ANKARA MEDIA REACTION REPORT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 006069

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, OCTOBER 26, 2004

THIS REPORT PRESENTS THE TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER THREE
THEMES:

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


HEADLINES

MASS APPEAL
Ambassador Edelman: Foreign investment in Turkey will
increase in time - Milliyet
Prince Charles: Murderous attacks unite us - Aksam
Prince Charles: Murderers cannot divide us - Milliyet
Erdogan, Schroeder to try to persuade Chirac - Hurriyet
Critical tripartite summit in Berlin - Milliyet
Erdogan to meet Schroeder, Chirac, and sign Airbus deal -
Aksam
Clinton on campaign trail for Kerry - Aksam
Clinton vs Arnie - Hurriyet
Last week to go, Bush leads by 2 points - Hurriyet

OPINION MAKERS
Ambassador Edelman criticizes closure of gold mine in Izmir
- Cumhuriyet
Prince Charles: Terror brought us together - Zaman
Kerry may win by `Clinton margin' - Zaman
Jimmy Carter: Bush exploits 9/11 - Yeni Safak
Hollywood stars launch a last attack for Kerry - Radikal
Iraq Ambassador to Ankara pledges cooperation against PKK -
Cumhuriyet
Critical bargaining in Berlin - Radikal
Greek Cypriot FM: No EU talks with Turkey without Cyprus
troop pullout - Cumhuriyet
FM Gul: Turkey expects EU to keep its promise - Yeni Safak
Israel carries out daily massacre in Gaza: 14 killed -
Cumhuriyet
Massacre in Palestine: 14 killed - Yeni Safak


BRIEFING

Ambassador Edelman visits Izmir: On Monday, US Ambassador
to Ankara Eric Edelman addressed the business community in
Turkey's Aegean city of Izmir at the Izmir Chamber of
Commerce, papers report. In his speech `Turkey-US Economic
and Trade Relations,' Edelman voiced doubts that foreign
investment has been fully put under legal guarantees in
Turkey. American companies have been experiencing problems
with Turkish partners, Edelman said and pointed to two
negative experiences suffered by Newmont Mining digging for
gold near the town of Bergama, and the hardships encountered
at the Pier construction in Izmir's Konak district.
Responding to a question after delivering his speech,
Edelman said agricultural subsidies prevented global
competition. Ambassador Edelman called for strong legal
guarantees for foreign investors in Turkey. Edelman also
stressed that Turkey's European membership would increase
opportunities for European and American companies.

Erdogan, Gul to Berlin: PM Tayyip Erdogan will join
President Jacques Chirac and Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in
Berlin Tuesday to discuss Turkey's EU membership drive.
Opposition in France is seen as high as 75 percent, with the
polls showing the French fear allowing in a large Muslim
country, say papers. The Turkey accession issue has shrunk
Chirac's popularity ratings to their lowest levels in recent
years, according to reports. Observers believe that due to
opposition at home, Chirac would prefer to delay Turkey's
accession negotiations until the second half of next year.
Accompanying Erdogan will be FM Abdullah Gul, who will meet
his German counterpart Joschka Fischer. Erdogan will also
join Chirac and Schroeder at a signing ceremony for the
purchase of 36 Airbus planes for Turkish Airlines (THY).

FM Gul in Paris: FM Abdullah Gul told the press after
speaking at the 11th Foreign Ministers' Meeting of the
Mediterranean Forum in Paris that at the Copenhagen Summit,
the EU has pledged to open the entry talks with Turkey
without any delay after fulfillment of the political
criteria. Now, we expect the EU to keep its promise, Gul
noted. `The EU Constitution and the entry talks between
Turkey and the EU are two different issues. They should not
be connected to each other,' he added. Gul later held a
bilateral meeting with his French counterpart Michel
Barnier. Barnier reportedly told Gul that the EU Council
would decide whether and when to open entry talks with
Turkey at a December summit. President Chirac will finalize
the decision of Paris whether to approve EU accession
negotiations with Turkey, say reports.

Prince Charles reopens British Consulate in Istanbul:
Prince Charles on Monday re-opened Britain's Istanbul
consulate, partly destroyed by a suicide bombing last year.
Seventeen people, including Consul-General Roger Short, were
killed in the suicide attack on November 20, 2003. A
simultaneous suicide attack at the British HSBC bank, and
attacks on two Istanbul synagogues five days earlier killed
another 44 people and wounded hundreds. A Turkish cell
linked to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network claimed
responsibility for the Istanbul bombings. Prince Charles
praised Turkey as proof that Islam and democracy can co-
exist. `Far from dividing us, those who planned these
murderous attacks simply brought us together - Britons and
Turks, Muslims, Jews and Christians,' Charles said. He then
flew to Ankara, where he was received by President Sezer and
had dinner with PM Erdogan. Prince Charles is to visit the
southeastern Turkish province of Mardin on Tuesday before
flying on to Jordan.

