ANKARA MEDIA REACTION REPORT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 008867 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR INR/R/MR, EUR/SE, EUR/PD, NEA/PD, DRL JCS PASS J-5/CDR S. WRIGHT E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OPRC KMDR TU SUBJECT: ANKARA MEDIA REACTION REPORT MONDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2002 THIS REPORT WILL PRESENT A TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER THREE THEMES: HEADLINES BRIEFING EDITORIAL OPINION -------------- HEADLINES December 7-9, 2002 MASS APPEAL Erdogan Begins the Last Tour for EU entry - Turkiye Erdogan Meets with Bush tomorrow - Hurriyet Papandreu: Accession Date is Turkey's right - Milliyet Erdogan: EU accession date should be no later than 2003 - Hurriyet Denktas starts negotiations on his return to the island - Hurriyet US can strike Iraq in January - Milliyet Iraq submits WMD report to UN - Hurriyet OPINION MAKERS FM Yakis: Date should be given in Thessaloniki - Radikal Turkey Lobbies for EU entry - Yeni Safak Europe cannot decide about Turkey - Cumhuriyet Heavy Diplomatic Traffic in Cyprus - Radikal BRIEFING Erdogan's visit to US: Sunday's "Sabah" gives front-page coverage to AKP leader Erdogan's visit to the US. Erdogan is going to the US for 24 hours at the invistation of President Bush. Washington will welcome Erdogan with the highest level of protocol. Today's "Zaman" reports that Erdogan will meet with SecDef Rumsfeld, SecState Powell, and National Security Advisor Condolezza Rice before meeting with President Bush and Vice-President Cheney. Reportedly, The US will reportedly support Turkey's EU accession, and Erdogan will remind the US that Turkey was not compensated after the Gulf war, and cannot endure new economic losses. EU: All papers report on Turkey's EU lobbying efforts, from every angle, on the eve of the Copenhagen Summit. "Zaman" reports that Erdogan went to Copenhagen last night to seek support from EU term President Denmark's Prime Minister Rasmussen. Erdogan reportedly said that the EU should begin talks with Turkey before the end of 2003. President Sezer and PM Gul will also go to Copenhagen for meetings with EU officials. "Yeni Safak" reports that the government has launched a new operation for stepping up pressure on the EU. Meanwhile, Turkish businessmen have launched an advertising campaign in newspapers across the EU. The advertisements carry pictures of two plants, one without a flower and the other with a red flower representing Turkey. The message below reads: `take action now and the results will surprise you.' Cyprus: Sunday's "Hurriyet" reports that TRNC president Denktas returned to Cyprus after the heart surgery in the US. On his return, Denktas met with PM Gul and AKP leader Erdogan at the airport in Istanbul, and stressed that he had no hope for a settlement in Cyprus. Although Sunday papers quoted PM Gul as saying that there were no disagreements between Turkey and the TRNC, Sunday's "Zaman" comments that the negative turn in EU accession talks was weakening hopes for a solution in Cyprus. Iraq: All weekend papers and TV channels covered Iraq's 11,000-page report on its WMD program, which was submitted to the UN. "Hurriyet" reports that the US does not trust Iraq, and insists that it has proof that Iraq does indeed possess weapons of mass destruction. "Milliyet" cites the New York Times in reporting that US deployments in the Gulf will be sufficient by January 2003 to launch an operation against Iraq. US Senators visit Kurdish refugees in Northern Iraq: Weekend papers and today's "Turkish Daily News" cover Senators Biden and Hagel meeting with politicians and refugees in Kurdish- controlled Northern Iraq. This is the highest level US visit to the autonomous zone since it was established in 1991 following the Gulf war. EDITORIAL OPINION: ¶1. Erdogan to US ¶2. Turkey-EU "Ozal treatment for Erdogan" Washington reporter of mass appeal "Milliyet" Yasemin Congar wrote (12/9): "The US President is going to host Tayyip Erdogan as a prime minister. Erdogan's treatment as Turkey's new leader coincides with the upcoming EU summit, in which the US will repeat its message to Europe: `Turkey should be in Europe.' . Erdogan's visit is the result of American pragmatism. The U.S. simply put aside the question marks about protocol issues, as well as the possible uneasiness within the Turkish military. Instead, reality prevailed - that is, Iraq, September 11, and the EU. There is also an Erdogan phenomenon in Washington. There are many in the US administration who believe that Tayyip Erdogan might the first true successor to Turkey's late president Ozal. . Yet it would be too early to say that the US has already found a new Ozal spirit in Erdogan. It is true that both Grossman and Wolfowitz left Turkey with very positive impressions about Erdogan, and that Erdogan's reformist approach is very much appreciated here. But a group of `Turkey-watchers' are still skeptical about Tayyip Erdogan. The analysts in the think-tanks frequently note that `a leopard cannot change its spots.' . However, the Bush administration is not acting with skepticism -- at least for the time being. The US Government seems to have awarded Erdogan `advance credit,' which is a very rare thing in Washington. It remains to be seen how much Mr. Erdogan will use this unique opportunity." "The 2005 Crap" Yilmaz Oztuna wrote in mass appeal-conservative Turkiye (12/9): "The date for the EU accession in Chirac and Schroeder's minds is very wrong, and has the potential to undermine Turkey's relations with the EU. They think that July 2005 is a valid date, but in fact it is both wrong and suffers from a lack of justification. Turkey cannot tolerate being kept in the waiting room for another three years. We are talking about a country which has been a member of NATO since 1952 and signed the first agreement for European membership in 1963, at a time when the EU consisted of 6 members. . Yes, we have a lot to do, and yes, we have made some mistakes along the way. Yet all of this does not justify the critical mistake that France and Germany are planning to make."