WHITE HOUSE TO WORK WITH TURKEY
Rachel Martin
National Public Radio (NPR)
November 6, 2007 Tuesday
Hey, good morning, everyone. President Bush is pledging to boost
cooperation with Turkey in its fight against Kurdish rebels in Northern
Iraq. The Kurdish guerilla group called the PKK has been waging attacks
on Turkey from the northern mountainous region in Iraq. And Turkey’s
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan was in Washington yesterday to try to get
the U.S. to intervene before Turkey wages military action. Speaking
to reporters alongside Erdogan and his translator, Bush said the
U.S. would give Turkey information and support to fight the PKK.
President GEORGE W. BUSH: We talked about the need to have better
intelligence- sharing.
Unidentified Woman: (Turkish spoken)
Pres. BUSH: In order to chase down people who murder people, you need
good intelligence.
MARTIN: While Erdogan reaffirmed Turkey’s long alliance with the U.S.,
he took the opportunity again condemn recent efforts by Congress to
accuse Turkey of genocide against Armenians during World War I. Here’s
what he said through an interpreter.
Prime Minister TAYYIP ERDOGAN (Turkey): (Through translator) Our
documents indicate that there is no genocide that has taken place. In
fact, our values do not allow our people to commit genocide. It does
not allow it, and there is no such thing as a genocide. Those who
claim it must prove it.
MARTIN: Congressional Democrats have shelved the Armenian Genocide
bill for the time being after Turkey objected. Meanwhile, Erdogan said
yesterday Turkey may still invade Northern Iraq to stop PKK rebels.
And today’s a big day for U.S. attorney general nominee Michael
Mukasey. Today’s when he’ll find out if he’s the lucky man who will
take over the embattled U.S. Department of Justice. A Senate panel is
set to approve his nomination today. Mukasey’s confirmation was called
into question after he refused to define waterboarding as torture
during his confirmation hearings last month. But last week, two key
Democrats on the committee turned in support of Mukasey. If confirmed,
Mukasey will inherit a Justice Department that has weathered a lot
of controversy under former AG Alberto Gonzales, from the political
firings of U.S. attorneys to the Bush administration’s warrantless
domestic spying program.
Finally, so you know all that personal information you’ve got on
your Facebook or MySpace page? Not just your taste in music and
movies, but details like where you work, where you hang out with
your friends? Well, that’s the stuff of advertiser’s dreams, and the
social networking sites want to make the most of it. MySpace yesterday
announced an expanded targeted advertising plan, And today, Facebook
is also set to announce an expansion of its advertising system called
social ads. The program will track information consumers put on their
pages along with the Web sites they visit.
Then the data will be use to deliver ads that are personally tailored
to that person. Consumer privacy groups have raised some red flags,
saying consumers should be able to opt out of the advertising system.
That’s the news, and it’s always online at npr.org.
WOLFF: This is NPR.
MARTIN: Luke and Alison, what do you have on your MySpace page?
BURBANK: I don’t have MySpace anymore. I have a page, but now it’s
all in Facebook, you know.
STEWART: I’m a Facebook gal, yeah.
BURBANK: And every once in a while, you get an e-mail from MySpace
telling you something and you go back and check your old MySpace
account which you haven’t been to in months, and it’s like a bad
neighborhood.
(Soundbite of laughter)
BURBANK: You’re, like, oh, this has really gotten run down.
STEWART: It’s one of those neighborhoods that everything has been
foreclosed on.
BURBANK: Yeah, you’re like…
STEWART: A ghost town.
BURBANK: …oh, gosh, this got really crappy.
STEWART: Ouch.
BURBANK: Sorry, MySpace. I’m with Facebook now.