US embassy cable - 04ANKARA2332

UNCLAS ANKARA 002332 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/PPD AND EUR/SE 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KPAO, KMDR, OVIP, TU 
SUBJECT:  TURKISH MEDIA RECOMMENDATIONS IN RUN-UP TO POTUS 
VISIT 
 
 
REF: Ankara 2010 
 
 
1. As we approach the June 26-29 POTUS visit to Turkey for 
bilateral meetings in Ankara and the NATO Summit in 
Istanbul, Turkish press interest in the visit is building. 
The embassy has received numerous requests from Turkish 
media outlets to interview USG principals in the run-up to 
the visit, and we anticipate that similar requests will be 
made from Turkish media representatives in Washington.  This 
message details embassy recommendations for possible events 
with the Turkish media to set the stage for the visit and 
provide context for both the bilateral portion and the 
summit. 
 
 
2. Embassy recommends that the President or NSC Advisor Rice 
hold one interview with Turkish print media and one with 
electronic media some time in June: 
 
 
For a print media event, we would suggest a press roundtable 
with a group of leading editors and columnists, to include: 
 
 
-- Ferai Tinc, diplomatic news editor of "Hurriyet," 
Turkey's largest circulation daily; 
-- Mehmet Barlas, columnist in the Turkish daily "Sabah"; 
-- Ekrem Dumanli, editor-in-chief of Islamist-oriented 
"Zaman"; 
-- Oral Calislar, columnist in left-leaning "Cumhuriyet." 
 
 
All suggested participants are English speakers, and we 
believe they would be willing to travel to Washington for 
the roundtable. 
 
 
For the television, the embassy recommends a one-on-one 
interview.  Preferred options would be: 
 
 
-- TRT, Turkey's state broadcaster, with an interviewer to 
be vetted by the embassy (note: we understand from Prime 
Minister Erdogan's staff that in his January White House 
meeting, Erdogan suggested, and the President reportedly 
agreed, that Ugur Dundar, a veteran anchorman who frequently 
does contract work for TRT, would be a good choice); 
-- NTV, Turkey's leading all-news channel, with the 
station's Ankara representative, Murat Akgun. 
 
 
The interview would take place in Washington.  Both Dundar 
and Akgun are English speakers. 
 
 
3. In addition, the embassy recommends that Secretary Powell 
appear on Turkish television in early June.  We recommend a 
series of two or three interviews to reach the broadest 
possible audience.  Recommended options include: 
 
 
-- TRT or NTV as recommended above; 
-- Nuray Basaran and Faruk Demir, SHOW-TV, one of Turkey's 
popular channels (embassy is already on record supporting 
this request - see reftel).  Note: Basaran and Demir do not 
speak English.  They are requesting a late April time-frame 
for this interview.  However, it could be held for June as a 
scenesetter for the visit. 
-- Kanal-D, another popular channel, with the station's news 
director, Metehan Demir.  Demir's interview would also 
appear in Turkey's largest circulation daily "Hurriyet," 
which is owned by the same media group; 
-- CNN-Turk, an all-news channel, with interviewer Mehmet 
Ali Birand. (Note: Birand has proposed a joint interview 
with Alexis Papahelas of Greece's MEGA-TV.  We defer to 
Athens for its assessment of Papahelas and MEGA-TV.) 
 
 
EDELMAN