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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 ANKARA 000040 
 
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, JANUARY 8, 2010 
 
Media Highlights: Obama and the Security Flaw Debate; Al-Qaida in 
Yemen; Congressman Hastings Visit; Armenian Genocide Paper for 
Turkish Student in NY; Romans Relocated; PM Erdogan's 2010 Plan; 
Erdogan-General Basbug Meeting; German FM Visits Ankara; Pope 
Benedict on Catholic Minority in Turkey; Iran Executes PJAK Leader; 
TV Spotlight 
 
US Embassy Ankara - Turkey Media Reaction - January 8, 2010 as 
prepared by the Public Affairs Information Office 
 
How the US is Playing 
 
President Obama's Security Upgrade 
In "Security Failure Debates Continue in the US," Islamist-oriented 
Zaman online highlights "White House says the US administration 
failed to understand the intelligence that it already had" and then 
reports the new measures Obama laid out to cover security gaps 
exposed by the bomb plot.  NTVMSNBC online reports "Obama: We'll 
Fight the Intelligence Defects," noting "President Obama promises 
stronger aviation security after a failed attempt to blow up a US 
passenger plane."  In "Obama Takes Responsibility For the Airline 
Bomb Plot,"   CNNTurk online says "President Obama took ultimate 
responsibility for the security failures that led to the attempted 
Christmas Day bombing and ordered reforms aimed at preventing future 
attacks." 
 
Al-Qaida in Yemen 
Turkish papers continue to comment on Al-Qaida in Yemen as well as 
security steps taken by the US saying that "military means might not 
work."  In "Obama's Impasse" liberal Radikal's Haluk Sahin observes 
that the Yemen situation is "a question with no possible answers." 
Expressing regret about President Obama's speech which he describes 
as "giving up on peaceful messages" the writer says: "There is an 
obvious security issue and the main threat, Al-Qaida, has not been 
eliminated.  President Obama has started giving concessions to the 
war lobbies.  However the targeted countries are all Muslim nations 
and unfortunately at the end of the day these American efforts will 
be providing more ground to Al-Qaida presence."  Another pundit, 
Yasemin Congar notes the potential for global conflict if the US 
intervenes in Yemen.  In leftist Taraf, she writes: "If there is an 
intervention in Yemen, the impact will not be only in Yemen.  The 
Obama administration will have to put off its goals for the Middle 
East, including to persuade Iran for peaceful nuclear energy.  In 
the end it will turn to a global conflict from Saudi Arabia to Iran 
and to others." 
 
Congressman Hastings Visit: "Obama's Right Hand Man Asked About Gays 
and the Democratic Initiative" (Aksam) 
Mainstream Aksam carries a front-page story covering Congressman 
Hastings meetings with NGOs during his visit in Ankara.  The report 
focuses on his interest in Turkey's stance on anti-discrimination 
issues.  The reports says: "Guests of the meeting with Hastings at 
the DCM residence included Ayse Sucu, Chairperson of the Diyanet 
Foundation's Women Branch; Ozturk Turkdogan, Chairman of the Human 
Rights Association; Hidayet Turksal, Chairperson of the Ankara 
Women's Platform; Yilmaz Ensaroglu of SETA and Baris Sulu, 
Coordinator of the Pink Life Organization. Hastings, who is known 
with his work against discrimination, asked whether gays are 
recruited to do their military service.  Sulu responded by saying 
that gays are presenting medical reports to avoid military service. 
He added that if the military discovered that a recruit was gay then 
his family is called in a humiliating tone by saying 'come and get 
your daughter.' Hastings asked whether PM Erdogan's wife Emine 
continues to wear a headscarf.  He added that as a black person he 
knew well what discrimination meant since they struggled for 120 
years to achieve their rights.  Hastings also asked what their 
response would be  if the U.S. Congress discussed the Armenian 
Genocide Resolution.  In response, he was referred to the murder of 
Hrant Dink, which indicated that there are still some in Turkey who 
treat the Armenian community with ill intentions.  The Congressman 
also asked about democratic initiatives and wondered about the 
 
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reasons for the closure of DTP even though it is this government 
that paved the way for a Kurdish television channel." 
 
Turkish Student in NY Asked to Prepare Armenian 'Genocide' Paper 
(Milliyet) 
Mainstream Milliyet and leftist-nationalist Cumhuriyet report a high 
school Turkish student in Manhattan was asked in his World History 
class to prepare a paper on the "genocide" of Armenians at the hand 
of Ottoman-Turkish troops in 1915.  The student's family wrote a 
letter of objection to the school administration, saying both the 
topic and bibliography provided were "biased."  The family 
reportedly applied to the Turkish Consulate in New York for help. 
 
In the Headlines 
 
Turkish Roma Forced to Relocate 
All media outlets report that escalating tensions in Selendi town in 
the province of Manisa continued from earlier this week when the 
homes, shops and cars of the Roma in the town were torched. 
Pro-government papers preferred to down play the situation by saying 
"Roma asked to be relocated due to safety reasons."  Liberal Radikal 
reports Burhan Uckun, the person who allegedly caused the tensions 
by violating smoking ban in a coffee house, said the owner of the 
coffee house refused to serve him tea and called him a "dirty 
gypsy."  The quarrel escalated, and resulted in assaults against the 
gypsies in the town after which the governor of Manisa, Celalettin 
Guvenc, relocated 76 gypsies to another town, Gordes.  Mainstream 
Hurriyet claims the gypsies decided to leave when police said their 
safety could not be guaranteed.  Cumhuriyet reports the gypsies have 
not been welcomed in Gordes either and town residents rallied for 
them to be sent away.  The residents of Selendi told papers that for 
over 20 years, the gypsies have caused distress in the town.  State 
Minister Faruk Celik said the riots in Selendi were "a local 
incident."  Noting the seriousness of hate crimes, mainstream 
Hurriyet's columnist Sedat Ergin calls on the government to take 
immediate action: "This is an obvious example of a modern-age 
deportation.  The government should take action to fulfill Turkey's 
commitment with OSCE against hate crimes, including a parliamentary 
commission that has to be set up to deal with these issues." 
Mainstream Milliyet Headlines "74 Gypsies Exiled from Their Town" 
while Milliyet columnist Ece Temelkuran warns that this cannot be 
considered a singular event and says there is the potential for more 
hate crimes against other ethnic groups and people with different 
sexual or political orientation. 
 
