ANKARA MEDIA REACTION REPORT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 001346 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 TUESDAY, MARCH 14, 2006 In Today's Papers Gul: US-Turkey Work Together to Bring Freedom, Democracy to Muslim World Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul told the ruling AK Party lawmakers at a group gathering near Ankara over the weekend that Turkey is working with the United States to help bring democracy and freedom to the Islamic world under Washington's Greater Middle East Project, Radikal reports. Gul said Turkey supported the US Broader Middle East and North Africa Initiative (BMENAI,) a project "parallel to Turkish foreign policy goals and principles." Gul stressed the importance of freedoms, saying that AKP could not have come to power without democracy. Responding to lawmakers' questions with regard to the crisis between Iran and the international community, Gul said Turkey must be prepared for a possible US intervention in Iran. Gul noted that Turkey would have to "close the door on Iran" in case of negative developments in the region, adding that an intervention in Iran will inflict serious losses on Turkey. The FM pointed to Pakistan and Israel as other countries declining to join international treaties on nuclear energy, and said that Turkey cooperated with the UN to pursue policies deterring Iran. In his column in the economic-political daily Dunya, foreign affairs writer Haluk Ulman draws attention to the growing anti-Americanism in the Islamic world and elsewhere. Ulman writes that global anti-Americanism stems from "a fury against the Bush administration's policy on the use of force." Citing a Pew poll, Ulman notes that that citizens of foreign nations generally believe that the "global war on terrorism" is not only about security but is "more about controlling Middle East oil, changing Muslim regimes, protecting Israeli interests and ruling the world." Ulman concludes, "In other words, nobody thinks that President Bush's democracy rhetoric is sincere. The Bush administration should look inside and acknowledge its policy mistakes instead of blaming others for the growing anti- Americanism in international public opinion." Ankara Not Happy with New UN Cyprus Envoy Ankara has conveyed to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan concerns over the Annan statement after meeting with Papadopoulos in Paris last week, in which Annan implied that Turkey should take new forward steps in Cyprus such as the demilitarization of the island and the transfer of Gazimagusa (Famagusta) to the Greek Cypriots, Hurriyet reports. Ankara criticized Annan for being the victim of Greek Cypriot maneuvers to delay a solution in the divided island. The UN General Secretariat has responded by saying that the statement of Annan had been misinterpreted, stressing that Annan supported Turkey's action plan for Cyprus. The economic/political daily Referans commented that Ankara still trusted Annan, but that Turks believed the UN Special Cyprus Representative Michael Moller was "biased." Ankara believes that Moller's attitude favoring the Greek Cypriots influenced the developments in Cyprus. Unemployed Turkish Workers Find Jobs in Iraq, Afghanistan Yeni Safak reports Turkey's labor force has shifted to Russia and the newly-independent Turkish states in Central Asia as well as to war-ravaged Iraq and Afghanistan, countries in the process of rebuilding. In 2005, 1,237 Turkish workers went to Iraq, 6,048 to Afghanistan, 6,452 to Saudi Arabia, 19,540 to Russia, and 5,775 to Kazakhstan. Qualified Turkish workers are paid monthly an average of USD 600, and engineers USD 2,000. ANKARA 00001346 002 OF 003 Allegations on a CIA Plane Landing in Diyarbakir in 2002 According to mainstream daily Hurriyet, the Turkey angle to the alleged CIA detention flights landing in the third countries deepens with every passing day. Earlier, it was reported that one of these CIA planes had landed in Istanbul's Sabiha Gokcen airport and the second one had landed in Adana. According to the new allegation, a 'Gulfstream V' type CIA plane landed in Diyarbakir on November 25, 2002. This plane, owned by "Premier Executive Transport Services' company (a side contractor),took off from Frankfurt and landed in Diyarbakir. There is no information on how long the plane stayed in Diyarbakir, the number of passengers aboard or where the plane went after Diyarbakir. Change in the Turkish Citizenship Law Hurriyet: The Government decided to make an amendment to the Turkish Citizenship Law as a part of the reform framework for EU harmonization. According to the latest draft presented to the Council of Ministers, conscientious objection to compulsory military service will no longer be grounds for annulment of Turkish citizenship. Government spokesman Cemil Cicek signaled there would be a change in the compulsory military service law as well. TV Highlights NTV (8 a.m) Domestic News - The head of the Turkish General Staff, General Hilmi Ozkok, said a provincial prosecutor's charges that Land Forces Commander General Yasar Buyukanit abused his authority have actually shown Buyukanit's greatness. - Turkish Parliament on Tuesday will vote on a motion filed by the main opposition CHP against Finance Minister Kemal Unakitan for irregularities. The ruling AK Party said the motion was politically motivated. - The jandarma will hand over to the police the task of Turkish border security. A police force of 70,000 will protect Turkish borders. The EU will extend Euro 685,000 for the restructuring of border security in line with EU rules. - Armenian historians said they will not join the Armenian conference to be held in Istanbul University on March 15-17 with the participation of more than 50 specialists from Turkey and abroad, including US Professor Justin McCarthy. - A conference on "Turkey's Kurdish Question" over the weekend at Istanbul's Bilgi University proposed Kurdish should be accepted the second official language in Turkey. International News -Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis said Greece was not ready for Turkey's EU membership. - The radical Shiite leader, Muqtada al-Sadr said there was civil war in Iraq, and called for calm. - The Iraqi Turkmen Front claimed the Kurdish peshmerge in the Iraqi National Guard had attacked the Turkmen village of Tuzhurmatu last week. - The British Defense Secretary John Reid announced that about 800 British troops will be withdrawn from Iraq in May. ANKARA 00001346 003 OF 003 - The Iraqi Special Tribunal adjourned the hearing of Saddam Hussein and seven aides until Wednesday, March 15. - Dutch officials said Slobodan Milosevic deliberately took the wrong drug, Rifampicin, to neutralize heart medication in an attempt to force The Hague to transfer him to Moscow for treatment. The family of former Yugoslav president pushed for a Belgrade state funeral for the indicted war criminal. - A US judge adjourned the death penalty trial of al-Qaida conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui for 48 hours after what she termed a violation of rules against witnesses by a government lawyer. Economy News - The ruling AK Party government will not hurry to seek President Sezer's approval to appoint Erdem Basci to govern Central Bank (CB),but will wait to see Turkish market support for Basci, the current CB deputy governor. - Austria's oil company OMV announced that it bought a 34 percent stake in Turkish oil corporation Petrol Ofisi, owned by the media mogul Aydin Dogan. WILSON