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 001420

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 9, 2004

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

HEADLINES
BRIEFING
EDITORIAL OPINION

HEADLINES

MASS APPEAL
$10 million March 8 gift to Iraqi women from Powell -
Milliyet
Powell assures Gul that `real' Iraqi constitution to come in
June - Hurriyet
Powell promises to consult Turkey on Iraqi constitution -
Turkiye
Karamanlis' first task will be Cyprus - Milliyet
Shiites agree, Iraq temporary administrative law signed -
Milliyet
Kurds' constitution terror in Kirkuk: 3 dead - Milliyet
Ankara uneasy with Iraq constitution - Sabah
Iraqi Kurdish parties claim Kirkuk belongs to them - Sabah
International investors to attend March 15 Istanbul meeting
- Turkiye

OPINION MAKERS
US sends Ambassador Neumann to console Ankara - Zaman
Iraqi constitution crisis resolved for now - Zaman
Karamanlis wins a clear victory - Radikal
Karamanlis cautious on Turkey - Radikal
Erdogan: TRNC sanctions must be lifted if Greeks reject
Annan Plan - Zaman
Europe's Cyprus formula unclear - Zaman
Regional countries object to Greater Middle East plan -
Radikal
Brzezinski warns on Greater Middle East plan - Yeni Safak
Human Rights Watch gives US poor grade on Afghanistan -
Radikal
Reformists beaten in Damascus - Radikal

BRIEFING

Ankara uneasy with Iraq temporary administrative law:
Foreign Minister Gul conveyed to Secretary of State Powell
Turkey's concerns regarding Iraq's temporary administrative
law in a letter to the Secretary on Sunday, "Cumhuriyet"
reports. Powell eased Gul's worries in a phone call on
Monday. Powell pointed out that the document signed
yesterday was a temporary law, and that Turkey's views would
be taken into account when the final constitution is
prepared. US Ambassador to Bahrain, Ronald Neumann, is due
in Ankara together with a delegation of the Iraqi Governing
Council on Tuesday. Dailies expect Neumann to discuss the
temporary law as well as economic issues with MFA officials.

Secretary Powell remarks for International Women's Day: In

SIPDIS
a message to commemorate the March 8 International Women's
Day, Secretary Powell announced a $10 million initiative to
train Iraqi women in the skills and practices of democratic
public life, Turkish papers report. The rooms where members
of Saddam's regime systematically raped Iraqi women are
gone, the Secretary said. He emphasized that torture
chambers have been replaced by women's self-help centers.
Such organizations have been opened from Baghdad to Babylon
and Basra, papers report.

Cyprus: A European Parliament report on Cyprus warns that a
disagreement between the Cypriots would pose a significant
obstacle to Turkey's EU accession. In a meeting with the EU
troika in Ankara on Monday, Turkey asked for EU guarantees
about resettlement, travel and property rights on the
island. Ankara has not been given further assurances from
the EU regarding the prevention of Greek Cypriot lawsuits
demanding compensation in the future.
A survey with 200 heads of chambers throughout Turkey shows
that 72.7 percent believe that concessions should be made to
work out a settlement in Cyprus, "Dunya" reports. 67
percent of those surveyed say that the Turkish side could
make territorial concessions. The majority of businessmen
surveyed believe that the Turks should make no concessions
regarding bizonality and the issue of international
representation.

Ankara positive about Karamanlis: New Greek Prime Minister
Costas Karamanlis and Turkish PM Erdogan established a warm
friendship at last year's AK Party congress, and Turkish
officials are hopeful that the Greek government will
strengthen its ties with Turkey. Karamanlis regards the
Cyprus problem as an obstacle to improvement of Turkish-
Greek relations. "Cumhuriyet" notes that four-party Cyprus
talks will begin on March 22, with Ankara and Athens joining
the Cypriot sides at the UN-sponsored peace negotiations.
Prime Minister Erdogan is planning a visit to Greece
following Turkish municipal elections on March 28.

New member of Fener Synod arrives: Archbishop Demetrios,
head of the Greek Orthodox Church in the United States and
of the recently-appointed foreign members of the Fener
Patriarchate Synod, arrived in Istanbul on Monday to take up
his duties. Prime Minister Erdogan visited Demetrios on an
official visit to New York last January, and asked the
Archbishop at that time to put pressure on the Orthodox
Church in south Cyprus for a solution to the Cyprus issue.
"Yeni Safak" claims that the MFA believes the Synod
appointments violate Turkish regulations and are therefore
invalid, and that the Fener Patriarchate should have
requested approval from the government.

EDITORIAL OPINION: Iraq

"Iraq's Transitional Administrative Law"
Muharrem Sarikaya commented in the mass appeal Sabah (3/9):
"Turkey has repeatedly voiced its concerns about the future
of Iraq, particularly about the fact that the Turkmen
population has been neglected. Washington has always given
assurances that the Turkmen will not be ignored, and that
they will play an important role in Iraq's future. .However,
in the end the temporary administrative law (TAL) does not
meet these expectations. The Turkmen population was treated
the same way as other minority groups. Worse than that is a
provision in the TAL that provides for the rejection of the
draft constitution in the event that 2/3 of voters in at
least 3 provinces reject the draft at referendum. This
provision gives enormous bargaining power to the Kurds, and
Washington did not even bother to mention this to Ankara. .
When Secretary Powell called Turkish FM Gul, he tried to
ease his concerns by saying that the current situation is a
transitional period and the US will take into account the
views of Iraq's neighbors in the final constitutional
process. Despite Powell's assurances, Ankara has not been
convinced, largely due to other (unmet) promises from
Washington. There is also something worrying for Ankara
about Paul Bremer's treatment of Turkish firms in Iraq.
Ankara continues to be worried about the TAL due to a
perceived favoritism for the Shiites and the Kurds."

EDELMAN

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