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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 ANKARA 000062 
 
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 
THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2010 
 
Media Highlights: 
 
How the US Is Playing 
 
Clinton Calls Turkish-Cypriot Leader Talat (Sabah) 
TRNC President Mehmet Ali Talat said that Secretary Clinton called 
him last night to offer US assistance in any way in order to resolve 
the Cyprus issue and to congratulate him for his courage.  Talat 
said "This was a telephone conversation reflecting increased US 
interest to the issue.  I thanked the Secretary and told her that 
international interest would contribute positively to resolve the 
Cyprus issue." 
 
Turkish Wife of Jordanian CIA Bomber: "Every Muslim Should Be 
Anti-American" (Turkish Newsweek) 
In its January 17 edition, Turkish version of Newsweek carries an 
extended interview with Turkish citizen Defne Bayrak, the wife of 
Jordanian CIA bomber. She admits her husband had close interest to 
the "Jihadist internet sites" and expressed support for him being a 
suicide bomber: "It is not easy for one to blow himself up but he 
was going through an intellectual transformation for a long time. 
He always complained about lack of action against the US 
occupations.  He always wanted to be in the Jihad areas.  I respect 
what he did even though that his own choice.  I don't believe he was 
ever working for the CIA.  He was a strong enemy to the US, and he 
talked about this openly.  I think every Muslim should be against 
America." 
 
In the Headlines 
 
Israel Apologizes:  "Belated Common Sense" (Hurriyet) 
After a day of screaming headlines condemning the undiplomatic 
treatment of its Ambassador to Israel, Turkish media was triumphant 
over the official apology, as in liberal Radikal's "Israel Says 
Sorry" and CNNTurk's "Ankara Satisfied, Argument with Israel Over." 
Media across the board treated the official apology as coming "as a 
result of Ankara's strong ultimatum at the highest levels."  In 
"Belated Common Sense," mainstream Hurriyet lauds Turkey's solid 
stance and opines:  "Israeli Deputy FM Ayalon made a formal apology 
which came after two earlier statements neither of which contained 
an apology."  Israel made a "stupid move" says Milliyet while 
mainstream Vatan draws attention to the Israeli President's 
intervention to solve the crisis: "Peres Said 'One Minute' Against 
Insolence."  Islamist Yeni Safak also notes: "Peres Ordered and PM 
Netanyahu and Ayalon Wrote the Letter Together."  Meanwhile, news 
channel NTV proclaimed: "Ayalon's Career Finished."  All media 
carried PM Erdogan's remarks upon his return from Moscow which 
officially ended the crisis: "We received the response that we 
wanted and expected in diplomatic terms.  The letter includes an 
expression of apology." 
 
Commentary:  The issue has become an almost sole topic for pundits. 
Sedat Ergin of mainstream Hurriyet characterized events as a 
"derailing of Turkish-Israeli relations,"  and notes time will be 
needed to put relations back on track:  "All of this will make PM 
Erdogan even harsher than before in his Israel rhetoric."  Liberal 
Radikal's Murat Yetkin considers the last series of events the "end 
of the golden era for Israel" concluding that this is a clear 
indication that "Israel is no longer capable of 'I can do whatever 
and however I want attitude." Meanwhile, mainstream Milliyet's Asli 
Aydintasbas worries about the Turkish media's prevailing 
anti-Israeli tone, noting "these type of attitudes constitute solid 
ground for anti-Semitism."  She disagrees with PM Erdogan's comment 
that "this is the kind of media I want to see" and asserts that the 
"Turkish media is united in hate against Israel."  Islamist Yeni 
Safak writers Akif Emre and Fehmi Koru believe that Israel's 
irrational diplomacy resulted because "the government is very 
unhappy about Turkey's growing diplomatic power."  Islamist Zaman, 
via its guest columnist professor Gokhan Bacik, advises "caution and 
calm" to the AKP government: "Turkey wants to be a regional 
diplomatic power but it cannot be pursued through a crisis-driven 
 
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approach even if Ankara is one hundred percent right in its 
arguments." 
 
