Cablegate: Turkish Media Reaction

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TAGS: OPRC KMDR TU PREL KPAO
SUBJECT: TURKISH MEDIA REACTION
THURSDAY, JANUARY 14, 2010

Media Highlights:

How the US Is Playing

Clinton Calls Turkish-Cypriot Leader Talat (Sabah)
TRNC President Mehmet Ali Talat said that Secretary Clinton called
him last night to offer US assistance in any way in order to resolve
the Cyprus issue and to congratulate him for his courage. Talat
said "This was a telephone conversation reflecting increased US
interest to the issue. I thanked the Secretary and told her that
international interest would contribute positively to resolve the
Cyprus issue."

Turkish Wife of Jordanian CIA Bomber: "Every Muslim Should Be
Anti-American" (Turkish Newsweek)
In its January 17 edition, Turkish version of Newsweek carries an
extended interview with Turkish citizen Defne Bayrak, the wife of
Jordanian CIA bomber. She admits her husband had close interest to
the "Jihadist internet sites" and expressed support for him being a
suicide bomber: "It is not easy for one to blow himself up but he
was going through an intellectual transformation for a long time.
He always complained about lack of action against the US
occupations. He always wanted to be in the Jihad areas. I respect
what he did even though that his own choice. I don't believe he was
ever working for the CIA. He was a strong enemy to the US, and he
talked about this openly. I think every Muslim should be against
America."

In the Headlines

Israel Apologizes: "Belated Common Sense" (Hurriyet)
After a day of screaming headlines condemning the undiplomatic
treatment of its Ambassador to Israel, Turkish media was triumphant
over the official apology, as in liberal Radikal's "Israel Says
Sorry" and CNNTurk's "Ankara Satisfied, Argument with Israel Over."
Media across the board treated the official apology as coming "as a
result of Ankara's strong ultimatum at the highest levels." In
"Belated Common Sense," mainstream Hurriyet lauds Turkey's solid
stance and opines: "Israeli Deputy FM Ayalon made a formal apology
which came after two earlier statements neither of which contained
an apology." Israel made a "stupid move" says Milliyet while
mainstream Vatan draws attention to the Israeli President's
intervention to solve the crisis: "Peres Said 'One Minute' Against
Insolence." Islamist Yeni Safak also notes: "Peres Ordered and PM
Netanyahu and Ayalon Wrote the Letter Together." Meanwhile, news
channel NTV proclaimed: "Ayalon's Career Finished." All media
carried PM Erdogan's remarks upon his return from Moscow which
officially ended the crisis: "We received the response that we
wanted and expected in diplomatic terms. The letter includes an
expression of apology."

Commentary: The issue has become an almost sole topic for pundits.
Sedat Ergin of mainstream Hurriyet characterized events as a
"derailing of Turkish-Israeli relations," and notes time will be
needed to put relations back on track: "All of this will make PM
Erdogan even harsher than before in his Israel rhetoric." Liberal
Radikal's Murat Yetkin considers the last series of events the "end
of the golden era for Israel" concluding that this is a clear
indication that "Israel is no longer capable of 'I can do whatever
and however I want attitude." Meanwhile, mainstream Milliyet's Asli
Aydintasbas worries about the Turkish media's prevailing
anti-Israeli tone, noting "these type of attitudes constitute solid
ground for anti-Semitism." She disagrees with PM Erdogan's comment
that "this is the kind of media I want to see" and asserts that the
"Turkish media is united in hate against Israel." Islamist Yeni
Safak writers Akif Emre and Fehmi Koru believe that Israel's
irrational diplomacy resulted because "the government is very
unhappy about Turkey's growing diplomatic power." Islamist Zaman,
via its guest columnist professor Gokhan Bacik, advises "caution and
calm" to the AKP government: "Turkey wants to be a regional
diplomatic power but it cannot be pursued through a crisis-driven

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approach even if Ankara is one hundred percent right in its
arguments."

Erdogan in Russia: Nuclear Plant Groundbreaking on November 10; Visa
With Russia to be Lifted (Hurriyet, Zaman)
Today's papers give extensive front page coverage to PM Erdogan's
visit to Russia where the two countries signed a deal to construct a
nuclear power plant in Turkey and agreed to change the visa regime.
Vatan and Haber Turk emphasize "Nuclear Plant Agreement with Russia"
and Hurriyet explains that the construction will begin on November
10. Milliyet says Turkey decided to launch the initiative to award
Russia with the job of constructing Turkey's first nuclear power
plant without opening a new tender. Islamist-oriented Yeni Safak
headlines "100 Billion USD in Five Years" and reports that the
countries will raise their bilateral trade volume to 100 billion
dollars in five years. Meanwhile, intellectual/Islamist oriented
Zaman reports that the most concrete outcome of Erdogan's visit to
Russia is the compromise reached on lifting of visa procedures
mutually. The two countries will reach an agreement on lifting the
visa requirement during Russian President Medvedev's visit to Turkey
in May or June, adds Zaman.

Davutoglu: Turkey Can Broker Peace with Taliban (Zaman) and 'Seize
the Chance' on Cyprus
Hurriyet, Haberturk, Radikal, Cumhuriyet and Zaman report before
meeting with the British Foreign Secretary David Miliband in London,
Foreign Minister Davutoglu told the British press Turkey might try
to convince the Taliban to join the political process in
Afghanistan. Papers cite The Times and Guardian as commenting
"Ankara aimed to repeat its success in 2004 in convincing the Sunnis
in Iraq to end their boycott of the elections." Davutoglu also said
Cyprus peace talks had reached a "critical stage," that the Greek
and Turkish Cypriot leaders had met 60 times, and that "guarantor
powers" Britain and Turkey should seize the chance to pin down a
comprehensive settlement. Mainstream Haberturk comments Davutoglu's
proposal "surprised" the West, whereas leftist-nationalist
Cumhuriyet says Britain "partially agrees" with the view, albeit
putting a distinction between the moderates and radicals within the
Taliban.

