ANKARA MEDIA REACTION REPORT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 000081 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, JANUARY 16, 2009 In Today's Papers Fugitive 'Ergenekon' Suspect Captured in Ankara Media outlets report Levent Ersoz, the fugitive general sought by the Ergenekon prosecutors, was captured Thursday in a hospital in Ankara while he was waiting to undergo prostate surgery. Retired brigadier general Ersoz, who also served as the former gendarme intelligence chief, was allegedly in charge of Ergenekon's wiretapping operations, which, according to papers, included tapping former military General Staff (TGS) chief Hilmi Ozkok and AKP cabinet ministers. Papers hold Ersoz responsible for the mysterious disappearance of two pro-Kurdish HADEP members, Serdar Tanis and Ebubekir Deniz, taken into custody in Silopi in 2001. Ersoz was captured together with a sergeant, Selim Gul, the last man to see the two HADEP activists before they disappeared. Ersoz is alleged to be the top aide of another main Ergenekon suspect, retired general Veli Kucuk. Ersoz reportedly entered Turkey from Russia with false travel documents in November. Islamist-oriented Yeni Safak claims Ersoz was captured when he came back to Turkey to see his Russian mistress. Turkey's state-broadcaster TRT has drawn harsh criticism for hosting Tuncay Guney, an alleged Ergenekon informant who now lives in Canada. On TRT-2 channel last night, Guney was interviewed via satellite and implicated the leader of the main opposition party CHP, prominent businessmen, journalists and top generals in the 'Ergenekon' organization. In addition, Guney said "CHP leader Deniz Baykal is in fact a member of the Turkish National Intelligence Organization, or MIT." CHP spokesperson Mustafa Ozyurek said in a statement yesterday, "The TRT has committed a crime and we are going to defend our rights and sue them." Three members of the media watchdog RTUK issued a statement criticizing the TRT for its broadcast with Guney. Leftist-nationalist Cumhuriyet points out that in the video records distributed to the press earlier this week, allegedly from 2001, Guney refers to events that actually happened in 2005. Papers report in Kulu town in Konya province, 600 bullets were found yesterday by the police on a motorway. In Aksaray, police found three hand grenades, one smoke bomb and 15 G-3 bullets in a box placed in front of an apartment building. Mainstream Hurriyet says the recent seizure of weapons has triggered "weapons paranoia" in Turkey, commenting that the arms and ammunition found in bags in Ankara and Istanbul were left by people who were afraid of being charged as Ergenekon suspects. In a press conference in the parliament, the pro-Kurdish DTP lawmaker Selahattin Demirtas called on the Ergenekon prosecutors to examine a graveyard in the southeastern town of Silopi, where, Demirtas claims, is a mass grave containing the bodies of 200 people who went missing. Meanwhile, mainstream Hurriyet says while he was visiting Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina earlier this week, Foreign Minister Babacan received many phone calls from European colleagues asking the FM to elaborate on reports that Turkey's ruling AKP government was exerting pressure on the judiciary and opposition via the Ergenekon case. Babacan declined to give details, and said the case was in the hands of the independent judiciary. "Israel Chooses Its Targets - A Hospital, The UN and The Media" (Radikal) Media outlets use sensational reporting and photographs to criticize Israel's bombing of a UN Relief Complex, a 600-bed hospital, and a building housing international media in Gaza City yesterday. Liberal Radikal reports "The West Is Shocked When Israel Bombs the UN Compound" in Gaza City. Mainstream Vatan reports, "They're Even Attacking Hospitals!" as the 600-bed Sifa Hospital is bombed by Israeli forces. Leftist Taraf reports, "Israel Is Bombing Everything That's Alive." Islamist-oriented Zaman says, "Israel ANKARA 00000081 002 OF 003 Does Not Respect the Limits of Brutality," as "Everything is Targeted." Islamist-oriented Yeni Safak reports, "Tens of thousands of Gazan civilians are trying to flee the violence, but they have nowhere to go," as "Israel Even Hunts the Injured in Hospitals." Mainstream Milliyet carries the headline, "The UN and the Media are in the Crosshairs," of Israel, as columnist Sami Kohen asks, "Who will ask Israel to stop? Our hope is with U.S. President-elect Barack Obama." Mainstream Hurriyet calls the bombing of the UN complex "'A Welcome' Bomb," noting the timing of the bombing happened when the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon visited Tel Aviv to