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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 001619 
 
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, NOVEMBER 12, 2009 
 
Media Highlights: Colonel Cicek Now; Iran's Nuclear Technology; 300 
PKK Leaders for Gulf Countries; OIC Warned Bashir; Pundits on 
Foreign Policy; Visa-Free Period With Azerbaijan; Turkish and US 
Companies are Sued Over Toxin Waste Claims 
 
Colonel Cicek in Prison 
All papers report that Navy Colonel Dursun Cicek, whose signature is 
allegedly on the original of the "action plan to fight 
fundamentalism," was arrested for the second time after four and a 
half months.  Mainstream Hurriyet and Milliyet note that Colonel 
Cicek was interrogated by prosecutor Zekeriya Oz and then remanded 
to court.  Cicek denied the allegation that the signature on the 
action plan belonged to him.  Citing an official forensic report 
that indicated "the wet signature is Cicek's,"  the court sent him 
to prison.  This latest development is a reverse of an earlier 
decision by the Military Prosecutor's Office, which had investigated 
the allegations and decided not to prosecute.  The prosecutor had 
determined that the document was not drafted by the TGS. 
 
Turkey Warns the West and Iran Regarding Iran's Nuclear Technology 
Mainstream Sabah reports that in order to find a solution for Iran's 
nuclear crisis, Turkey is sending the following message to the 5 
permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany.  Citing 
sources, correspondent Duygu Gunvenc writes that "None of the 
sanctions implemented against Iraq and North Korea in the past had 
resolved any issues.  We are against the sanctions and operations to 
be implemented against our neighbor Iran.  The on-going inspection 
process should continue.  You should not expect Iran to transfer its 
nuclear technology to any other country or to Turkey."  Meanwhile, 
Turkey continues to advise Iran to compromise on the nuclear 
bargaining by saying, "we used all our credit in the Western world 
for Iran.  Now, we are expecting you to take concrete and realistic 
steps regarding nuclear inspection." 
 
300 PKK Leaders Might be Sent to Gulf Countries 
Intellectual-Islamist oriented Zaman reports that the fierce battle 
between the opposition and government on the Kurdish issue continued 
yesterday as members of the Planning and Budget Commission in the 
parliament gathered to listen to Interior Minister Besir Atalay, who 
made references to the country's fight against terrorism. The ruling 
AKP brought the issue to Parliament on Nov. 10 after months-long 
public discussions in order to end the Kurdish conflict. 
Parliamentary officials announced yesterday that the general 
discussion of the issue will be held in Parliament on Friday. 
Hurriyet Ankara bureau chief Enis Berberoglu reports that Deputy 
Prime Minister Bulent Arinc commenting on voluntary returns said 
'Once returnees say they would like to continue living in their 
country and to come back from the mountain, Article 221 of the 
Turkish Criminal Code can be applied. They don't necessarily need to 
pronounce 'I repent.''  As none of the Makhmour residents have 
criminal record, they will not be detained upon their return. 
Priority will be given to Makhmour and then to returnees coming from 
Qandil.  There are about 1000 Syrian citizens who are expected to go 
back to Syria. The government has made contact with some Gulf 
countries to discuss transfer of 250-300 high rank PKKers. Earlier 
discussions with Scandinavian countries for their transfer did not 
succeed, according to Berberoglu. 
 
OIC General Secretary Ihsanoglu Says He Warned Bashir Many Times 
The General Secretary of the Organization of Islamic Conference 
(OIC) Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu told Hurriyet that "Islam doesn't give 
anyone the right or privilege to kill people.  Being Muslim will not 
give him any exemption.  This is very wrong.  There is also a double 
standard here which disturbs the public in the Islamic World.  Maybe 
this caused some of the reactions.  The Al-Bashir issue was 
exaggerated.  There is no court decision on that issue but only the 
allegations."   Just because Turkey is hosting the event, doesn't 
give Turkey the right to decide on the invitees.  When the UN has a 
meeting in New York, Ahmedinejad and Kaddafi can go as well.  Chavez 
also goes and talks as he wants.  This is an international forum and 
the member countries have a right to attend.  While I am saying all 
 
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this, I am not defending the mistakes of Sudanese government in 
Darfur.  I, personally, told all this to Bashir many times and our 
position is still the same on this issue.  We have a principal 
decision on the people who are responsible of the human rights 
violations in Darfur, to be tried and punished.  However, it is 
wrong to change the whole issue to a genocide.  Genocide was not 
committed in Sudan." 
 