Erdogan's 2010 Plan (Milliyet) 
Mainstream Milliyet reports that the government is preparing to pass 
critical constitutional reforms on 'democratic opening' and 
'judicial issues' without seeking the support of the opposition. 
Three hundred and sixty-seven parliamentary votes are needed for 
approval of a constitutional amendment in the parliament.  If the 
votes is between 330 and 367, a general referendum is held on the 
amendment within 120 days.  AKP, which has 337 seats in the 
parliament, submitted a proposal for holding a referendum within 45 
days.  Milliyet notes that the AKP plans to pass reforms to advance 
the democratic opening, make changes in the structure of the High 
Board of Judges and Prosecutors, make changes in regulations related 
to the banning of political parties and to make the decisions of the 
High Military Council subject to judicial review. 
 
Military Headquarters Decisions (Hurriyet) 
Today's papers report that the regular weekly meeting between PM 
Erdogan and Chief of General Staff General Basbug for the first time 
occurred in the General Staff HQs with the participation of Interior 
Minister Besir Atalay and Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin.  The 
meeting lasted for two hours forty minutes.  A written statement 
issued by the General Staff yesterday evening said domestic security 
and other issues were discussed in the meeting.  Mainstream Hurriyet 
lists the decisions that emerged from the meeting as follows: State 
institutions will be more sensitive to each other, the picture of 
conflict between the institutions will be eradicated, relations 
 
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between the police and the gendarmerie will be enhanced and 
cooperation will be established, institutions will establish healthy 
information sharing and common action should be taken to counter 
terrorism. 
 
In a related story, all TV Channels announced as flash news this 
morning that the TGS cancelled its regular weekly press briefing and 
said that briefings will be held when necessary. 
 
German FM Vows to Back Turkey's EU Bid 
Today's papers highlight visiting German Foreign Minister Guido 
Westerwelle's promise to Turkey and quote him assuring Turkey that 
"I'm not speaking as a tourist with short pants but as a minister on 
behalf of the German government."  Commenting on German Chancellor 
Merkel's resistance to Turkey's EU bid, Westerwelle said "what has 
been agreed between the EU and Turkey is still valid.  The German 
government will fulfill its commitments.  You have my word on it." 
Islamist-oriented Zaman says that the stance of the German FM and 
his contacts in Ankara were more constructive than expected. 
Following his meeting with Westerwelle, FM Davutoglu announced that 
the two countries were going to implement a mechanism for strategic 
dialog.  Hurriyet says the support extended by Westerwelle to Turkey 
was historical. 
 
Pope: Turkey Must Recognize the Status of its Catholic Minority (NTV 
website) 
Hurriyet, CNN-Turk and NTV websites report that on Thursday Pope 
Benedict XVI called on Turkey to recognize the legal status of its 
Catholic minority.  Under the headline, "Pope seeks more freedom for 
Catholics in Turkey," the Hurriyet website says unlike Turkey's 
other non-Muslim minorities, such as Orthodox Greeks and Jews, the 
Catholic Church is not formally registered in Turkey, which makes it 
difficult for the Catholics and Protestants to practice their 
religion. 
 
Iran Executes PJAK Leader (CNN Turk website) 
CNN Turk website reports Fesih Yasemini, a PKK/PJAK leader 
imprisoned in the city of Mako, was executed Wednesday.  An Iranian 
Revolutionary Court sentenced Yasemini and five other PJAK members 
to death for "perpetrating bomb attacks, homicide, abduction, drug 
trafficking and terror."  Other PJAK leaders, Ihsan Setahiyan and 
Hasan Hikmet Demir, have been executed over the past months, reports 
CNN Turk. 
 
TV Spotlight (CNN Turk) 
 
Turkey's government bond rating was raised to BA2 from BA3 at 
Moody's Investors Service, and the outlook was changed from positive 
to stable. 
 
The conference of Turkish ambassadors in Ankara ends today.  Foreign 
Minister Davutoglu and other participants will continue talks in the 
city of Mardin over the weekend. 
 
Addressing the ambassadors, Prime Minister Erdogan said Turkey's 
interest in Gaza was an expression of "humanism and concern for 
others." 
 
MHP leader Devlet Bahceli said developments in Turkey would push for 
early elections in the autumn of 2010. 
 
State Minister for Bulgarians Abroad, Bozhidar Dimitrov, apologized 
for "compensation claims" from Turkey after being harshly warned by 
his Prime Minister Boyko Borisov. 
 
Foreign Minister Davutoglu said Turkey presented a note of protest 
to Norway after reports about that a Turkish woman died in Oslo when 
she was denied swift medical attention and her son faced police 
brutality. 
 
Tobacco producers first increased prices in the face of new taxes 
 
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levied, but then curbed the prices.  This will result in a decrease 
in tax revenues for the government. 
 
At least 140 people have been killed in south Sudan as aid agencies 
warn of new civil strife. 
SILLIMAN