ANKARA MEDIA REACTION REPORT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 000182

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR INR/R/MR, EUR/SE, EUR/PD, NEA/PD, DRL
JCS PASS J-5/CDR S. WRIGHT

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TAGS: OPRC KMDR TU
SUBJECT: ANKARA MEDIA REACTION REPORT
MONDAY, JANUARY 29, 2007

In Today's Papers

Trabzon Governor, Police Chief Sacked over Dink Murder
All papers report Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu removed from
office Governor Huseyin Yavuzdemir and police chief Resat Altay in
Trabzon province, home of the suspects in the murder of the
Turkish-Armenian editor Hrant Dink. Istanbul's chief prosecutor
Aykut Cengiz Engin charged a sixth suspect, Erhan Tuncel, on Friday
with being a member of an armed gang. Papers speculate that Tuncel,
mentioned as one of the key actors behind the murder, was in fact an
informant working for the police and that his warning that there was
a plot to kill Dink was ignored.

Meanwhile on Sunday a ferryboat which sails between Lapseki and
Gelibolu in the Dardanelles Strait was hijacked by Nihat Acar.
Acar, a former soldier removed from duty, was angered by
pro-Armenian slogans chanted at the funeral of Hrant Dink,
passengers said. He threatened to blow up the ferry and held the
captain of the ship hostage for almost two hours before
surrendering.

Controversy Continues on Article 301
All weekend papers, Cumhuriyet, Milliyet, Radikal: Sunday's Radikal
quoted FM Gul as saying that "changes in Article 301 could come to
the agenda at any time. PM Erdogan attaches big importance to this
issue. Nobody has ever been jailed under Article 301, but I am for
the amendment of the provision because it overshadows reforms in
Turkey." Speaking to the press prior to his departure to Ethiopia
for the African Union summit, PM Erdogan said that "we don't plan of
a complete annulment of article 301. Items included in the first
and second paragraphs should be assessed properly. One can not
disregard them. On the other hand we are open to any proposal on
amendment. I had talks with NGOs on this matter, but we saw that
there are disagreements among NGOs. If they reach a compromise and
make a proposal, we will assess it." Milliyet reports that
government spokesman-Justice Minister Cemil Cicek said that Article
301 is not a top priority in Turkey's agenda. Saturday's Radikal
carried the remarks of EU enlargement commissioner Olli Rehn saying
"Turkey has to annul or amend article 301; this is the best way to
honor Hrant Dink, who devoted his life to freedom of expression."

Patriarch Mesrob II on the Situation of Armenians in Turkey
In an interview with the Islamist-oriented Yeni Safak, Mesrob II,
the Patriarch of Armenians in Turkey, said the assassination of
Hrant Dink was actually a message to the Armenians in the country to
"keep their voices down." "Dink's paper Agos and some Armenian
priests still receive email threats, and hate slogans have been
written on the wall of our church. The Istanbul Governor's Office
has assigned a guard to protect me. You cannot call all these
normal," said Mesrob II. He expressed hope that the Armenian
government proposal for establishing with Turkey ties without
preconditions will lead to a new opening. "Judging, however, by the
messages issued we can say that the Turkish government has been
caught unprepared," added Mesrob II. He noted that the
democratization process speeding up in Turkey will reduce the
hardships Turkey's Armenians have been encountering: "We don't have
any problems with the Turkish people, except for times when
provocations are made around the world or when some press members or
politicians lead the nation toward a certain end. We can resolve
disagreements through dialogue. It's true that we have expectations
from the state regarding our foundations, schools, and churches.
Our biggest problem is, we don't have an authority in Ankara for
dealing solely with our problems," emphasized the Patriarch.

Turkey-Armenia Business Chief Calls for Opening Bordergate
On Sunday the mass-appeal/sensationalist Star interviewed Kaan
Soyak, the cochairman of Turkey-Armenia Business Development
Council. Soyak said the idea to invite Armenian diaspora members to
the funeral of Hrant Dink came from Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul.
Soyak said a 70-year old Armenian coming to Turkey for the first

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time for the funeral said it was "the shock of his life" to hear
"hundreds of thousands of Turks shouting 'We're all Hrant Dink,
We're all Armenians.'" "If Turkey wants a solution to the Armenian
problem," Soyak noted, "It will be with Armenia, not in
international platforms. We should initiate dialogue for a
solution, which will be supported by the majority of Armenians.
Since there is no dialogue between the two capitals, NGOs such as us
strive for the establishment of such a channel." He also said
keeping the bordergate with Armenia closed helped nothing but served
to radicalize neighboring Armenians, increasing the aid flowing into
Armenia from the diaspora. "We continue trade ties with Armenia
through Georgia, which amounts to about USD 100 million. We have
suggested the friendship caucuses in the US Congress pass
legislation for establishing qualified industrial zones among
Turkey-Armenia-US, which will enable Armenian and Turkish textile
products to enter the US without customs duties," said Soyak,
underlining that leading Armenians predict Armenian lobbies will
shift to Turkey's side for support once the ties smoothen. "If the
border crossing opens, at least 100,000 diaspora Armenians will
visit their homeland through Turkey. They want to stay in Turkey
for a couple of days. Armenians have a longing for Turkish land,
but not for settlement, just for seeing their villages and towns,"
said Soyak.

