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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 000081 
 
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 
FRIDAY, JANUARY 16, 2009 
 
In Today's Papers 
 
Fugitive 'Ergenekon' Suspect Captured in Ankara 
Media outlets report Levent Ersoz, the fugitive general sought by 
the Ergenekon prosecutors, was captured Thursday in a hospital in 
Ankara while he was waiting to undergo prostate surgery.  Retired 
brigadier general Ersoz, who also served as the former gendarme 
intelligence chief, was allegedly in charge of Ergenekon's 
wiretapping operations, which, according to papers, included tapping 
former military General Staff (TGS) chief Hilmi Ozkok and AKP 
cabinet ministers.  Papers hold Ersoz responsible for the mysterious 
disappearance of two pro-Kurdish HADEP members, Serdar Tanis and 
Ebubekir Deniz, taken into custody in Silopi in 2001.  Ersoz was 
captured together with a sergeant, Selim Gul, the last man to see 
the two HADEP activists before they disappeared.  Ersoz is alleged 
to be the top aide of another main Ergenekon suspect, retired 
general Veli Kucuk.  Ersoz reportedly entered Turkey from Russia 
with false travel documents in November.  Islamist-oriented Yeni 
Safak claims Ersoz was captured when he came back to Turkey to see 
his Russian mistress. 
 
Turkey's state-broadcaster TRT has drawn harsh criticism for hosting 
Tuncay Guney, an alleged Ergenekon informant who now lives in 
Canada.  On TRT-2 channel last night, Guney was interviewed via 
satellite and implicated the leader of the main opposition party 
CHP, prominent businessmen, journalists and top generals in the 
'Ergenekon' organization.  In addition, Guney said "CHP leader Deniz 
Baykal is in fact a member of the Turkish National Intelligence 
Organization, or MIT."  CHP spokesperson Mustafa Ozyurek said in a 
statement yesterday, "The TRT has committed a crime and we are going 
to defend our rights and sue them."  Three members of the media 
watchdog RTUK issued a statement criticizing the TRT for its 
broadcast with Guney.  Leftist-nationalist Cumhuriyet points out 
that in the video records distributed to the press earlier this 
week, allegedly from 2001, Guney refers to events that actually 
happened in 2005. 
 
Papers report in Kulu town in Konya province, 600 bullets were found 
yesterday by the police on a motorway.  In Aksaray, police found 
three hand grenades, one smoke bomb and 15 G-3 bullets in a box 
placed in front of an apartment building.  Mainstream Hurriyet says 
the recent seizure of weapons has triggered "weapons paranoia" in 
Turkey, commenting that the arms and ammunition found in bags in 
Ankara and Istanbul were left by people who were afraid of being 
charged as Ergenekon suspects. 
 
In a press conference in the parliament, the pro-Kurdish DTP 
lawmaker Selahattin Demirtas called on the Ergenekon prosecutors to 
examine a graveyard in the southeastern town of Silopi, where, 
Demirtas claims, is a mass grave containing the bodies of 200 people 
who went missing. 
 
Meanwhile, mainstream Hurriyet says while he was visiting Kosovo and 
Bosnia-Herzegovina earlier this week, Foreign Minister Babacan 
received many phone calls from European colleagues asking the FM to 
elaborate on reports that Turkey's ruling AKP government was 
exerting pressure on the judiciary and opposition via the Ergenekon 
case.  Babacan declined to give details, and said the case was in 
the hands of the independent judiciary. 
 
"Israel Chooses Its Targets - A Hospital, The UN and The Media" 
(Radikal) 
Media outlets use sensational reporting and photographs to criticize 
Israel's bombing of a UN Relief Complex, a 600-bed hospital, and a 
building housing international media in Gaza City yesterday. 
Liberal Radikal reports "The West Is Shocked When Israel Bombs the 
UN Compound" in Gaza City.  Mainstream Vatan reports, "They're Even 
Attacking Hospitals!" as the 600-bed Sifa Hospital is bombed by 
Israeli forces.  Leftist Taraf reports, "Israel Is Bombing 
Everything That's Alive."  Islamist-oriented Zaman says, "Israel 
 
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Does Not Respect the Limits of Brutality," as "Everything is 
Targeted."  Islamist-oriented Yeni Safak reports, "Tens of thousands 
of Gazan civilians are trying to flee the violence, but they have 
nowhere to go," as "Israel Even Hunts the Injured in Hospitals." 
Mainstream Milliyet carries the headline, "The UN and the Media are 
in the Crosshairs," of Israel, as columnist Sami Kohen asks, "Who 
will ask Israel to stop?  Our hope is with U.S. President-elect 
Barack Obama."  Mainstream Hurriyet calls the bombing of the UN 
complex "'A Welcome' Bomb," noting the timing of the bombing 
happened when the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon visited Tel Aviv 
to push for a ceasefire.  Leftist-nationalist Cumhuriyet cynically 
comments, "Israel Tells Moon - We Bombed You, Sorry."  Mainstream 
Sabah reports, "The UN is helpless in ending the bloodshed in Gaza." 
 CNN Turk reports Miguel d'Escoto Brockman, Chair of the UN General 
Assembly, told UNGA, "Gaza is ablaze and has been turned into a 
living burning hell."  NTV notes, "Turkish Foreign Minister Ali 
Babacan spoke at the UN and called on countries to 'Stop giving 
Israel a green light' to the bombings in Gaza."  Islamist-oriented 
Zaman reports this message "targets the U.S. in particular." 
 
