Cablegate: Turkish Media Reaction

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TAGS: OPRC KMDR TU PREL KPAO
SUBJECT: TURKISH MEDIA REACTION
TUESDAY, JANUARY 19, 2010

Highlights: Radical Armenians to Boycott Clinton Meeting; Editorials
on US Policy; Turkey-Armenia 'Protocols'; Afghanistan-Pakistan
Summit in Istanbul; Haiti Earthquake; Taliban Attacks Kabul; 'Pope's
Gunman' Freed; Israeli Defense Minister Visits Turkey; Al-Qaeda
Detentions; Poll on 'Public and Turkish FP'; Poll on Turkish
Military Losing Popular Support; TV Spotlight

US Embassy Ankara - Turkey Media Reaction - January 19, 2010 as
prepared by the Public Affairs Information Office

How the US is Playing

"Radical Armenian Americans to Boycott Clinton Meeting" (Hurriyet
online)
The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) has said it is not
planning to attend a meeting next month between Secretary Clinton
and major Armenian-American organizations to discuss the
Turkey-Armenia reconciliation process. The ANCA, in a weekend
statement, said its move is in protest of a State Department stance
to decline to invite many influential Armenian-American groups,
which oppose the normalization talks between Ankara and Yerevan.

Editorial Commentary: US - Pakistan Policy and "Russia Gains
Ground"
In "Pakistan's Test on Nuclear Weapons" Islamist Yeni Safak's Akif
Emre writes today: "It seems the US is determined to use terrorism
and radical Islam as pretexts to legitimize its intervening in the
region. Pakistan is next on the list. Even though the Pakistani
army does its best to stand against any US intervention, eventually
the country's territorial integrity might be at stake. The US is
trying to punish Pakistan just like Iran because of nuclear weapons.
In reality, the US wants to enhance its military presence in a
region with nuclear powers and energy routes. Islamic terror and
nuclear threats serve as good public opinion tools in this big power
game."

In the "US Makes Mistakes While Russia Gains Ground" columnist Murat
Yetkin of liberal daily Radikal (1/17) observed some policy mistakes
of Washington especially in Pakistan and the region: "Indeed, a day
after the Russian minister's statement that they could join the
Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline project, the US, with an
unprecedentedly strong statement, asked Pakistan to withdraw from
that project. The US makes a proposal to Pakistan, where they are
involved in military operations and from whom they expect a lot in
their fight against Al-Qaida and Taliban, a proposal to provide
Tajikistan oil to Pakistan through Afghanistan, which causes
suspicion. It is possible to see the US pressure on Pakistan to
stop cooperation with Iran as a politically tactical mistake because
getting a result is uncertain, but it is certain that it will
increase the discomfort in the Pakistani administration. At first,
the Obama administration declared that they aimed to withdraw from
Iraq, and to transfer the control in Afghanistan to Afghani people
as soon as possible, and started a spring in their relations with
Russia by withdrawing the missile-shield project from Eastern
Europe. However, the Obama administration has been making mistakes
after mistakes in the last couple of months. To give the impression
that they opened a new front in Yemen, threatening Iran with bombing
their facilities and considering military options in all issues
regarding the region can be mentioned among those mistakes.
However, as the US makes mistakes, Russia makes progress. This shift
in the regional power axis creates both opportunities and risks for
Turkey. It is a process that has to be followed very carefully."

In the Headlines

Turkey Not Happy With Yerevan's Justification of Protocols (Sabah,
Hurriyet, Milliyet)
Today's papers report on the MFA statement regarding the Yerevan's
Justification of Protocols. The statement reads "The Constitutional
Court of the Republic of Armenia has declared its decision of
constitutional conformity on the Protocols between Turkey and

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Armenia signed on 10 October 2009 with a short statement on 12
January 2010. The Constitutional Court has recently published its
grounds of decision. It has been observed that this decision
contains preconditions and restrictive provisions which impair the
letter and spirit of the Protocols. The said decision undermines
the very reason for negotiating these Protocols as well as their
fundamental objective. This approach cannot be accepted on our part.
Turkey, in line with its accustomed allegiance to its international
commitments, maintains its adherence to the primary provisions of
these Protocols. We expect the same allegiance from the Armenian
Government."

