ANKARA MEDIA REACTION REPORT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 000189 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 WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 18, 2006 THIS REPORT PRESENTS THE TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER THREE THEMES: HEADLINES BRIEFING EDITORIAL OPINION -------------- -- HEADLINES MASS APPEAL General Wald: Ahmadinejad Regime a Threat against World - Sabah Iran Threatens World - Aksam Russia: Sanctions on Iran Not the Best Solution - Sabah Cheney Seeking Support in Egypt - Aksam Israel: We Won't Allow Iran to Have Nuclear Weapons - Hurriyet Henry Crumpton: Terrorist Nuclear Attacks a Strong Possibility - Milliyet Nicosia Wants Straw Visit to Turkish Cyprus Postponed - Milliyet Iran Removes Ban on CNN - Milliyet Hillary Clinton: Bush Administration is Awkward - Aksam OPINION MAKERS Powell Calls for Urgent Action against Iran - Zaman Powell: Iran a Potential Threat - Yeni Safak Israel Tries to Persuade Russia on Iran - Cumhuriyet Russia, China Block Submittal of Iran Nuclear Program to UNSC - Radikal Cheney Feels Pulses in Egypt for New US Strategies - Zaman Senator Clinton: Bush Administration among the Worst in US History - Yeni Safak Masked Gunmen Raid the PKK Office in Kirkuk, Kill Two - Cumhuriyet Iran-Iraq Troops Clash in Persian Gulf - Cumhuriyet 10,000 Students Rally against US in Beirut - Yeni Safak BRIEFING Ankara Hosts General Wald: Visiting Deputy EUCOM Commander General Charles Wald met with the deputy chief of Turkish General Staff (TGS),General Isik Kosaner, and was received by the Chief of TGS, General Hilmi Ozkok, in Ankara yesterday, papers report. Papers quote US officials as saying that General Wald has told the Turks about US concerns over Iran, and asked Ankara to cooperate with Washington. Wald did not ask for Turkish bases, and explained a plan which contained measures on a wide spectrum ranging from economic sanctions to establishment of air defense systems. The sides have also exchanged information with regard to the PKK camps in northern Iraq. At a reception in the US Embassy later in the day, Wald told reporters that the Iranian regime had been a bigger threat than the PKK. Diplomacy is the best way to solve disagreements, Wald said, stressing that diplomatic efforts with Iran had produced no results in the last two years. TGS officials urged Wald to seek a diplomatic solution with Tehran, say papers. Erdogan Sends Warning to US on Iran: On Tuesday, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told his ruling AK Party group that Turkey had the experience for establishment of peace in the region, adding that both close and distant friends of Turkey can benefit from the Turkish expertise. `Only weak people choose violence to solve their problems,' Erdogan said. Erdogan said that Turkey attributed importance to ANKARA 00000189 002 OF 003 territorial integrity and political stability in neighboring countries. The PM added that Turkey is pursuing policies that are designed to win new friends, not to generate hostility. Both mainstream dailies and the Islamist- oriented "Yeni Safak" regard the Erdogan remarks as a reference to the ongoing tensions between US and Iran. MFA Denies Radar Station in Hatay Related with US: Turkish Foreign Ministry (MFA) Spokesman Namik Tan said in response to a story carried on Tuesday in "Cumhuriyet" that the radar station established in Turkey's southern province of Hatay `is not related to the United States.' `The radar station will be operated by Turkish Air Force Command for Turkey's security, and NATO joint funds will finance the assembling of the radar,' Tan said. He noted that assembly of the radar had been completed, but that it had not been activated yet. US Experts Arrive in Turkey to Assess the Bird Flu Situation: A team of US experts in animal and human health surveillance arrived in Turkey to assess the avian influenza situation in Turkey, and support efforts to stop it from spreading, Turkish papers report. Papers carry a statement by the US Ankara Embassy which said that the US team comprised of experts from the Department of Agriculture, the Agency for International Development, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of State will travel to regions of Turkey affected by the outbreak. The World Health Organization (WHO) said it will continue to monitor the bird flu situation in Turkey closely, urging Ankara to keep up measures aimed at halting the spread of the virus. A