ANKARA MEDIA REACTION REPORT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 002027

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
THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 2006

In Today's Papers

Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) Parliamentary
Union in Istanbul
All papers: On Wednesday, Turkish leaders addressed the
fourth conference of the parliamentary union of the
Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) in Istanbul.
President Ahmet Necdet Sezer said Turkey was deeply
concerned about the attempts to polarize the world along
Islamist and Western ends. Sezer called for an
international alliance against terrorism, stressing that
the UN should be the center of the efforts. Sezer noted
Israel and Palestine must live side by side as two states
with clearly defined borders. Turkish Parliament Speaker
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said the Muslim and Western
nations were not enemies of each other, and expressed
concern that religious fighting, poverty, terrorism and
proliferation of nuclear weapons threatened Turkey's
region. Turkey's accession into the European Union will
forge a better cooperation between the EU and the Islamic
world, Erdogan noted. The PM called for a national unity
government in Iraq where security is ensured and the
country's resources are shared by all Iraqis. Erdogan
stressed that economic sanctions imposed on Palestine
were unfair, saying that Palestinians should not be
punished for their democratic preferences. He called on
the international community as well as Palestinian and
Israeli leaders to act with common sense. Erdogan
maintained no further positive steps should be expected
from Turkey unless the blockade on Turkish Cypriots is
lifted.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Gulamali Haddad Adil said any
military attack on IRAN would be illogical. "We had
eight years of war with Iraq, and we know how to deal
with psychological war tactics,'' Adil said, stressing
that the Islamic world has confidence in IRAN that it
will not produce nuclear weapons. Palestinian parliament
member Zuhair Sanduka said Hamas came to power by a
democratic and transparent election, calling on the
international community to realize that Hamas represents
the people of Palestine.

Columnist Turgut Tarhanli thinks that Iran's acquisition
of nuclear capability does not necessarily justify a
military strike. Writing in the liberal-intellectual
daily Radikal, Tarhanli emphasized the importance of
compromise and no use of force: "In today's world any
dispute should be settled without the use of force. This
is an international commitment which binds all, but the
concept is pushed into a narrow frame because of various
pretexts posed by various states. The US plays a shaping
role on this issue, however the US definition of
international cooperation on security matters makes
international consensus and compromise harder than ever
before to achieve."

Turkey's Undeclared Embargo Against the US
Bugun columnist Lale Sariibrahimoglu writes that a new
crisis is about to start in the Turkey-US relationship.
She notes that Turkey, in an effort to upgrade its
national defense industry, has placed a 'secret embargo'
on US firms due to the American policy of not exporting
military technology. For the last two years Turkey has
prevented US companies from bidding on the $3.5 billion
worth of arms contracts by attaching special condition
asking for technology transfer. After not winning any
bid in this field for the last two years, the US sent a
letter to Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul through the US
Ambassador in Ankara Ross Wilson. US officials confirmed

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to Bugun newspaper that Ambassador Wilson presented
Minister Gonul with a two-page letter just a day before
his US trip. In his letter dated March 24, Ambassador
Wilson stressed that Turkey-US international military
cooperation, which had proceeding smoothly, is entering a
risky period with Turkey's special conditions on defense
industry bids. Ambassador Wilson highlighted four
possible negative effects resulting from the
implementation of these special conditions: 1. Technical
cooperation for the use of the military goods will
decrease; 2. Cooperation, like that in Afghanistan, will
become more difficult; 3. American arm companies'
positive lobbying for Turkey against the Armenian and
Greek lobbies will weaken; 4. Ankara will end up paying
higher bills for its defense because of the reduced
competition.

