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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 000054 
 
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, JANUARY 13, 2009 
 
In Today's Papers 
 
Gul: 'Obama must understand Turkey's sensitivities regarding Gaza.' 
Sabah, Milliyet, Cumhuriyet and Zaman report that on Monday, 
President Abdullah Gul received a delegation of Turkish businessmen, 
TUSKON, accompanied by American academics from the U.S. think-tanks 
the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Woodrow 
Wilson Center and the Center for American Progress.  Gul told the 
delegation that countries in this region accepted Turkish 
initiatives toward a peaceful settlement to the Gaza crisis.  When 
asked by an American academic if he had a message for U.S. 
President-elect Barack Obama, Gul said, "Obama should understand 
Turkey's sensitivities regarding Gaza."  In addition, Gul noted, 
"The U.S. must understand Turkey correctly on Palestine." 
 
Gazans Suffer While Israelis Picnic and Play 
Media outlets make a clear juxtaposition today between the suffering 
in Gaza and the way some Israelis appear callous to the plight of 
Gaza's Palestinian civilians.  Mainstream Vatan reports, "Children 
Are in Trenches, While Olmert is at Play," and note that "children 
in Gaza are forced to eat from metal bowls on the ground," as 
"bread, drinking water, and groceries are scarce," while "Prime 
Minister Olmert plays like a child at a pre-school in Israel." 
Islamist-oriented Yeni Safak carries the headline, "Gaza Burns and 
Olmert Plays," as "Children in Gaza face some of the most intense 
Israeli attacks while Olmert plays hide-and-seek at a pre-school in 
Tel Aviv." Yeni Safak also carries the headline, "The Final Moment 
of Humanity," as "Israelis Make a Picnic on the Border with Gaza and 
Watch the Israeli Bombing."  Mainstream Sabah reports, "Israelis 
Watched the Gaza Massacre Like It Was a Football Match." 
 
In related stories, mainstream Milliyet and Islamist-oriented Zaman 
charge that Israelis are using phosphorus bombs against Gazans. 
Zaman claims Israel is using both phosphorus and "powder" bombs 
(note: Turkish term for DIME's), which "puzzles doctors who are 
seeing people's limbs blown off with no shrapnel present, which 
indicates the use of dense inert metal explosives (DIME)." 
 
Meanwhile, papers report UNSYG Ban Ki-Moon, on a tour of Egypt, 
Israel and Palestine, will come to Istanbul on Friday to discuss 
with Prime Minister Erdogan and President Gul the efforts for 
ceasefire in Gaza.  On the other hand, the leftist-nationalist 
Cumhuriyet reports that on Wednesday, parliament speakers of the 
Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) countries will hold an 
extraordinary meeting in Istanbul to discuss the crisis in Gaza. 
Parliament Speaker Koksal Toptan reportedly invited the Iranian 
Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani to the meeting.  On Tuesday, 
Larijani will meet President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister 
Erdogan. 
 
 
 
Photo from today's Yeni Safak of Israeli PM Olmert playing 
"hide-and-seek" at an Israeli pre-school in Tel Aviv. 
 
Front-page photos from Yeni Safak depict Israelis picnicking and 
watching Israeli strikes against Gaza through binoculars. 
 
Editorial Commentary on Israel-Gaza 
 
Erdal Safak wrote in mainstream Sabah: "Unfortunately, it seems the 
Israeli assault on Gaza will fuel the flames of radical Islam 
throughout the region.  This attack on Gaza could also mark the end 
of secular nationalist rulers in the Arab world, which means more 
dangerous and severe conflicts are ahead." 
 
Akif Emre wrote in Islamist-oriented Yeni Safak: "There has been 
talk of establishing a Palestinian State since the Oslo Peace 
Accords.  The essence of this plan is to force Palestinian refugees 
to stay where they are now and deny their property rights in 
 
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Israeli-occupied areas.  Hamas became an immediate target because 
Hamas refused to be a part of this conspiracy.  Meanwhile, Mahmoud 
Abbas and his administration, as well as Egypt and Saudi Arabia, are 
acting like accomplices to the conspiracy." 
 
