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 004555
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, AUGUST 4, 2005
THIS REPORT PRESENTS THE TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER THREE
THEMES:
HEADLINES
BRIEFING
EDITORIAL OPINION
--------------------------------------------- --
HEADLINES
MASS APPEAL
McEldowney: PKK's Murderous Activities Cannot be Tolerated -
Milliyet
Turkey-US-Iraq to Hold PKK Summit in Washington - Milliyet
Talat to Greek Cypriots: Let's Open All Ports in Cyprus -
Turkiye
Financial Times: Papadhopoulos Sees Turks as a Minority -
Sabah
Kurds Flocking into Kirkuk - Milliyet
Ambush against US Troops in Baghdad: 14 Killed - Sabah
Freelancer American Vincent Killed in Basra - Aksam
Ahmedinajad Takes over the Presidency from Khatami - Sabah
Bush's Support for `Intelligent Design' Theory Angers
Secularists - Hurriyet
OPINION MAKERS
30 PKK Offices in Kirkuk - Cumhuriyet
Journalist Vincent, a Critic of the Shiites, Killed in Basra
- Cumhuriyet
Life Gets Difficult for Muslims in Britain - Cumhuriyet
`North-South' Fight Continues in Khartoum: 20 Killed
Tehran Steps Back on Nuclear Program - Zaman
Ahmedinajad: I Will Work for Justice around the World -
Radikal
Russian Paper: US to Transfer Uzbekistan Base to Azerbaijan
- Radikal
Israel Wants 2.2 Billion USD from US for Gaza Withdrawal -
Zaman
Bolton Assumes Post at UN - Cumhuriyet
BRIEFING
Charge McEldowney on US/Turkey, Afghanistan, Terror:
Turkey's leading mass appeal daily "Milliyet" carries an op-
ed by the US Ankara Embassy Charge d'Affaires Nancy
McEldowney, in which the Charge praised Turkish efforts
alongside the United States in Afghanistan and in the fight
against global terrorism. `The United States and Turkey
joined together to make good on our pledge to the people of
Afghanistan. Where self-appointed mullahs laid down
barbaric dictates at the point of a gun, Afghans now are
served by an elected president and will go to the polls in
September to elect a parliament,' McEldowney said.
McEldowney added that the US has struggled together with
Turkey against the PKK for over two decades. `We have
condemned unequivocally the PKK, its leadership, and its
terrorist activity. And we will continue to do so,' she
stressed. McEldowney also noted that the US and the
government of Iraq were determined that a free and unified
Iraq will not be a base for terrorism directed against any
country. `Our three governments - America, Iraq, and Turkey
- are working toward that end and are committed to achieve
that goal,' McEldowney emphasized. She praised Turkey's
`unwavering resolution' in the face of international
challenges. `Turkey has sent soldiers into the field in
Afghanistan. Turkey is training Iraqi soldiers under the
NATO Training Mission. Turkey is patrolling the
Mediterranean in the Alliance's Operation Active Endeavor,'
McEldowney wrote.
Turkey Reiterates Call to US to Ban the PKK: Turkish
Foreign Ministry (MFA) Spokesman Namik Tan told a weekly
press briefing that Turkey would continue to call on the US
and Iraqi officials to immediately close in Iraq all
organizations having links to the terrorist PKK
organization. Tan said Turkey considered organizations like
the Democratic Solution Party in Kirkuk to be `affiliates'
of the PKK. Tan noted that Turkey would take the evidence
proving that those organizations have organic ties with the
PKK to the US-Turkey-Iraq security summit in Washington.
Responding to a question, Tan said the opening of a second
border crossing between Turkey and Iraq would be discussed
among the sides. "Cumhuriyet" reports the Iraqi Turkmen
Front (ITF) Ankara representative Ahmet Muratli as claiming
that the PKK-affiliated Democratic Solution Party had 30
offices in Kirkuk, which helped the terror organization in
recruiting fighters. Muratli also claimed that the PKK was
preparing to open offices in Mosul as well.
