CG'S COURTESY CALL ON IBRAHIM YILDIZ, CUMHURIYET

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ISTANBUL 000437 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/15/2018 TAGS: PGOV SOCI TU SUBJECT: CG'S COURTESY CALL ON IBRAHIM YILDIZ, CUMHURIYET EDITOR IN CHIEF REF: A. ANKARA 1451 ¶B. ISTANBUL 380 Classified By: CONSUL GENERAL SHARON A. WIENER FOR REASON 1.5 (b) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY AND COMMENT: Editor-in-chief Ibrahim Yildiz displayed little of the staunchly secularist, anti-AKP and isolationist rhetoric which has become the stock and trade of Cumhuriyet, Turkey's "paper of Ataturk." Cumhuriyet, once the paper of the social democrats, bureaucrats and labor unions, is now the most mainstream of the anti-government papers. The paper's adherents claim it represents "Kemalism" and pure secularism. In an August 11 courtesy call, the Consul General found Yildiz cognizant of the damage the Constitutional Court case against the AKP could have done to Turkey; upset about the Ergenekon case (albeit, only as it applied to Cumhuriyet); aware of the need for an active US role in the region; and thinking seriously about the dangers of extremism and terrorism. END SUMMARY AND COMMENT -------------- JULY 9 CONDOLENCES -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Yildiz began by offering condolences for the July 9 attack against the Consulate General. The CG thanked him, hoping that what people would remember about the attacks was the harm the terrorists did and the bravery of the police who died, not the unfair criticisms leveled against any one party when all the security forces, Turkish and American, did exactly what they were supposed to. The CG noted the need for a responsible press in this instance and in Turkey's democratic development more generally. The CG and Yildiz agreed that diplomats and the press help each other to do their jobs better: "We don't always expect the press to say positive things," the CG said, "but we aim for it to be accurate," offering the services of both press offices in Ankara and Istanbul to keep in touch with Cumhuriyet. Yildiz said he thought the relationship with the US mission is good. -------------- - NOT CLOSING THE AKP WAS THE "CORRECT DECISION" -------------- - ¶3. (SBU) Rather than railing against the Constitutional Court for its July decision not to close down the AKP - an issue on which Cumhuriyet had displayed thinly veiled criticism - Yildiz continued to surprise us by saying, "If we respect law, we have to respect how the judgment was issued. We view it as a legal decision, not a political decision. The closure (of the AKP) would have led to different crises. The correct decision was made." However, Yildiz indicated that even if the AKP shouldn't be closed, the party's policies had nevertheless "gone too far." Yildiz believed PM Erdogan would take the decision seriously, as the party has "no alternative but to be more careful." Yildiz expressed a sentiment - even a hope - that few on his end of the political spectrum would likely admit to sharing: the PM has a "responsibly to create a system that embraces everyone. We hope Erdogan will act more positively." Yildiz emphasized EU and U.S. "encouragement" would be important. The CG noted that after the court's decision, the US had urged Turkey to use the opportunity to more forward and focus on the EU reform track. -------------- HEADSCARVES NOT OKAY, NEW RECTORS OK -------------- ¶4. (SBU) According to Yildiz, the most obvious sign of whether the Prime Minister has learned his lesson from the court case will be whether the General Assembly moves again to lift the ban on head scarves at universities when it convenes this fall. Yildiz believes it is possible the AKP could reach out to the opposition. For example, if the AKP and Republican People's Party (CHP) agreed to keep the head scarf off the agenda, MHP would follow suit. ¶5. (SBU) Yildiz noted that the recent rector controversy (ref A) in which President Gul named four university rectors who had not been the first choice of their universities was a consequence of the problematic YOK (Higher Education Council) law, rather than proof of the AKP's defiance. (Comment: This position is incongruent with the beliefs of many on the left, and does not track with much of the editorial comment in Cumhuriyet. End Comment) Said Yildiz, "Every president puts in place those who are close to them and how they think. Don't criticize Gul. (Former President) Sezer did the same thing." ISTANBUL 00000437 002 OF 003 -------------- A REAL OPPOSITION WILL EMERGE -------------- ¶6. (SBU) The CG asked whether the AKP's recent experiences, specifically the 2007 presidential election crisis, closure case and the head scarf issue, would spur the development of a real opposition to the party. Yildiz is certain this will be the case, recalling the millions who took to the streets in 2007 to protest the nomination of Abdullah Gul for president. In the short term, however, the AKP will survive: the economy would have to be "incredibly bad" for the party to fail in the March 2009 municipal elections, an unlikely scenario considering strong growth in the Turkish stock market and the lira's stability against the dollar. The AKP has a good municipal aid system, even though unemployment is still a problem, he noted. That said, Erdogan should learn from history that periods of single-party dominance in Turkish politics never last long: "Remember (former president Turgut) Ozal," Yildiz warned, emphasizing that Ozal's Anavatan party is no longer even mentioned. According to Yildiz, only "one or two" par ties - including CHP - can survive over the long term; others come and go. -------------- -------------- ERGENEKON: DON'T PUNISH JOURNALISTS FOR DOING THEIR JOB -------------- -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Yildiz was less forgiving when it came to the Ergenekon case (ref B),an indictment