 
A cartoon from today's Islamist-oriented Zaman depicts an Israeli 
tank entering into a burning pit called "Gaza." 
 
 
Conservative-nationalist Turkiye carries the headline, "Escape from 
Death," noting, "Thousands of Gazan civilians are in panic as they 
try to escape from the Israeli tanks that are making their way into 
Gaza city." 
 
Milliyet's international news page carries a headline that reads, 
"The UN and the Media in (Israel's) Crosshairs." 
 
Jews in Turkey Concerned about Anti-Semitism in Media 
Mainstream Milliyet reports that the Turkish Jewish Community issued 
a written public statement yesterday which expressed concern over 
anti-Semitic sentiments expressed in some media outlets in their 
coverage of Israel's Gaza attacks.  The statement said "the Jewish 
community has been targeted by these news stories and we are very 
concerned." 
 
Editorial Commentary on Israel's Gaza Operation 
 
Sami Kohen wrote in mainstream Milliyet: "There are efforts toward a 
ceasefire agreement in Gaza, but the real hope is to see what 
happens once U.S. President-elect Barack Obama takes charge.  When 
he assumes office on January 20, he may take immediate steps toward 
peace in the Middle East.  The U.S. is probably the only power who 
can stop Israel." 
 
Cengiz Candar wrote in liberal-intellectual Radikal: "Expectations 
are high for Obama regarding the Middle East.  It is not possible at 
this point to make a credible analysis before he takes charge.  We 
will have to wait and see." 
 
Okay Gonensin wrote in mainstream Vatan: "The case of Gaza proves 
the demise of the United Nations' influence.  At this point, the 
only hope is to see what Obama will do about peace in the Middle 
East." 
 
Yasin Dogan wrote in Islamist-oriented Yeni Safak: "The Israeli 
bombing of a UN building illustrates Israel's defiance to the entire 
world.  The international community did nothing to stop Israel's 
brutal actions and thus all of this will lead to the demise of 
fundamental global humanitarian values, which will carry serious 
consequences." 
 
Human Rights Watch Drops Turkey's Note for 2008 
Milliyet notes that Human Rights Watch's 2008 report calls 2008, "a 
year in which rights and freedoms were limited in Turkey".  During 
 
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2008, HRW says human rights and freedoms were violated highly in 
Turkey and police torture increased. 
 
"An Erotic Suggestion from Energy Minister Guler." (Vatan) 
Mainstreams Milliyet and Vatan report that Energy Minister Guler 
said at the National Energy Productivity Forum, "Turkey has a 
high-calorie energy source: hazelnut.  You cannot eat coal or gas. 
But if we use this edible energy source widely, we will not feel the 
cold.  Moreover, you all know as much as I do that hazelnut has 
other advantages." Earlier, studies performed in Turkey concluded 
that hazelnuts can work as an aphrodisiac.  Turkey, which is one of 
the few countries in the world with favorable weather conditions for 
hazelnut production, accounts for 75% of the global hazelnut 
production and 70-75% of the global hazelnut exportation. 
 
TV News (CNN Turk) 
 
Domestic 
 
- On Friday, UNSYG Ban Ki-Moon and Turkish Cyprus leader Mehmet Ali 
Talat will pay separate visits to Ankara to meet with President 
Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Erdogan. 
 
- Following a visit to Russia, Energy Minister Hilmi Guler says 
natural gas prices could be curbed at the end of the year. 
 
- In the most radical interest rate cut so far, Turkey's Central 
Bank curbed short-term interest rates by 200 basis points, overnight 
borrowing rates from 15 to 13 percent, and overnight lending rates 
from 17.5 to 15.5 percent. 
 
World 
 
- On Sunday, Prime Minister Erdogan will travel to Brussels at the 
invitation of European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, in 
the first official visit of a Turkish PM to Brussels since the EU 
Summit in December 2004. 
 
- Britain's foreign secretary David Miliband says the notion of a 
"war on terror" was "misleading and mistaken." 
 
- On Friday, the Turkish and Greek Cyprus leaders, Talat and 
Christofias, will hold their 16th meeting under the framework of the 
UN-led direct talks which began September. 
 
JEFFREY