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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 006092

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
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2004

THIS REPORT PRESENTS THE TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER THREE
THEMES:

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

HEADLINES

MASS APPEALS
Chirac, Schroeder point to 2005 as Turkey-EU talks date -
Sabah
Turkey's EU flight on 36 Airbus planes - Aksam
Prince Charles visits Mardin - Sabah
Prince Charles supports Turkey's EU membership - Aksam
Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania to determine Election 2004
outcome - Milliyet
Americans want Clinton as president - Hurriyet

OPINION MAKERS
Chirac's final decision: `Yes' - Radikal
Chirac says `Yes' for Turkey - Yeni Safak
Berlin, Paris support entry talks with Turkey in 2005 -
Zaman
Le Monde: Paris may ask postponement of EU entry talks with
Turkey - Zaman
Israel withdraws from Gaza, West Bank - Cumhuriyet
Knesset approves, Israel leaves Gaza - Zaman
Afghanistan, `liberated' by US, in terrible condition -
Cumhuriyet
Karzai wins by 55 percent of votes - Radikal
Turkish Airlines sign deal for 36 Airbus planes - Yeni Safak
State terror in Thailand: 84 killed - Cumhuriyet

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BRIEFING

Erdogan meets Schroeder, Chirac: Prior to a meeting Tuesday
with Turkish PM Tayyip Erdogan, French President Jacques
Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said they
would vote at a summit in December in Brussels for Ankara to
be invited to EU membership talks. Schroeder is the
strongest supporter of Turkey's bid within the EU. But
Chirac has bowed to domestic pressure to hold a referendum
on Ankara's accession and warned that Paris could veto
membership talks at any time. Chirac said in Berlin he
believed the talks could be launched sometime in 2005 and
noted that negotiations will result in eventual Turkish
membership. Chirac added that a referendum in France would
only be held at the end of the negotiation process, in 10 or
15 years' time. During a meeting in Berlin with Germany's
Green Party leader Claudia Roth, PM Erdogan voiced objection
to such a referendum. The official reason for Erdogan's
invitation to join the French-German summit was for the
signing of a $2.8 billion contract for Turkish Airlines
(THY) to buy 36 Airbus passenger planes to renew its fleet,
say papers. THY signed the deal with the European aircraft
maker Airbus on Tuesday. The deal comprised 19 A320s, 12
A321s and five A330-200s, and delivery was scheduled for
October 2005 through 2008.
FM Gul visits Czech Republic: During a visit to the Czech
Republic, FM Abdullah Gul said fulfilling the criteria for
EU accession would not be easy. `We know the negotiation
period is not easy, particularly for big countries. And we
know that it will take long, maybe 10 years,' Gul told a
press conference in Prague Tuesday. Gul's Czech counterpart
Cyril Svoboda said the Czech government has made clear that
it supports Turkey launching EU negotiations.
Prince Charles visits Turkey: Britain's Prince Charles on
Tuesday toured religious and historic sites in Turkey's
southeastern city of Mardin on the last leg of a two-day
visit to Turkey. Charles visited centuries-old madrasahs
and mosques in the region. On Monday, Prince Charles
reopened the British consulate in Istanbul that was partly
destroyed in November 2003 in a car bomb attack by a local
cell linked to the Al-Qaeda network. He later held talks
with Turkish leaders in Ankara before going to Mardin on
Tuesday afternoon. Prince Charles was scheduled to leave
Turkey for Jordan later in the day.
Greece protests airspace violations by Turkish jets: Greece
said on Tuesday it had protested recent air and sea
violations by Turkish vessels and jetfighters, saying such
behavior could damage Turkey's drive to be granted EU entry
talks. Ankara denied any violations had taken place. While
the Greek officials have refused to issue details of the
violations, sources have said they include Turkish warships
sailing in Greek waters off a disputed islet in the eastern
Aegean, and Turkish jetfighters flying low over Greek
frigates in Greek waters. The Turkish Foreign Ministry said
Turkish forces were carrying out routine operations in
either Turkish or international waters and airspace.
Turkish Cypriots search for a new government: Turkish
Cypriots' outgoing PM Mehmet Ali Talat, leader of TRNC's
last coalition government, has turned down an offer by prime
minister-designate Dervis Eroglu to form a coalition
government, papers report. Observers say early elections
are likely in north Cyprus in January of next year.

EDITORIAL OPINION: Iraq; EU-Turkey

"Chain of Mistakes in Iraq"
Tevfik Dalgic commented in the economic-politic Referans
(10/27): "The US continues to make mistakes in Iraq which
stems from its serious lack of familiarity with Middle East
culture, its history and its ethnic structuring. . The first
in the series of mistakes started with the ideological
obsession that the American neo-conservatives had about Iraq
and Saddam. Because of the Saddam-obsessed policy, the Bush
administration failed to turn the global war on terrorism
into a global cooperation. The unilateralist approach
prevailed in American policy on Iraq and terrorism, which
resulted in the US being in a conflict with NATO, the EU and
the UN. The mistakes continued right after the Iraq
operation when the Iraqi army was dissolved. Among many
mistakes, the ongoing US support for Kurds is one with
serious consequences. The US gave support to Kurdish feudal
leaders and ignored the fact that they knew nothing about
democracy, human rights and the supremacy of law and order.
This can be a criterion to put the US through a sincerity
test: Washington started the Iraq war to bring democracy
and a group of tribal figures were tasked with the
establishment of democracy. . In short, the US is
experiencing serious difficulty in Iraq which increases the
possibility of the US making more as well as crucial
mistakes. Turkey should consider this as a factor while
shaping its policy regarding Iraq and its future. The Iraq
policy should be formulated to provide guidance to the US
and to protect both Turkey's strategic interests as well as
relations with the EU."

"EU is the Only Option"
Kamuran Ozbir commented in the nationalist Ortadogu (10/27):
"The European Union should take the steps to integrate with
Turkey. Turkey emerged as a role model for the Western
world, especially after 9/11 and the fear about the clash of
civilizations. Turkey being a full member of the EU will
serve the interests of both. Turkey is the only country
with which the EU can enjoy a genuine integration instead of
a typical alliance. The accession of Turkey into the EU
will provide a message that Europeans have no problem with
Islam and embrace Turkey as a democratic nation with a free
market economy, which is urgently needed in the wake of a
clash of civilizations."
EDELMAN

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