ANKARA MEDIA REACTION REPORT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 000152 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 TUESDAY, JANUARY 7, 2003 THIS REPORT WILL PRESENT A TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER THREE THEMES: HEADLINES BRIEFING EDITORIAL OPINION -------------- HEADLINES MASS APPEAL Former diplomats: Turkey has rights over Iraqi oil - Hurriyet TGS: Saddam's chemical weapons could hit Turkey - Turkiye Military experts: South, southeast Turkey within Saddam's range - Milliyet Generals: Saddam has turned missiles toward Turkey - Sabah Gul may meet Saddam to prevent war - Turkiye Half of nation lives in destitution - Vatan Denktas issues surprise maps - Aksam OPINION MAKERS U.S. fronts against Iraq: Turkey, Jordan, Kuwait - Radikal Iraqi FM: U.S. targets Iraqi oil - Cumhuriyet Gul: Saddam should eliminate all suspicion - Yeni Safak Gul: Peace responsibility falls on Saddam - Radikal U.S. war plan: Use and dispose of Turkey - Yeni Safak Erdogan off to Turkic republics - Zaman FINANCIAL JOURNALS U.S. CNFA to hold 2003 annual conference in Istanbul - Dunya Government drafts bill for tax amnesty - Finansal Forum BRIEFING Iraq: The TGS and FM Yakis briefed the parliamentary foreign affairs commission Monday regarding the Iraq issue and Cyprus, papers report. The generals warned that eastern Turkey falls within the scope of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, and asked the parliament to approve deployment of additional troops in Northern Iraq. The U.S. is planning to attack Iraq from Turkey, Jordan, and Kuwait, and is planning to stay in the region for a long time in order to restructure the Middle East, TGS officers reportedly said. The U.S. has asked Ankara for permission to transfer 80,000 troops to Iraq via Turkey, the deployment of 5,000-6,000 special troops in Turkish territory, and permission to use bases and airports at Incirlik, Batman, Diyarbakir, Corlu, Afyon, and Istanbul as well as the ports in Mersin and Iskenderun. The U.S. is also waiting for Ankara's approval to send 60 trucks of weapons from Incirlik to the Northern Iraqi Kurds, papers claim. The U.S. has been notified that Turkey will send 20,000 troops to Northern Iraq in the event of war, in addition to the 2,000 soldiers already stationed there. Ankara is planning to set up 18 camps - 13 on the Iraqi side of the border - to cope with an estimated 250,000 refugees, according to papers. The TGS has announced that 150 U.S. experts were given permission on December 16 for site surveys on Turkish bases, and said that work would begin in a few days. Prime Minister Gul said upon arrival from his tour of the Middle East that the legal disagreement between the U.S. and Turkey over site surveys has been resolved. General Bekir Kalyoncu of the TGS Operations and Planning Department is quoted as saying that Mosul and Kirkuk should not be given to the Kurds. Kalyoncu said that the U.S. should not launch an operation without a second UN resolution, and that the Turkish government needed parliamentary approval to participate in a war in Iraq. Citing a NYT article speculating about U.S. and UK ambitions on Iraqi oil, "Yeni Safak" says on its front page that the U.S. would keep Ankara out of the process of reconstructing Iraq after Saddam Hussein is toppled. In a press conference following his meetings in Jordan, Prime Minister Gul said that the main responsibility for working out a peaceful solution to the crisis belongs to Saddam Hussein. In a `surprising statement,' Gul said he might meet Saddam Hussein in Baghdad in order to avert war, dailies report. Gul also said that regional countries should use all means to prevent war, and should take joint action at the UN. Turkey's rights over Iraqi oil: Responding to "Hurriyet"s questions regarding Turkey's rights over Iraqi oil, former diplomats said that an agreement reached in 1926 between Britain, Iraq, and Turkey gave Ankara a ten percent share of Iraqi oil revenues for 25 years. Payments to Turkey were halted in 1955 following arbitrary payments for 13 years, and Ankara can still demand payment for the remaining 12 years, the diplomats said. Turkey's former Ambassador to Baghdad, Nuzhet Kandemir estimates that Iraq owes Turkey $30 billion from the 1926 agreement. However, Kandemir affirmed that Iraq's natural resources belong to the Iraqi people, and said that Turkey should not claim rights over them. Cyprus: Two opinion polls on the UN-sponsored Cyprus peace plan by two Turkish Cypriot dailies produced conflicting results. According to the "Kibris" newspaper survey of 1194 Turks between December 27-January 3, 65.4 percent of Turkish Cypriots support the UN plan, and 28.2 percent are opposed. A survey by the daily "Volkan" on December 25 showed that 79.8 percent of Turkish Cypriots are against the Annan plan. "Aksam" reports on two maps that will reportedly be offered by Denktas for a division of Cyprus: The first map offers the Karpaz province in the north to the Greek Cypriots, and the other envisions Maras to be settled by Turks and Greeks under UN security guarantees. EDITORIAL OPINION: Iraq/Saddam Hussein's defiant remarks "Saddam Husssein waits for war" Mehmet Barlas opined in mass appeal Aksam (1/7): "Saddam Hussein's message for the Army Day celebration clearly defies the US and calls for a holy war. He accused everyone, including the UN inspectors now in Iraq. The gist of this `army day' message is as follows: Iraq is ready for war. Saddam knows that war is imminent, thus his propaganda position is to welcome it. If only PM Gul were visiting Baghdad instead of Syria and Egypt." "Saddam has hurt Gul's campaign" Ilnur Cevik wrote in English language Turkish Daily News (1/7): "The remarks of Saddam Hussein that the UN weapons inspectors are spying has come as a blow to those who wanted to find a peaceful solution to the Iraqi crisis. The efforts of PM Gul to rally support for his peace crusade in Syria, Egypt, and Jordan have actually gone down the drain. Saddam Hussein is notorious for misreading reality and taking the wrong steps. You just have to look at how he waged a war against Iran, and how he invaded Kuwait and then refused to withdraw. ... Whatever the reason, the Iraqi leader has only strengthened the hand of the Americans, who are already massing troops and military hardware in the region." PEARSON