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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 001726 
 
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 
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2009 
 
Media Highlights 
 
More Soldiers Yes, Combat No (Aksam) 
Mass circulation Aksam headlines in "More Soldiers Yes, Combat No" 
that Turkish PM Erdogan will agree to an additional 500 more troops 
for the new Afghanistan surge, but they won't be in combat. 
Cumhuriyet concurs that Turkey will offer more troops (number 
unspecified) while Islamist-oriented Zaman in "We Don't Want to 
Fight," notes President Gul's comments on 12/3 that "if we fight, we 
will lose the respect of all sides, including the Taliban" but that 
Erdogan will stress that Turkey was ready to continue to make 
contributions in Afghanistan in his December 7 meeting with 
President Obama.  Mainstream Hurriyet in "Uncle Sam Wants 1000 More 
Combat Troops" reports that the US has been actively pressuring 
Turkey to increase its numbers and that Ambassador Jeffrey was 
"feeling the pulse of Ankara" before the PM's upcoming White House 
meeting.  CNNTurk TV and online writes in  "5,000 Troops Pledged to 
Afghanistan," that "NATO member countries plan to send 5,000 more 
troops to Afghanistan. CNNTurk reported that Italy, Poland, England, 
Spain, Czech Republic and Slovakia have agreed to boost their troop 
commitment but Turkey will hold at around 1700, having recently 
boosted numbers in taking over the Kabul regional command last 
month.   CNN Turk also reported on Turkey's bid at NATO to include 
Bosnia in MAP. 
 
Mainstream Milliyet columnist Sami Kohen says that "President Obama 
wanted to show that the war in Afghanistan is not only a US war and 
asked for active support from the international community, mainly 
not to allow Afghanistan and its neighbors to be dominated by an 
out-dated Taliban regime."  He adds, however, that Turkey's strategy 
is based on cultural ties to Afghanistan and therefore, "it will not 
be possible for Erdogan to accept such a request from President 
Obama."  Mainstream Hurriyet columnist Oktay Eksi reflects his 
concern that Erdogan will ultimately say yes to Obama's request for 
more troops.  "This is not a new request for Turkey to take an 
active role," he writes, "However, just glancing in the past, we'll 
see many cases that Turkey's red lines have been violated by the AKP 
government."  Noting that the GoT has caved in previous stances 
regarding Barzani and others, Eksi writes "that is why we are 
concerned that Erdogan will change his stance on Afghanistan issue 
as well and accept Obama's request." 
 
Holbrooke: Turkey Has Huge Potential in Afghanistan (Radikal) 
Liberal Radikal, in an above the fold banner story headlined "Turkey 
Is Indispensable," showcases Radikal columnist Murat Yetkin's 
exclusive interview with Special Envoy Richard Holbrooke.  In his 
12/4 column, Yetkin writes that Holbrooke commented that: "We are 
not requesting anything from Turkey for Afghanistan and Pakistan. 
We are talking about what else we can do together with Turkey. 
There is already Turkish military presence in Afghanistan, anyway. 
If Turkey doesn't send additional troops, it will not harm our 
Afghanistan policies.  However, Turkey's impact on Afghanistan is 
more than any other country and second after the US.  Turkey has the 
potential to do more in Afghanistan than any other country.  We 
believe that Turkey's cooperation in the fight in Afghanistan and 
Pakistan, is indispensable for the US.  Therefore, we are working 
intensively with Turkey."  Murat Yetkin concludes that  "as 
President Gul said, it is critically important that Turkey is not a 
fighting force in that region" and notes that "the US and NATO has 
started to see this, as well." 
 
Davutoglu: Turkey Will Press Hard for Bosnia's NATO-MAP Membership 
(CNNTurk, BBC) 
CNNTurk and BBC report from Brussels that Foreign Minister Davutoglu 
said Turkey would press hard for NATO membership for 
Bosnia-Herzegovina and stressed that Bosnians felt left out by the 
EU, which has extended visa-free travel to Serbia and Montenegro. 
"We want Bosnia-Herzegovina to feel that the international community 
cares for them," said Davutoglu, "we cannot forget that we watched 
three years of massacres in Bosnia-Herzegovina, now we can't just 
leave them alone." 
 