Iraq wants consulate in Turkey: Iraq wants to open a
consulate in Turkey in exchange for Ankara's request to open
a consulate in Mosul, papers report. Iraqi Ambassador to
Ankara Umran al-Sabah told the press that Iraq wanted to
open a consulate in Istanbul or Diyarbakir. Al-Sabah said
Iraq was ready to cooperate with all forces in the region,
including Turkey, to launch a military operation to remove
the PKK presence in Iraq. The Iraqi Ambassador claimed that
Turkey was trying to see how the US and Iraq would react if
Turkey launched a comprehensive military action against the
PKK inside the Iraqi territory. Iraq elections may be
postponed for one or two months due to security reasons, al-
Sabah noted. He added that it was unclear whether a
referendum would be held in Kirkuk. Al-Sabah also called
for the opening of airspace between Iraq and Turkey.

Turkish troops won't go to Iraq: Turkish military officers
will not join the 300 NATO officers to be sent to Iraq early
2005 to provide strategic training to the Iraqi army,
reports "Yeni Safak." Instead, Ankara will send a team of
liaison officers, and has offered to train Iraqi army
officers in Turkey, according to the paper. US General
Hildering will coordinate the overall training, says "Yeni
Safak."

Turks, Armenians to meet in Vienna: Turkish and Armenian
scholars are to meet in Vienna in the first half of 2005 to
discuss the massacre of Armenians by Ottoman forces in 1915,
reports "Hurriyet." Turkey is to be represented at the
talks by historian Prof. Yusuf Halacoglu and a senior
diplomat from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Caucasus
desk. Minutes of the meetings will be made public after
talks are wrapped up in Vienna, said Prof. Halacoglu.

Turkey introduces new currency: Turkey on Monday unveiled
its new currency, two months before it goes into
circulation, in what is described as a significant step in
Ankara's battle against chronic inflation. The New Turkish
Lira (YTL) comes into effect on January 1, 2005, removing
six zeroes from the current money, which symbolizes 30 years
of hyperinflation. On January 1 next year, the banknotes in
circulation will be one, five, 10 and 2O YTL, which
correspond to the current one million, five million, ten
million and 20 million notes.

EDITORIAL OPINION: Iraq; Kyoto Protocol

"Kirkuk"
Ercan Citlioglu commented in the economic-politic Referans
(10/26): "KDP leader Barzani's recent visit to Ankara
highlighted his real intentions about Kirkuk. In a very
contradictory manner, Barzani was talking about the need for
a peaceful and harmonious atmosphere for Kirkuk at the same
time he was characterizing Kirkuk as `a city with a Kurdish
identity.' The effort to change Kirkuk's demographic
structure is a serious concern not only for Turkey but for
the US as well. . Barzani was hoping for a weak reaction
from Ankara regarding the ongoing "Kurdisization" in Kirkuk,
as he thought Turkey was completely preoccupied with the EU
process. However, Ankara issued very strong warnings. .
Kirkuk continues to play a crucially important part in
Turkish foreign policy for Iraq. Its importance stems from
both Kirkuk's strategic location and its potential to affect
the developments in the whole region."

"Good News For the World"
Mehmet Sucu commented in the social democrat-intellectual
Cumhuriyet (10/26): "The sub-wing of the Russian
Parliament, Duma, ratified the Kyoto Protocol, which
supports the fight against climate change. For some reason,
such an important development for the world's future did not
get much attention in Turkey. The main goal of the Kyoto
Protocol as agreed in 1997 is to reduce carbon dioxide
emissions 5 percent by the year 2010, which are mainly
produced in the industrial nations of the northern
hemisphere and cause the greenhouse effect. As it is well
known, global warming causes melting of the glaciers and
this causes storms, rain and drought to increase globally.
Russia and the US were hesitant to sign the protocol. But,
after the Duma's approval of the protocol, things have
changed. In fact, the ratification process for the protocol
to go into effect is as complicated as its implementation.
The total emission amount in protocol-supporting countries
needs to be over 55 percent for the protocol to be put into
effect. . The participation of Russia in the Kyoto Protocol
is very important. The US, which is the world's biggest
carbon dioxide producer, refuses to sign the protocol and
has pulled itself out from the protocol in 2001."

EDELMAN