‘WikiLeaks Cable’ Row Heats Up
29 September 2012 Saturday 9:45 A row over an alleged WikiLeaks cable from 2003 has heated up between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and main opposition leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, as the premier filed a lawsuit against his rival on charges of libel Sept. 28. Main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kılıçdaroğlu accused Erdoğan of treason on Sept. 27 over an alleged WikiLeaks cable dating back to June 6, 2003. Referring to a book titled “Leakage: Prominent Turks in the WikiLeaks cables” by journalists Barış Terkoğlu and Barış Pehlivan, Kılıçdaroğlu said Erdoğan had promised to open Turkish air space and two seaports to the U.S. in 2003, but that this had been opposed by a number of high-ranking generals, most of whom were tried in the Balyoz (Sledgehammer) coup plot case. “A prime minister who protects a foreign country’s benefits instead of his own country’s [interests] cannot be the prime minister of Turkey. A man who does not protect his own country and its