Cablegate: Ankara Media Reaction Report

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DEPARTMENT FOR INR/R/MR, EUR/SE, EUR/PD, NEA/PD, DRL
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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: OPRC KMDR TU
SUBJECT: ANKARA MEDIA REACTION REPORT
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 26, 2006

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In Today's Papers

Parliament Approves 2007 Budget
All papers report that, after two sleepless nights and heated
debates, the Parliament adopted the 2007 budget last night. Tension
escalated at Parliament during yesterday's debates. AKP deputies
reacted to statements of main opposition party CHP leader Deniz
Baykal who said, "The headscarf is only a cloth which covers hair,
it cannot cover a person's shame." ANAVATAN leader Erkan Mumcu said
that a person who told lies to his people cannot become the next
president. Responding to the opposition parties' criticism, PM
Erdogan said, "I condemn such language under the roof of the
Parliament." Concerning criticism for his connections to Saudi
businessman Yasin Al-Kadi, PM Erdogan said, "I know him very well
and I trust him."

Levent Bilman to be New Foreign Ministry Spokesperson
Hurriyet, Sabah, Cumhuriyet, Radikal and others: The Turkish
Foreign Ministry's new spokesperson will be Levent Bilman, an expert
on Greece and Cyprus, Foreign Ministry confirmed on Monday. Bilman
will replace Namik Tan, who will be Turkey's new Ambassador to
Israel. Meanwhile, Murat Esenli, who is also the son-in-law of
Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim, was appointed as the new
top advisor to Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul.

Natural Gas Deal with Georgia
Sabah, Radikal, Cumhuriyet and others: Sabah reports about the
Georgian Energy Ministry announcement saying that Turkey and Georgia
signed an agreement for Georgia to buy 800 million cubic meters of
Azeri gas from Turkey in 2007. The deal with Turkey reduces
Georgian dependency on Russian natural gas and pulls down the cost
of natural gas for Georgia, Radikal notes. Cumhuriyet and Referans
report that the Turkish pipeline company Botas has rejected the
Georgia's claims that a natural gas deal has been reached, and
announced that the Energy Ministers of Azerbaijan, Turkey and
Georgia will meet in Istanbul to discuss the distribution of
Shahdeniz natural gas.

Presidential Election Debates
Cumhuriyet reports that the Honorary Chairman of the Court of
Appeals Sabih Kanadoglu said that the government will fail to elect
a new president because AKP votes are not sufficient to elect a new
president. Kanadogly said the Constitution requires at least
two-thirds of the deputies be in quorum for the presidential
election to be considered, which is more than AKP's members alone..

Editorial Opinon: Iran and UN Resolution

"The Name of Fear is Ahmedinejad"
Kubilay Celik commented in the conservative Tercuman (12/26): "The
recent UN resolution to impose sanctions on Iran due to its nuclear
program has been in the process for the last five months. In other
words, it took five months for the permanent members of the UN
Security Council to reach a consensus, as Russia and China always
stood against punishing Iran. In the end, these two members could
not bear the growing pressure any more, resulting in the decision to
impose sanctions. As for the Iran angle, Ahmedinejad has already
defied the decision and described the resolution as just a piece of
paper. More, importantly he gave an ultimatum by saying to the
Western world, 'You will regret this.' As a matter of fact, his
statement merits more careful examination, given his very radical
character. He may carry out an act of insanity, such as sending a
nuclear missile to Israel. Even the thought of this insanity is
enough to give us the creeps."

"Iran"
Mustafa Balbay observed in the leftist-nationalist Cumhuriyet:
(12/26): "The UN decision, on a series of sanctions against Iran
because of its nuclear program, was finally passed. However the
tone of the resolution is softer than anticipated. According to the

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resolution, Iran is banned from purchasing nuclear supplies from
outside. The fact of the matter is that these supplies were illegal
and Iran was not supposed to have them anyway. The UNSC has turned
what is well known into a resolution -- that's all. Historically
speaking, Iran's nuclear program is the result of US efforts during
the Shah regime, Germany's facilitative assistance during the
fundamentalist Islamist Khomeni regime, and finally Russia's current
encouragement. The comprehensive report on Iran's nuclear program
was available in June 2003 (interestingly enough, right after the US
invasion of Iraq). It said that Iran's nuclear capability is far
greater than had been expected. The US since then has been asking
for sanctions against Iran, but China-Russia-EU did not concur.
This is the basic reason for the UNSC resolution with softened
terms. The US failure in Iraq, and mistrust in international public
opinion against Washington, became other major factors for the
softened resolution against Iran."

TV Highlights
NTV, 6.00 A.M.

Domestic News
- The prosecutor has issued an order for the arrest of 17 suspects
taken into custody in connection with irregularities in state
tenders
- The National Security Council (NSC) will hold a meeting on
December 28 to discuss counterterrorism and EU entry bid
- AKP deputy Fatma Sahin has filed a motion for parliamentary
inquiry into climate change and related risks for Turkey

International News

- Ethiopian forces bombed Somalia's two main airports on Monday
- British troops carry out a massive raid on a police station in
Basra after receiving intelligence that dozens of prisoners were
tortured there
- At least 87 people died after floods and landslides battered
Indonesi's Aceh and North Sumatra provinces.

Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at

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

WILSON

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