ANKARA MEDIA REACTION REPORT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 000934

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, FEBRUARY 24, 2006


In Today's Papers

Turmoil in Iraq
All papers report in detail the spiraling sectarian violence
threatening Iraq, with the main Sunni alliance, the National
Concord Front, declaring a boycott of talks with the Shiite-
led government over the reprisal attacks. On Thursday, 168
mosques were attacked across Iraq and 130 were killed,
including 10 Sunni imams. Prime Minister Ibrahim Jafari
proclaimed three days of national mourning. "They are
trying to push us into killing one another," the Iraqi
government said in a statement. President Talabani said
insurgents are out to provoke civil war. Sunni Islamist
militant groups, including al-Qaida's branch in Iraq,
threatened in a statement on the Internet to retaliate for
attacks on Iraqi Sunni Arabs. A Turkish delegation, led by
Turkey's special Iraq envoy Oguz Celikkol, went to Baghdad
on Thursday to discuss the rising violence and government
formation talks. The delegation will meet with Jafari and
Sunni and Shiite leaders on Friday. Celikkol is expected to
ask the Iraqi leaders to include Sunni representatives in
the government, strengthen the federal structure, and
postpone the referendum on the status of Kirkuk. The newly-
formed Iraqi government will be invited to Ankara. Papers
also report that the US has blamed al-Qaida, and Iranian
President Ahmadinejad Israel and the US for the attack
against the holy Shiite shrine in Samarra.

Almost all editorial commentators expressed serious concern
about the future of Iraq and seem to agree that division is
imminent as well as inevitable unless steps are taken to
change the process. Senior columnist of the tabloid Bugun,
Cengiz Candar noted that in the aftermath of the Samarra
bombings, efforts to establish a new government have almost
come to an end. Expecting a high-intensity civil war
between Sunnis and Shiites, Candar wrote: "If this process
cannot be changed, events will lead to the division of Iraq
as well as very serious consequences in the Middle East."

Calling the situation in Iraq close to a serious civil war,
columnist Ferai Tinc observed in the mass appeal Hurriyet
that Iraq is rapidly moving toward division. Tinc believes
that if Iraq is dragged into a civil war situation "the
whole region will turn into a barrel of explosives," with
events leading to more armed conflict, "paving the way for
more operational territory for the radical Islamists." Tinc
wonders if the process be stopped and concludes "at this
point it does not seem so."

Erdal Safak commenting in the mainstream Sabah believes the
chaos in Iraq is similar to the last days of Yugoslavia. To
Safak, "Sunni areas look like Serbia; Shiite areas Croatia;
Baghdad looks like Sarajevo; and northern Iraq is like
Slovenia." He predicts that unless something changes,
northern Iraq will be the first to detach itself from
Baghdad and if that happens "nobody will be able to question
the legitimacy of the partition in northern Iraq,
considering the fact that Barzani warned months ago he would
declare independence once a civil war erupts between Sunnis
and Shiites."

EU Warns Turkey over the Greek Vessel Incident
Aksam, Vatan, Milliyet: A Greek Cypriot flagged ship tried
to dock in the Turkish port of Mersin the other day without
getting permission from the dock Directorate. The
directorate did not give permission to the ship in line with
Turkish regulations. The incident drew a reaction from the
EU, with EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn warning
Turkey yesterday to abide by the Customs Union protocol.

ANKARA 00000934 002 OF 003


"Turkey has to implement the Ankara Protocol and open its
borders and ports to the all EU members. The EU will
continue to monitor this and will evaluate the situation in
a report in the autumn," Rehn added.

US Congressman Sends a Protest Letter to Turkish PM over
Hamas Visit
Aksam, Vatan: US Congressman Tom Lantos, who is well known
in Turkey for his efforts to block Armenian genocide bills
in the US Congress, reportedly sent a letter to Turkish
Prime Minister Erdogan protesting the recent Hamas visit.
Lantos in his letter described Hamas leader Mashal as the
Palestinian equivalent of the jailed PKK leader Ocalan,
saying "while your authorities are meeting with Ocalan's
equivalent in Palestine, how can you claim moral superiority
in the fight against the PKK?" Lantos also stressed in his
letter that the meeting damaged the relationship between the
US and Turkey.

National Security Council Discusses Iran, Hamas
All papers: Turkey's National Security Council (MGK)
discussed Iran's nuclear enrichment activities at a monthly
meeting on Thursday. Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul briefed
the MGK on his telephone conversation with Iranian Foreign
Minister Manouchehr Mottaki and on Turkish contacts with the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna
following IAEA decision to refer Iran to the UN Security
Council. The MGK believes that a possibility to defuse
strains through diplomatic means still exists. Gul also
told the meeting that Turkey had conveyed to Hamas the
expectations of the international community.

Secretary Rice on Middle East Tour

SIPDIS
Hurriyet, Milliyet, Vatan, Sabah, Zaman, Cumhuriyet and
others: Turkish media reports that Secretary Rice paid a
surprise visit to Lebanon on Thursday and is returning from
Cairo and Riyadh empty-handed, having failed to persuade her
counterparts on the Hamas issue. In Beirut Rice will meet
with the newly elected Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora,
who defends separation from Syria, but will not see the pro-
Syrian President Emile Lahoud on this visit.

UN Envoy Demands Reform in Turkish Legislation to Combat
Terrorism
Radikal: Martin Scheinin, the UN special rapporteur on
human rights and counter terrorism, urged Turkey to redraft
its legislation to combat terrorism, describing the present
laws as being too vague. Scheinin said yesterday at the end
of a week-long visit to Turkey there was the threat of
persons not directly involved in acts of terrorism facing
prosecution under the present laws, drafted in 1991. "The
anti-terror bill, dated to 1991, fails to meet international
conventions and falls short of international
implementations," Scheinin noted. Turkey has made progress
in improving human rights, Scheinin said, adding that
establishing an independent body to investigate allegations
of human rights abuses and torture was also necessary.
Scheinin also said that the government should provide the
necessary grounds to assure that Kurds can use their
language.


TV Highlights
NTV (7 a.m.)

Domestic News
- The parliament approved a bill that will allow Turkey's
banned Islamist leader, former Prime Minister Necmettin
Erbakan to serve his prison sentence under house arrest.

ANKARA 00000934 003 OF 003


Erbakan was convicted for abuse of party funds.

- Twenty-four women have been arrested in Diyarbakir for
joining a protest rally in support of the PKK's imprisoned
leader Abdullah Ocalan.

- Petrol-Is labor union will apply to the European Court of
Human Rights if Turkish courts allow the privatization of
oil refiner Tupras.

International News
- More than 100 people were killed yesterday in reprisal
attacks since the bombing of the Shiites' holy shrine, the
Golden Mosque in Samarra in Iraq.

- Denmark will host a conference next month to promote
religious dialogue in the face of the row over the Prophet
Muhammad cartoons. 138 have been killed in sectarian
violence across Nigeria, after protests over the cartoons
instigated religious and ethnic tensions.

- Amnesty International strongly criticized the British
government in a report which warned that anti-terror
legislations have led to serious abuses of human rights.

- The EU warned they would freeze negotiations on Serbia-
Montenegro's possible membership in the bloc unless the
fugitive Serb General Mladic is delivered to the UN war
crimes tribunal in The Hague.
WILSON