ANKARA 00001726  002 OF 003 
 
 
 
Davutoglu Details Efforts for Cooperation With Greece (Radikal) 
Papers reported that FM Davutoglu said Turkey and Greece should turn 
their problems into advantage by agreeing on a common vision for the 
future.  Islamist-oriented Zaman says that Davutoglu, who also 
interviewed with Greek Ta Nea, agreed to four important principles 
with Greek PM/FM Papandreou.  Returning on plane from Athens on his 
way to Brussels, Zaman and Radikal  report that Davutolglu listed 
four priorities:  establishing a joint high level strategic 
mechanism; adopting a joint Turkey - Greece attitude towards the EU; 
establishing regional cooperation measures in the Balkans, Middle 
East,  Eastern Med and the Caucasus; and cooperating in global level 
initiatives such as the upcoming Copenhagen Climate Change 
conference. 
 
Constitutional Court to Hear DTP Closure Case December 8 
Islamist-oriented Zaman reports the Constitutional Court would begin 
hearing on December 8 the closure case which had been filed against 
the Kurdish DTP for being a focal point of separatist activities. 
The court rapporteur is reportedly weighing for closure.  If the 
party is closed, its lawmakers could be given political bans of five 
years each.  The votes of seven out of the 11 court members are 
needed for disbanding the party.  Liberal Radikal says the case was 
filed two years ago, but the court has decided to hear it now, in 
the middle of the government's Kurdish "democratic overture" 
process. 
 
Fight Against Climate Change: Turkey's Growing Support 
Today's Zaman reports that President Gul is planning to attend the 
last two days of the Copenhagen climate change conference and 
reports that parliamentarians hailed the move as evidence of 
Turkey's growing support for the fight against global climate 
change.  Speaking at the inauguration of Turkey's new water pipeline 
system, Gul noted that "with today's modern systems, it is possible 
to use and benefit from the water currently emptying into the 
Mediterranean."  Anatolian News Agency reports on the ongoing 
Economic Coordination Council meeting in Ankara that is addressing 
climate change issues ahead of Copenhagen.  Meanwhile, in "Turkish 
Farmers to Reap Bitter Harvest," Hurriyet Daily News online reports 
that "Turkey will have a climate similar to that in North Africa 
with increasing temperature and decreasing precipitation" which will 
"threaten food quality and agricultural productivity." The paper 
cites experts from Ankara University's agriculture department who 
testified that "climate change is likely to hit the production of 
crops that require water, such as cotton and sugar beets" and 
commented that Turkey should invest in high-tech irrigation systems 
and the production of drought-resistant crops. 
 
TV News (NTV) 
 
Domestic 
 
Q Pharmacists, claiming they suffer great losses over the government 
discount on medicine prices, will pull down shutters Friday. 
Q Opposition CHP and MHP have voiced concern that the PKK's 
imprisoned leader Abdullah Ocalan could be granted a "retrial." 
Q 46 more people die of the pandemic strain of H1N1 and the total 
death toll in Turkey climbs to 223. 
Q Fitch Ratings upgrades Turkey's credit ranking two levels to BB+. 
 
Q Airbus has announced Turkey plans to buy 277 new aircraft worth 
USD 28.3 billion over the next 20 years. 
 
World 
 
Q A survey conducted in France shows that 46 percent of French 
people were against the construction of minarets. 
Q The White House Spokesman Robert Gibbs told a news briefing time 
was running out for Iran to avoid sanctions over its nuclear 
program. 
Q Afghanistan's President Karzai said he was willing to talk with 
 
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the Taliban chief in a bid to bring peace to the country. 
Q The Kremlin has announced Russia and the Vatican have agreed to 
establish full diplomatic relations. 
JEFFREY