ANKARA MEDIA REACTION REPORT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 ANKARA 003014

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
THURSDAY, MAY 26, 2005

THIS REPORT PRESENTS THE TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER THREE
THEMES:

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

MASS APPEAL
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan: A Dream Come True - Hurriyet
Turkey to Earn $250 Million Annually From BTC Pipeline -
Sabah
BTC Oil Flow to Reach Ceyhan Port in September - Milliyet
Analysts Find Reports of Wounded Zarkawi `Unreliable' -
Vatan
Bush Threatens to Veto Bill for Stem Cell Research -
Hurriyet
Website: Zarkawi Flees Iraq - Aksam
EU Warns China Against Textile Exports - Milliyet

OPINION MAKERS
US Energy Secretary: BTC Will Change the World - Yeni Safak
US Congressmen to Fly to North Cyprus from Turkey - Zaman
AKP Government Has No Tolerance for Freedom: Armenian
Conference Canceled, Union Closed for Defending Education in
Kurdish - Radikal
Talabani to be Given `Red Carpet' Treatment During Ankara
Visit - Cumhuriyet
Amnesty International Annual Report Targets US - Yeni Safak
Amnesty International: Human Rights Violated in Iraq - Zaman
Amnesty International: Torture Continues in Turkey - Radikal
FBI Wants Wider Investigative Authority Against Terror -
Cumhuriyet


BRIEFING

Speaker Arinc in US: Turkish Parliament Speaker Bulent
Arinc, in the United States as the official guest of House
Speaker Dennis Hastert, met representatives of the Jewish
community and the Assembly of Turkish-American Associations
(ATAA) on Wednesday, Turkish media report. Arinc is
scheduled to meet Speaker Hastert on Thursday, before
holding talks with Vice President Dick Cheney and National
Security Advisor Stephen Hadley. Arinc will also meet
members of the US-Turkey Friendship Caucus on Friday before
moving on to Chicago for meetings with Turkish and American
businessmen.

Upcoming Conferences on Turkey-US Ties: The US-Turkish
Business Council will organize two conferences in June to
mark the 20th anniversary of its founding, Council Chjairman
Dr. Yilmaz Arguden told the semi-official Anatolian News
Agency (AA) on Wednesday. Arguden said that the first
conference will be held at Istanbul's Bosphorus University
(BU) on June 2, with the participation of US Ambassador Eric
Edelman. The second conference will be held in Washington
DC June 5-7. Economy Minister Ali Babacan, AK Party
lawmaker Egemen Bagis, former members of the US House of
Representatives Jack Buechner and Larry LaRocco, the
American Jewish Committee's Barry Jacobs, German Marshall
Fund Director Ronald Asmus, and Washington Post columnist
David IGNATIUS are among the speakers who will come to
Istanbul. Some 20 US Congressmen will travel to Turkey to
attend the conference, according to AA. Prime Minister
Tayyip Erdogan, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, Defense
Minister Vecdi Gonul, Energy Minister Hilmi Guler, Deputy
Chief of General Staff General Ilker Basbug, and National
Security Council (NSC) Secretary General Yigit Alpogan are
to attend the conference in Washington, DC.

Rubin on the Shape of the US-Turkish Relationship: Michael
Rubin, an American Enterprise Institute (AEI) expert on the
Middle East, told "Zaman" that Prime Minister Erdogan's
upcoming visit to Washington could be a `starting point' for
putting relations back on track. Rubin noted that although
Erdogan's US visit could be helpful, it should not be
expected to sort out all of the issues between Ankara and
Washington. He noted that Ankara should change its negative
attitude toward Washington. Rubin advised Erdogan to ask
Secretary Rice why US promises with regard to the PKK have

SIPDIS
not been kept. `A majority of the Iraqis see the insurgents
as terrorists,' said Rubin, and he called on Turkish
officials not to regard attacks by insurgents in Iraq there
as `legitimate.' Rubin also noted that he fully supported
Turkey's policy on Cyprus, and voiced hope that Ankara will
get `guarantees' from Washington on this issue. Rubin
claimed that the attitude of the AK Party and anti-Jewish
sentiments in the Turkish press have weakened the support of
the Jewish lobby for Turkey. `Maybe Ankara can depend on
Paris, Berlin, and Brussels from now on -- after all, aren't
they Turkey's new friends?' Rubin asked.

