Cablegate: Ankara Media Reaction Report

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 009084

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
MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2002

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

HEADLINES
BRIEFING
EDITORIAL OPINION
-------

HEADLINES

MASS APPEAL
Military advises support for air operations alone - Milliyet
Turkey transit passage for U.S. troops - Hurriyet
Amb. Pearson urges Gul, Erdogan to decide on Iraq - Milliyet
12/22
Gen. Myers: U.S. ready for Iraq war - Aksam 12/22
Erdogan to discuss Iraq w/Putin - Turkiye
Russia denounces KADEK before Erdogan's visit -- Aksam

OPINION MAKERS
Tough week for parliament - Radikal
Turkey is key country in U.S. Iraq plans - Radikal
U.S. presses for air bases - Radikal 12/22
U.S. demands immediate response regarding Iraq - Cumhuriyet
12/22
State minister Tuzmen: Muslim world against Iraq war - Yeni
Safak
AKP planning post-Saddam Iraq - Cumhuriyet
Baykal: Government must inform nation on Iraq - Zaman 12/22
Weston: Compromise before late February - Zaman

FINANCIAL JOURNALS
Government, NGO summit on Wednesday - Dunya
Government seeking trade rapprochement w/Moslem countries -
Dunya
Election honeymoon over in money markets - Finansal Forum

BRIEFING

Iraq: Today's papers report that the Turkish government will
respond this week to U.S. demands for military cooperation
against Iraq. Monday's "Milliyet" claims that the military
has advised the government to provide support for air
operations, but to refrain from promises on ground troops.
Ankara is also negative about the use of Turkish ports,
Milliyet reports. However, the government has accepted air
base inspections in Batman, Diyarbakir, Mus, and Malatya.
Ankara wants a wider coalition against Saddam Hussein, and
believes that Muslim countries must be convinced to join the
U.S. and UK in their efforts to topple the tyrant, weekend
papers note. Sunday's dailies report that U.S. Ambassador
to Ankara Robert Pearson has urged Prime Minister Abdullah
Gul to decide in the coming days about U.S. military
requests. After meeting with Ambassador Pearson on
Saturday, Prime Minister Gul said Ankara would wait to see
the first report by UN weapons inspectors. Ankara,
skeptical of U.S. intentions in Northern Iraq, is not
enthusiastic about large numbers of U.S. troops being
stationed in Turkey, Monday's papers say. A final `summit'
meeting will be held this evening, including the Prime
Minister, Foreign Minister, and Chief of TGS. The `summit'
will lay the groundwork for a government decision to be
submitted to parliament for approval this week. Monday's
"Cumhuriyet" outlines U.S. demands from Turkey:

-- the use of air bases in Batman, Incirlik, Malatya,
Diyarbakir, and Afyon;
-- access to ports in Mersin, Iskenderun, Samsun, and
Trabzon;
-- an estimated 100,000 U.S. troops to be deployed in
Turkey, subject to NATO regulations,
-- missile defense systems will to be set up in Turkey.
Cumhuriyet also draws attention to forthcoming visits to
Turkey by Iraqi opposition leaders Sharif Ali Bin Hussein
and Ayad Allawi, and Northern Iraqi Kurdish leaders Barzani
and Talabani this week. The paper regards these meetings as
part of Turkey's preparation for the post-Saddam period.

Cyprus: Monday's "Zaman" reports that U.S. Special Cyprus
Coordinator Thomas Weston urged the sides in Cyprus to reach
a compromise before the end of February. Weston said there
was enough time for a settlement, and urged both parties to
make compromises. Weston said that the decision reached at
the Copenhagen summit --unconditional EU membership for
Cyprus, and a date to begin membership negotiations for
Turkey -- was positive. A "Radikal" commentary suspects
that Ankara is inclined to delay implementation of a
possible Cyprus deal until Turkey's EU accession is assured.
Radikal says that Ankara is trying to blackmail the EU via
Cyprus.

Constitutional amendments: The parliament is to discuss this
week the constitutional package vetoed by President Sezer.
The government is expected to send back the package to Sezer
without changes on Friday, papers report. A press amnesty
bill drafted to lift the ban on AKP leader Erdogan will be
enacted this week. The former leader of the pro-Kurdish
party HADEP, Murat Bozlak, voiced support for Sezer's veto.
Bozlak, who was also barred from running for election to
parliament, said that the changes were tailored for Erdogan
alone. Bozlak, (the former Human Rights Association
chairman) Akin Birdal, and (banned Islamist leader) Erbakan
have received prison terms of one year for violating Article
312, while Erdogan was sentenced to ten months. The
Constitutional liberalization would not have applied to
those sentenced to at least one year of prison. "The
Constitution must be amended to remove bans on all
politicians, not only on Erdogan," Bozlak reportedly said.

EDITORIAL OPINION: Iraq

"Listen to what the US military has to say"
Washington correspondent of mass appeal Milliyet, Yasemin
Congar wrote: (12/23): "Contrary to ongoing speculation
about the start of a US military strike as early as
February, members of the American military tell it
differently. Their assessment that an operation would take
place either sometime next summer or toward the end of 2003.
. The reason for their uncommon evaluation stems from
military facts. The military knows that in the event of an
extensive war -- the figure in the press is some 200,000
troops -- detailed preparations will require at least 4 to 6
months. . My military sources in Washington who are familiar
with the capabilities and logistics of the US army remind
that the military build-up during the Gulf War was carried
out via aircraft carriers. That brings us to three
countries which have ports with ground access to Iraq:
Turkey, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. The Saudis are reluctant
to cooperate, and Kuwait's port capacity is very limited.
This is the reason for Washington's gradually increasing
pressure on Turkey."

"The pretext for US military deployment: Deterrence"
Zeynep Gurcanli wrote in tabloid Star (12/23): "Washington
has finally come up with a pretext in order to break
Ankara's reluctance about the stationing of US troops in
Turkey. The use of bases and ports by the US military will
be presented under the pretext of `modernization,' and the
deployment of US troops on Turkish soil will be a `show of
force for deterrence.' . From now on, we should be ready to
see a dramatic increase in the US military presence in
Turkey. First, US special operations teams are expected.
These will be followed by many others. . Turkey has not yet
given its approval to be a host country for US military
operations against Iraq. The inclusion of NATO as part of
the operation seems to be a possible way to break Ankara's
resistance on the issue. . War is knocking at the door. It
is only a matter of time before all the pretexts are worked
out."

PEARSON

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