Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05ANKARA1656
2005-03-22 14:28:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Ankara
Cable title:  

ANKARA MEDIA REACTION REPORT

Tags:  OPRC KMDR TU 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 ANKARA 001656

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, MARCH 22, 2005

THIS REPORT PRESENTS THE TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER THREE
THEMES:

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

HEADLINES

MASS APPEAL
PM Erdogan: Retrial for Ocalan Out of the Question -
Milliyet
FM Gul: Turkey's Left Should Take Tony Blair As a Model -
Milliyet
Papadopoulos Opposes UN Arbitration on Cyprus - Sabah
SISTANI is Friedman's Candidate for Nobel Peace Prize -
Sabah
Racism on the Rise in France - Hurriyet

OPINION MAKERS
Edelman: Lots of Things to Do Before I leave Ankara - Yeni
Safak
Erdogan-Karamanlis Discuss Cyprus in Brussels - Radikal
Arab League Supports Damascus - Radikal
Israel Intends to Expand Along West Bank - Radikal
Israel Allows 3,500 New Settlements - Cumhuriyet
Professor McCarthy: Armenian Genocide Never Happened - Yeni
Safak
Germany Backs Wolfowitz for World Bank - Zaman
Annan Proposes Sweeping UN Reforms - Cumhuriyet
Annan Proposes UN Human Rights Council - Zaman
OSCE: Traffickers `Sell' 1.2 Million Children Every Year -
Yeni Safak
Feminists Build Women-Only Mosque in Amsterdam - Yeni Safak


BRIEFING

Ambassador Edelman: Lots of Things to Do Before I Leave
Ankara: US Ambassador Eric Edelman told "Yeni Safak" that
he had announced his resignation decision early in order to
allow Secretary of State Rice time to assign someone else as
ambassador to Ankara. Edelman said that the posts to be
vacated at the US Embassy in Ankara would likely be filled
by late this summer. `I've still got three more months in
Ankara, and lots of things to do before I leave,' Edelman
stressed. Ambassador Edelman said the reason behind his
decision to quit the Foreign Service was to launch a second
career, according to "Milliyet." `Ethical rules would have
prevented me from evaluating offers coming from the private
sector while serving as Ambassador. That, too, may have
influenced my decision to resign,' Edelman said.

US Sends Another Signal to AKP: Bruce Jackson, one of the
board members of `Project for the New American Century,'
told the US Congress that difficulties lay ahead for Turkey,
a country which has failed to solve its national and
geopolitical identity crisis, the liberal/opinion maker
"Radikal" reports in a front page story. Turkey's ruling AK
Party is reluctant to cooperate with the West, Jackson said,

citing the AKP government's `termination' of strategic ties
with Israel, its reluctance to meet with Yerevan over the
opening of Turkey's border with Armenia, demanding that the
US pressure the Kurds in Iraq, and Ankara's policy of
seeking closer ties with Russia instead of Western-oriented
democracies. Jackson told the committee that the AKP is a
secular Islamic party that has revived xenophobia in Turkey
by following policies that are anti-European and anti-
American.

US Diplomats Take to Anatolia: Alarmed by rising anti-
American sentiment in Turkey, US diplomats in Ankara have
started touring Anatolia to meet with local administrators
and provincial party organizations, "Radikal" reports. US
Embassy Deputy Political Counselor James R. Sopp talked to
extremist nationalist `Nationalist Action Party' (MHP)
leaders about the `indispensibility' of US-Turkey relations
and the lack of justification for anti-American feelings in
Turkey. MHP leaders said that anti-Americanism prevailed in
Turkey because of the improper policies of the AKP
government which, they claimed, had been brought to power
through the backing of the United States.

US Troops, Peshmerge Raid Turkmen Houses: "Zaman" reports
from Kirkuk that US troops, accompanied by Kurdish
peshmerge, raided 10 houses belonging to Turkmen in
`Tuzhurmatu' near Kirkuk early Monday. A number of Turkmen
were reportedly detained for suspected ties with terrorist
groups. Peshmerge reportedly looted the Turkmen houses and
took gold and silver from Turkmen families. Iraqi Turkmen
Front (ITF) member Fevzi Ekrem Terzi said the situation in
the city remains tense.

PM Erdogan to Visit Israel, Palestine: "Zaman" reports that
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan will visit Palestine May 1
before proceeding to Israel on a three-day official visit.
Erdogan's call in Tel Aviv will help to normalize ties with
Israel, the paper reports.

Israel Asks for Turkish Support on Development Programs:
Israeli Ambassador to Ankara Pinhas Avivi told "Sabah" that
deputy PM Shimon Peres asked PM Erdogan at a meeting in
Spain for Turkey's support for some development programs
involving Israel, Palestine and Turkey. Avivi noted that
Israel and Palestine need a third party to assist them in
the implementation of confidence building measures.

Lawmaker Tells His Impressions After US Visit: AKP Deputy
Group Chairman Faruk Celik told reporters about his
impressions of the US following meetings with Rumsfeld,
Wolfowitz, Grossman and US Congressmen in the United States.
Celik was part of a visiting delegation from the Turkish
Parliamentary Committee for Democracy. Celik reportedly
told the Americans that anti-American sentiment in Turkey
would end if the US takes measures against the PKK, helps to
end the international isolation of Turkish Cypriots, and
takes forward steps on the Armenian issue in line with
Turkey's requests, "Yeni Safak" reports. Wolfowitz
reportedly told the Turks that the US would handle the PKK
issue according to the level of stability achieved in Iraq
following the January 30 elections. Wolfowitz also noted
that the European Union has not given Turkey sufficient
support with regard to Cyprus.