Erdogan in Russia: Nuclear Plant Groundbreaking on November 10; Visa 
With Russia to be Lifted (Hurriyet, Zaman) 
Today's papers give extensive front page coverage to PM Erdogan's 
visit to Russia where the two countries signed a deal to construct a 
nuclear power plant in Turkey and agreed to change the visa regime. 
Vatan and Haber Turk emphasize "Nuclear Plant Agreement with Russia" 
 and Hurriyet explains that the construction will begin on November 
¶10.  Milliyet says Turkey decided to launch the initiative to award 
Russia with the job of constructing Turkey's first nuclear power 
plant without opening a new tender.  Islamist-oriented Yeni Safak 
headlines "100 Billion USD in Five Years" and reports that the 
countries will raise their bilateral trade volume to 100 billion 
dollars in five years.  Meanwhile, intellectual/Islamist oriented 
Zaman reports that the most concrete outcome of Erdogan's visit to 
Russia is the compromise reached on lifting of visa procedures 
mutually.  The two countries will reach an agreement on lifting the 
visa requirement during Russian President Medvedev's visit to Turkey 
in May or June, adds Zaman. 
 
Davutoglu: Turkey Can Broker Peace with Taliban (Zaman) and 'Seize 
the Chance' on Cyprus 
Hurriyet, Haberturk, Radikal, Cumhuriyet and Zaman report before 
meeting with the British Foreign Secretary David Miliband in London, 
Foreign Minister Davutoglu told the British press Turkey might try 
to convince the Taliban to join the political process in 
Afghanistan.  Papers cite The Times and Guardian as commenting 
"Ankara aimed to repeat its success in 2004 in convincing the Sunnis 
in Iraq to end their boycott of the elections." Davutoglu also said 
Cyprus peace talks had reached a "critical stage," that the Greek 
and Turkish Cypriot leaders had met 60 times, and that "guarantor 
powers" Britain and Turkey should seize the chance to pin down a 
comprehensive settlement.  Mainstream Haberturk comments Davutoglu's 
proposal "surprised" the West, whereas leftist-nationalist 
Cumhuriyet says Britain "partially agrees" with the view, albeit 
putting a distinction between the moderates and radicals within the 
Taliban. 
 
Ihsanoglu: Yemen Can Become a Second Afghanistan (Zaman) 
The Turkish Secretary-General of the Organization of the Islamic 
Conference (OIC), Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, visiting New York as the 
guest of Ban Ki-Moon, told the Islamist-oriented Zaman that Yemen 
was prone to become a "second Afghanistan."  "Geographically, Yemen 
is suitable for illegal activities.  Infiltrations of terrorist 
groups hardens the situation of the existing structures in the 
country," said Ihsanoglu.  He warned that the "distresses" should 
not spread in Yemen, which would jeopardize its territorial 
integrity.  Ihsanoglu also noted the reasons why terror was not 
rooted in Turkey, Indonesia and Senegal were multi-party democracy 
and the lack of "extremist interpretations" of religion. 
 
Jenkins Insolently Accuses Turks of Having 'Psychotic Problems' 
(Sabah) 
British journalist and analyst Gareth Jenkins, who is based in 
Istanbul, told political observers at the Woodrow Wilson Center in 
Washington on Tuesday that Americans should watch DVDs of "Valley of 
the Wolves" in order to see a lot of the psychotic problems Turkish 
society has.  According to Jenkins the psychotic elements in the TV 
series include a large amount of Ottoman nostalgia, Turkish racial 
supremacy and even anti-Semitism.  When he was asked about the 
recent tensions between Turkey and Israel, Jenkins said "There was 
always anti-Semitism in Turkey and this increased remarkably last 
few years."  Following Jenkins' remarks, an official from the 
Turkish Embassy in Washington verbally reacted to Jenkins by saying 
"these remarks are unacceptable," adds Sabah. 
 
