ANKARA MEDIA REACTION REPORT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 006688 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, DECEMBER 18, 2006 In Today's Papers Retired Turkish General on the Suleymaniye 'Hooding' Incident Hurriyet, Milliyet, Vatan, Sabah, Radikal, Cumhuriyet, Zaman and others report retired general Koksal Karabay, the former head of Turkish General Staff (TGS) Operations Unit, told a roundtable meeting with journalists on Haberturk TV that the Turkish team commander, "Major Aydin E.," ordered his men not to shoot at Americans during a confrontation which resulted in the arrest and "hooding" of an 11-member Turkish special operations team in the northern Iraqi city of Suleymaniye in July 2003. Major Aydin E. reportedly told Karabay that "some 400 US troops were approaching, but they seemed so inexperienced that we could have killed at least 60 or 70 of them if fighting had broken out." Karabay claimed Kurdish leaders knew about the operation, and President Talabani's son was heading the peshmerge unit involved in the raid on the Turkish team, whom, according to Karabay, were taking medicine and food to the Turkmen in the region. Blair Reiterates Turkey Support on Cyprus, EU All papers report that over the weekend, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said after a joint press conference with his Turkish counterpart PM Erdogan in Ankara that the Turkish proposal to open one port and airport to Greek Cyprus was "positive." Blair added the additional protocol was important but the bloc should not hesitate to lift the isolation of Turkish Cypriots. If there are no legal obstacles, Blair said, Britain could launch direct flights to Turkish Cyprus. Blair noted EU negotiations with Turkey on the remaining 27 chapters would continue. Turkish papers also report Greek Cyprus leader Papadopoulos as saying that Blair just wanted to please his Turkish counterpart, "They have been trying to do so for three years but to no avail." Editorial Commentary on Iraq Semih Idiz, writing in mainstream Milliyet, comments on the ISG Report: "The gist of the ISG report is to find a way to get out of the Iraqi quagmire after establishing a certain degree of stability. This approach is very much supported by the US public, which is not good news for the opponents of the report. It is believed that this is the very reason for the recent election success of Democrats. In American politics, no politician can afford to ignore public opinion. We should remember that the US withdrew from Vietnam due to the pressure of public opinion. The ISG report is also a manifestation of 'another US betrayal against Kurds.' Ironically enough, the architect of this report is James Baker -Kurds remember him from the days of the first Gulf War when US encouraged them in the beginning and abandoned afterwards. President Bush, feeling obliged to defend his Iraq policy, says that this is just a report and he does not have to take this report seriously. Yet it is for sure that he cannot ignore the basic recommendations in the report. President Bush's mission is now to find a way to exit Iraq. And such an exit inevitably requires a change of balance in Iraq. Iraqi Kurds, naturally are unhappy about this development." Commenting on the Report in mass appeal Vatan, Rusen Cakir discusses the possibility of dialogue with Syria and Iran: "The recommendation to open dialogue with Iran and Syria has become one of the most controversial topics in the ISG report on Iraq. President Bush is unlikely to accept it - at least not publicly. Secretary Rice already made some comments to invalidate this SIPDIS argument. Nevertheless it is still not possible to claim that the ISG suggestion on Iran and Syria is definitely out of question. From now on, no one in the US administration can place both as members in the axis of evil. Moreover, the appointment of Robert Gates as the new Defense Secretary can be interpreted as an indication of Washington's desire to reestablish diplomatic ties with Iran. Robert Gates chaired the Iran Working Group's efforts two and a half years ago. Even at that time, the Iran Working Group report was advising the US to work on establishing dialogue with Iran on issues related to regional security. If Robert Gates ANKARA 00006688 002 OF 003 reintroduces his approach on Iran, he will undoubtedly get support from Democrats. Democrat Senator Bill Nelson has just visited Syria and met with Syrian leader Assad. More senators, including a Republican are planning to visit Damascus soon. If and when we see American senators in Tehran, we can certainly believe that many things are on the way to changing." Turkey-US High Level Defense Group Meets 'Secretly' Sabah reported on Sunday that the Turkey-US High Level Defense Group meeting was held "secretly" in Ankara earlier last week, with the Turkish delegation headed by deputy chief of the General Staff Ergin Saygun, and the US delegation by "Pentagon's Number 4," Peter Rodman. At the meeting US officials tried to convince Turks that Russia was a potential threat for Turkey with its energy policies, and that Iran's nuclear program was a threat for stability in Turkey and in the region. US officials also tried to ease Turkish concerns about the establishment of American military bases in Black Sea countries such as Romania, underlining that the US would not make any move against Turkey's interests in the Black Sea. The Turkish side conveyed to the US its expectations for concrete action against the PKK. Sabah says US officials rejected the suggestions of the Iraq Study Group for establishing contacts with Iran and Syria. Turkey Discards Eurofighter from Jetfighter Bid Hurriyet, Milliyet, Sabah, Radikal, Cumhuriyet, Yeni Safak and others report that Ankara dropped from the list Eurofighter, sending a "USD 10 billion message" to the European Union. Defense minister Vecdi Gonul blamed the Greek Cypriots for the exclusion of Eurofighter, because its consortium members Italy, Britain, Germany, and Spain had failed to remove Greek Cypriot obstacles to Turkey joining the European Defense Agency (EDA.) Papers say Turkey was now planning to buy "USD 10 billion worth of F-35s". Iraqi Kurdish Administration Opens Representation in Bern Milliyet reports that the northern Iraqi Kurdish administration has opened a representation office, with "all the requirements of an embassy," in Bern, at a ceremony joined by several European ambassadors as well as the US Embassy Charge d'Affaires. Kurds' "Switzerland Consul-General" Fevzi Kaddur hoisted a Kurdish flag during the ceremony, saying "Kurdistan had been partitioned by the imperialist powers in Lausanne. I hope that one day, my people will get over this division and live freely on their land." The regional Kurdish government in northern Iraq has representation in 14 countries. TV News: (NTV, 7.00 A.M.) Domestic News - Yasar Yakis, the head of the parliamentary commission for EU harmonization, said the opening of Turkish ports to the Greek Cypriots would not amount to recognition of the Greek Cypriot state. - Turkey's main Kurdish party DTP leaders and members continue their march to Ankara in an effort for seeing an end to the fighting in southeast Turkey. - Ahmet Ertegun, the co-founder of Atlantic Records, will be laid to rest in Istanbul today. - Turkish Foreign Ministry (MFA) Spokesman Namik Tan has been appointed Turkish ambassador to Israel. President Sezer's chief advisor, Sermet Atacanli, will be appointed to Japan and Derya Kanbay to Iraq. International News ANKARA 00006688 003 OF 003 - Greek Cypriot Foreign Minister George Lillikas vowed not to allow the EU to open new negotiating chapters with Turkey as long as Turkey continues to block Greek Cypriot membership to international organizations. - British Prime Minister Tony Blair paid a surprise visit to Iraq for a meeting with Prime Minister al-Maliki. - President Talabani criticized Turkey for hosting a meeting of Iraqi Sunni groups, saying that Ankara backed a meeting of groups supporting violence in Iraq. - Iranian Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki lashed out at the UN Security Council for doing nothing about Israel's nuclear arsenal. - The rival Palestinian factions Fatah and Hamas reached a tentative cease-fire to end days of bloody fighting in the Gaza strip. - The European Parliament wants to extend funds to Turkish Cyprus to support the restoration of Greek Orthodox churches in the north. Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ WILSON