INDEPENDENT NEWS

Cablegate: Ankara Media Reaction Report,

Published: Thu 3 Jun 2004 03:56 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 003077
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 3, 2004
THIS REPORT WILL PRESENT A TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER
THREE THEMES:
HEADLINES
BRIEFING
EDITORIAL OPINION
HEADLINES
MASS APPEALS
Annan thanks Turkish Cypriots, criticizes Greeks - Aksam
Annan praises Turks, angry at Greeks - Milliyet
Rice: Erdogan to tell G-8 about Turkey's success - Hurriyet
US to leave Iraq in 2006 - Sabah
Syria bans Kurdish parties - Aksam
Amnesty: Turkish women need `affirmative action' - Sabah
Amnesty: Abuse of Turkish women goes unnoticed - Hurriyet
OPINION MAKERS
Annan report calls for end to `TRNC' isolation - Zaman
Papadopulos: Annan has no right to criticize Greek Cypriots
- Radikal
`TRNC' to be represented at OIC as `Turkish Cypriot State' -
Zaman
MFA: Turkey's policy toward Israel unchanged - Zaman
Israeli tanks besiege Arafat HQ - Yeni Safak
PKK `mine' on Turkey's road to EU - Yeni Safak
FM Gul: Occupation forces should withdraw from Iraq - Yeni
Safak
Brahimi: Bremer Iraq's `dictator' - Cumhuriyet
US accuses Chalabi of spying for Iran - Cumhuriyet
Putin won't attend NATO Summit - Cumhuriyet
BRIEFING
Cyprus: UN Secretary General Kofi Annan urged the world to
end the isolation of Turkish Cypriots as a reward for their
support for the UN-backed plan to reunify the island.
Annan, in a report to the UN Security Council on the failed
plan, praised the Turkish Cypriots and Turkey for having
done everything possible to support the plan and criticized
Greek Cypriot leader Papadopulos for having campaigned
against it. "The Turkish Cypriot vote endorsing the U.N.
plan in the April 24 referendum has undone any rationale for
isolating them," Annan wrote. `While the Greek Cypriots'
judgment must be respected, they should realize they have
dealt a major setback to the cause of reunification,' he
added. `TRNC PM' Mehmet Ali Talat and Ankara have welcomed
the report. Dailies note that Papadopulos will meet with
Annan on Thursday, but that the Greek Cypriot leader has
been refused any official meetings with the US
Administration.
Parliamentary delegation to Tel Aviv for Barghouti: A
Turkish parliamentary delegation will visit Tel Aviv to
extend support to imprisoned Palestinian lawmaker Marwan
Barghouti at the final hearing of his trial on June 6,
"Zaman" reports. The delegation will also request
permission from Israeli authorities to visit Barghouti in
prison.
PKK may renew attacks: Hundreds of the 5,000 PKK fighters
thought to be in northern Iraq have returned to Turkey in
recent months, Turkish authorities said on Wednesday.
Security forces went on high alert after a PKK/Kongra-Gel
announcement last week announcing the end of the unilateral
cease-fire as of June 1. The PKK threat has resurfaced
while Turkey is striving to get date from the EU to begin
accession talks, "Yeni Safak" notes. The paper also notes
that the PKK has decided to take action following the
enactment of key reforms for democratization in southeast
Turkey. PKK/Kongra-Gel aims to disrupt such efforts and
spoil Turkey's image in Europe, the paper speculates. The
MFA spokesman said on Wednesday that the PKK/Kongra-Gel
announcement threatening Turkey proves that the PKK is an
armed terror organization. `The PKK is on the US and EU
terrorist lists, and countries engaged in the struggle
against international terrorism should cooperate with us in
the fight against the PKK terrorism,' the spokesman
stressed.
Amnesty International: Turkish women victims of rape, abuse:
According to an Amnesty International report released on
Wednesday, up to half of Turkish women are victims of family
violence, and many are subject to rape and other forms of
physical and verbal abuse. Many Turkish women live in a
state of constant fear in a society where honor killings are
still practiced against women, Amnesty said. `Hundreds of
thousands of women in Turkey face fear daily in their homes.
