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 04 ANKARA 002761

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
FRIDAY, MAY 13, 2005

THIS REPORT PRESENTS THE TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER THREE
THEMES:

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

HEADLINES

MASS APPEAL
ECHR Rules for Retrial of Ocalan - Sabah
EU: Turkey Must Implement ECHR Ruling on Ocalan - Hurriyet
400 Civilians Killed in Iraq in Two Weeks - Milliyet
Former French, German Officials Took Bribes from Saddam -
Hurriyet
EU Warns Iran Against Restarting Nuclear Program - Milliyet
Blair Signals Resignation - Milliyet
Students Burn US Flag at Kabul University - Aksam

OPINION MAKERS
ECHR: Ocalan's Trial Was `Unfair' - Radikal
Erdogan: Turkish Judiciary Will Have Final Decision on
Ocalan - Yeni Safak
US Congressmen to Spend July 4 in Turkish Cyprus - Zaman
Ankara Wants to Keep Open Channels With Yerevan - Radikal
Tal Afar Turns Into a `Ghost Town' - Zaman
Insurgency Intensifies, Targets Marketplaces in Iraq - Zaman
Iraqi Border City al-Kaim to Become New Fallujah - Yeni
Safak
EU Threatens, Moscow Supports Iran - Yeni Safak
Anti-US Rallies Spread to Kabul - Cumhuriyet
Berlin Approves EU Constitution - Cumhuriyet

BRIEFING

ECHR Rules in Fabvor of Retrial For Ocalan: The European
Court of Human Rights (ECHR) declared Thursday that the
trial of PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan was unfair, thereby
confirming a verdict reached two years ago. The ECHR said
that Turkey had breached the rights of Ocalan, who is
serving a life sentence in a maximum-security prison on
Imrali island in the Marmara Sea. Among the main reasons
behind the ECHR final judgment were Ocalan's restricted
access to his lawyers, and the lawyers' restricted access to
the evidence against him. Justice Minister and government
spokesman Cemil Cicek said the ECHR did not take issue with
the substance of the case against Ocalan or the verdict of
the court that tried him. `We need to see the details
first,' Cicek said. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said
`even if the case is reopened in a legal sense, it has
already been closed in the hearts of the people.' Erdogan
added that `ordinary' problems like this cannot change
Turkey's EU goal or destroy its national unity. `This
matter will be discussed by the ministers of the European
Council, but, the final decision will be made by the Turkish
judiciary,' he emphasized. President Ahmet Necdet Sezer
said the ECHR retrial decision cannot be implemented without
a related change in the Turkish penal code. Sezer added
that it is up to the parliament whether or not to lift this
impediment. Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul noted that the
process `is not yet over,' adding that the ECHR decision
will be examined by ministers on the European Council. Gul
said that the thousands of innocent people who died as the
result of PKK terrorism cannot be forgotten. The Turkish
Foreign Ministry (MFA) said that the ECHR decision on Ocalan
will be assessed under the Turkish Constitution,
international conventions that Turkey is party to, and
Turkish law. Opposition CHP leader Deniz Baykal said that
the ECHR decision does not necessarily mean that Ocalan will
be retried. Baykal said the government could find an
alternate way of resolving this problem by exerting its
influence on the EU Ministerial Committee, which will make
`the real decision.' `If we retry Ocalan, we will be making
a big mistake. A retrial will cause chaos in Turkey, and
polarization will be seen again,' Baykal said. A Turkish
judge on the ECHR said the ruling is simply a recommendation
that Ocalan be retried, and added that the verdict still
must be approved by the Eruopean Council. Papers predict
that Ankara will appeal the ECHR ruling at the July meeting
of the Council, where an evaluation of the issue could last
as long as a year.

MFA Issues Details of Incirlik Decree: The Turkish Foreign
Ministry on Thursday released details of the April 18
government decree permitting the US enhanced access to
Incirlik Airbase, papers report. The MFA said in a
statement that US planes will not be allowed to transport
arms, ammunition, or troops, but only logistical supplies
such as tents, food, and spare parts. It also noted that
the US will ask for clearance to land cargo planes at the
base one month in advance. The statement also said that
Ankara has allowed the UK and South Korea to use Incirlik
for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan as well. Britain has
asked to use facilities at the base for refueling and
maintenance, while South Korea has sought permission to
evacuate troops in Iraq via Incirlik in the event of an
emergency, the statement said.