lawmaker from the ruling AK Party said the bird flu could be a biological weapon aimed at Turkey. Agca Released Early: Turkish Justice Ministry asked the Supreme Court to reverse a decision to release Mehmet Ali Agca, the man who tried to assassinate Pope John Paul II in 1981, early from prison lastweek, saying he has not served enough time behind bars, papers report. Agca served 19 years in prison in Italy and then just five-and-a-half years in a Turkish jail. Former Inmate Tells About Torture in Abu-Ghraib: The Islamist-oriented "Yeni Safak" features an exclusive interview with Ali Kaysi, the Abu Ghraib prisoner who appeared in an infamous photo hooded, standing on a small box, with electric wires attached to his hands. Under the headline, `They Raped our Country and our Women,' Kaysi, a former preacher in the rural areas of the Abu Ghraib region in Baghdad, says that he was arrested by US troops and taken to Abu Ghraib prison. `Their real intention was not interrogation, but to humiliate us. They asked whether I was a Sunni or Shiite, or an enemy of the Jews. I was tortured by 10-12 American soldiers, some of them women, who were laughing and taking photographs. They raped women prisoners in front of their husbands. Every inmate was given a nickname -- mine was Colin Powell,' Kaysi said. ECHR Rules in Favor of Turkey on Internally Displaced Peoples Case: The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) decided to not to discuss the application of Turkish national Aydin Icver who was forced to leave his house in a village in the eastern province of Tunceli during military operations against the PKK. ECHR said that Turkey had established a Compensation Commission in July 2004 to meet the losses of displaced people. Nearly 177,000 people have applied for compensation for losses caused by the Turkish military's anti-terror campaign in the 1980s and 1990s. Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul told reporters on Wednesday ANKARA 00000189 003 OF 003 that the ECHR ruling had freed Turkey from paying an additional 20 million USD in compensation to the villagers forcibly expelled from their homes in the eastern and southeastern provinces. `Turkey has to protect its nationals' rights. If we harmed our nationals while fighting terrorism or in any other way, we certainly have to compensate those losses,' Gul said. The ECHR ruling affects some 1,500 cases piled up before the Strasbourg court, say papers. EDITORIAL OPINION: Iran "Iran is not Iraq, Ahmadinejad is not Saddam" Rusen Cakir wrote in the mass appeal "Vatan" (1/18): "At last, the West realized that Iran is not another Iraq. This is a good sign. However, there is one more issue the West has to accept: Iranian President Ahmadinejad is not another Saddam. Nationalism has always been very strong in Iran, and lately, especially after the weakening of Islamism, such sentiments have grown more powerful. It is a fact that, if there were to be an occupation, the US would face much stronger resistance in Iran than Iraq. The Tehran Administration is over confident that the US and the West need Iran for its oil resources and for stability in the region. However, all of a sudden, all these trump cards may carry Iran into huge trouble. The Iranian Administration should always remember the fact that the US is still the only super power in the world." "Iran Issue" Yilmaz Oztuna commented in the conservative-nationalist "Turkiye" (1/18): "Iran is struggling to save its empire. If Iran has an atomic bomb it will definitely feel more powerful. There isn't a single country in the world which approves of Iran's nuclear program, but no powers other than the UN or the US can prevent this program. The US is determined to prevent it. Iran is threatening the US and Israel continuously, just like Saddam did in the past. Compared to Saddam, the Iranian president is less experienced in world politics, but more radical and honest. The Ottoman Empire is a very good example of a situation in which radical nationalist leaders led a state to its end. In any case, Iran will not be able to obtain nuclear weapons. Moreover, Iran will not be able to control Turkey, the Caucasus and the Turkic and Arab worlds under its hegemony. There is zero possibility of that happening. It may seem that Iran has as much right to nuclear weapons as other countries do. However, international policies do not run according to such logic. International politics proceed under very variable conditions and shape history." WILSON