Turkish Police Report on PKK Camps in Iraq: "Milliyet"
carries a classified report drafted by the Turkish Security
General Directorate on PKK activities in Iraq. The report
was submitted to the interior ministers of Iraq's neighbors
at their summit talks held in Istanbul last month. The
report says that the PKK has nine camps in northern Iraq and
other parts of the country. The PKK leadership is based in
the Kandil Mountains where it has an arms cache of five
Stinger missiles - registered as NATO property - and heavy
weapons, and 100 generators and new model Nissan jeeps.
Some 1,000 militants receive missile and explosives training
in Kani Cenge and Hineri camps. A total of 9,500 Kurds,
mostly refugees and other members of the organization are
accommodated at the Mahmur camp controlled by the United
Nations. Bodyguards have been trained at the Martyr Ayhan
camp in an effort to form special forces, according to the
report.
Iraqi Kurdish Leaders Encourage Return of Kurds: Kurdish
leaders controlling northern Iraq encourage Kurds displaced
by the former Iraqi regime to register in Kirkuk and ask for
compensation under article 58 of the Iraqi interim
constitution, papers report. Reports estimate some 80,000
Kurds have registered in Kirkuk. Iraqi Arabs, the Turkmen,
and Turkey have been uneasy with the Kurdish leaders'
efforts to incorporate Kirkuk into their autonomous regions,
papers comment. The influx of Kurds to the region coincides
with the finalization efforts for the new constitution,
which is expected to introduce a federal structure in Iraq,
say papers.
Talat Offers the Greek Cypriots Opening of Harbors: `The
old Cyprus cause has been lost. We are now working to
formulate a new policy,' Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali
Talat said before leaving Turkey yesterday. Talat called on
President Sezer and PM Erdogan on Tuesday. Talat noted that
his predecessor Rauf Denktas had been a hostage to
`nationalist rhetoric.' Talat said the goal of the new
policy was to make the world accept the necessity to
establish a bi-zonal federal structure in Cyprus. "Turkiye"
claims that Talat had offered the Greek Cypriots a
`reciprocal' opening of harbors, saying that Greek Cypriot
vessels could be granted access to Turkish ports if Nicosia
and the EU lift sanctions on northern Cyprus.
Rubin: AKP Uneasy with Democracy: Michael Rubin from the
American Enterprise Institute (AEI) said in an op-ed that
the majority of Turkey's ruling AK Party members were
Islamists, while the majority of the Turks were not, reports
"Hurriyet." Rubin said that Erdogan and his AKP were
gradually distancing themselves from the principle of the
supremacy of law, and that Erdogan's political performance
was declining. Despite guarantees Erdogan offered regarding
secularism, said Rubin, the AKP motions submitted to the
parliament damaged the divide between state and religion,
strengthening the power of religious groups in Turkey.
According to Rubin, AKP is increasingly growing uneasy about
the democratic process in Turkey. Rubin recalled a recent
warning by the parliament speaker Bulent Arinc that the
Constitutional Court can be annulled in Turkey, and a motion
submitted to the parliament by the Erdogan government aimed
at bringing early retirement for judges, making room in the
judiciary for party supporters. Rubin believes that Erdogan
could not bear the independence of the press and judiciary,
says "Hurriyet." Rubin earlier claimed that Saudi
businessmen transferred billions of USD to Turkey following
September 11, and that the share of Middle East-based
companies in Turkey's economy had increased by half in the
first six months of 2004.
Turkey May Have to Pay 14 Billion USD to Displaced Kurds:
The Turkish Foreign Ministry (MFA) has warned the government
that Turkey will have to pay about 14 billion USD in
compensation to 69,490 Kurds who were forced to leave their
villages if the displaced Kurds apply to the European Court
of Human Rights (ECHR), reports "Aksam." Turkey has already
paid some 4 million USD to 24 applicants out of 1,500 cases
pending at the ECHR. In an effort to reshape Ankara's
policies with regard to east and southeast Turkey, Prime
Minister Erdogan has asked the Hacettepe University in
Ankara to carry out a research on migrations and displaced
populations in Turkey's mainly Kurdish provinces of Bingol,
Batman, Diyarbakir, Bitlis, Elazig, Mus, Hakkari, Mardin,
Tunceli, Siirt, Van, Agri, Adiyaman and Sirnak. The study
will assess damages in evacuated villages, and estimate the
number of Kurds who had to leave their homes. The results
of the project, which is to be finalized in 2006, will be
submitted to the European Union, says "Aksam."
