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 02 ANKARA 007164

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
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2003

THIS REPORT WILL PRESENT A TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER
THREE THEMES:

HEADLINES
BRIEFING
EDITORIAL OPINION
HEADLINES

MASS APPEAL
London on high alert on eve of historic Bush visit -
Milliyet
Bush offers help to Erdogan - Hurriyet
Bremer says Saddam must be killed - Milliyet
Synagogue bombers trained in Pakistan - Sabah
300,000 Israelis visit Turkey every year - Hurriyet
Talabani coming to convince Turkish military - Turkiye

OPINION MAKERS
Weston in Ankara: US steps up pressure on Cyprus -
Cumhuriyet
US sends Weston to Ankara - Yeni Safak
US troops' show of force in Tikrit - Cumhuriyet
Talabani in Ankara to eliminate doubts - Zaman
Turkmen say US cannot establish stability in Iraq - Yeni
Safak
A US President in Buckingham, 85 years after - Zaman

BRIEFING

Synagogue bombers identified: Turkish police have
identified the suicide bombers who attacked two synagogues
in Istanbul last Saturday. The two terrorists, Mesut Cabuk
and Gokhan Elaltuntas, were from Bingol province in
Southeast Turkey. The two men had visited Iran several
times in the last couple of years. Cabuk and Elaltuntas are
members of the Bayiat al-Imam (Imams' union), a terror
organization linked to Al-Qaida. "Radikal" says the
terrorists were trained in Pakistan. Government spokesman
Cemil Cicek complained that Turkey had received no timely
and honest support in its fight against terrorism.
Countries extending condolences to Turkey but allowing
fundraising activities by terror groups, Cicek stressed,
should not shed `crocodile tears' after the events in
Istanbul. Some European countries continue to regard
terrorists as freedom fighters, he added. Prime Minister
Erdogan said intelligence reports have warned of bomb
attacks in countries like Israel, Britain, Germany and
Italy. Mainstream papers claim that the bombings were an
attempt to punish the only secular Muslim country, Turkey,
for its strong ties with the US and Israel.

Weston in Ankara: US Special Cyprus Coordinator Ambassador
Thomas Weston hailed the UN-sponsored Annan peace plan as
the most realistic formula for a settlement in Cyprus.
Weston reiterated US support for the Annan Plan when he
spoke to reporters after his arrival in Ankara yesterday
afternoon. Weston will meet with AK Party officials and the
Turkish Union of Chambers (TOBB) on Tuesday. Papers say
that Ankara warned the US not to intervene in Turkish
Cypriot elections.

Cyprus: Turkish Cypriot opposition leader Mehmet Ali Talat
vowed to sack Denktas as chief negotiator on Cyprus
following the December general elections, and to stand
against any intervention that might come from Ankara.
Turkey must not pressure us for any reason, Talat said. He
noted that Denktas is supported only by the military and
opponents of the EU.
Assistant SecState Dewey to Ankara: Assistant Secretary of
State for Population, Migration and Refugees Arthur Dewey
will be in Ankara on Wednesday to discuss with the MFA and
UNHCR the return to Turkey of about 13,000 Turkish Kurds
living in the Mahmur refugee camp in Northern Iraq. Ankara
believes the Mahmur camp to be a logistical support center
for the PKK. A UNHCR delegation said after meeting with the
parliamentary human rights commission on Monday that Kurds
who return from the Mahmur camp should not be subject to
interrogation, and that their properties in Turkey must be
returned.

Talabani due in Ankara: The temporary head of the Iraqi
Governing Council (IGC) Jalal Talabani said before his
official visit to Turkey on Wednesday that a federal regime
would be the best future political structure for Iraq. The
PKK will not be allowed to use Iraqi soil for attacks
against Turkey, Talabani stressed. We are not against the
Turkish army, Talabani said, but only Iraqis can guarantee
the security and stability of Iraq. Talabani will be
accompanied by six ministers, including FM Hosyar Zebari,
and ten members of the Iraqi Governing Council.

EDITORIAL OPINION: Istanbul Bombings/Iraq

"Bush Cannot Leave Iraq"
Ali Sirmen argued in the social democrat-intellectual
Cumhuriyet (11/18): "It is very unlikely that the Bush
administration will be able to withdraw from Iraq quickly
and easily. History is about to repeat itself: Lyndon
Johnson decided to leave Vietnam after things went wrong,
but in reality he only managed to earn himself an early exit
from the White House. The situation in Iraq is clearly
chaotic, and runs against the US policy decision to leave
Iraq more quickly. First of all, the US will face with more
problems if it leaves Iraq right now. This is what exactly
`falling deeper into the swamp' is all about. . We can only
hope that a new leadership emerges as the winner of the
upcoming presidential elections, and that the new resident
of the White House makes the necessary changes."

"Twin Towers: Istanbul"
Sedat Ergin observed in the mass appeal Hurriyet (11/18):
"The Istanbul bombings are a terrorist act carried out after
at least one or two months of planning. This is an
organized act carried out by various groups. There is a
striking lesson that comes from this terrorist attack:
Turkey should evaluate and analyze the intelligence reports
about domestic and foreign-based fundamentalist terror
organizations more seriously than before. . It might well be
against the intention of the terrorists, yet the results of
this terrorist attack will bring Turkey, the US and Israel
more into the same line. Turkey will increase coordination
with the US to fight against terrorism, and all three will
be closer to each other in their foreign policy
considerations. . Those who lost their lives after the 9/11
attacks and those who died in the attacks against the two
synagogues in Istanbul share the same fate. Islamic
fundamentalist terror is globalized, and the Twin Towers
have now been turned into two synagogues. Istanbul is now
New York."

EDELMAN

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