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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 000826 
 
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: TURKISH MEDIA REACTION 
MONDAY, JUNE 15, 2009 
 
In Today's Papers 
 
Davutoglu in Kabul 
Weekend papers report that at a joint press conference with his 
Afghan counterpart Dadfar Spanta, Turkish FM Ahmet Davutoglu said 
the two sides agreed to establish a strategic dialogue and 
cooperation mechanism.  Responding to a question on the Afghan 
elections, Davutoglu said: "no matter who, from which political 
party or ethnic group wins the elections, all are our friends and 
will be treated equally by Turkey."  For his part, Spanta said 
Turkey had a big role to play in Afghanistan and would undoubtedly 
do its best to support a secure election in Afghanistan. 
 
PM Erdogan: "We are Investigating the TGS Document; If Necessary We 
Will File A Lawsuit" 
All papers report on a story that broke in leftist daily Taraf over 
the weekend.  The paper printed a document and claimed it was 
authored by the Turkish General Staff (TGS). Titled "Action Plan for 
Combating Religious Fundamentalism," stamped "secret" and signed by 
Naval Staff Colonel Cicek, it targets the government and all the 
members of the Fethullah Gulen community, particularly those within 
the military.  The plan's "Implementation" section states the 
following:  "An effort will be made to put an end to the activities 
of religious groups, and particularly the AKP government and the 
Gulen group, which dream of overturning the secular system and 
establishing an Islamic state." 
 
Today's papers give extensive front-page coverage to PM Erdogan's 
comments regarding the document on Fethullah Gulen Community and the 
ruling AKP.  Liberal-intellectual Radikal reports that during his 
party's meeting in Sanliurfa, Erdogan commented on a document 
claimed to be prepared by the General Staff to end the AK party and 
Fethullah Gulen activities in Turkey, and said "we are investigating 
the issue, if necessary, we will file a lawsuit against those who 
may have made such a plan." 
 
Meanwhile, at this time, all TV channels are reporting that the 
Turkish General Staff (TGS) Prosecutor's Office just announced that 
such plans and documents do not belong to the TGS. 
 
Tehran Erupts Following Iranian Election. The protests and violence 
after the presidential election in Iran remains the focus of major 
media reports.  Mainstream Haberturk reports "Chaos in Iran, 
Reformists Into Custody," and notes, "while the protests of the 
defeated Mousavi's supporters continue, 170 reformists are taken 
into custody."  Liberal Radikal writes, "Iran's Reformist Leaders 
Rounded Up."  Leftist-nationalist Cumhuriyet headlines, "Iran 
Boils," and reports "President Ahmadinejad is dismissing claims of 
election irregularities, while his main opposition, Mousavi, calls 
on supporters to continue the protest peacefully."  Papers report 
world governments have so far reacted cautiously, while voicing 
concern about the allegations and the election violence.  Maimstream 
Hurriyet reports "the European Union has expressed concern over how 
Iran's presidential elections have been conducted, and France's 
foreign minister Kouchner yesterday condemned the police response to 
street protests in Tehran."  Mainstream Milliyet reports the US Vice 
President Biden telling NBC TV that "he has real doubts on the 
election results and the US is monitoring the situation."  The paper 
also says, "President Gul and Prime Minister Erdogan have sent 
messages to Iranian President Ahmadinejad to congratulate him for 
his election victory." 
 
Editorial Commentary on Iran Elections 
 
Ferai Tinc wrote in mainstream Hurriyet (6/14): "Even though Musavi 
is not a leader against the system, he is for reconciliation and 
more dialog with the west.  The current campaign by Musavi and his 
supporters against the election results indicates that Iran is 
moving toward a tension-filled atmosphere in domestic politics.  The 
more this atmosphere deepens, the more difficult for the Ahmedinejad 
 
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administration to engage in a dialogue with the U.S." 
 
Omer Taspinar wrote in mainstream Sabah: "Iranian elections are no 
longer legitimate.  There were strong indications this weekend about 
systematic corruption in the process and the elections seem to have 
been far from fair, open and democratic.  The Iranian Islamic regime 
is afraid of Obama's message for change and dialogue.  In the end, 
it is a big disappointment for Iranian people as a serious chance 
for peace and justice is slipping away due to these illegitimate 
elections." 
 
Kursat Bumin wrote in Islamist oriented Yeni Safak: "Iran presents a 
complex picture and deserves a careful analysis of its system.  The 
nature of the Iranian system comes with extraordinary authority 
given to the Mollas, which makes the country's president less 
powerful.  Thus the entire election process is more of a selection 
by the religious rulers than normal elections.  That said, the 
Iranian system is still more democratic compared to Saudi Arabia and 
Syria." 
 
Semih Idiz wrote in mainstream Milliyet: "There will be certain 
circles to be happy about the election of Ahmedinejad and Israeli 
conservatives are one of them.  They were unhappy about President 
Obama's effort for friendship with Iran, and with the Ahmedinejad's 
victory they should be happy.  There is a correlation between 
Iranian extremists and Israeli extreme conservatives as more Iran 
gets harsh, more fascistic the Israeli conservatives are getting. If 
new terrorist attacks by Hizbullah and Hamas occur against Israel 
then things will exactly be politically exploitable for Netenyahu." 
 
Netanyahu Endorses Demilitarized Palestinian State. (Radikal) 
Coverage is mostly straightforward on the speech of Israeli Prime 
Minister Netanyahu on Sunday endorsing for the first time the 
creation of a Palestinian state, provided it was demilitarized. 
Mainstream Milliyet, liberal Radikal and leftist-nationalist 
Cumhuriyet all carry the same headline, "Netanyahu Endorses 
Demilitarized Palestinian State" and report Israeli Prime Minster as 
saying "if the Palestinians recognize Israel as the state of the 
Jewish people, then we arrive at a solution based on a demilitarized 
Palestinian state alongside Israel."  Meanwhile, papers report 
"Palestinian leader Abbas spokesman said 'it sabotages all efforts 
to save the peace process.'" 
 
Arms Giants Lobby for AGR. 
Mainstream Hurriyet, Vatan and liberal Radikal cite AP as a source 
and report "Four US and one UK arms companies lobbied the US 
Congress to prevent the passage of the Armenian genocide resolution. 
Energy giant Chevron supported them too." Papers report these 
companies, BAE, Goodrich, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon and United 
Technologies spent 14 million dollars in the first quarter of this 
year to lobby on several issues, including opposition to AGR." 
 
 
TV News (CNN Turk) 
 
Domestic 
 
-  One soldier and one PKK terrorist were killed during the clashes 
in Hakkari's Yuksekova region 
 
- 10,000 people marched with pro-Ocalan slogans in Diyarbakir 
following the two day convention of DTP.  At the end of the congress 
DTP announced that a solution to Kurdish issue is not possible 
without Ocalan. 
 
- TGS announced that there had been 2,960,848 anti-personnel land 
mines in TGS's inventory.  TGS started destroying those mines in 
October 2008 and was planning to destroy them all until 2010. 
1,635,520 mines were destroyed by June 2009 
 
 
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- The Central Bank curbs maximum interest rates for credit cards 
 
- The University Entrance Examination (OSS) took place across Turkey 
yesterday and around 1,350, 000 students sat for the exam 
 
- Police teams on Sunday discovered more than 216 bullets made for 
G3 assault rifles near Istanbul's Yenikoy, after a swimmer reported 
having found a bullet in the sea. 
 
World 
 
- A forest fire rages uncontrolled in central Greece burning 
farmland, vineyards and threatening homes. 
 
JEFFREY