ANKARA MEDIA REACTION REPORT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 001121 SIPDIS 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 SUBJECT: ANKARA MEDIA REACTION REPORT MONDAY, MARCH 6, 2006 In Today's Papers Van Prosecutor Files Complaint against General Buyukanit All Papers: The office of the Chief Prosecutor of the eastern province of Van filed a complaint against Land Forces Commander General Yasar Buyukanit on charges that he has tried to influence the trial procedures over the Semdinli incidents - domestic bombings for which members of the military have been charged. General Buyukanit had said about a non-commissioned officer, Ali Kaya, who is suspected of having been involved in bombings, "I know him, he is a good kid." Because it has no jurisdiction to investigate him, the Chief Prosecutor's office has forwarded the file on Buyukanit to the Turkish General Staff (TGS) military prosecutor's office. The Chief Prosecutor's indictment also accuses the commander of the army corps in Van and two generals in Hakkari of abusing their authority by ordering subordinates to carry out illegal intelligence activities. Any investigation against Buyukanit and the regional commanders requires the permission of TGS Chief General Hilmi Ozkok. General Buyukanit said he would be honored if he were tried in such a case. Hurriyet says the military is uneasy with the prosecutor's style in the indictment, stressing that the charges are politically motivated. Retired generals told Sabah the indictment is a plot against Land Forces Commander Buyukanit to block him from becoming the new TGS chief in August. Milliyet says that the indictment also accused Buyukanit of organized crime and forgery in forming a secret organization between 1997 and ¶2000. Justice Minister Cemil Cicek said the government had no role in the indictment, adding that it did not interfere in the "independent judiciary." Iran-related News Hurriyet, Milliyet, Sabah, Vatan, Cumhuriyet, Radikal, Zaman, Yeni Safak and others report the IAEA, after a meeting in Vienna today, may advise the UN Security Council to impose sanctions on Iran. Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani stated that Iran will not halt uranium enrichment. Alaaddin Burujerdi, the head of Iranian Parliament's Commission of Foreign Politics, Security and Defense, met in Ankara with Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc, State Minister Besir Atalay, the head of the parliamentary commission for human rights Mehmet Dulger, National Security Council (MGK) Secretary General Yigit Alpogan, and Foreign Ministry SIPDIS Undersecretary Ali Tuygan to seek support in the "nuclear crisis," papers reported over the weekend. Hurriyet reported that Turkey has urged Burujerdi not to confront the international community, and to consider Russia's proposal for cooperation in uranium enrichment. Israeli operatives in northern Iraq have been working for a year to detect the nuclear sites in Iran, papers report. Several papers reported over the weekend that the US State Department plans to assign diplomats for Iran to be stationed in Istanbul, Dubai, London, Frankfurt and Baku. Monday papers cite the British Sunday Times report that the Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern Affairs, Elizabeth Cheney, has been authorized to control a USD 85 million fund to promote regime change in Iran through civilian efforts. Papers also quote Pentagon official Dan Goure as telling the British Times that Turkey may be used as a base during a possible US military operation against Iran. ANKARA 00001121 002 OF 003 Commenting in the liberal-intellectual daily Radikal, Omer Taspinar accuses the US of applying a "double standard" for "tactical reasons" when it openly supported the Indian nuclear program but rejected the Iranian program. Taspinar concludes that while "India's responsible leadership and its democratic regime are strong values for Washington; it remains to be seen whether the US administration will be able to convince the Congress and the world of this." Gul: Greater Middle East Initiative Does Not Include Military Intervention Milliyet, Aksam, Cumhuriyet, Yeni Safak: Foreign Minister Gul commented in response to a parliamentary motion by the main opposition CHP that the Greater Middle East Project does not mean "military or political intervention." "It is among the priorities of Turkey's foreign policy that all local and international initiatives to back democratization efforts in the region be supported," Gul said. Turkey will not present itself as a model, but will contribute to such efforts by sharing with regional countries its experience of democratization and economic development, according to Gul. Iraqi Government Formation and Turkey's Role Cumhuriyet, Vatan: In a secret meeting with the Iraqi National Dialogue Council leader Salih Mutlak in Ankara before Turkey's special Iraq envoy Oguz Celikkol's visit to Iraq last month, Ankara asked Mutlak to mediate between the Sunni and Shiite groups in Iraq, Cumhuriyet reported on Saturday. Ankara also urged Mutlak to support Ibrahim Jafari as Prime Minister. Mutlak is expected to visit Ankara by late March together with the radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Monday Vatan claims that during his meeting with Prime Minister Erdogan last week, Jafari assured that Kirkuk will not be tied to the regional Kurdish administration. President Talabani, angered by the promise made by Jafari, asked the Shiites' prime minister-nominee to resign, according to Vatan. Yilmaz Oztuna, commenting on the future of the War in Iraq and the US's war on terrorism in the conservative daily Turkiye, says that while history tells us that the US has entered into global scale wars and "ended up winning them," it also tells us "the US has always made the worst possible peace agreements." Oztuna warns his readers to "expect to see further military operations from the US because the global war against terrorism has just started" and to "expect mistakes as well." He concludes that Turkey had better have its own "flawless strategic plan to get the minimum possible harm." US Academic Sacked from University Aksam, Hurriyet: American academic Van Stone has been sacked from Bogazici University in Istanbul for insulting Islam and exalting Christianity in his lessons. His students complained that Stone also insulted Ataturk, and humiliated Turkey as being a "third world country." TV HIGHLIGHTS NTV News (7: 00 a.m.) Domestic News - 20,000 demonstrators protested in the eastern province of Erzurum against the publication of the prophet Muhammad cartoons. - Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu said in response to a parliamentary motion that 103 security personnel were killed and 292 others were wounded in the fight against terrorism ANKARA 00001121 003 OF 003 last year. International News - Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said in an interview with the London-based al-Hayat daily that al-Qaida terrorists have infiltrated the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and their operations could have dire consequences for the entire region. - Israel's acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert plans a unilateral West Bank withdrawal after forming the new cabinet. - An unidentified senior defense source told Britain's Sunday Telegraph that British and US troops are to pullout of Iraq in early 2007. - The Chief of the US CENTCOM General John Abizaid said more bombings such as the Shiite shrine in Samarra may be seen in Iraq. - Al-Qaida's second in-chief Ayman al-Zawahiri said insults against the Prophet Muhammad were part of a "crusaders' campaign" led by the United States. - Belgian police seeks fugitive DHKP-C militant Fehriye Erdal. Erdal's friends said she would turn herself in if Belgium guarantees that she will not be extradited to Turkey. Economy News - Prime Minister Erdogan signaled changes in Turkey's monetary policies after the appointment of a new Central Bank governor. - A Finance Ministry report on financial crimes said dirty money laundered in Turkey since 1997 amounts to 2,331 trillion lira. - A report drafted by the Turkish Atomic Energy Institution (TAEK) offers eight possible locations for the construction of nuclear power plants in Turkey. WILSON