Commander Says Turkey Never Attempted to Rid Kandil
Mountains of PKK: "Milliyet" reports that Turkish Land
Forces Commander General Yasar Buyukanit responded to a
question concerning a statement made by US Embassy Political
Counselor John Kunstadter, who said at a university panel in
Ankara May 9 that the Turkish army had been unsuccessful
when it tried to remove the PKK presence in the Kandil
Mountains in northern Iraq in 1997. Buyukanit said the PKK
had not yet settled in the Kandil range 1997, but was only
using the area as a logistical base. `Therefore,' Buyukanit
said, `the Turkish army has never tried to occupy the Kandil
Mountains.' Buyukanit reminded that the PKK has been
bringing C-4 and C-3 explosives into Turkey from northern
Iraq: `Instead of making such statements,' Buyukanit said,
`that person should be concerned with how these explosives
are being smuggled into Turkey.'

US Embassy Ankara Issues Fact Sheet on BMENAI: The US
Embassy Ankara has released a fact sheet in an effort to
clarify the goals of the Broader Middle East and North
Africa Initiative following statements by President Sezer
and Chief of General Staff General Ozkok opposing efforts to
present Turkey as a model for `moderate Islam.' The fact
sheet notes that Turkey is a full BMENAI partner, not a
`target' country for the initiative. It adds that as a
secular, democratic country with a population that is
predominantly Muslim, Turkey has a wealth of valuable
experience to offer countries in the early stages of reform.
`The BMENAI does not aim to make Turkey less secular or less
democratic,' it notes, stressing that Turkey's democracy and
its experience with reform are precisely what make it a
valuable BMENAI partner. The Embassy note also supported
Turkey's views that the impetus for democratic change must
come from within the region, and that the BMENAI and
resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are not mutually
exclusive goals. The Embassy statement was carried in full
by "Sabah" and "Cumhuriyet."

Turkmen Urge Iraqi Leadership to Relieve Strain in Tal Afar:
Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITF) Chairman Ahmet Muratli urged
President Talabani and Prime Minister Jafari to defuse the
ongoing tension in Tal Afar caused by the US military
operation that was launched eight months ago, "Cumhuriyet"
reports. Skirmishes between insurgents and US troops have
gone out of control, to the point at which the Turkmen are
being `cleansed' from Tal Afar, Muratli claimed. The Tal
Afar hospital is closed, and aid for the Turkmen city is
blocked, he said, claiming that the Turkmen are being forced
to leave the province. Muratli also noted that the fate of
Yasar Abdullah, The ITC Tal Afar representative arrested by
US troops 20 days ago, remains unknown. Islamist-oriented
"Zaman" reports that Tal Afar has no electricity, and that
humanitarian aid deliveries o the city have been blocked for
the past four months.

Erdogan-Kocharian May Meet at COE Warsaw Summit: Ankara is
looking for grounds for a compromise with Armenian President
Kocharian during a possible meeting with Prime Minister
Erdogan at the Council of Europe (COE) summit in Warsaw next
week, "Radikal" reports. Erdogan will gauge the attitude of
Kocharian before pressing forward with the Turkish proposal
for a joint investigation of Armenian `genocide' claims, the
report claims, noting that the proposal has been welcomed by
the international community. Meanwhile, Prime Minister
Erdogan said on Thursday that the 15 countries which have
enacted bills on the alleged genocide of Armenians by the
Ottomans in 1915 have themselves committed genocide in the
past. `I too can pass a parliamentary bill about genocide
committed in various countries. I have a sufficient
majority to do that,' Erdogan said during a visit to
Hungary.

Congressman Wexler to Visit North Cyprus: "Zaman" reports
from Washington that Robert Wexler is to visit north Cyprus
on July 4 together with some other US Congressmen in an
effort to ease international sanctions against Turkish
Cypriots. In a speech to a sub-committee of Foreign
Relations Committee yesterday, Wexler praised Turkey's
accomplishments with regard to Cyprus as `miraculous,'
"Zaman" reports. Wexler said Turkey's March 2003 rejection
of the deployment of US troops in the country to open a
northern front in Iraq had been a disappointment, but
reminded that Ankara later offered to send 10,000 troops to
Iraq - an offer which was rejected by Washington. `We
should display the same fervor in thanking to Turks as we do
when criticizing them,' Wexler said.

