UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 007338

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
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2003


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


HEADLINES
BRIEFING
EDITORIAL OPINION




HEADLINES


MASS APPEAL
Surprising Thanksgiving Visit from Bush - Hurriyet
An Extra Week for Loizidu Case - Hurriyet
Shevardnadze Blames West - Hurriyet
100 Thousand Turkish Cypriots Apply for Greek Passports -
Milliyet
British Consul Short's Body Sent Home with a Military
Ceremony - Milliyet
Thanksgiving Show in Iraq by Bush - Milliyet
Saakasvili: "Turkey Our Most Important Strategic Friend" -
Milliyet
Shevardnadze Blames US and Europe for the Revolution - Sabah
FM Gul Takes UEFA Decision to EU - Sabah
FM Gul: "Sports Became the Target of the Terror" - Turkiye
Ambassador Edelman: "Turkey Was the Target of Terrorism for
Being a Model Country" - Hurriyet(11/25)
Bingol-Terrorist Headquarters-Sabah (11/25)


OPINION MAKERS
Justice Minister Cicek: "Islamic World Should Take Concrete
Steps against Terrorism" -Zaman
Gul's Request Postponed Loizidu Case - Zaman
Government Divided by Terror - Cumhuriyet
UEFA Did Not Take a Step Back - Cumhuriyet

SIPDIS
Civilian NSC Will Be Established after the Holidays -
Radikal
20 Suspects Arrested after Istanbul Bombings - Radikal
Talabani: "We Opened a New Page with Turkey" - Radikal
Al-UEFA Gang - Yeni Safak
Istanbul Bombers Arrested - Yeni Safak


BRIEFING


New NSC Regulations: "Radikal" reports on the new National
Security Council regulation adopted at the November 21 NSC
meeting. With the adoption of the new regulation, a new
period for `civilianization' starts in Turkey, says
"Radikal" columnist Murat Yetkin. The AKP government
prepared a draft law for to ensure transparency in the
functioning of the institution and to restrict its broad
authorities. A decision of the Council of Ministers will be
sufficient to put the new regulation into effect.


Disagreements in AKP towards Terror: "Cumhuriyet"
highlights that while PM Erdogan refuses to accept the
Islamic angle of terror, government officials give different
statements. Justice Minister Cicek said that Islamic
countries should demonstrate concrete determination to crush
terror. Dep. PM Sahin said that terrorists picked Turkey as
a target because a democr

atic and secular Muslim country is
a bad example for them. "Milliyet" draws attention to
Islamist writer Fehmi Koru's words saying that `Islam does
produce terror'. "Cumhuriyet" draws attention to the
Diyarbakir State Security Court indictment saying that
`Hizbullah is an Islamic terrorist organization'. The
indictment comes as a response to PM Erdogan, who said that
`the expression "Islamic terrorism" makes my blood boil'.


UEFA Decision: All papers criticize a Football Federation

SIPDIS
decision on two championship league games to be played
outside of Turkey. The two games were to have been played
in Turkey. However, after the terrorist attacks in
Istanbul, UEFA decided to move the games to other countries.
Turkish government officials and the media harshly
criticized this decision.


Loizidou Case: The deadline for the payment of the
compensation to Greek Cypriot Loizidou expired on Wednesday.
However, at FM Gul's request, the EU Commission extended the
deadline for another week.


Revolution in Georgia: "Cumhuriyet" reports on Turkey's
concerns about an unstable Georgia after Shevardnadze's
resignation. An Ankara worried about the Baku-Ceyhan
pipeline sent a message of support to the interim government
of Georgia saying that the period of turmoil will hopefully
end with January 4 elections and Turkey's support for them
will continue. Most papers cover Shevardnadze's accusations
that the US and Europe supported the revolution in Georgia.


Ambassador Edelman's Visit to Istanbul Bomb Site: Tuesday's
"Hurriyet" reports on the Ambassador's visit to the Istanbul
Governor and Mayor. Responding to a question during the
visit, Ambassador Edelman was quoted as saying that Turkey
had become a target of terror attacks because Turkey is a
model country combining Islam and democracy successfully.
Ambassador Edelman reiterated that PKK/KADEK is on the US
terror list and responded to Ocalan's comments on the PKK
being ready to help the US by saying that the `US does not
cooperate with terrorists'.


EDITORIAL OPINION:
"To Benefit from an Opportunity or Not"
Ismet Berkan comments in the intellectual-opinion maker
Radikal: `In my earlier columns I stated that to name
terrorism is the first condition for waging a fight against
it. Prime Minister Erdogan has not yet replied to the
question of whether the recent bombings are "Islamic
terror." During his holiday speech, the Prime Minister
reflected on the criticism directed against him and his
party for the failure to speak out on this issue. What
Erdogan wanted to say was that because the AKP has an
Islamist political identity, some people may believe that
they won't wage a sufficient fight against terrorism.
Whatever it is called, the fact is that the Islamic world
now produces terrorism, and the results of these actions
create results that affect the entire Islamic geography.We
need policies that will accept this fact. We can not stay
blind to these ugly developments even though, as Erdogan
said, it "freezes our blood" to think of it. Otherwise,
terrorism will continue to feed terrorism. .Some others
prefer silence. Prime Minister Erdogan and his AK party, who
started their administration with a promise to put their
stamp on the future, have a huge responsibility to carry out
this fight.'


"Who is that AKP Protects?"
Hikmet Cetinkaya opines in the center-left Cumhuriyet: Why
is the government so reluctant to name the bloody terror
attacks in Istanbul as Islamic terror?.We know that those
who want to govern Turkey with religious policies have one
aim -- to demolish the secular, democratic republic.The
people who grew up in the `national view' movement are
occupying the seats of government today and turning a blind
eye to Islamic terror, saying that "religious people cannot
be terrorists." .Unfortunately, they ignore the fact that
being religious is very different from being fundamentalist.
It is very difficult to fight terrorism without accepting
this fact.Unfortunately, it is well known that some
fundamentalist organizations are protected by certain units
of the state. "Cumhuriyet" received many calls from the
foreign media asking why the Turkish government turns a
blind eye to fundamentalist terror while screaming about the
decision made by the UEFA. .When I compare the comments of
the Prime Minister with those of the Foreign Minister, I
find Foreign Minister Gul's comments more realistic and
honest. .The religious media are still ignoring this
difference. .Turkey should acknowledge the existence of
fundamentalist terrorist organizations, and the government
should explain this fact to the people of this country.
EDELMAN