ANKARA MEDIA REACTION REPORT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 001426

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
FRIDAY, MARCH 17, 2006

In Today's Papers

Foreign Minister Gul to Meet with Rice, Hadley in the US
Sabah, Turkiye, Referans, Yeni Safak: Foreign Minister
Abdullah Gul, State Minister Kursad Tuzmen, Energy
Minister Hilmi Guler, Tourism Minister Atilla Koc, and
Farming Minister Mehdi Eker will travel to the United
States to participate in the 25th annual conference of
the Turkish American Business Council (TABC),American
Turkish Council (ATC) and American Friends of Turkey
(AFOT) to be held on March 26-29. Gul will discuss Iran,
the Hamas visit to Turkey, and Turkish concerns regarding
Kirkuk and Iraq with US officials. Sabah expects
Secretary Rice to ask Gul for Turkish support to isolate
Tehran, whereas Yeni Safak, basing its report on US
sources, says Iran will not be raised during the Rice-Gul
meeting. During talks with the Americans, Gul will
express Turkey's readiness to support UN sanctions
against Iran. Rice will tell the Turks that the Hamas
visit to Turkey had caused a "confidence crisis" in ties
with Turkey. Sabah claims Ankara is concerned anger over
the Hamas visit to Turkey may cause the Jewish lobby to
cease supporting Turkey in the face of Armenian
"genocide" claims in the United States. Gul will also
meet with NSA Director Stephen Hadley and some Jewish
lobbying groups in Washington. Gul will be accompanied
by a large delegation of Turkish businessmen who will
push Americans to increase trade between the two
countries to USD 70 billion from the existing USD 10
billion.


Stability and Consensus Needed in Iraq
Yeni Safak: Speaking to NTV, Turkey's special envoy to
Iraq, Ambassador Oguz Celikkol said that Iraq had "never
come so close to a civil war." Celikkol noted that Iraq
was being dragged towards a civil war which could be
prevented by the political process in the country.
Celikkol stated that Turkey was in favor of the formation
of a government consisting of the representatives of all
groups in Iraq as soon as possible. If the new
government could take concrete steps against the PKK,
this would have a positive effect on relations between
the two countries. Celikkol added that meetings with
various groups in Iraq were continuing and the Turkish
Consulate General in Mosul would be opened after finding
a suitable location.

Columnist Murat Yetkin emphasizes that a secure and
stable Iraq is in everybody's interest. In his analysis
in the liberal-intellectual Radikal he wrote: "Given the
current situation, a national unity government for Iraq
seems like a distant dream. The Turkish special envoy
for Iraq characterizes the current situation as being
close to a civil war. The surprising development that
the US and Iran will talk about Iraq is important at this
point. Iran's suggestions might be helpful in clearing
up the confusion in Iraq. There is actually a common
point which brings the US, Turkey as well as Iran
together: the urgent need for peace in Iraq."

Danistay Rejects Annulment of Use of Turkish Bases by
Allies
All papers: The Danistay (Turkish High Court) rejected a
request by the Istanbul Bar Association to annul a
council of ministers bill that permits Turkey's allies to
use Turkish bases for one-year period. The council of
ministers had decided in June 23, 2003 to allow the US to
use Turkish bases, ports and airports for operations with

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regard to Iraq, and had extended it in 2004 and 2005.
The Danistay said the council of ministers decision was
in line with UN Security Council resolutions, and
rejected the appeal for annulment, in a move regarded by
the papers as "a visa to the US for Turkish bases."

EU Education Ministers Conference in Austria
Milliyet, Aksam, Cumhuriyet: The EU Education Ministers'
unofficial meeting started in Austria yesterday. During
the two-day meetings Turkish Education Minister Huseyin
Celik will respond to the EU's demand for Turkey to re-
open the Halki seminary and to start Kurdish language
education. The EU has signaled that it would discuss
issues related to political criteria, such as Kurdish
courses and the opening of Halki seminary under the
technical 'education and culture' section. The Turkish
Foreign Ministry, in return, instructed its Ambassadors
in EU countries to prevent this decision which would mean
an act of double standard towards Turkey and would cause
a further drop in Turkish public support for the EU
process. Turkish diplomats stressed that accession talks
on education and culture with the past 10 candidate
countries did not include political conditions and Turkey
should not be an exception.

RTUK Poll on TV Viewership in Turkey
A survey conducted by television and radio watchdog RTUK
on TV viewership in Turkey showed that 56.7 percent
trusted TV news while 34 percent did not. 56.5 percent
said newspapers are reliable while 29.9 percent
disagreed. In terms of most viewed programs, newscasts
lead by 74.8 percent, followed by Turkish soap operas
(56.8),music and talk shows (42.2),documentaries
(40.8),movies (40.8),religious programs (40.5),and
roundtable discussions (40.4). The survey was conducted
in 14 cities with 4,606 people over 15 in December and
January.

Assistant Secretary Fried Visits Ankara
Milliyet, Radikal, Yeni Safak: US Assistant Secretary of
State for European and Eurasian Affairs Dan Fried said,
after meetings at Turkish Foreign Ministry (MFA)
yesterday, that the United States expected progress in
Turkey-Armenia relations. Fried told the Turks to open
the border with Armenia. The Turkish side said that they
supported peace initiatives by the US, but that there
must first be progress on the Nagorno-Karabakh issue.
Ambassador Steve Mann accompanied Fried at meetings in
Ankara.

TV Highlights
NTV (7 a.m.)

Domestic News
- 23 NGOs issued a call for common sense on the eve of
Nevruz celebrations in Turkey.

- Five military officers died in a military helicopter
crash after hitting high-voltage lines in the eastern
province of Erzincan.

- Turkish and Armenian historians have agreed to work on
a joint project for the investigation of Armenian
genocide claims in the second day of the Armenian
conference held by Istanbul University.

- President Sezer approved a bill for the founding of 15
new universities in Turkey, but will apply to the
Danistay (Turkish High Court) for the annulment of a

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provision of the law authorizing the education minister
and the prime minister to nominate university rectors.

International News
- 1500 US and Iraqi troops launched an air and ground
military assault against the insurgents in Samarra. The
operation was the largest in Iraq since the 2003
invasion.

- 275 Iraqi lawmakers took oath at the first meeting of
the parliament since it was elected in December.

- The updated US national security strategy says Iran and
its nuclear program are the biggest future challenges to
the US.

- The Israeli acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's Kadima
party, the frontrunner in the forthcoming March 28
elections, increased its votes after the raid on the
Palestinian prison in Jericho, a public opinion survey
said on Thursday.

Economy News
- In its third review in Turkey, IMF officials will ask
for new measures to compensate the losses after the VAT
discount granted to the textile sector.

- Turkey is preparing to introduce a "chip and PIN"
credit card system by the end of this month.
- Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at

http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/

WILSON