  He said 
opponents of secularism and Kurdish separatists have the same aim -- 
"undermining the nation state in Turkey."  Basbug said efforts to 
advance cultural differences for the sake of boosting freedom might 
lead Turkey to polarization.   Mainstream papers say Basbug has 
warned the ruling AKP not to open secularism to debate and Kurdish 
party DTP that the demands of its "political ally" PKK would not be 
accepted. 
 
Iraq's Bolani Visits Ankara 
Hurriyet, Milliyet, Cumhuriyet and Yeni Safak report Iraqi Interior 
Minister Jawad Al-Bolani is to visit Ankara on Tuesday to complete 
work on the memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed during Iraqi PM 
Maliki's visit to Turkey last month.  If the MOU can be converted 
into an agreement, Iraq will extradite 150 PKK members, including 
Riza Altun, Cemil Bayik, and Murat Karayilan, to Turkey.  Mainstream 
Hurriyet says Turkey is going to give an updated file on PKK 
activities to Bolani which includes the building of 20 new 
checkpoints to prevent terrorist infiltration into Turkey from 
northern Iraq.  The file contains detailed information about PKK 
camps in northern Iraq, says Hurriyet. 
 
US Wants Turkey to Find Alternatives to Iran for Energy Cooperation 
 
A column in mainstream Hurriyet says US Under Secretary of Economic, 
Energy and Agricultural Affairs Reuben Jeffery spoke to members of 
the press in Turkey.  Hurriyet says Jeffery, whose visit to Turkey 
came just after that of Under Secretary Nicholas Burns, said that 
Turkish plans to produce natural gas in Iran should be replaced with 
projects with other regional countries, such as Turkmenistan and 
Kazakhstan.  "There is no shortage of gas in the region.  The 
question is developing it in a responsible way with states that are 
politically stable and responsible to the international community," 
Jeffery said.  Hurriyet points to the fact that neither country has 
the infrastructure to transport its gas to Turkey. 
 
Barzani Reiterates Kurdish Rights over Kirkuk 
Aksam and Yeni Safak report Kurdish regional administration 
president Massoud Barzani told "Kurdistan Students Union" in Erbil 
that the Kurds would not concede on the Kirkuk question.  "We want 
our rights over Kirkuk back, and we are ready to pay any price for 
it.  The problem should be resolved in line with the requirements of 
the Iraqi Constitution," Barzani said. 
 
Kurdish Spokesman: PKK, PJAK Illegal Organizations 
Hurriyet, Sabah, Cumhuriyet and Yeni Safak report the spokesman of 
the Kurdish regional administration, Cemal Abdullah, said Monday 
they were "doing everything possible to avoid attacks on neighboring 
countries from Iraqi territory."  "We consider the PKK and its 
affiliate PJAK as illegal organizations; they are not part of the 
political system in northern Iraq.  We are working to promote our 
 
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already good ties with Turkey," stressed Abdullah. 
 
Meanwhile, Cumhuriyet reports Abdullah also said Iran has closed its 
four border crossings except for one with northern Iraq to protest 
the detention by Americans of an Iranian in Suleymaniye last week. 
Americans claim the Iranian arrested over arms smuggling was a 
member of the Revolutionary Guard. 
 
Foreign Companies Interested in Buying Sabah, ATV 
All papers report News Corp, ProSiebenSat.1, RTL Group, Czech CME 
and Greek Antenna TV are interested in buying Turkey's major daily 
Sabah and top-rated entertainment channel ATV, State Deposits and 
Insurance Fund (TMSF) said on Monday.  TMSF seized the media assets 
in April and plans to auction the restructured company on November 7 
with a minimum price set at USD 1.1 billion.  Foreign companies will 
have to find local partners to bid with as a law restricts foreign 
ownership of broadcasters to 25 percent in Turkey. 
 
Editorial Commentary on Moderate Islam; US Foreign Policy 
Under the headline "The US and Moderate Islam," Milliyet columnist 
Can Dundar writes: "Richard Holbrooke, probably the next US 
Secretary of State, listed Malaysia and Turkey as moderate Islamic 
 
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countries, adding that this is what the US wants to see in the 
Islamic geography...this leads to suspicion about US intentions for 
Turkey... A comprehensive search of US documents and reports shows 
that moderate Islam is a long-term US strategy.  Rand Corporation, a 
powerful think tank in shaping American foreign policy suggested in 
1990 that US administrations engage in close relationship with 
moderate figures of Islamic tendency....the State Department, in the 
1999 religious freedom report, mentioned Fethullah Gulen by name as 
a moderate Islamic leader.  This was followed by a report by Cheryl 
Barnard, the wife of former US Ambassador to Iraq Khalilzad.  She 
was clearly advising US foreign policy makers to form alliances with 
moderate Islamists, depicting them as the best ally for US interests 
compared to secularists and fundamentalists.  In other words, US 
policy is not coming out of the blue - there is a strong basis for 
seeing it as a long term strategy." 
 
Kubilay Celik observed in the nationalist daily Tercuman: 
"Interestingly enough, the US administration, while occupying itself 
with 'war with Iran' scenarios, did not prevent the Iranian leader's 
entrance into the country.  The permission was for the UN summit but 
past events remind us of the fact that the US denied visas to 
Iranian leader Ahmedinejad and some others even to the UN.  Despite 
protests by some groups, Ahmedinejad is also going to make a speech 
at Columbia University.  His speech will be closely watched by the 
Bush administration and may even pave the way for bringing the two 
sides to the negotiation table.  As for Syria, another interesting 
development is that Syria was invited to the US.  It is very 
important that Syria is to be a part of the Middle East Quartet 
meeting in November.  It seems the US, in the absence of 
international support as well as in an effort not to repeat the 
mistakes in Iraq, may be thinking of ways to find reconciliation 
with both Syria and Iran.  The US may be looking for ways to drag 
them both to the negotiation table rather than focusing on anti-Iran 
or anti-Syria scenarios.  This development will be very interesting 
to watch." 
 
TV News: 
NTV 
 
Domestic News 
 
- Prime Minister Erdogan addressed UN climate change conference, 
saying if its requirements are met, Turkey would sign the Kyoto 
Protocol. 
 
- Parliament Speaker Koksal Toptan told a ceremony in Istanbul's 
Yildiz University that the new constitution will not make 
concessions on the main characteristics of the secular republic. 
 
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- Ankara University Rector Nusret Aras said if the headscarf is 
allowed in universities through constitutional changes, the next 
step would be removing headscarf restrictions in high schools. 
 
- The Turkish Parliament will kick off the new legislative year on 
October 1.  President Abdullah Gul will address the parliament to 
mark the beginning of the new legislative year to be followed by a 
reception hosted by Parliament Speaker Koksal Toptan the same day. 
 
 
International News 
 
- Secretary Rice said Syria could attend an upcoming Middle East 
peace conference in Washington as part of an Arab League committee. 
 
 
- A survey showing an eight percentage point drop in Nicolas 
Sarkozy's popularity suggests the French President's post-election 
honeymoon period may be coming to an end. 
 
- Iraqi Prime Minister al-Maliki said the shooting deaths of 
civilians and other prior incidents involving US security contractor 
Blackwater pose "serious challenges to the sovereignty of Iraq" and 
cannot be accepted. 
 
- Newsweek reports Vice President Cheney has considered provoking an 
exchange of military strikes between Iran and Israel in order to 
give the US a pretext to attack Iran. 
 
WILSON