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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 002550 
 
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 
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2007 
 
In Today's Papers 
 
Iraq Incursion Bill to Turkish Parliament for Approval 
All papers report Government Spokesman Cemil Cicek announced Monday 
that the Council of Ministers decided to submit the motion for a 
cross-border incursion into Iraq to the parliament for approval. 
Cicek stressed that the motion targeted only the PKK, and that it 
would cover a one-year period.  "We hope that we will not have to 
use this motion," Cicek said, adding, "Unfortunately, countless 
meetings, memorandums, and agreements did not eliminate the PKK in 
northern Iraq.  Our allies have failed to take enough measures to 
satisfy us so far.  For instance, not one PKK terrorist was 
extradited to Turkey."  Cicek also made clear that Turkey does not 
have its eye on any other country's resources.  "We are not after 
oil; we want the Iraqi people and the world to know that we are not 
like the US, our only aim is to fight against terror."  The motion 
will be debated at the Turkish Parliament on October 17. 
 
Mainstream Sabah says the motion prepared by the government 
authorizes operations against the PKK camps as well as the 
establishment of a buffer zone in northern Iraq.  The paper expects 
Turkey to kick off operations by the end of November if Ankara and 
Baghdad fail to work out a formula for combating the terrorists. 
The operations will be shaped according to the results of the 
meeting of Iraqi neighbors in Istanbul on November 2-3 as well as 
the November 6 meeting of Prime Minister Erdogan with President Bush 
in the US, says the paper.  Vatan, Cumhuriyet, Radikal and Milliyet 
quote State Department spokesman Tom Casey as saying the US was 
willing to work with Turkey to block the PKK attacks and called for 
restraint, warning unilateral action would not solve the problem. 
Papers report Kurdistan regional Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani as 
telling Al-Jazeera that "The PKK is not a problem for Turkey alone, 
it also caused us problems in the past.  In our fight against this 
party, we lost more than 3,500 lives.  This problem requires a 
political solution.  We have had good relations with Turkey for 16 
years.  The Iraqi Kurdistan government is serious about developing 
its relations with Turkey."  Islamist-oriented Yeni Safak reports 
the Iraqi Defense Ministry Spokesman Muhammad al-Askari opposed a 
Turkish operation into Iraq, warning he cannot guarantee that the 
Iraqi military will remain silent in the face of such an attack. 
 
Meanwhile, television new programs reported this morning Iraqi Vice 
President Tarik al-Hashimi has arrived in Ankara on Tuesday on a 
"surprise visit" to meet Foreign Minister Ali Babacan and Prime 
Minister Erdogan.  Hashimi is expected to explain the objections of 
the Iraqi administration to possible Turkish operations into 
northern Iraq. 
 
Armenian Genocide Resolution in the US 
All papers expect the bill on the mass killing of Armenians by 
Ottoman Turkish forces in 1915-16 to be forwarded to vote in the US 
House before November 16.  Islamist-oriented Yeni Safak reports 
under the headline "She Passes the Ball to Bush" that Speaker Pelosi 
said in an interview with American network ABC that President Bush 
had not called her about the AGR, implying that "things might have 
changed if he did."  Papers report that in a joint letter, Secretary 
Rice and Secretary Gates have asked Pelosi not to forward the 
resolution to House floor, stressing that adoption of the bill would 
"restrict our capacity for logistical support of our troops and also 
hurt reconciliation efforts." 
 
Mainstream Milliyet reports President Abdullah Gul will discuss the 
resolution with Foreign Minister Ali Babacan, Foreign Ministry 
Undersecretary Ertugrul Apakan and Turkish Ambassador in Washington 
Nabi Sensoy at a summit meeting in the presidential palace today. 
 
 
Commentary on Armenian Resolution/Northern Iraq Incursion 
Taha Akyol comments in the mainstream Milliyet:  "Turkey is having 
problems with the Armenian lobby on one side, and PKK terrorism on 
 
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the other. The main issue here is: Turkey should coordinate these 
threats coming from two different fronts wisely, and not allow its 
fight on one front to damage the other front.  Instead of 
challenging the world with hostile feelings, Turkey should become 
integrated with the world by using wise policies." 
Sahin Alpay writes in the Islamist-oriented Zaman:  "Although, the 
resolution approved by the Foreign Affairs Committee is not binding, 
it will affect Turkey-US relations. Let's leave aside the argument 
whether the 1915 incidents were a genocide or not and establish 
diplomatic relations with Yerevan and open the border gates.  Let's 
convince Baku of this approach." 
 
Intense Diplomatic Traffic in Turkey 
All papers report the Syrian Head of State Bashar Assad will pay an 
official visit to Turkey as the guest of President Gul to discuss 
Iraq, Israel and Palestine, and the upcoming expanded Iraq's 
neighbors' meeting in Istanbul.  Assad will meet Parliament Speaker 
Koksal Toptan and will address the Turkish Parliament and also hold 
a join press conference with President Gul.  Prime Minister Erdogan 
will host a dinner in his honor.  On Wednesday Assad will go to 
Istanbul before he leaves Turkey on October 19. 
 
Foreign Minister Ali Babacan will visit Egypt and Lebanon from 
October 17-19.  In Egypt Babacan will be received by President Hosni 
Mubarak and Prime Minister Ahmet Nazif.  He will also meet Egyptian 
Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit and Arab League Secretary General 
Amr Moussa.  In Lebanon Babacan will meet Prime Minister Fouad 
Siniora and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.  Babacan will also visit 
the Turkish peacekeeping contingent in Lebanon.  On October 
21Babacan will pay a visit to Iran. 
 
Prime Minister Erdogan will pay an official visit to Britain on 
October 22-23 and meet with Prime Minister Gordon Brown. 
 
Cyanide Gold Mining Draws Reaction in Turkey 
Mainstream Sabah reports on its front page that 11 companies, some 
with international partners, have been licensed to mine gold with 
cyanide in Kaz (Ida) Mountains in northwestern Turkey.  Companies 
will be exploring for gold in 37 spots in the region where hundreds 
of centuries-old pines and beech trees have already been bulldozed. 
They will be using about 400,000 ton of cyanide of which some 
100,000 ton are expected to dissolve into the atmosphere.  Local 
villagers said cyanide will damage the ecology, stressing they will 
resist the exploration work.  Among the companies to dig for gold 
are Ariana, Canadian Teck Cominco's partner Fronteer, Eldorado Gold, 
and Rio Tinto. 
 
TV News: 
NTV 
 
Domestic News 
 
- The Turkish Parliament will hold a second round of voting Tuesday 
regarding the bill for constitutional reforms to be submitted to a 
referendum on October 21. 
 
- The prosecutor demands a sentence of life in prison for five 
suspects charged with the murder of three Christian missionaries in 
a bookstore in Malatya in eastern Turkey. 
 
- 47 people were killed and 252 others were injured in traffic 
accidents across Turkey yesterday. 
 
- More than 25,000 workers of Turk Telekom, Turkey's biggest 
fixed-line operator, have decided to go on strike after wage talks 
collapsed Monday.  The strike is expected to hamper phone calls and 
internet services. 
 
International News 
 
 
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- Secretary Rice said Israel and Palestinian negotiators are 
involved in the most serious effort in "many, many years" to try to 
end the Mideast conflict. 
 
- Russian President Putin has dismissed reports for a plot to 
assassinate him in Tehran, said he'll go ahead with a planned trip 
to Iran. 
 
- Taliban commanders in Helmand province have sent a list of demands 
to the Karzai government as part of tentative back-channel talks to 
bring a peaceful end to the conflict. 
 
WILSON