Up to half of all women in Turkey are estimated to be
victims of physical violence at home,' Amnesty's Turkey
researcher Christina Curry told a news conference in
Istanbul. Experts estimate that up to 70 women are killed
each year for `dishonoring' their family, but the state has
turned a blind eye to much of the violence and little
official data exists on the number of women killed or beaten
each year. The reports adds that Turkish women suffer
inequality at home, in education, and in employment.
Women's salaries in Turkey are between 20 and 50 percent of
those of Turkish men. The report praised parliament's
recent moves to improve the rights of women, including
tougher sentencing for rapists and a possible ban on
virginity testing. But the report also noted Turkey's
failure to comply with several international human rights
treaties to which it is a signatory. The report called on
high-level Turkish officials, including the prime minister,
to issue public condemnations of violence against women
EDITORIAL OPINION: Iraqi Government
"The US is Stumbling"
Yilmaz Oztuna observed in the conservative Turkiye (6/3):
"Things are not going well for the US in Iraq, and there are
indications of more complications ahead. On the other hand,
it is very unlikely that the US will give up on its policy
of a `Pax Americana.' This policy is based on three targets
-- oil, terrorism, and support for Israel. . The fact is
that the US only knew Iraq and Afghanistan in a theoretical
way, so the real-life situation has brought about mistake
after mistake. The current Iraqi government is yet another
example of these mistakes. Even puppet governments should
have certain standards, but this one fails even the most
basic test. The US mistakes stem from the misconception
that giving authority to Kurds will stabilize the future of
Iraq. The Kurds do not consider themselves Arab or Iraqi.
How could they possibly play a constructive role in the
future of the country?"
"It is Hard to Name it Correctly"
Sami Kohen commented in the mass appeal Milliyet (6/3):
"Until now, it has been called the `Greater Middle East
Project,' or GMEP.More recently it is addressed as the
`Broader Middle East and Northern Africa Project', or
BMENAP. Because final decisions about this project have not
yet been made, one cannot be sure whether this name will
remain as it is. The BMENAP is not as crude as the GMEP,
but it will need a lot of time and effort to shape it
properly. Starting from next week, the BMENAP will be
presented in various international for a such as the G-8
meeting in the US and the NATO summit in Istanbul. An
effort will be made to reflect this concept more concretely.
During bilateral discussions, Turkey reiterates that
democracy cannot be imposed by force. Priority should be
given to economic support for these countries so that the
process of reform can be accelerated. NATO should avoid
direct intervention and to obtain security cooperation.
Turkey has given another important message to Washington in
connection with its own role in the project. Turkey is not
pretending to be a model for countries in the region, and
does not want others to hold it up as a model. However,
Ankara is always ready to help countries tha want to use
Turkey's past experiences as a model. A Turkish official
said that `naturally, we don't want to be left out of a such
big project. But we need to contribute on a realistic
basis'. The message PM Erdogan will be giving next week at
the G-8 summit will be in this direction."
"A New Face for the New Colonialism: Iraqi Interim
Government"
Akif Emre argued in the Islamist-opinion maker Yeni Safak
(6/3): "The Iraqi interim government begins a new era for
the region, but this does not mean a democratic and free
Iraq. It is indeed the beginning of the first act in the
Greater Middle East Project. The composition of the interim
government has been portrayed as representing the mosaic of
Iraq. In fact, it only creates more distortion than before,
because the representation system does not have any clear
reference to either ethnic or religious balances. The Kurds
are treated as privileged allies, and were placed in the
critical positions. Given the current cooperation between
Kurdish groups and US forces, one might easily guess who
will be the collaborators of the colonial power in the
future. . The US intention is not to achieve a fair
distribution of Iraq's natural, political, and cultural
resources among the people of Iraq. The US is beginning a
new colonialism based on military supremacy. Iraq is the
pilot project."
EDELMAN
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