Turkey to Hand over ISAF Command: Turkish troops in
Afghanistan will hand over the command of the ISAF to Italy
on Thursday, papers report. The ISAF, made up of troops and
support staff from 49 countries, has been deployed mainly in
Kabul after the Taliban regime's fall in 2001 as part of a
coalition force currently numbering around 28,000.
Blast Kills Two in Istanbul: A powerful explosion killed
two people and wounded at least five others in Istanbul late
on Wednesday, papers report. The blast occurred in a trash
bin in the Pendik district on the Asian side of the city and
severely damaged several nearby cars and houses. The cause
of the blast was not clear. Istanbul police said the gas
tank of a vehicle might have exploded.
EDITORIAL OPINION: Iraq; Iran
"The US is Playing with Fire"
Erdal Guven asserted in the sensational-conservative "Halka
ve Olaylara Tercuman" (8/4): "The relations between Turkey
and the US are facing new tensions following the PKK bureau
opening in Iraq's north. The US is very well aware of
Turkey's concern and sensitivity on the issue but prefers to
defer to the Kurdish administration for talks. After
Turkey's March 1 parliamentary decree refusing to support
the Iraq war, Turkey's regional power started to decrease.
Lacking Turkey's support, the US gave the control of Iraq's
north to the Kurds. It is a matter of choice for the US.
But the developments are very harmful to Turkey because
every new PKK bureau in this area serves to strengthen the
hands of the terrorist organization. . Turkey has been
expressing its serious concern and documenting the PKK's
existence in the area. However, the US has not taken any
action against the situation. America's intention is to
create pressure on Turkey and it is using the Kurds for that
purpose. Yet something is underestimated here. What
happens if the Turkish people reach the `enough is enough'
point psychologically following the increasing number of
dead Turkish soldiers' bodies coming from the Iraqi border
area?"
"As if the US in Making Fun of Turkey"
Emin Pazarci argued in the conservative-sensational "Dunden
Bugune Tercuman" (8/4): "In each and every statement the
Americans stress that the PKK is a terrorist organization
and that they never support the PKK. The US condemns the
PKK terror organization after each PKK attack. But that is
all; the US struggle with the PKK stops there. Criticizing
and condemning the PKK are the only two reactions to come
from the US. They don't care that the PKK manages to
survive very close to them and its armed militants wander
around freely. The only action the US takes is to give
statements saying that the PKK is a terrorist organization.
The US occupation forces keep Kirkuk fully under control.
The place is crowded with armed US troops. Moreover,
Barzani's armed men work for them. Under these conditions,
the PKK has 8 bureaus in Kirkuk. The PKK's northern Iraq
branch `Democratic Solution Party' flags are flying in these
bureaus. Terrorists defend these places with armed guards.
They established control points in the region so as not to
allow anyone to take pictures or video films. The PKK
headquarters is located in an interesting place. .It is only
a hundred meters away from the local police department in
Kirkuk. The US Consulate stands on one side and the British
consulate on the other side. They all live happily
together! And after all this the US officials tell us that
the PKK is a terrorist organization! As if they are making
fun of us, or kidding a child! It is obvious that they are
not sincere in their statements."
"Iran"
Gungor Mengi observed in the mass appeal "Vatan" (8/4): "A
change in a positive direction was hoped for in Iran while
the reformist leader Khatami was believed to have won the
election. Yet the election result gave the country a
dramatic step backward. It remains to be seen how many more
years Iran has to suffer before it realizes the fact that
religion can never be a political project. The scenes
during Ahmedinejad's presidential ceremony were so primitive
they reminded me of Ataturk's greatness once again. . During
the Khomeini period, Iran was trying to `export' its regime
by influencing other Muslim nations. Today, the mullah
regime is only struggling to survive. And it only creates a
contradiction for Turkey since we too have some pro-Iran
regime figures in the higher ranks."
MCELDOWNEY