ANKARA MEDIA REACTION REPORT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 001094 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 WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2003 THIS REPORT WILL PRESENT A TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER THREE THEMES: HEADLINES BRIEFING EDITORIAL OPINION -------------- HEADLINES MASS APPEALS Bush: Another UN resolution not necessary - Turkiye American press: U.S. can do without Turkey - Sabah U.S.: Take the $26 billion package - Vatan Erdogan: U.S. should consider our sensitivities - Milliyet Bush: Turkey has no better friend than U.S. - Aksam EU wants Iraq intervention under UN umbrella - Hurriyet OPINION MAKERS Washington steps up pressure: Time is up - Cumhuriyet Bush: We are best friends with Turkey -- Radikal President Sezer: A second UN resolution essential - Radikal U.S. to Turkey: We're friends, so decide now - Zaman Ankara resists U.S. pressure - Yeni Safak 200,000 U.S. troops in Gulf region - Cumhuriyet FINANCIAL JOURNALS Central Bank: Structural reforms to minimize war damages - Dunya Iraq war will hit global tourism, agriculture - Finansal Forum BRIEFING Iraq: Dailies comment that the U.S. is uneasy about the tough bargaining with Turkey over economic support in the event of a war with Iraq, and claim that the Bush Administration wonders whether Turkey's demand for $92 billion as war compensation is a pretext to shy away from cooperation with the U.S. Papers quote Ari Fleischer as stressing that the U.S. will continue to work with Turkey, and that President Bush is awaiting Ankara's decision. AKP leader Erdogan said on Tuesday that the permission extended by Turkey to the U.S. regarding modernization of bases is `not irreversible.' President Sezer has joined Erdogan in `thwarting the American blackmail' by saying that foreign troops would be allowed in Turkey only under a framework of international legitimacy. Erdogan said at his party group meeting on Tuesday there are two options Turkey could choose: either to shape historical developments, or merely observe the course of those developments. "Hurriyet" claims that President Bush has offered to send a letter to President Sezer to ease Turkey's economic concerns, but the Turks insisted on a memorandum of understanding on such issues. Dailies claim that Turkey has presented five conditions to the U.S.: - U.S. plans regarding the future of Iraq should be shared with Turkey; - Turkey will not accept divisions along ethnic lines in Iraq; - The control of northern Iraq, except for Mosul, should be left to Turkey; - British or Kurdish groups to join the coalition against Saddam Hussein should not enter Mosul; - Written guarantees by the U.S. are needed for Turkey. Prime Minister Gul reportedly said that Ankara is awaiting the U.S. response to Turkey's demands before taking the issue of foreign troop deployment to the parliament. "Cumhuriyet" reports that the Turkish and U.S. militaries will command their own troops in northern Iraq through a structure of close coordination. Only U.S. troops will enter Mosul, and Turkey will send observers there, papers report. IMF postpones departure: The IMF delegation now in Turkey is reportedly awaiting the outcome of negotiations between the U.S. and Turkey before finalizing its fourth review. Completion of the review will bring $1.6 billion to Ankara. Dailies speculate that talks with the IMF are deadlocked due to the ongoing bargaining about deployment of U.S. troops in Turkey, and that the U.S. is using its influence on the IMF to step up pressure on Ankara. The IMF delegation, chaired by Turkey Desk Chief Kahkonen, held meetings with economic officials on Tuesday, and discussed the budget and primary surplus target for 2003. EDITORIAL OPINION: Iraq "Better stand against both the war and Saddam" Mehmet Barlas wrote in mass appeal Aksam (2/19): "By standing only against the US military action, people are encouraging Saddam and others like him. Therefore, the Saddam regime considers Chirac, Schoreder, and the anti-war masses as its allies. . Turkey should think about the benefits of an Iraq with or without Saddam, both for Turkey and for all of humanity. Recent history tells us about the consequences of having despotic regimes in Turkey's immediate neighborhood. . In the example of today's Iraq, neither Kurds, nor Shiites nor Turkomen are safe and secure. We still don't know exactly how many intellectually brilliant Iraqis were killed only because of their opposition to Saddam. Saying `no' to war is well and good, yet it requires a certain degree of intellectualism to be able to say `no' to both a war and to Saddam." "Racing against time" Sami Kohen wrote in mass appeal Milliyet (2/19): "The time factor has become even more important right now, particularly in Turkish-American relations, and we have observed that very critical point over the last couple of days. This period will be the test of whether or not Turkey will ask authorization for the deployment of US troops. If not, Turkey and the US will go their separate ways on a possible Iraq operation. Yet both sides remain hopeful about reaching an agreement eventually. It indeed is a possibility that all the issues will be put on paper and a settlement will be achieved by this weekend or early next week. When that happens, the procedure for parliamentary approval will also begin. . As AKP leader Erdogan duly noted, history in the region is about to be re-written. It is a matter of preference for Turkey whether it gets actively involved in this historic process or remains outside of it." PEARSON