Another Underground Arms Cache Found in Ergenekon Investigation 
Media outlets report that police excavations related to the 
Ergenekon investigation on Monday uncovered 30 hand grenades, nine 
smoke bombs, 12 booby traps and more than 800 rifle bullets in the 
garden of an abandoned house in Yenikent near Ankara.  The 
excavation was done after police found a map in the house of Lt. 
Colonel Mustafa Donmez, who escaped before being detained together 
with the 33 suspects taken into custody last week.  Donmez 
surrendered to a military police station on Monday.  Interior 
Minister Besir Atalay signaled that further excavations may follow. 
 
 
Meanwhile, retired general Tuncer Kilinc, the former Secretary 
General of the National Security Council (MGK) who was taken into 
custody last week in connection with the investigation, told 
mainstream Vatan he had no links to the Ergenekon network.  "Turkey 
has its army and the other constitutional institutions in order to 
deal with foreign and internal threats," Kilinc said.  Kilinc was 
released over the weekend. 
 
Omer Faruk Eminagaoglu, the head of the union of judges and 
prosecutors (Yarsav), accused Justice Minister Mehmet Ali Sahin of 
interfering with the judiciary.  In a press briefing Monday, 
Eminagaoglu lashed out at the police for "seeking murderers in the 
houses of justices and prosecutors."  Eminagaoglu also warned, 
"Turkey should not be allowed to become a police state."  He claimed 
the Ergenekon investigation "was manipulated to step up pressure on 
the judiciary," and he denounced "using detentions as a show of 
force."  He also criticized the Justice Minister for "siding with 
the intelligence organizations" instead of "upholding law." 
Eminagaoglu likened the methods used by the government in the 
Ergenekon investigation to the methods used by Hitler and Mussolini, 
and called on the Justice Minister "to stop intervening in the 
judiciary." 
 
Cartoon in today's leftist-nationalist Cumhuriyet depicts a family 
on a picnic at Golbasi Picnic Area, a popular recreation center 
south of Ankara and near the site where a weapons cache related to 
the Ergenekon case was recently discovered. The father says to the 
mother, "It's good that we escaped from the dirt and pollution in 
the city," as the kids play over buried weapons. 
 
Cartoon in today's mainstream Milliyet depicts one Justice as a hand 
puppet of the AKP who swipes at the "real" Justice who is wearing a 
dress called "the independent judiciary." 
 
Cartoon from today's mainstream Sabah depicts a journalist who is 
reporting, "There is no Ergenekon" as police continue their 
excavations to uncover weapons caches related to the Ergenekon 
investigation. 
 
 
Editorial Commentary on Ergenekon Investigation 
 
Mehmet Y. Yilmaz wrote in mainstream Hurriyet: "The Ergenekon 
indictment and the ongoing investigation are now diluted with many 
allegations, irrelevant details, and insignificant witnesses.  I 
would like to be wrong, but the Ergenekon case now looks like a hunt 
for the AKP's secular opponents." 
 
Murat Yetkin wrote in liberal-intellectual Radikal: "There is a 
serious tiff between the government and members of judiciary; the 
latter openly accuse the AKP government of interfering in the 
ongoing Ergenekon case.  This could be the perfect time for Turkey's 
new EU negotiator to take action and establish a healthy system of 
 
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checks and balances in Turkey.  Turkey should reform its judicial 
system in line with EU norms.  As a first step, the Justice Minister 
and the Justice Ministry's Under Secretary should no longer preside 
over the Supreme Board of Justices and Prosecutors." 
 
TV News: 
CNN Turk 
 
Domestic News 
 
- On January 18-19, PM Erdogan will meet European Commission 
President Jose Manuel Barroso in Brussels to explain the steps 
toward EU reforms taken by the Turkish government within the 
framework of the National Program. 
 
- A report from the Prime Ministry Inspection Board shows that an 
informant told the police the name of Hrant Dink's assassin, Ogun 
Samast, before Dink was murdered. 
 
- State Minister Kursad Tuzmen, accompanied by a group of exporters, 
will visit Egypt from January 20-23, and Iran from January 26-29. 
 
International News 
 
- Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani told the Los Angeles Times the 
Iraqi Kurds might reconsider their stance regarding their 
independence. 
 
- On Monday, U.S. Vice President-elect Joe Biden visited Iraq, 
following trips to Afghanistan and Pakistan. 
 
- A World War II mass grave was unearthed in Poland, containing the 
bodies of 1,800 German men, women and children who disappeared 
during the Soviet Army's march to Berlin. 
JEFFREY