Pakistan-Afghanistan. "Asian Summit in Istanbul" (Sabah)
Mainstream Sabah reports that on January 25, President Gul will
bring together the leaders of Afghanistan and Pakistan, at the
'Afghanistan's Neighbors' summit in Istanbul. On January 26th,
representatives of Afghanistan's neighbors will gather in Turkey.
This meeting will be followed by an international conference on
Afghanistan to be held in London on January 28. Confidence building
measures and education issues will be on the agenda of
Turkey-Pakistan-Afghanistan trilateral summit. Within this
framework, education ministers of Afghanistan and Pakistan will be
coming to Turkey in the upcoming days. Tajikistan's president
Imamali Rahman is expected to join the meeting on January 26 while
Iran, Turkmenistan and China will be represented at the ministerial
level. Countries like Saudi Arabia, the US and the UK which
contributed to the re-construction of Afghanistan, will also attend
the summit in Istanbul. The meeting will bring together the
representatives of Iran and the US, as well. The summit's agenda
will be increasing contributions for Afghanistan's re-construction.

Haiti Rescue Efforts. "Humanity Under Rubble" (Milliyet)
Media outlets focus on the dire situation and Turkish relief efforts
in Haiti after the devastating earthquake, with a couple papers
questioning whether the US is occupying the Caribbean country in the
name of aid. Liberal Radikal in a front page banner headline, "Zero
Point of Humanity," expresses concern over growing chaos in Haiti as
"people fight for their lives after the quake." In "Second Turkish
Miracle," mainstream Milliyet highlights, "members of Turkish rescue
team are hailed as heroes in Haiti after they rescue two survivors
from the rubbles of a shopping mall abandoned by other rescue
teams." Meanwhile, mainstream Hurriyet headline reads, "Have US
Troops Come to Occupy?" and says, "US taking control of the
country's airport and giving priority to the US planes made other
countries furious after their planes carrying aid are turned back
and this fuels new tensions over a 'US occupation' of the quake-hit
island." In "US Stacks Troops to Haiti," leftist-nationalist
Cumhuriyet highlights Venezuelan and French accusations that US is
occupying Haiti. Cumhuriyet reports France called on the UN to
"clarify the US role and start an investigation," while Venezuelan
President Chavez said the "US uses the earthquake to occupy Haiti."

Afghanistan. "Taliban Attack On Kabul While Karzai Was Swearing-in"
(Hurriyet) "9/11 in Kabul" (Yeni Safak)
The Taliban attack in Kabul is a prominent international story. All
major papers cover the Kabul attacks and highlight the gravity.
Mainstream Hurriyet notes the attacks were coordinated while
Islamist oriented Yeni Safak observes "the largest and the most
chaotic Taliban attack in one year" and carries details of the
"4-hours long hot clashes." According to Yeni Safak, due to Taliban
attacks, Turkish Defense Minister Gonul decided on a last minute
cancellation of his upcoming Afghanistan trip. Leftist-nationalist
Cumhuriyet depicts the situation as "Afghan capital turned to a war
zone" and Islamist Zaman reports "clashes at the hearth of Kabul"
while stating the gravity of coordinated series of attacks in the
capital city. Columnist Ibrahim Karagul of Islamist Yeni Safak
considers the gravity of Taliban attacks a clear indication of the
"demise of the US project and the NATO presence in Afghanistan." In
"What Really happened in Kabul" he comments: "All of these attacks

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indicate that the Taliban is capable of undermining the protected
Kabul regime as well as reinforced foreign occupation. Calling it
terror does not explain the whole thing. In fact, the attacks in
Kabul were hitting the US, NATO as well as everything represented by
international forces. That is the demise of Obama's Afghanistan
project."

Pope's Gunman Agca Freed: "The Killer Among Us" (Sabah)
All media outlets give extensive coverage to the release of Mehmet
Ali Agca, the hitman who tried to kill Pope Jean Paul II in 1981 and
killed daily Milliyet's chief editor Abdi Ipekci in 1979, after
spending 29 years in jail. After leaving his prison cell, Agca went
to a luxury five-star hotel in Ankara. "I proclaim the end of the
world will come in this century," Agca wrote in a note to the media,
which he signed as "Messiah." Agca also said he would write a "new
and perfect Gospel." Instead of revealing his secrets, Agca started
to teach Christianity, say the papers, and claim that he will
continue his "show" to make money. Agca will reportedly hold a
press conference tomorrow about the "assassination plot" against
late Pope Jean Paul II.