Migration of Jews from Turkey to Israel Increase Tenfold (NTV 
website) 
NTV website held a phone interview with Eyal Peretz, the head of 
 
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Turkish Jews' Society in Israel.  Peretz said over the past ten 
years, an average of 60 Jews emigrated from Turkey to Israel, but in 
2009, 600 came for good, marking a ten-fold increase.  He said the 
main reasons for the migration were the "disillusionment" of Jews 
living in Turkey, the "anti-Jewish" rallies in the country and the 
incidents that took place between the two countries last year. 
"Emigration to Israel has increased naturally in the face of the 
burning of Israeli flags in Istanbul, the Turkish PM calling 
Turkey's Jews as 'guests,' and other rising anti-Jewish 
developments," said Peretz.  Peretz also said they wrote a letter of 
apology to Turkey's Tel Aviv Embassy after the humiliation of 
Ambassador Celikkol.  "This incident has given the Turkish people a 
wrong impression on the Israeli people, just in the sense that The 
Valley of The Wolves and Separation serials stoked a rise in the 
extreme views held against the Jewish congregation in Turkey," 
emphasized Peretz. 
 
Haiti Razed to the Ground (Milliyet) 
Front pages of newspapers feature photos and strong headlines about 
Haiti's devastating earthquake on Tuesday highlighting the loss of 
life and massive damage to landmark sites such as the official 
palace and the United Nation's building.  In a front page banner 
headline "Haiti Cries," mainstream Sabah says the "Haitian PM 
estimated that tens of thousands of people have died in the 
aftermath of the earthquake, " and notes "around 140 of the UN 
employees in Haiti, including the mission's leader, remained trapped 
under the rubble after Tuesday's massive earthquake." Mainstream 
Hurriyet in "One Minute Nightmare. Earthquake Destroys Haiti's 
Capital," highlights that "the US and other countries mobilized a 
huge rescue and relief effort to assist the quake-hit Haiti. 
President Obama rushes aid to Haiti and orders a sweeping military 
and civilian operation while World Bank pledges $100million. Turkish 
Red Crescent sends a leader team to the region to help with rescue 
efforts."  Liberal Radikal headline reads, "7 Magnitude Earthquake 
Razes Haiti," while mainstream Milliyet says "7.0 earthquake was the 
largest recorded in Haiti since 1770."  In "Earthquake Strikes 
People Depending on Muddy Bread," Islamist Yeni Safak  focuses on 
the people and says "the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere 
with its people making bread out of mud, was hit by the biggest 
earthquake in 200 years."  All papers note "Turkish General 
Directorate of Security said that 52 Turkish policemen assigned to 
the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) were reported to be 
in good condition in the wake of the earthquake in Haiti." 
 
Greek and Turkish Boats Collide in Kardak:  CNNTurk and online 
outlets report that a Greek and Turkish coastguard ships collided on 
1/13 off the coast of Kardak (Ima) and quote Greek state broadcaster 
ERT that the Greek side considered the collision "unimportant," and 
that Greek officials reached out to Turkish counterparts regarding 
the mishap. 
 
TV Spotlight (CNN Turk) 
 
Six people have been arrested in security operations against the 
PKK's arm KCK in the provinces of Bingol and Hakkari. 
 
Diyarbakir Mayor Osman Baydemir has been banned by court from 
leaving Turkey temporarily in connection with an investigation 
against the PKK/KCK. 
 
The ruling AK Party Women's Branch has invited Secretary Clinton to 
join March 8 World Women's Day activities in Turkey. 
 
Istanbul 2010 European Capital of Culture activities will be 
launched with a formal ceremony on January 16. 
 
The first round of intensified talks in Cyprus has failed to produce 
results. 
 
Greek PM Papandreou said he will give a positive response to the 
letter PM Erdogan sent on October 30, and will arrange a meeting 
 
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with the Turkish leader. 
 
Yemeni security forces killed a suspected al-Qaeda leader in a raid 
on a house in the Shabwa province. 
 
Norway has apologized for the death of a Turkish woman whose son was 
beaten by the Norwegian police.  The issue will be taken to the 
Turkish parliament's agenda. 
 
JEFFREY