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.

101335Z Jul 03

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 004349

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, JULY 10, 2003

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

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

MASS APPEALS
Cheney intervenes to block Armenian bill - Hurriyet
Katsav: We accept a sovereign Palestine state - Sabah
Turkey's Jews to Diaspora: Stand against Armenian
claims - Turkiye
Chalabi thanks Turkey for supporting democracy in Iraq
- Hurriyet
Verheugen: Turkey has a chance for EU membership -
Milliyet

OPINION MAKERS
U.S. Captain Mordago: Turkish troops in N. Iraq a
terror unit - Radikal
Turkish side insists on official apology from U.S. -
Radikal
Talabani: Turkish troops our guests - Zaman
Bush losing popular support - Cumhuriyet
U.S. `hawks' act for Turkey against Armenia - Zaman
Turkish lobby vs. Armenian lobby - Cumhuriyet
Bush to intervene in Armenian genocide voting - Yeni
Safak

BRIEFING

Detention crisis: NATO Deputy Commander Lieutenant
General John Sylvester attended the first meeting of
the joint fact-finding commission with Turkish
counterparts at the TGS on Wednesday. The commission
is to investigate the detention of Turkish special
forces in the Northern Iraqi town of Suleymaniye last
weekend. The Turks have asked General Sylvester to
sack Colonel Bill Mayville, and presented him with
evidence on alleged U.S. ties to PKK/KADEK. General
Sylvester will proceed to Northern Iraq on Thursday,
and return to Ankara this weekend. Papers expect the
U.S. and Turkish sides to issue a joint statement
outlining principles for future military operations in
Northern Iraq. The U.S. side has conveyed to Ankara
its concerns over the cache of arms kept by Turkish
units in Northern Iraq, which included a considerable
amount of C-4 explosives. "Radikal" reports that U.S.
officers in Northern Iraq accuse the 11 detained
Turkish soldiers of belonging to a "terror unit"
involved in illegal activities. The underlying reason
for the arrests, "Radikal" reports based on AKP
sources, is that the U.S. wants Turkey out of Northern
Iraq. Ankara has refused to pull back its troops, and
has demanded written guarantees from the U.S. that
PKK/KADEK activities and a sovereign Kurdish state
would be prevented. "Radikal" believes the arrests to
be part of a regional policy pursued by the U.S.
Administration, and expects the Americans to continue
narrowing Turkey's room for maneuver in the region.
"Cumhuriyet" reports a senior U.S. official as saying
that the 11 Turks were released on the condition that
they will remain under the supervision of the Turkish
military.

Responding to press reports that Turkey denied landing
permission for U.S. planes during the Iraq campaign,
Foreign Minister Gul said that over 30 damaged American
planes had been allowed to land at Turkish bases. The
TGS, which had been expected to seal a $4 billion deal
for the purchase of Cobra helicopters by late July, has
suspended negotiations with the Americans over the
Suleymaniye incident.

Armenian genocide: Foreign Minister Gul said that the
U.S. Administration is working to block the Armenian
genocide draft being considered by the U.S. Congress.
President Bush opposes the bill, and Vice President
Cheney and Deputy Secretary of Defense Wolfowitz are
lobbying to convince Congressmen to vote against the
resolution.

Israeli President visits Turkey: Visiting Israeli
President Katsav said that the tension between U.S. and
Turkey would not negatively affect ties between Israel
and Turkey. Katsav also said that Israel had activated
the Jewish lobby in the U.S. to help repair the strain
between Ankara and Washington.

EDITORIAL OPINION: US-Turkish Relations/N. Iraq

"A new roadmap for US-Turkish relations"
Islamist-intellectual Zaman carried an analysis by two
academics, Orhan Gokce and Birol Akgun (7/10): "There
is a significant difference in US policies in the post-
9/11 period and the post Word War II period. Yet it
seems the Turkish foreign policy-makers have not fully
realized it. . We have to realize the fact that Turkey
and the US are not strategic allies, and that our
regional interests might conflict with US interests
from time to time. Turkey must be able to revise its
relationship with Washington through a new vision. It
seems best for Turkey to design its `roadmap' by taking
the new political facts into account and by arranging
bilateral ties in the spirit of a more `distant'
partnership."

"Shaking the trust within NATO"
Zafer Atay argued in the economic-political Dunya
(7/10): "The incident in Suleymaniye is not only an
appalling game, but also shakes the basic pillars of
NATO. The NATO alliance is based on mutual trust,
solidarity, and willingness to work hand-in-hand for
the achievement of shared ideals. The arrest of
Turkish soldiers and the treatment they were given have
undermined the pillars of NATO. . There is no point in
believing that there were `disturbing acts by the
Turkish team.' The event was a clear show of force on
the US side. The normalization of Turkish-American
relations requires two conditions to be met: The US
should convey an official apology to both Turkey and
NATO; and those responsible for the Suleymaniye
incident should be punished."

"Iraq issue should not be left to the military alone"
Mehmet Ali Birand wrote in the mass appeal-sensational
Posta (7/10): "The Iraq issue is too sensitive a
problem to be left to the military alone. The military
should always be under civilian checks and controls.
They must act within the framework of the policies to
be formulated by the civilian authority. The
military's view should always be provided, but the
civilian authority should make the final decision. If,
in Iraq, State Department and the other institutions
had joined the loop rather than the Pentagon alone
dealing with such issues, today's problems would not
have occurred."

PEARSON

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