President Sezer Addresses War Academies
All papers: Speaking at the Turkish Military Academy,
President Sezer issued a harsh warning against both
Islamist fundamentalism and separatism. Sezer stressed
that the fundamentalist threat has reached a worrying
level in Turkey but Turkey's biggest assurance against
this threat is its secular order. Sezer pointed out that
religion should not go beyond private life and should not
become part of community life; and the fight against
fundamentalism should not be launched as a fight against
the religious beliefs of people. One of the major duties
of the government is to protect the military's prestige,
he added. Sezer said that those trying to separate the
country through street protests or terror will not be
able to achieve their goals. On foreign policy, Sezer
said 'nobody should expect Turkey to accept unfair
demands on issues of national interest, such as the
Armenian genocide claims and in Cyprus issue. Referring
to the relations with the US, Sezer said "the failure to
agree on certain issues is not going to affect the
overall sense of alliance."

Turkish Police Detain Human Rights Watch Staffer
Zaman, International wires: Turkish police detained
Jonathan Sugden, a British researcher for the New York-
based Human Rights Watch (HRW,) for alleged visa
violations and brought him to Istanbul before being
deported to London soon, HRW said on Wednesday. Sugden
was probing abuses in the mainly Kurdish southeast Turkey
that involved police and state-sponsored local militiamen
(Korucu). The Turkish authorities said Sugden was in the
country on a tourist visa, and did not have authorization
to carry out human rights work in Turkey. Holly Cartner,
HRW Europe and Central Asia director, said the issue was
not about the visa, but about the authorities not wanting
HRW to document abuses in the region.

Military Operation in Sirnak against the PKK
Hurriyet, Milliyet, and others: The military operation
against the PKK launched two days ago in Sirnak continues
in Bestler and Dereler region. During a clash between
the security forces and the PKK in the Dereler region
yesterday, reportedly 12 PKK militants were killed and
two soldiers were martyred. Hurriyet says a total of 17
terrorists were killed in the Sirnak region in the last
four days.

Turkey to Open a Hospital in Darfur
Cumhuriyet, Radikal, Zaman and others: Turkey will open
a field hospital with 50 beds and two operating rooms in
Darfur, Sudan, Turkish Foreign Ministry (MFA) said on
Wednesday. Prime Minister Erdogan had visited some
30,000 refugees living in terrible conditions in Otach

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camp during a visit to Sudan later last month.

US Texas Pacific Group Partners with Turkish Liquor
Producer
Aksam reports US Texas Pacific Group (TPG) purchased the
majority stake in Turkish liquor producer Mey Icki,
marking the first international entry into Turkey's
alcoholic drinks sector. In 2006, Mey Icki has exported
4 million liters of liquor to 40 countries including
Greece, South Korea, Poland, Iraq, and Lebanon.


TV Highlights
NTV, 8.00 a.m.

Domestic News
- President Sezer told the War Academies in Istanbul
attempts to divide Turkey along ethnic and religious
lines would not succeed.

- British Ambassador in Ankara, Peter Westmacott told NTV
the PKK's efforts to use terrorism for political goals
were "unacceptable," stressing the importance of cutting
the funds flowing to the terrorist organization.

- Turkey's Human Rights Association (IHD) probing the
recent public unrest in Diyarbakir has issued a call
against using children in demonstrations. In Ankara, 13
people including a founding member of the Kurdish party
DTP have been detained for making PKK propaganda.

- Turkish state atomic power body TAEK said Turkey's
first nuclear power plant will be built in the Black Sea
province of Sinop. TAEK said a nuclear reactor producing
100 megawatts from uranium will be built in the next
three to three and-a-half years.

- Animal rights and women's organizations will rally in
Ankara over the weekend to protest some local
municipalities killing street dogs and bury them in mass
graves.

International News
- Italian opposition leader Prodi said he has received
the majority of votes to form the new government while
Prime Minister Berlusconi rejected defeat, demanding a
recount of votes.

- The EU and the US have voiced concern over President
Ahmadinejad's announcement Tehran had managed to enrich
uranium to use as nuclear plant fuel. The US said IRAN
could produce a nuclear bomb in 15 months.

- A survey by Reader's Digest shows 68 percent of the
people in Europe opposed Turkey's EU entry, with the
highest in Germany by 72 percent.

Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at

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

WILSON