Iraq Angers Turkey by Referring Oil Trade to Kurds
All papers report Turkish companies carrying refined petroleum to
Iraq have been told by Iraq's national petroleum company SOMO to
discuss business details with Kurdish officials in northern Iraq.
The shipment of oil to Iraq via the Habur border gate has been
suspended. SOMO has sent a letter to Turkish companies saying that
their deals for the shipment of oil and oil products expired on
December 31. SOMO has refused to renew the contracts of Turkish
companies, saying they should get in touch with authorities in
northern Iraq if they wanted their agreements renewed. State
Minister Kursad Tuzmen stressed that Turkey recognizes a united
Iraq, and that would deal only with the Iraqi government in Baghdad
with regard to oil issues. In reaction, Ankara halted refined oil
products transport to Iraq, say papers.

Editorial Commentary on Iraq
Rusen Cakir, writing from Washington in the mass appeal Vatan,
argues that the US maintains a double standard when it comes to the
PKK and Iran: "The President's State of the Union address was a
clear indication of the losing situation in Iraq. Bush is asking
for one more chance. The fact of the matter is that if the
situation in Iraq is a matter of chances, then it means it's
finished. An optimistic American on the fate of Iraq is very hard
to find nowadays. On the fight against terrorism the US is still
maintaining a double standard. The US always gives two reasons for
the lack of an effective fight against the PKK presence in northern
Iraq: 1) The US has other priorities in Iraq and forces cannot be
divided; 2) The US insists that Turkey has to convince Iraqis,
especially the Kurds, on this issue first. Yet when it comes to
Iran, the US does not listen to what Iraqis are saying and opens new
fronts without hesitation."

Huseyin Bas, writing in the leftist-nationalist Cumhuriyet,
maintains that the US has plans for permanent bases in Iraq:
"President Bush's new strategy is designed to finish the job with an
additional 21,000 soldiers and it is being implemented even though
Democrats oppose it. Financing the new strategy will be the hardest
goal to achieve, yet it is not impossible in the long run.
Democrats remain opposed to the new strategy and they can control
the financing process. However they cannot maintain their
opposition until the bitter end because public opinion will not be
sympathetic to cutting off financing for American soldiers serving
in Iraq. The new plan is basically aimed at establishing gradual
stability, using the Iraqi army along with US troops. This will end
up with the permanent presence of the US in Iraq. The total of 55
military bases, some under construction, around Iraq will provide

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enough facilities for the US to remain in Iraq for good."

Greek Cypriot Plans to Search for Oil
Milliyet (1/28),Cumhuriyet: The Greek Cypriots' attempt to search
for oil in 2001 was stopped by the arrival of a Turkish frigate in
the island and the crisis was kept secret from the public. However,
recently, Greek Cypriots took initiative openly by signing an
agreement with Egypt and Lebanon for oil and gas exploration.
Turkish Cypriot "President" Mehmet Ali Talat said that the resources
in Cyprus should be used by the two communities of the island and
warned that contrary developments would fuel tensions in Cyprus.
Greek-Cypriot Foreign Minister George Lillikas said that Cyprus has
every right to exploit any and all resources that rightfully belong
to it, and it is not obliged to share these with anyone else.


TV News:
(NTV, 7.00 A.M.)

Domestic News

- Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul warned at the World Economic Forum
meeting in Davos that a fragmentation of Iraq would have grave
consequences for the region.

- Syria's Foreign Minister Walid Muallem will visit Turkey this
week.

- Finance Minister Kemal Unakitan rejected charges that he
threatened an inspector investigating the business dealings of Saudi
financier Yasin al-Qadi in Turkey.

- World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz said Turkey's economic
development was "a story of success."

- The Bolu Mountain tunnel between Ankara and Istanbul, which was
opened last week, has been closed after two accidents.

International News

- Saddam Hussein's cousin Ali Hassan al-Majeed, known as "Chemical
Ali," told a court trying him for genocide he had ordered 20 Kurdish
villages cleared in the 1988 Anfal campaign.

- US Congressman Joseph Crowley (D-NY) is expected to introduce a
bill condemning the murder of journalist Hrant Dink, also asking
Turkey to protect free speech and abolish the controversial Article
301 of the Turkish Penal Code.

- Britain's Sunday Times reported a former senior Iraqi minister
said most of the leaders loyal to the radical Shiite cleric Muqtada
al-Sadr had fled to Iran.

- An Iranian nuclear agency official has denied claims made by a
senior legislator that the Islamic Republic had begun installing
3,000 centrifuges at an uranium-enrichment plant.

- 18 civilians have been killed in two car blasts in Kirkuk in
northern Iraq.


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

WILSON