Editorial Opinion: Is Turkey Shifting From Its Foreign Policy Axis 
to the East? 
 
Pundits express different opinions on the issue but mostly they take 
US foreign affairs and/or think tank reviews as the basis for their 
arguments.  In mainstream Milliyet, Kadri Gursel sees serious 
problems in Turkey's current foreign policy actions.  In "No Shift 
But Discrepancies" he writes: "As seen in many examples and in the 
Iran nukes and Sudan issues recently, Turkish foreign policy suffers 
from Islamism tendency.  Up until 2005, the EU used to be the main 
parameter but it is no longer there." 
 
In a similar approach, mainstream Milliyet columnist Semih Idiz 
expects some tough times ahead for Prime Minister Erdogan during his 
upcoming visit in the U.S.  In "Erdogan Will Be Sweating in 
Washington" he observes: "there are some negative impacts on foreign 
policy which come directly from PM erdogan. Thus while he is in 
D.C., he will be facing questions on why Turkey has become a 
defender of all the countries which have problems with the West." 
 
 
Tamer Korkmaz, a columnist for Islamist oriented daily Yeni Safak 
thinks differently.  In "News That Makes Some Disappointed" he calls 
those who question Turkish foreign policy tendencies as "more royal 
than the king" while noting "Turkey has become the ruler of the game 
in its region and therefore some in Turkey as well as outside are 
not happy about." 
 
In mainstream Sabah, columnist Erdal Safak also sees that the 
ongoing controversy is about Turkey's power.  He argues: "The 
growing argument about whether Turkey is changing its foreign policy 
direction comes mainly from a growing concern about Turkey's role as 
a main regional player." 
 
Visa-Free Travel with Azerbaijan 
Sabah reports that during AKP party group meeting, PM Erdogan said 
that Turkey had reached an agreement in principle with Azerbaijan to 
lift visa requirements.  The paper says the AKP government is 
exerting efforts to improve the relations with Azerbaijan and this 
initiative is the result of these efforts. 
 
Turkish and American Companies are sued for Poisoning people with 
Waste Toxins 
Mainstream Milliyet reports that a retired contractor and a US 
soldier filed a case against American companies Halliburton and KBR, 
and the Turkish Erka company, for creating toxic waste.  The 
companies were all contractors for the US Army in Iraq and are 
accused of burning all kinds of waste in the open, including human 
bodies, animals, etc. and resulting in poisoning people with the 
waste toxin. 
 
 
Upcoming events: 
 
Q November 13: PM Erdogan will address the Parliament to give 
details about government's democratic opening 
 
November 13: FM Davutoglu will travel to Spain 
 
November 16-18: PM Erdogan will attend the UN's Food and Agriculture 
Organization (FAO)summit held in Rome on November 16-18 
 
TV News (NTV) 
 
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Domestic 
 
 
- Death Toll in Swine Flu Climbs to 40.  Health Minister announced 
an initiative for Turkey to produce its own flu vaccination 
 
- The Kurdish opening debate in Parliament will be held on Friday 
 
- AKP rejects the allegations that PM Erdogan scolded Parliament 
Speaker Sahin while the opposition demands the resignation of the 
Parliament Speaker 
 
- RTUK gives permission to private radios and TV channels to 
broadcast in Kurdish for 24 hours 
 
- Judges and Prosecutors from Sincan courthouse ready to file suit 
for compensations in connection with reports that phones in their 
courthouse were wiretapped 
 
 
World 
 
- Human Rights Watch says the running dispute between Iraq's central 
government and Kurdish authorities could erupt into a human rights 
catastrophe 
 
- British The Guardian has been ordered to pay Iraqi PM Maliki 
thousands of dollars in compensation for printing an article 
describing him as increasingly autocratic 
 
- Iran unilaterally lifts visa regime for Azerbaijani citizens. 
 
JEFFREY