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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 ANKARA 000362 
 
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 PREL KPAO
SUBJECT: ANKARA MEDIA REACTION REPORT 
MONDAY, MARCH 9, 2009 
 
In Today's Papers 
 
Clinton Sends Warm Messages to Turkey 
All media outlets over the weekend gave positive and extensive 
coverage to Secretary Clinton's visit to Ankara as she completed her 
tour of the Middle East and Europe.  Mainstream Hurriyet reported on 
Sunday, "during her talks with President Gul, PM Erdogan and FM 
Babacan, Secretary Clinton described Turkey and the US as countries 
committed to democracy, secularism and free market economy." 
Sunday's mainstream Sabah wrote, "in a press conference with FM 
Babacan, Clinton sent warm messages on issues including cooperation 
with Turkey in the fight against the PKK, Turkey's EU bid and the 
Middle East peace."  All papers highlighted "Secretary Clinton's 
appearance on one of Turkey's most popular talk shows being a 
perfect way of practicing public diplomacy to improve the US image 
in Turkey."  In addition to joining TV programs in Turkey, 
Islamist-oriented Zaman reports, "Secretary Clinton wrote an article 
for Zaman daily in connection with the International Women's Day," 
noting, "problems today are too big and too complex to be solved 
without the full participation of women." 
 
In a related story, Sunday's liberal Radikal reported, "In a 
statement released on Saturday, Turkey and the US confirmed a joint 
vision document for cooperation on issues, including solving the 
humanitarian crisis in Gaza, assuring safety of energy supplies, 
normalizing Turkey-Armenia relations, finding a lasting solution in 
Cyprus, fighting against the PKK, cooperating in Afghanistan, 
cooperating on threats posed by weapons of mass destruction and 
boosting ties between young leaders of the two countries." 
 
 
President Obama to Come to Turkey 
Today's top story in the media is Secretary Clinton's announcement 
in her Ankara press conference, that President Obama will visit 
Turkey within a month.  Media and commentators highlight that "a new 
chapter in ties between Turkey and the US will revive the strategic 
partnership between the two countries.  In contrast to a Washington 
Times report which said "President Obama's chose not to deliver his 
address to the Muslim world from Turkey, leftist Taraf claims that, 
"Turkey is the place where Obama will address the Muslim world." 
Mainstream Milliyet writes in, "With Obama, Anew," saying, "Obama 
has decided to go back to the traditional perception of Turkey's 
secular identity.  The paper adds, ''That is why Secretary Clinton 
emphasized secularism in her messages in Ankara and why President 
Obama has decided not to use the Turkey visit to deliver his message 
."  In a related story, liberal Radikal reports, "Washington 
declined to give guarantees about Obama's Armenian message, while 
Ankara declined to make commitments for meeting US demands in 
Afghanistan and Iraq."  Omer Taspinar wrote in mainstream Sabah, 
"Turkey has emerged as an actor taken into account by policy makers 
in Washington.  The Obama administration pays attention to Turkey, 
and this will pave the way for the opening of a healthier period in 
bilateral relations."  Yasemin Congar wrote Sunday in leftist Taraf, 
"If Obama addresses the Islamic world from Turkey, he will stress 
"There is no unbridgeable gap between the West and Islam; the 
universal values that unite the two worlds; and that the US looks at 
the Muslim world as a 'friend.'  In doing so, he will be able, just 
as Secretary Clinton did when speaking to the CNN-Turk television 
yesterday, to cite Turkey's special characteristics as a 'positive 
example' in this sense." 
 
Babacan: Obama's Turkey Visit will Give a Good Message to World 
Speaking to press on Sunday before departing for Tehran for the 
Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO) talks, Foreign Minister 
Babacan said that the exact date of President Obama's visit to 
Turkey would be announced by the US side.  Babacan stressed that the 
US President paying one of his first international visits to Turkey 
would give a "good message to the world."  Responding to a question, 
Babacan said "good developments" take place regarding the 
normalization of Turkey-Armenia ties, and interference by the third 
 
ANKARA 00000362  002 OF 004 
 
 
countries would "not be helpful."  On Iran, Babacan said he was "not 
conveying any messages from the US to Tehran."  On a question about 
the ties with Israel, Babacan said the two countries "never halted 
contacts."  "We have strategic relations with Israel based on the 
national interests of both countries."  Asked about the 
International Criminal Court's (ICC) issuance of an arrest warrant 
for Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, Babacan said Turkey's 
priority was the protection of stability and peace in Sudan.  "No 
one should ignore the likely impacts of the arrest of their 
president on the Sudanese people," emphasized Babacan. 
 
Editorial Commentary on Clinton's Ankara Visit, Obama Trip to 
Turkey 
 
Melis Alphan wrote in mainstream Milliyet: "Secretary Clinton's 
participation in the NTV talk show was a successful public relations 
effort.  She was very nice and candid in her answers.  The whole 
thing was a good image restorer." 
 
Fehmi Koru wrote in Islamist oriented Yeni Safak: "Once again we can 
see the failure of opposition and those who negatively argued about 
Prime Minister Erdogan's attitude in Davos.  After the Davos event, 
some strongly believed and waited for serious consequences in 
Turkey's relationship with the United States and Israel.  The 
reality is just the opposite.  Hillary Clinton visit was very 
positive and she even announced the arrival of President Obama." 
 
Ali Aslan wrote in Islamist oriented Zaman: "Ankara believes that 
there are important roles it can play in the region and for world 
peace.  The new Washington believes in listening to what friends are 
thinking.  The two approaches are contributing to each other, and 
the immediate result is Turkey becomes one of President Obama's 
first international stops." 
 