push for a ceasefire. Leftist-nationalist Cumhuriyet cynically comments, "Israel Tells Moon - We Bombed You, Sorry." Mainstream Sabah reports, "The UN is helpless in ending the bloodshed in Gaza." CNN Turk reports Miguel d'Escoto Brockman, Chair of the UN General Assembly, told UNGA, "Gaza is ablaze and has been turned into a living burning hell." NTV notes, "Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan spoke at the UN and called on countries to 'Stop giving Israel a green light' to the bombings in Gaza." Islamist-oriented Zaman reports this message "targets the U.S. in particular." A cartoon from today's Islamist-oriented Zaman depicts an Israeli tank entering into a burning pit called "Gaza." Conservative-nationalist Turkiye carries the headline, "Escape from Death," noting, "Thousands of Gazan civilians are in panic as they try to escape from the Israeli tanks that are making their way into Gaza city." Milliyet's international news page carries a headline that reads, "The UN and the Media in (Israel's) Crosshairs." Jews in Turkey Concerned about Anti-Semitism in Media Mainstream Milliyet reports that the Turkish Jewish Community issued a written public statement yesterday which expressed concern over anti-Semitic sentiments expressed in some media outlets in their coverage of Israel's Gaza attacks. The statement said "the Jewish community has been targeted by these news stories and we are very concerned." Editorial Commentary on Israel's Gaza Operation Sami Kohen wrote in mainstream Milliyet: "There are efforts toward a ceasefire agreement in Gaza, but the real hope is to see what happens once U.S. President-elect Barack Obama takes charge. When he assumes office on January 20, he may take immediate steps toward peace in the Middle East. The U.S. is probably the only power who can stop Israel." Cengiz Candar wrote in liberal-intellectual Radikal: "Expectations are high for Obama regarding the Middle East. It is not possible at this point to make a credible analysis before he takes charge. We will have to wait and see." Okay Gonensin wrote in mainstream Vatan: "The case of Gaza proves the demise of the United Nations' influence. At this point, the only hope is to see what Obama will do about peace in the Middle East." Yasin Dogan wrote in Islamist-oriented Yeni Safak: "The Israeli bombing of a UN building illustrates Israel's defiance to the entire world. The international community did nothing to stop Israel's brutal actions and thus all of this will lead to the demise of fundamental global humanitarian values, which will carry serious consequences." Human Rights Watch Drops Turkey's Note for 2008 Milliyet notes that Human Rights Watch's 2008 report calls 2008, "a year in which rights and freedoms were limited in Turkey". During ANKARA 00000081 003 OF 003 2008, HRW says human rights and freedoms were violated highly in Turkey and police torture increased. "An Erotic Suggestion from Energy Minister Guler." (Vatan) Mainstreams Milliyet and Vatan report that Energy Minister Guler said at the National Energy Productivity Forum, "Turkey has a high-calorie energy source: hazelnut. You cannot eat coal or gas. But if we use this edible energy source widely, we will not feel the cold. Moreover, you all know as much as I do that hazelnut has other advantages." Earlier, studies performed in Turkey concluded that hazelnuts can work as an aphrodisiac. Turkey, which is one of the few countries in the world with favorable weather conditions for hazelnut production, accounts for 75% of the global hazelnut production and 70-75% of the global hazelnut exportation. TV News (CNN Turk) Domestic - On Friday, UNSYG Ban Ki-Moon and Turkish Cyprus leader Mehmet Ali Talat will pay separate visits to Ankara to meet with President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Erdogan. - Following a visit to Russia, Energy Minister Hilmi Guler says natural gas prices could be curbed at the end of the year. - In the most radical interest rate cut so far, Turkey's Central Bank curbed short-term interest rates by 200 basis points, overnight borrowing rates from 15 to 13 percent, and overnight lending rates from 17.5 to 15.5 percent. World - On Sunday, Prime Minister Erdogan will travel to Brussels at the invitation of European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, in the first official visit of a Turkish PM to Brussels since the EU Summit in December 2004. - Britain's foreign secretary David Miliband says the notion of a "war on terror" was "misleading and mistaken." - On Friday, the Turkish and Greek Cyprus leaders, Talat and Christofias, will hold their 16th meeting under the framework of the UN-led direct talks which began September. JEFFREY