ANKARA MEDIA REACTION REPORT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 003151 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, MAY 13, 2003 THIS REPORT WILL PRESENT A TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER THREE THEMES: HEADLINES BRIEFING EDITORIAL OPINION -------------- HEADLINES MASS APPEAL Bremer, an American in Baghdad - Milliyet Saudi bombs a warning for Powell - Hurriyet Bush: Still got a lot to do in Iraq - Turkiye U.S. cease search for Iraqi WMD - Aksam U.S. fooled Saddam by Northern Front bluff - Turkiye U.S. holds secret talks with Iran - Milliyet British cabinet reshuffle over Iraq war - Sabah Berlusconi: Great Europe possible with Turkey - Hurriyet OPINION MAKERS Iraq's new boss Bremer in Baghdad - Cumhuriyet Powell to Syria: Choose Hamas or U.S. - Yeni Safak U.S. brings chaos, fear to Iraq - Yeni Safak Damascus to allow private banks, broadcasters - Radikal `Dr. Microbe,' `Saddam's chief of staff' detained - Zaman European Parliament targets Turkish military - Cumhuriyet Gul: We'll enact Copenhagen reforms this year - Yeni Safak Gul: Troops might leave if peace comes to Cyprus - Zaman Cenbank intervenes to halt sinking Dollar - Radikal FINANCIAL JOURNALS Cenbank intervention on Dollar didn't work - Dunya Plenexis Satellite winks at Iraq via Turkey - Finansal Forum BRIEFING Turkey, U.S. relations: A "Hurriyet" commentary points to the emerging trouble between Turkish and U.S. military, formerly close allies. The paper claims it was a deliberate action on behalf of Americans to detain the alleged Turkish special team members smuggling weapons for the Turkomans in Northern Iraq three weeks ago. Ankara believes the incident and the subsequent leaking to the press was part of a psychological operation which aimed to exclude Turkish troops from Northern Iraq, Hurriyet writes. U.S. holds the Turkish military to be responsible for the rejection of troops deployment decree, the paper claims. Hurriyet thinks disagreement between Turkish and American government officials affected the military relationship between the two countries as well. "Milliyet" defends the idea that both countries will win if U.S. decides to cooperate with Turkey in Iraq's reconstruction. The paper advises tight coordination and consultation between Turkey and the U.S. to deal with the potential terror threat in Northern Iraq, and the status of Turkomans in the new regime. "Sabah" reports a U.S. Ankara Embassy official as saying that U.S. held responsible, not only the AKP government, but all related state institutions for rejection of the decree to permit foreign military presence in Turkey. `Secretary Powell has not mentioned a Turkey-U.S. strategic partnership during his last visit to Ankara. We can't easily forget that Turkey has not helped us at all in our Iraq policy,' the official reportedly said. Another "Hurriyet" commentary criticizes the approach of U.S. Ambassador to Ankara, Robert Pearson in an op-ed published in the same paper on Monday. The article carps at the `false picture in pink' drawn by Ambassador Pearson, without bringing to attention the `insolent' warnings by Wolfowitz and Grossman. Iraq: Rebuilding, aid: A convoy of 59 trucks took cooking fuel from Turkey to Northern Iraqi cities over the weekend, U.S. Ankara Embassy said on Monday. Dailies and Turkey's Union of Chambers (TOBB) Chairman Rifat Hisarciklioglu welcome the move as a positive first step regarding Turkey's economic presence in Iraq. Reports agree that the removal of UN sanctions on Iraq in line with a recent proposal by the U.S. and Britain, will boost Turkish exports. Turkish companies continue meetings with American firms involved in Iraq's rebuilding, according to papers. Italy's Berlusconi in Turkey: The visiting Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi said on Monday that only a "great Europe" encompassing Turkey and former Soviet-bloc states could counter-balance U.S. economic and military might. He said he would devote his efforts as the EU's next president to backing Muslim Turkey's drive to join the bloc, and would seek to resolve the long standoff on Cyprus. Berlusconi said after talks with his Turkish counterpart, Erdogan, in Ankara that he believed Europe should develop a strong military capability so that the U.S. does not have to shoulder the burden of policing the world alone. He also supported the U.S.-led war in Iraq, papers note. Turks hopeful of tourism season: Turkish tourism, which came to a standstill during the war on Iraq, is coming back to life, papers report. The first U.S. cruiser, "Golden Princess" came to Turkey's coastal town Kusadasi in the Aegean with over 2,000 tourists on board. EDITORIAL OPINION a) Middle East b) US-Turkey relations in the post Iraq war period "The Road and the Map" Hadi Uluengin commented in mass appeal Hurriyet (5/13): "President Bush's statement in South Carolina is a clear indication of Washington's determined initiative for the settlement of the Middle East issue. This is an imminent issue on Washington's agenda in order to minimize the anti- American sentiment in the post-war period. . Following both the Bush statement and Secretary Powell's meetings in Israel, we can draw a conclusion that there is no significant achievement on the horizon. Sources close to Arabs are saying that the road map for the Middle East has no chance of success unless there has been a concrete gesture from the Israeli side. And the same sources indicate that even the new PM of Palestine, Abbas, agrees with this. . As for Israel, it depicted its terms for settlement as even tougher than before, and Ariel Sharon evidently was aloof to Secretary Powell. . There might be some hope for the Sharon-Bush meeting which is scheduled for next week. On the other hand, the Jewish lobby in the US will do its best to prevent Sharon from facing American pressure. If that is the case, the roadmap is doomed to fail." "The Strategy-tuning with the US" Sami Kohen wrote in mass appeal Milliyet (5/13): "It seems both Ankara and Washington agree on the need for moving ahead and overcoming the difficulties in the bilateral relations. There is also a need for a fine tuning of policies. The question is how will that happen and who is going to take the first step? The Ankara diplomatic circle is ready to put some steps forward. But the officials in Ankara believe the necessity for diplomatic contacts as a first step, and to follow it with more high level visits and contacts if the initial results are encouraging. . The Iraq crisis was the main reason for casting a shadow on bilateral relations. Now it is Iraq-related issues again which are capable of determining the phase of future Turkish-American relations. Therefore the Iraq issues should be taken up first in order to do a fine tuning in the strategic relations." PEARSON