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Cablegate: Ankara Media Reaction Report

Published: Thu 12 Jun 2003 03:25 PM
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 003826
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, JUNE 12, 2003
THIS REPORT WILL PRESENT A TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER THREE
THEMES:
HEADLINES
BRIEFING
EDITORIAL OPINION
-----------------
HEADLINES
MASS APPEALS
Satellite broadcast from U.S. took Iranians to the street -
Hurriyet
Revolt rehearsal in Tehran - Aksam
Iranian students chant `death to mullahs' - Sabah
Blood bath in Middle East - Hurriyet
Hamas retaliates: 17 dead - Milliyet
Ali Bin-Hussein to settle in Baghdad - Turkiye
Armenian `Genocide' at U.S. Senate - Turkiye
U.S. military uneasy about Rumsfeld's candidate for Land
Forces - Vatan
Blix to Pentagon: Bastards! - Sabah
Athens stepping up tension with Ankara - Milliyet
OPINION MAKERS
Bloody vicious cycle in Middle East - Cumhuriyet
Violence breeds violence: 16 die in Jerusalem suicide attack
- Radikal
Tough retaliation by Hamas - Yeni Safak
Road map in coma - Zaman
Children of revolution demand `evolution' in Iran - Zaman
Who pushed the button in Iran? - Yeni Safak
Iranian students take to the streets - Cumhuriyet
U.S. killed over 3,000 civilians in Iraq - Yeni Safak
EU sides with Greece on Aegean dispute - Radikal
U.S. reluctant to see its troops tried at ICC - Cumhuriyet
FINANCIAL JOURNALS
TUSIAD to government: Keep on path, our support will
continue - Dunya
PM Erdogan criticizes businessmen for exploiting state -
Finansal Forum
BRIEFING
U.S. has urged Turkey to recognize Kurdistan: U.S. Special
Presidential Envoy for Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, asked Ankara
and the Turkmen before the Iraqi war to officially recognize
Iraqi Kurdistan. Furthermore, Khalilzad offered the Turkmen
a role in the new Iraqi administration in exchange for
written recognition of Iraqi Kurdistan. Ankara had first
agreed to recognize Kurdistan within the framework of the
new Iraqi constitution, but had to step back in the face of
the Turkmen reaction, according to Turkish diplomatic
sources. A U.S. diplomat in Iraq, David Pearce, has told
the Turkmen that the U.S. regards the Iraqi Turkomen Front
as an extension of Turkey, according to "Cumhuriyet." `The
U.S. has not forgotten, and will not forgive the reluctance
displayed by Turkey during the war with Iraq,' Pearce said.
Bomb attack on U.S. Consulate Adana: On Wednesday, a Turkish
man tossed two grenades into the garden of the U.S.
Consulate in Adana. One grenade detonated in the garden, but
there were no injuries. The attacker, who was apprehended
immediately after the incident, said his action was meant as
a retaliation against recent Israeli attacks on Muslims in
Palestine.
Ankara holds `secret' meetings with Armenians: Following the
meeting between the Turkish and Armenian foreign ministers
in Madrid last month, the MFA contacted Armenian
representatives in the U.S. to explore the possibility of
some goodwill gestures, papers report. MFA officials in
Yerevan gave the message that Ankara would open the border
with Armenia immediately if the Armenians were to remove all
territorial claims from their constitution and drop all
references to a genocide by Turks. The diplomats also urged
Yerevan to exert influence on the Armenian diaspora to help
block efforts to gain U.S. Congressional recognition of an
Armenian genocide. Other MFA diplomats told Armenians in
the U.S. that provocative moves by the diaspora could
undermine mutual good will.
Greek note of protest to Turkey: Athens presented a note of
protest to Turkey after increases in alleged harassment by
Turkish military jets over the Aegean negatively influenced
Turkish and Greek tourism. Greek Foreign Minister
Papandreou complained to EU's Verheugen the other day about
the increased harassment of Turkish military jets. A
Turkish diplomat is quoted as saying that Ankara should
block Greek efforts to secure EU support for the Greek
position to avoid further confusion in Turkey's troubled
relationship with the EU.
Greeks admit past support for PKK: In an Athens court case
exploring the illegal entry of PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan to
Greece in 1998, some Greek officials have admitted that the
PKK had been regarded as a second army on Greece's side in
the Turkish-Greek conflict. Former Public Order Minister
Papatemelis reportedly said that Athens had supported the
Kurds' cause of dividing Turkey, adding that the Kurdish
state to be founded in Iraq would have triggered the
disintegration of Turkey.
EDITORIAL OPINION:
a) Middle East
b) US-Turkey relations in post war Iraq
"The Middle East Vision"
Ahmet Tasgetiren argued in the Islamic-intellectual Yeni
Safak (6/12): "US policy in the Middle East is the
imposition of the US vision on others. That is the main
reason for the current tension between Turkey and the US.
Washington has been sending advice to Ankara urging Turkey
to change its `vision.' First Wolfowitz, and more recently
Perle were giving the same advice: Turkey needs a new vision
on the Middle East issue, and a `diversion' of views would
be a disaster.' By referring to a `diversion,' the US
officials are implying that Turkey must look at the Middle
East in the same way as the US. . This is an early
indication of the US obsession to redesign the Middle East.
. The US should realize that only Turkey can provide the
right advice to the US on the region. Turkey should never
stop suggesting to Washington that it look at the region
from a different angle, free from any subjective assessments
and aspirations of imperial hegemony."
"Turkey's condition to withdraw from northern Iraq"
Mehmet Ali Birand wrote in the mass appeal-sensational Posta
(6/12): "Iraq will be the most sensitive subject to be dealt
with in Turkish-American relations in the days ahead.
Turkey has not yet formulated a definite policy on Iraq.
Some bitterness and a certain degree of disappointment is
being experienced. Turkey has felt a certain degree of
uneasiness due to the uncertain American position regarding
the presence of some 3,000 PKK militants in northern Iraq.
The future of these militants who live in camps set up along
the Iran and Iraq border has yet to be determined. . The US
wants Turkey to withdraw its troops, and Turkey will not
budge until the PKK threat is entirely eliminated. . There
is another issue that the US considers `most important' as
part of its medium and long-term expectations from Turkey:
How exactly will Turkey view northern Iraq -- that is, the
Kurds -- and Iraq in general? The US wonders how Ankara
will arrange its relations both with its own Kurds and the
northern Iraqi Kurds. . Ankara is expected to provide the
answers to such questions. Ankara, meanwhile, is expecting
Washington to clarify its approach toward the PKK."
PEARSON
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