Sezer Participates in Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Inauguration
Ceremony: Turkish President Sezer joined leaders from
Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Kazakhstan in the Azerbaijani
capital Baku yesterday for the opening of the Baku-Tbilisi-
Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline, papers report. Sezer said at the
inauguration ceremony that BTC would assure the security of
energy distribution and reduce the burden on the Turkish
Straits. He noted that Turkey aimed to become a reliable
energy corridor, and outlined plans for turning the Ceyhan
Terminal into a trade and export center for energy. Sezer
added that the pipeline will become more profitable when
Kazakhstan joins the project. President Sezer also
expressed hope that the Shah Deniz natural gas pipeline
project from Baku to Erzurum via Tbilisi would be activated
by the end of 2006. Sezer said that the Turkey-Greece-Italy
natural gas pipeline continued to transport Caspian basin
resources to European markets. `Together with Russia,
Norway and Algeria, Turkey is one of the four main routes
for transportation of natural gas to the European Union.
Turkey also seeks to transport these natural gas resources
to the United States via a liquefied natural gas terminal it
plans to build at Ceyhan Terminal.' Sezer emphasized that
another important project was the construction of a railway
between Kars-Tbilisi-Baku. Aliyev, Saakashvili and Sezer
signed a joint declaration on the Kars-Akhalkalaki-Tbilisi-
Baku international railway transport corridor, a project
with an estimated cost of 450 million USD. "Yeni Safak"
quotes US Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman as saying that the
BTC inauguration marked `a day that will change the world.'
Meanwhile, the United States on Wednesday hailed the opening
of the four billion USD BTC pipeline as an `historic
project' that will also strengthen the independence of
Azerbaijan and Georgia. Secretary Bodman read a letter from
President Bush at the opening ceremony, in which the
American President hailed the project as a `monumental
achievement.'

Reactions to Cancellation of Controversial Armenian
Conference: Several Turkish academics sharply criticized
Justice Minister Cemil Cicek's harsh statements that forced
the cancellation of a conference that was to be held at
Bosphorus University (BU) to discuss claims regarding the
mass killings of Armenians at the hand of Ottoman forces in
1915-17. Following the strong criticism by Cicek, who
described the conference as a `stab in the back of the
Turkish people,' the university decided to postpone the
conference. Professor Murat Belge pointed to the
contradiction between Turkey's official position inviting
relevant parties to examine the Turkish archives, and the
Cicek remarks that led to the cancellation of the
conference. Belge speculated in "Radikal" that Cicek had
probably called the university and pressed for the
cancellation. He added that the Istanbul governor had said
he could not guarantee the security of the conference
participants, and that a prosecutor had demanded to see all
papers to be read at the conference. `Cicek's remarks
amount to a lynching, just like the one we recently
witnessed in Trabzon. The Justice Minister's provocation
means that efforts for democratization in Turkey have been
officially called off until further notice,' Belge noted.
Hrant Dink, editor of the Armenian weekly "Agos" and a
conference participant, said Cicek's remarks strengthened
the hand of those who say Turkey is not democratic enough to
discuss the Armenian issue. `It also shows there is a
difference between what the government says and its real
intentions,' Dink noted. `Cicek's remarks are
unbelievable,' said an unidentified EU diplomat: `It not
only kills the government's policy on the Armenian issue,
but also the support for Turkey's EU drive,' the diplomat
said. Cem Ozdemir, a Turkish-German Green lawmaker in the
European Parliament said that Turkey had missed an
opportunity to show the world a transparent and tolerant
face: `Turkey has shot itself in the foot,' Ozdemir said,
speculating that Ankara had fallen into the trap of anti-EU
circles in the country.

Teachers' Union Banned for Demanding Education in Mother
Tongues: The Court of Cassation (Yargitay) voted
unanimously to overturn a lower court decision to close the
teachers' union Egitim-Sen for arguing the case for
providing education in langauges other than Turkish. An
Ankara court had earlier ruled that, under the European
Convention on Human Rights, the union could not be closed.
Following the Yargitay decision yesterday, the case will now
be sent back to the local court. The decision of the
Yargitay is binding, so the local court is expected to
decide for closure of the union.