Turkey-Iraq Relations: A delegation from the Supreme
Council of Islamic Revolution In Iraq (SCIRI),the
influential Iraqi Shiite group, will visit Ankara soon,
"Yeni Safak" reports. The paper also says that Ankara is
waiting for the formation of a cabinet in Iraq before
launching initiatives to open a consulate in Mosul and to
host the next meeting of Iraq's neighbors in Istanbul in
April.

ECHR Expected to Call for Retrial of Ocalan: Turkish papers
quote diplomatic sources as saying that the European Court
of Human Rights (ECHR) has accepted claims that jailed PKK
leader Abdullah Ocalan was unfairly tried and will call for
his retrial. However, Turkish government officials,
including the Prime Minister, denied that Ocalan could ever
be retried at the court's request.

Professor Justin McCarthy in Turkey: Main opposition CHP
leader Deniz Baykal received historian Professor Justin
McCarthy from Louisville University to discuss Armenian
`genocide' claims. Professor McCarthy said that what
happened in 1915 between the Ottoman Turks and Armenians
should be defined as `war' rather than `genocide.'
Armenians killed more Turks than they lost in fighting with
Ottoman forces, McCarthy claimed. Baykal said the works of
Professor McCarthy, an expert on demography and the history
of migrations, would help in correcting a serious mistake.
McCarthy will give a series of conferences to ambassadors in
Ankara, the Turkish Parliament, and universities in Ankara
and Istanbul.

Interior Minister on Missionary Activities in Turkey:
Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu said Monday in response to
a motion by an opposition lawmaker that 338 Muslims have
converted to Christianity, and 6 to Judaism in Turkey in the
last seven years. Aksu noted that there are 72 Protestant,
6 Bah'ai, and 10 Jehovah's Witnesses prayer houses in
Turkey. Aksu said that the exact number of missionaries in
Turkey is not known.


EDITORIAL OPINION: Iraq; US-Turkish Relations

"The War Has Not Brought Peace Yet"
Sami Kohen commented in the mass appeal "Milliyet" (3/22):
"Although the declaration about the end of the Iraq war was
made three weeks after it began, in fact, after two years'
time the war still continues in different ways. Given the
circumstances, the Iraq war has not yet brought peace and
stability. . Time has shown that besides the official
reasons expressed by the Bush administration to initiate the
war, there were some other secret and selfish intentions
attached. Washington, under the influence of `hawks,'
sketched a new order for the region, including Iraq, and
designed it according to US interests. This apparently was
the major motive to attack Iraq. This plan was so important
for Bush that he defied warnings from friends and allies and
implemented it. . Today the result is not promising: At
least 100,000 Iraqis have died to date along with demolished
towns and the resurrection of religious and ethnic
conflicts. The US has lost 1,500 soldiers and experienced a
heavy fiscal burden. Moreover, Washington has lost the
support and trust of its allies as well as Iraqis. Under
current circumstances the only way out is to speed up the
Iraqi rebuilding process and terminate the occupation as
quickly as possible. The second anniversary of the Iraq war
brings to mind a question: Is the Bush administration going
to take lessons from what has happened so far and act
realistically?"

"Edelman, Syria and Other Issues"
Yalim Eralp, a retired diplomat, wrote in the conservative-
sensational "DB Tercuman" (3/22): "Ambassador Edelman is
about to leave Ankara. For some reason, Ankara has not yet
learned the importance of working with US ambassadors who
are influential in Washington. I wonder what we are going
to do if Edelman now gets appointed to an important position
in Washington. . Despite contrary claims by Turkish
officials, this phase of Turkish-American relations is not
heading in the right direction, and is getting worse.
American officials, on the other hand, are making statements
to indicate that `things are not right' but somehow Turkish
officials tend not to read them properly. Turkey cannot
benefit from having a fight with the US. Turkey is also
presenting an image of alienating itself from the EU, which
eventually will leave us `twisting in the wind' as far as
foreign policy is concerned. . The Turkish president is
preparing for an official visit to Damascus. What happens
if the UN Investigation Commission charges Syria or the
Syrian intelligence services with the assassination of
Hariri? If Turkey really wants to be a regional power, it
should act properly; for instance, Turkey should cooperate
with the US and EU on how to achieve reforms in Syria."

"The Feelings Are Mutual in the US and in the AKP"
Murat Yetkin commented in the liberal-intellectual "Radikal"
(3/22): "Ankara was disturbed by US Defense Secretary
Donald Rumsfeld's comments at an interview with FOX
television the other day. Rumsfeld stressed that by
blocking the transfer of US troops into Iraq from the north
two years ago, Turkey paved the way for insurgency there to
flourish. While the foreign ministers of both countries
have been trying to ease tensions with their statements,
Turkish government circles were surprised to hear the
Defense Secretary's comments. As a matter of fact,
Rumsfeld's comments could be considered as a reflection of
Washington's opinion about the AKP government and
Washington's characterization of March 1, 2003, as the start
date for weakening bilateral relations. This reaction was
clearly expressed in the US Senate. The theme of a
presentation to the Senate on March 8 in the Senate Foreign
Relations Commission's Europe sub-commission hearing was
`Democracy's Future in the Black Sea Region'. The presenter
was Bruce P. Jackson, and the expressions he used about
Turkey and especially about the AKP, were rather hard to
digest. The name of Jackson should not be underestimated.
Bruce Jackson worked at the Pentagon as a nuclear weapons
and arms control expert after 11 years with the US military
as an intelligence officer. This means that he is very
close to Rumsfeld, Cheney and Wolfowitz. Some of the
expressions used in his presentation were rather
exaggerated, but this presentation proves that this group,
which determines the ideological and political basis of the
US administration, has started to hit the AKP now to hurt."

EDELMAN