Minister Gonul: We Will Continue to Work with Israel
Media outlets reported over the weekend that speaking to reporters
in Ankara after a one-on-one meeting with visiting Israeli Defense
Minister Ehud Barak, Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul said, "As long as
we have identical interests, we will continue to work with Israel."
In response to a question on the drones that Turkey would procure
from Israel, Gonul said Israel would deliver 10 unmanned planes to
Turkey within 2010. Barak said during a news conference with Gonul
that Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon's ill-treatment of
Turkish Ambassador in Tel Aviv was a "mistake." PM Erdogan said
Sunday, "We consider Barak's statements as satisfactory. We will
not bring the issue further."

Al-Qaeda's Turkey Representative Detained in Adana (Zaman)
Intellectual/Islamist-oriented Zaman and mainstream Sabah report
that security forces launched operations against Al-Qaeda in 25
different addresses in Adana and detained 20 people. It was learned
that the organization's Turkey Representative Abu Zer was among the
detained people. Sabah notes that these operations were the
follow-up operations of the one initiated in Ankara on January 15
where 10 people were detained.

Poll: Turks Warm to Opening Borders with Armenia If... (Cumhuriyet)
Papers carry a survey, "Public Opinion and Turkish Foreign Policy,"
by Ankara University's European Union Research Center (ATAUM),
conducted in nine Turkish provinces with 1032 respondents from
October 31-December 31 last year. The poll shows 42.2 percent of
those surveyed want Turkey to take an "active intermediation role"
in the Arab-Israel question. Asked whether Turkey should mediate
between Iran and the US, 43.4 percent said "Yes" whereas 43.4
percent said "No." Regarding the Arab-Israel problem, 33.5 percent
think Turkey should be "neutral" while 9.7 percent say Turkey should
support Arab policies, and 2.7 percent say Turkey should support
Israel. On Armenia, 69.7 percent think Turkey should open its
borders with Armenia if Yerevan withdraws from Azerbaijani
territories, and also drops "genocide" claims. An independent
Kurdish state in Iraq is opposed by 69.1 percent. The US was seen
as the leading "enemy country" with 37.5 percent, to be followed by
Armenia (10.9), Israel (10.6), Greece (6.1), and France (5.1). 27.4
percent of the respondents see the US as an "unreliable country" and
26.5 percent as a "colonial country" but 25.5 percent regard it as
"strategic partner."

Poll: Turkish Military Losing Popular Support in Recent Years
(Vatan)
Mainstream Vatan carries the results of a poll entitled "2010 Guide
for Understanding Turkey," which was conducted by Ipsos KMG
International Marketing and Public Poll Company on the Kurdish
"democratic overture" and the debates on the Turkish military. The
data of the past six years shows that the army, which had always

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taken the first place among the institutions the society views as
"the most trustworthy," is losing popular support. The drop began
in 2007 and when 85-90 percent of the population called "the army
is the most trustworthy institution" to the current rate of 73
percent in 2009, especially in the southeastern and eastern parts of
the country.

TV Spotlight (CNN Turk)

On Tuesday, the Israeli Foreign Ministry Director-General Yossi Gal
will visit Ankara for routine "political consultations."

Doctors and health workers will go on strike on Tuesday to protest a
new law banning them from working both in state hospitals and in
their private offices.

Around 10,000 people have applied for 108 job openings in Sanliurfa,
and 2,400 applied for 84 jobs in Edirne.

In 2010, Turkey expects a 20 percent increase in energy investments.

Prime Minister Erdogan met Greek President Papoulias on the
sidelines of the World Future Energy Summit in the UAE. Papoulias
raised the reopening of Halki Seminary, while Erdogan drew attention
to the problems of Turks in Western Thrace.

Former British PM, Tony Blair, will appear before the Iraq inquiry
commission on January 29 to answer questions about his controversial
decision to support the Iraq invasion.

JEFFREY

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