`Torture' Seminar Cancelled: "Aksam" reports that an EU-
sponsored seminar on torture to be held in Istanbul
Wednesday with the participation of doctors, members of the
judiciary, and international organizations was cancelled by
the Turkish Ministry of Justice over fears that the
gathering may have resulted in `anti-Turkish propaganda'
claiming that torture is prevalent in the country. Medical
Foundation Director Sherman Carroll urged the Justice
Ministry to provide an explanation for the decision.

Talabani to Visit Turkey: Iraq's President Jalal Talabani
plans to visit Turkey in June as the official guest of
Turkish President Sezer, "Cumhuriyet" reports. Talabani
will be given a top-level state reception, including a call
on Sezer at the Presidential Palace in Ankara. Turkish
Foreign Ministry (MFA) sources see the visit as the
beginning of a new period between Iraq and Turkey, and
expect to discuss with Talabani the status of Kirkuk, the
removal of the PKK presence in northern Iraq, and the
process of writing Iraq's constitution.

Church in US Joins Koran Abuse: The Danieltown Baptist
church in Rutherfold, North Carolina put up a neon sign on
its front lawn that reads reads `The Koran needs to be
flushed,' Turkish dailies report. The story, including a
photo, was featured on the front page of the Islamist-
oriented "Yeni Safak." Pastor Creighton Lovelace reportedly
refused to rake the sign down, saying that it reflected the
`word of God.' The church's attitude drew the fury of
Muslims living in the region, the paper noted, recalling
growing protest demonstrations around the world over alleged
abuse of the Holy Koran in Guantanamo Bay prison.

Ankara: No Policy Change in Status of Istanbul Patriarchate:
Turkish Foreign Ministry (MFA) Spokesman Namik Tan said on
Wednesday that the Orthodox Synod meeting in Istanbul
concerning alleged fraud by Jerusalem Patriarch Irineos I
should not be regarded as a change in Turkey's position on
the `ecumenical' status of the Patriarchate. `Turkey cannot
be a party to internal matters of the Orthodox world, so the
meeting held in Istanbul yesterday cannot have any impact on
Turkey,' Tan said. Tan noted that the Greek Orthodox
Patriarchate in Istanbul continued spiritual service to
`Turkey's Greek Orthodox nationals' without any interference
or discrimination.


EDITORIAL OPINION: Russia; The EU; Caspian Energy

"Russian Bases in Georgia"
Fikret Ertan wrote in the Islamist-intellectual "Zaman"
(5/26): "The fate of the two Russian bases in Georgia is
still a matter of contention between the two sides. This
debate has continued for years, but the two sides have
failed to come up with a clear solution. But there are some
new developments in this regard. First, Russia and Georgia
have restarted the negotiation process in Tbilisi. It seems
that the Russian military staff and heavy weapons deployed
on those bases will likely be transferred to Armenia. . This
second development is a cause for worry, particularly in
Azerbaijan. The Baku administration has gone as far as to
deliver a diplomatic note to Moscow on this issue. As for
Russia, it has about 19 military bases and installations of
various sizes. When the Russian military personnel move
from Georgia to Armenia, the Russian military presence in
that country will be stronger than ever before."

"The Privileged Partnership Trap"
Zafer Atay wrote in the economic-political "Dunya" (5/26):
"Privileged partnership has emerged as a new formula for
Turkey-EU relations invented by Germany and France. Both
countries came up with this idea in order to keep Turkey
from being a full member of the EU. French President
Chirac, his party rival Sarkozy, and Germany's CDU leader
Angela Merkel believe that a privileged partnership for
Turkey is the magic formula that will resolve the problems
between EU and Turkey as part of the membership
negotiations. They are acting based on prejudice, as they
all consider Turkey to be non-European. . The privileged
partnership idea is an obvious trap for Turkey. We must be
very careful not to fall into it."

"Turkey to Become Energy Transit Center"
Hakan Celik commented in the mass appeal-sensational "Posta"
(5/26): "After reports about deteriorating relations with
the US, unresolved relations with the EU, and chaos in Iraq,
at last we have some positive developments. Moreover, this
development has been achieved despite many countries efforts
to derail it by lobbying against Turkey. The first flow of
oil started on its way through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC)
pipeline yesterday. Turkey has been dreaming about this
`project of the century' for years. Azeri and Kazakh oil
will be transferred to world markets through the BTC
pipeline. This pipeline will open the way for Turkey to
become one of the most important energy transit points in
the world. The BTC project will benefit Turkey not only
strategically, but economically as well."

EDELMAN