Ihsanoglu: Yemen Can Become a Second Afghanistan (Zaman)
The Turkish Secretary-General of the Organization of the Islamic
Conference (OIC), Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, visiting New York as the
guest of Ban Ki-Moon, told the Islamist-oriented Zaman that Yemen
was prone to become a "second Afghanistan." "Geographically, Yemen
is suitable for illegal activities. Infiltrations of terrorist
groups hardens the situation of the existing structures in the
country," said Ihsanoglu. He warned that the "distresses" should
not spread in Yemen, which would jeopardize its territorial
integrity. Ihsanoglu also noted the reasons why terror was not
rooted in Turkey, Indonesia and Senegal were multi-party democracy
and the lack of "extremist interpretations" of religion.

Jenkins Insolently Accuses Turks of Having 'Psychotic Problems'
(Sabah)
British journalist and analyst Gareth Jenkins, who is based in
Istanbul, told political observers at the Woodrow Wilson Center in
Washington on Tuesday that Americans should watch DVDs of "Valley of
the Wolves" in order to see a lot of the psychotic problems Turkish
society has. According to Jenkins the psychotic elements in the TV
series include a large amount of Ottoman nostalgia, Turkish racial
supremacy and even anti-Semitism. When he was asked about the
recent tensions between Turkey and Israel, Jenkins said "There was
always anti-Semitism in Turkey and this increased remarkably last
few years." Following Jenkins' remarks, an official from the
Turkish Embassy in Washington verbally reacted to Jenkins by saying
"these remarks are unacceptable," adds Sabah.

Migration of Jews from Turkey to Israel Increase Tenfold (NTV
website)
NTV website held a phone interview with Eyal Peretz, the head of

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Turkish Jews' Society in Israel. Peretz said over the past ten
years, an average of 60 Jews emigrated from Turkey to Israel, but in
2009, 600 came for good, marking a ten-fold increase. He said the
main reasons for the migration were the "disillusionment" of Jews
living in Turkey, the "anti-Jewish" rallies in the country and the
incidents that took place between the two countries last year.
"Emigration to Israel has increased naturally in the face of the
burning of Israeli flags in Istanbul, the Turkish PM calling
Turkey's Jews as 'guests,' and other rising anti-Jewish
developments," said Peretz. Peretz also said they wrote a letter of
apology to Turkey's Tel Aviv Embassy after the humiliation of
Ambassador Celikkol. "This incident has given the Turkish people a
wrong impression on the Israeli people, just in the sense that The
Valley of The Wolves and Separation serials stoked a rise in the
extreme views held against the Jewish congregation in Turkey,"
emphasized Peretz.

Haiti Razed to the Ground (Milliyet)
Front pages of newspapers feature photos and strong headlines about
Haiti's devastating earthquake on Tuesday highlighting the loss of
life and massive damage to landmark sites such as the official
palace and the United Nation's building. In a front page banner
headline "Haiti Cries," mainstream Sabah says the "Haitian PM
estimated that tens of thousands of people have died in the
aftermath of the earthquake, " and notes "around 140 of the UN
employees in Haiti, including the mission's leader, remained trapped
under the rubble after Tuesday's massive earthquake." Mainstream
Hurriyet in "One Minute Nightmare. Earthquake Destroys Haiti's
Capital," highlights that "the US and other countries mobilized a
huge rescue and relief effort to assist the quake-hit Haiti.
President Obama rushes aid to Haiti and orders a sweeping military
and civilian operation while World Bank pledges $100million. Turkish
Red Crescent sends a leader team to the region to help with rescue
efforts." Liberal Radikal headline reads, "7 Magnitude Earthquake
Razes Haiti," while mainstream Milliyet says "7.0 earthquake was the
largest recorded in Haiti since 1770." In "Earthquake Strikes
People Depending on Muddy Bread," Islamist Yeni Safak focuses on
the people and says "the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere
with its people making bread out of mud, was hit by the biggest
earthquake in 200 years." All papers note "Turkish General
Directorate of Security said that 52 Turkish policemen assigned to
the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) were reported to be
in good condition in the wake of the earthquake in Haiti."

Greek and Turkish Boats Collide in Kardak: CNNTurk and online
outlets report that a Greek and Turkish coastguard ships collided on
1/13 off the coast of Kardak (Ima) and quote Greek state broadcaster
ERT that the Greek side considered the collision "unimportant," and
that Greek officials reached out to Turkish counterparts regarding
the mishap.

TV Spotlight (CNN Turk)

Six people have been arrested in security operations against the
PKK's arm KCK in the provinces of Bingol and Hakkari.

Diyarbakir Mayor Osman Baydemir has been banned by court from
leaving Turkey temporarily in connection with an investigation
against the PKK/KCK.

The ruling AK Party Women's Branch has invited Secretary Clinton to
join March 8 World Women's Day activities in Turkey.

Istanbul 2010 European Capital of Culture activities will be
launched with a formal ceremony on January 16.

The first round of intensified talks in Cyprus has failed to produce
results.

Greek PM Papandreou said he will give a positive response to the
letter PM Erdogan sent on October 30, and will arrange a meeting

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with the Turkish leader.

Yemeni security forces killed a suspected al-Qaeda leader in a raid
on a house in the Shabwa province.

Norway has apologized for the death of a Turkish woman whose son was
beaten by the Norwegian police. The issue will be taken to the
Turkish parliament's agenda.

JEFFREY

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