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 007498

SIPDIS

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, DECEMBER 21, 2005

THIS REPORT PRESENTS THE TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER THREE
THEMES:

HEADLINES
BRIEFING
EDITORIAL OPINION
--------------------------------------------- --
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
HEADLINES

MASS APPEAL
Iraqi Sunnis Reject Election Results - Hurriyet
Debate Continues on Folklore Costumes - Hurriyet
Freedom House Report: Turkey is the only `Partly-Free'
Country in Europe - Sabah
PKK Crisis in NATO - Milliyet
Defense Minister Gonul: We Cannot Launch Cross Border
Operations - Milliyet
TUSIAD Criticizes the Government - Aksam
Al-Qaeda Members Istanbul Bombing Trial Begins - Vatan
Businessmen Do Not Want Early Elections - Turkiye
The Big Bosses Stand Against Early Elections - Zaman

OPINION MAKERS
President and TUSIAD Urged Government to Drop Election
Threshold - Radikal
Ian Lesser: "Turkey-US Relation's Main Agenda is Iran" -
Cumhuriyet
Sezer Issues First Warning about the Economy - Yeni Safak
Military's Warnings Ignored Regarding the Sale of Land to
Foreigners - Cumhuriyet

BRIEFING

Turkish Businessmen Say No to Early Election, Yes to Penal
Code Reform: All papers extensively covered the remarks
from Turkish business leaders against holding early
elections despite the opposition party's desire for them.
During a meeting of the Turkish Industrialist and
Businessmen Association (TUSIAD) in Ankara, featuring
President Sezer as the honored guest, businessmen Koc and
Sabanci delivered sharp messages about the need to lower the
election threshold and called for more efforts to eliminate
parts of the penal code which might be obstacles to freedom
of expression. Omer Sabanci, president of TUSIAD, noted the
lack of determination toward implementing these reforms. He
also stressed the need for political responsibility to deal
with law suits such as those filed against writer Orhan
Pamuk, journalist Hirant Dink and others. Papers noted that
President Sezer was especially supportive of the need to
lower the election threshold.

Papers also observed that instead of holding talks with the
TUSIAD board, Prime Minister Erdogan received members of the
"Independent Industrialist and Businessmen Association"
(MUSIAD), a group of businessmen with strong Islamist
leanings.

Danish Ambassadors Call for Rasmussen to be Sensitive on
Islam: "Zaman" carried a front-page story highlighting a
joint declaration from 22 former Danish Ambassadors
criticizing Danish Prime Minister Rasmussen for supporting
cartoons insulting the Muslim prophet Mohammad. The
ambassadors have stressed that freedom cannot be abused to
fight the beliefs of minorities. Carrying excerpts from the
Danish daily "Politiken" which published the declaration,
"Zaman" also noted that Ambassador Hans Henrik Bruun,
Danish Ambassador to Turkey in 1987, was among the signers.

Back to July 2003 Suleymaniye: "Hurriyet" daily front-paged
an interview with British national Michael Todd who was
taken into custody along with Turkish special forces during
an operation by US forces in Suleymaniye, northern Iraq, in
2003. Recounting his memories, Todd gave some details on
who interrogated them and how they were treated. He also
gave a copy of his "Evidence/Property Custody Document"
report to "Hurriyet". Furthermore, a "Hurriyet" columnist
Yalcin Dogan commented that the Suleymaniye incident was a
vindictive response by the Pentagon and the US to the
Turkish parliament's March 1, 2003, refusal to allow
American troops through Turkey in support of the war in
Iraq.

EDITORIAL OPINION: US-Turkish Relations; NATO

"The US' New Agenda for Turkey"
Sami Kohen commented in the mainstream daily "Milliyet"
(12/21): "Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice described the
US-Turkey relationship as `a very important strategic
partnership' at the swearing-in ceremony for Ambassador
Wilson. This characterization indicates the renewed
importance the Bush Administration is placing on Turkey two-
and-a-half years after the March 1 crisis. An experienced
diplomat, Ambassador Wilson his assumed his duties with this
new understanding. As the Ambassador stressed at a lunch
with business leaders in Istanbul earlier this week, the
problems of the 21st century necessitate a modernization of
the US-Turkey relationship. It is not good enough `just to
have good relations,' he said. `The relationship must also
produce results.' What is the way to achieve these results?
First of all, by trying to resolve those problems that have
had negative affects on the relationship by working
together. The new agenda, in summary, is as follows:
increasing bilateral high-level visits and dialogue;
establishing cooperation on Iraq's political future and the
PKK presence there; continued cooperation and exchanges of
views on Syria and Iran; continued support for Turkey's EU
process; support for efforts to resolve the Cyprus issue;
helping Turkey to implement economic and political reforms.
In short, it seems that Ambassador Wilson is determined to
set the US-Turkey relationship on a more realistic and
pragmatic footing. If there is going to be a strategic
partnership between the US and Turkey, the problems which
have bedeviled that relationship so far must be turned into
new areas of cooperation."

"NATO's New Mission"
Kamuran Ozbir wrote in the nationalist "Ortadogu" (12/21):
"I would like to highlight NATO Secretary General Scheffer's
remarks that `NATO is not a police force for the world. But
if any of its member countries believe it is necessary, or
if any foreign country asks for NATO support, then we have
to act.' I believe that in the 21st century NATO must
undertake new roles and missions. At the moment, NATO is in
search of a new identity. NATO's duties have increased when
compared with the cold war era, because the kinds of threats
faced by the alliance have changed since then. Problems are
no longer only military, but have economic, political, and
social dimensions as well. NATO continues its out-of-area
operations, from the Balkans to Afghanistan, from Sudan to
Pakistan. Scheffer stressed during his visit to Turkey that
the real goal of NATO remains the common security of its
member states. But this basic concept can be modified from
time to time due to new threats, such as terrorism, that may
arise in countries far away. Sometimes NATO has intervened
to address these threats (as in Afghanistan), and other
times it has not (as in Iraq). NATO currently has 26
members, but if we count NATO partner countries this number
climbs to 53. Is it necessary and desirable to expand the
alliance to this extent? This will be the most hotly
debated issue at the NATO summit in 2008." WILSON

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