Taha Akyol wrote in mainstream Milliyet: "Secretary Clinton put an 
end to the moderate Islam paranoia by underlining democracy and 
secular constitution in Turkey.  It was also good to hear her advice 
to the Prime Minister about being tolerant to criticism.  The Bush 
administration presented 'ugly American' image with unilateralism 
and fighter attitude.  It is nice to observe the 'pretty American' 
nowadays with a new administration which is for dialogue and 
peace." 
 
Erdal Guven wrote in liberal-intellectual Radikal: "The upcoming 
Obama visit is an indication of Turkey's importance vis-`-vis the 
U.S.  And this importance is not only limited to Turkey's EU process 
and its NATO membership.  Turkey is important for Washington because 
it is a regional player, strategically located and because of its 
secular-democratic system.  There are a lot of issues to discuss 
with President Obama and the nice thing is that Obama speaks 
differently than Bush -a way of speaking Ankara likes to hear." 
 
Omer Taspinar wrote in mainstream Sabah: "Obama's upcoming visit to 
Ankara shows that the US wants to regain Turkey's alliance.  This is 
because of the fact that Turkey is gaining power not solely due to 
its geostrategic importance, but also for its political identity and 
its role.  Obama and his team understand Turkey much better than the 
Bush Administration.  They have lots of commonalities with Turkey in 
their approach to the region.  Turkey will be the first Muslim 
country with secular, democratic and westernized characteristics 
that Obama will visit.  During this important visit, Obama is 
expected to call Turkey to come to an agreement with Armenia and 
announce it to the world, so that this issue does not remain a 
barrier in other bilateral relations.  Ankara should realize this 
opportunity because this is the very time to make a historic 
agreement with Armenia." 
 
President Gul will Convey the White House's Message to Tehran 
Mainstream Hurriyet reports that during US Secretary of State 
Hillary Clinton's visit to Ankara, Turkish and US officials agreed 
 
ANKARA 00000362  003 OF 004 
 
 
on a number of issues, especially the Iran issue.  Being aware of 
President Gul's upcoming visit to Tehran for the Economic 
Cooperation Organization (ECO),  Secretary Clinton said to him "It 
is obvious that you know Iran better than we do.  Your thoughts 
regarding Iran are very valuable for us.  Your meetings on March 11 
in Iran are very important for us and we are waiting to hear your 
impressions anxiously."  The paper adds that President Gul will 
convey the US' moderate messages to Iranian President Ahmedinejad 
when he meets him in Tehran.  Meanwhile, FM Babacan left for Tehran 
to attend the ECO.  Speaking to journalists prior to his departure 
from Ankara, Babacan said "if requested, Turkey could mediate 
between the US and Iran." 
 
In a related story, mainstreams Sabah and Hurriyet report that FM 
Babacan expressed his concern regarding President Obama's April 24 
message during his interview with NTV and said "Even though Obama's 
decision to visit Turkey is a strong message that might indicate he 
will not use the word "genocide", time will show.  At this point, I 
still see a risk." 
 
Large Crowd Celebrate Prophet's Birth Rallying in Diyarbakir 
Mainstream Milliyet, leftist-nationalist Cumhuriyet and 
Islamist-oriented Yeni Safak report that on the anniversary of the 
Prophet Muhammad's birth, more than 35,000 people held a rally in 
Diyarbakir's main city square.  The Mustazaf Der, known to be the 
"civic" affiliate of the Turkish Hizbullah, organized the rally with 
the participation of several organizations under "The Platform for 
the Prophet's Followers."  Men and women were separated in the 
rally.  Participants carried Palestine flags and posters of the 
Lebanese Hizbullah leader, Hasan Nasrallah. 
 
Meanwhile, the state-owned TRT's Kurdish channel, TRT-6, aired 
Sunday night a sermon in Kurdish on the occasion of the Mevlid 
Kandili, a holy night marking the birth of the Prophet Muhammad. 
The program, which included Koran recitation, prayers and sermons by 
local muftis, was prepared by the TRT in cooperation with the 
religious affairs directorate, Diyanet. 
 
TV News: 
CNN Turk 
 
Domestic News 
 
- One Turkish youth (13) was killed and another (12) injured after 
being shot by Iranian border guards as they attempted to cross from 
the Saray town in the eastern province of Van into Iran. 
 
- The ruling AKP government will spend 1.3 million lira to fund fuel 
and fertilizer aid for farmers, an act seen as "generous subsidies" 
to agricultural producers prior to the municipal elections March 29. 
 
 
- The Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ITO) head Murat Yalcintas says 
Turkey was not likely to sign a deal with the IMF before the G-20 
summit on April 2, over concerns to be seen as the "only G-20 
country dependent on IMF support." 
 
- There is a 24 percent decrease in trips of Turkish trucks to 
European countries, as trade between the EU-Turkey diminishes. 
 
International News 
 
- On Sunday, Foreign Minister Ali Babacan traveled to Tehran to 
attend the 18th foreign ministers meeting of the Economic 
Cooperation Organization (ECO).  Babacan will accompany President 
Abdullah Gul at the March 11 leaders' summit of ECO in Tehran. 
 
- "Tell the ICC prosecutor, the members of the court and everyone 
who supports this court that they are under my shoe," said  Sudan's 
al-Bashir, who threatens to kick out more aid groups, diplomats and 
 
ANKARA 00000362  004 OF 004 
 
 
peacekeepers during his first trip to Darfur after the ICC issued an 
arrest warrant against him. 
 
- Iran says it "successfully" tested a new air-to-sea missile with a 
range of 110 km. 
 
- Israeli Education Minister Yuli Tamir voices hopes that Turkey 
would "renew efforts" for arranging talks between Israel and Syria. 
 
 
JEFFREY