ANKARA MEDIA REACTION REPORT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 003892

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, JUNE 16, 2003

THIS REPORT WILL PRESENT A TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER THREE
THEMES:


HEADLINES
BRIEFING
EDITORIAL OPINION
--------------


HEADLINES


MASS APPEAL
Mullah terror in Iran - Hurriyet 6/15
Students want Hamanei's head - Hurriyet 6/14
Iranians urge mullahs to leave - Vatan
Bush supports Iranian dissidents - Milliyet
Iranian students determined to continue protest until regime
change - Milliyet 6/14
Tehran employs Saddam's missile experts - Milliyet
Turkey, Pakistan revive ties - Turkiye
Greek defense minister: Generals in power in Turkey - Aksam
6/15
Iraqi Kurds to unite their administrations - Milliyet 6/14
Erdogan: Turkey will do without IMF after 2004 - Hurriyet
6/15


OPINION MAKERS
Iran on razor's edge - Radikal
Conservatives take stage in Iran, beat civilians - Radikal
6/14
Bush hails Iranian students, tough on Hamas - Zaman
Prof. Larouche: U.S. wants instability in Iran, not regime
change - Zaman 6/14
War in Iraq never ends - Cumhuriyet
U.S. launches operation `Desert Scorpion' against Iraqi
resistance - Radikal
Iraq still on fire - Radikal 6/14
Erdogan: We'll be happy with Pakistani presence in Iraq -
Yeni Safak
Gul: We want to turn Aegean into a sea of peace - Zaman
Israel preparing for withdrawal - Cumhuriyet


BRIEFING


U.S.-Iran tension: Dailies from over the weekend and on
Monday report on the growing demonstrations against the
`regime of mullahs' in Iran. Dailies mention an `open
letter' issued by reformist politicians, clerics, opposition
groups, intellectuals, and journalists in defense of the
Iranian people's right to criticize and even bring down the
Iranian administration. President Bush has seized the
opportunity to challenge the rulers of Iran, and voiced
support for the protestors, saying that `people are
expressing views for a free Iran, which is a positive
development.' Reports also quote Ari Fleischer as
denouncing attacks by a militia loyal to Iran's spiritual
leader Hamanei against the students.


MFA U/S in U.S.: MFA U/S Ambassador Ugur Ziyal and his
delegation are scheduled to meet with Grossman, Wolfowitz,
Larson, Burns and some Congressmen in Washington before
returning on Thursday. Dailies regard the visit as an
effort to `repair the damage' in U.S.-Turkey ties. Ankara
and Washington will discuss the future of the bilateral
strategic relationship, and will also focus on Iran and
Cyprus.


PM Erdogan in Pakistan: The first Turkish Prime Minister to
visit Pakistan in the last five years, Erdogan and his
Pakistani counterpart have decided to hold annual bilateral
meetings to boost ties. In a joint press conference with
his counterpart Prime Minister Jemali, Erdogan called for
Pakistani participation in peacekeeping activities in Iraq.
Erdogan, who is scheduled to meet with Pakistani head of
state Musharraf on Monday, is expected to call for
membership of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC)
in the Organization for Islamic Conference (OIC). Papers
say that Turkey and Pakistan will sign agreements on ground
transportation, environmental protection, and the struggle
against drug trafficking.


Turkey, EU: On the eve of critical parliamentary discussions
on the EU reform package this week, Foreign Minister Gul
said that if Turkey manages to pass necessary reforms in the
next two months, accession negotiations with the EU could
begin in 2004. This would pave the way for Turkey's EU
membership by 2010. Dailies expect no drastic change in
Turkey-EU relations at the upcoming EU summit in
Thessaloniki, Greece this weekend. The Thessaloniki summit
will call on Ankara and the Turkish Cypriots to support the
UN-sponsored peace plan for Cyprus.
EDITORIAL OPINION:


a) Middle East
b) Iran and US-Turkish relations


"New era in the Middle East"
Yasemin Congar observed in mass appeal Milliyet (6/16): "It
may sound like a distant dream, yet there are some positive
developments in the Middle East. The first good sign comes
with the reaffirmation of the US commitment to the roadmap.
Secretary Powell's message that `we will not give up, we

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will not stumble' should be taken as a very important
declaration. . There are also some positive things happening
in the Israel-Palestine dialogue. Most importantly, the
channel for dialogue remains open despite the negative
developments on the ground. . The third good sign comes from
Europe and regional countries, which have signaled their
active participation in the process. They all consider
themselves part of the Middle East initiative. . As for
Ankara, these developments should be read correctly, and
Turkey should not remain an observer. Ankara must give a
hand to Palestinian PM Abbas. Turkey is capable of
accelerating the Israeli-Palestinian dialogue through clever
diplomacy."


"Ziyal's visit"
Asli Aydintasbas wrote in mass appeal Sabah (6/16): "The
visit of Turkish MFA U/S Ziyal to Washington is basically an
effort to repair the bilateral relationship. He will convey
messages from Ankara and listen to what US officials have to
say. . In fact, there are enough signs already about what
Ziyal will be hearing from the US. Richard Perle of the AEI
recently revealed that message. Perle highlighted the
Iranian nuclear program and regime's link with terrorism,
and hinted that the repair of Turkish-American ties goes
through US-Turkish cooperation on Iran. . `Ankara should
have a very clear stance about Iran' says an American
official. Washington wants to know whether Turkey will be
on the US side in a possible campaign against Iran."


PEARSON