against 84 individuals - including Cumhuriyet columnist Ilhan Selcuk - for being members of a secret, ultranationalist society with intentions to overthrow the government. The group has also been charged with various attacks, including the 2006 Cumhuriyet bombing. Yildiz said it was not possible to take the charges against Selcuk seriously. The indictment references "private" phone conversations, "many with me," about the daily workings of the paper and what other news outlets were writing. He mentioned two conversations in particular that had was featured in the Ergenekon indictment. First, Selcuk told Yildiz that their Ankara Bureau Chief Mustafa Balbay had said he would he having dinner with the U.S. Ambassador, as if to imply an anti-government conspiracy. The second set of conversation was reportedly between Selcuk and Cumhuriyet Washington correspondent Elcin Poyrazlar about a meeting she had with unidentified members of Vice President Dick Cheney's staff. Yildiz claimed she was new in Washington, having just arrived there from Brussels, and had called Selcuk for advice on what to ask in the meeting. Mainstream secular Hurriyet reported the conversations primarily focused on what would happen if the Constitutional Court shut down the AKP, but Yildiz believes the Ergenekon prosecutors are implying that Selcuk was sending secret orders to the U.S. administration via Ms. Poyrazlar. "In this climate, even your coming here may be a reason for debate" and conspiracy theories, Yildiz joked with the CG. The CG noted that the US walks a delicate line on this issue. Turkey's internal stability is important to the US, but our role is limited to observation, not interference. Yildiz continued: If the "former mafia" members and retired army officers named in the indictment are guilty of any crime, whatever they did should be "cleaned up;" if it could be proved that two former generals were planning a coup, that should be investigated. Journalists and academics should not be accused. A perception also exists among those who are not AKP supporters that anyone in opposition is being investigated under the Ergenekon rubric. "One segment of society" - namely the one to which Yildiz belongs - sees what has happened and is afraid it could soon happen to them too. -------------- -------------- DID HE REALLY SAY THAT: "TURKEY IS A MODEL FOR THE MUSLIM WORLD?" -------------- -------------- ¶8. (SBU) On the questions of Turkey's self-identity at the root of its domestic crises, Yildiz said, "I imagine the U.S. doesn't want Turkey to be Iran. We believe the U.S. wants Turkey to keep its secular, democratic tradition. It's good for the U.S. too." The CG told Yildiz that the US is "mystified" that some people in Turkey think America wants Turkey to become another Iran. Yildiz continued, "For America, Turkey holds an important place within Muslim countries as the only secular democracy." (Note: His comment, "It's a model and we need to strengthen it," was almost shocking, as many in Turkey - including those in the left of center space occupied by Cumhuriyet - have criticized the U.S. for our efforts to promote Turkey as a model, particularly following then- Secretary Powell's ISTANBUL 00000437 003 OF 003 description of Turkey as a "moderate Islamic" country. End Note). "We're Muslims," Yildiz continued, "but we don't want to live like Iran or Saudi Arabia, but like Europeans." The CG remarked that strong democracies have to find a way to balance the rights of the individual to hold personal religious beliefs with politics. Yildiz believed that "Christianity has resolved this successfully, but if you tip the scales in Islam you end up with Al-Qaeda." Religion is an important factor in the AKP's success; the pious sustain the party's popularity. Yildiz repeated that if Turkish democracy were damaged, it would work against U.S. interests and Turkey would be more vulnerable to regional Islamic terrorism. "We can distance ourselves from these threats if Erdogan takes lessons from the Constitutional Court decision. -------------- THE US STILL MATTERS IN THE REGION -------------- ¶9. (SBU) Yildiz opined that the level of intelligence sharing between the U.S. and Turkey has improved on the PKK issues, and now needs to be broadened. The CG indicated that this new level of cooperation would become the "new standard" of the relationship. "Without America, it isn't possible for anything to happen in this region," Yildiz said. With respect to the conflict between Russia and Georgia, Yildiz said "We expect the U.S. to intervene to find reconciliation." Yildiz noted that while the U.S. is necessary to find a solution, Turkey is also in a critical position, and the U.S. role in supporting any Turkish mediation of the crisis would be important. The CG laid out that one of the reasons that the U.S.-Turkish relationship is so strong is that in most areas our interests closely coincide, and it is better to work together. Yildiz concurred. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶10. (C) The conversation was significant because despite Cumhuriyet's role as a staunchly Kemalist media outlet that frequently criticizes American policy in the region, Yildiz conveyed opinions that were significantly more balanced than we had expected. Turkey's media landscape reflects a public opinion that is deeply polarized, and Cumhuriyet is quick to assume its Kemalist place on the spectrum of opinion. However, Yildiz's willingness to move beyond his paper's Kemalist bias in a private conversation with an American official is striking. While Cumhuriyet would not be able to sell papers that express the measured views Yildiz expressed privately to us, it is encouraging to see level-headed leadership in a media environment that is highly charged. Perhaps such leadership will one day bring opposing voices together and dampen some of the tension that continues to grip Turkey's media environment. OUDKIRK