Ankara to Name New Intelligence Chief: Three candidates are
rumored to be in the running to succeed Turkey's National
Intelligence Organization (MIT) Undersecretary Senkal
Atasagun, papers report. The candidates include Turkey's
current ambassadors to Portugal and Argentina, and MIT
deputy Undersecretary Emre Taner.

UNDP Report: Iraqis Live in Terrible Conditions: A UN
Development Program (UNDP) report says that the Iraqi people
are facing high levels of unemployment and a lack of
adequate shelter as well as health and electricity problems,
Turkish media report. Based on research conducted in 18
Iraqi provinces among 22,000 families, the 370-page report
notes that the Iraqis are living in `tragic' conditions.
Unemployment has reached 18.4 percent, and only 54 percent
of houses have drinking water. Iraqi Planning Minister
Berham Salih said that the desperate living conditions have
been caused by the neglect of the international community
and years of fighting in Iraq.

AKP Lawmaker Withdraws Resignation: Ruling AK Party
lawmaker Ismail Ericekli, who had resigned from his party
two days ago to join the DYP, has withdrawn his resignation
and returned to AKP. An AKP statement said that Ericekli
withdrew his resignation after his complaints were `taken
into consideration.' The AKP has 356 seats in the 550-
member parliament.

EDITORIAL OPINION: Iraq; ECHR Ruling on PKK Leader

"This is Only the Beginning"
Haluk Ulman wrote in the economic-political "Dunya" (5/13):
"The bloodshed in Iraq seems endless. Since Ibrahim Jaferi
established his new government on April 28, more than 400
Iraqis have died in suicide attacks at mosques, in market
places, and at police stations in Baghdat, Erbil, Mosul, and
Bakuba. Whether you call them insurgents or terrorists, all
of these attackers are Sunni. There are also fundamentalist
Sunni militants who are mostly officers and soldiers from
Saddam's army, as well as former Baath party members who
later joined these groups. Their main targets are Shiites,
Kurds, and US troops. In a recent speech, Iraqi Foreign
Minister Zabari said that his government will not allow a
civil war in Iraq. If these events in Iraq do constitute a
civil war, what else could we call it? How many more people
have to die for this to be called a civil war? The
explosions, suicide attacks, are continually increasing.
This won't stop until the Sunnis, who have always ruled
Iraq, are somehow convinced to support the new government.
This is only the beginning. I regret to say that there are
more bloody days ahead."

"A Legal Decision, or a Political One?"
Sami Kohen wrote in the mainstream opposition "Milliyet"
(5/13): "The ECHR ruling in the Ocalan case is a legal
decision, but it will inevitably develop a political
dimension over the course of time. The European Council's
Ministerial Committee is going to decide how to apply the
ECHR ruling. That will be a political decision made by the
Council's 44 members, including Turkey. Yet if the
Committee decides on a retrial as the ECHR ruling suggests,
Turkey should respect that outcome. A rejection of the
ruling would then bring severe consequences. . The Turkish
people should act with rationality and common sense. There
is a long legal process ahead of Turkey. There is
absolutely nothing to be gained by acting out of fear or a
sense of inferiority. Certain steps can be taken to try to
influence the Council's decision, and a number of
alternatives can be explored. But Turkey has little reason
to be hopeful that the outcome will change. As demonstrated
in the past, the Council's decisions generally follow
rulings by the ECHR."

"We Must Pass This Test"
Erdal Safak wrote in the mass appeal "Sabah" (5/13): "The
ECHR ruling is no surprise, but it is going to be a big test
for Turkey. It is a test of courage for the government, and
a test of responsibility for the opposition. It is a test
for the Turkish judicial system, which needs to demonstrate
that it has digested global and contemporary legal
principles. It is also a test of maturity for the man-in-
the-street. . Turkey should put this issue into the hands
of the Turkish judiciary as soon as possible to prevent the
matter from being politicized. This will require
determination and courage, especially from the government.
Some circles outside the government should also be helpful
in this process by not provoking tension with conspiracy
theories. No one should go around saying that `a button has
been pushed to divide Turkey' or that `Ocalan is likely to
go free' in an effort to inflame tensions."

EDELMAN

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