INDEPENDENT NEWS

Cablegate: Ankara Media Reaction Report,

Published: Wed 7 Jul 2004 02:24 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 003779
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, JULY 6, 2004
THIS REPORT WILL PRESENT A TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER
THREE THEMES:
HEADLINES
BRIEFING
EDITORIAL OPINION
HEADLINES
MASS APPEAL
PM Allawi signals amnesty for Iraqi resisters - Aksam
Ms. El-Rahim the new face of Iraq in US - Hurriyet
Saddam's judge a US citizen - Aksam
Saddam studies law - Milliyet 7/5
Gen. Karpinski: Rumsfeld ordered torture - Milliyet 7/5
Halabja Kurds demand justice - Milliyet
Cheney's doctor a drug addict - Sabah
`TRNC' may go to early polls - Hurriyet
45 percent of Greek Cypriots against Turkey in EU - Milliyet
7/5
Greek Cypriot daily: Turkey to withdraw 5,000 troops - Sabah
7/5
Turks celebrate Greeks' European championship - Sabah
Milosevic's health deteriorates - Milliyet
OPINION MAKERS
Zana: We've turned a new page - Radikal
`Freedom Tower' the new symbol of US - Cumhuriyet 7/5
Iraq opposes peacekeeping troops from neighbors - Zaman
Iraq to disclose which neighbors aiding resistance -
Cumhuriyet 7/5
Negroponte can't remember his Honduras days - Cumhuriyet
Gen. Karpinski: Israelis involved in Iraq interrogations -
Aksam 7/5
Occupiers torture Iraqi children - Cumhuriyet
Es-Sadr calls for mass resistance - Yeni Safak
Fukuyama: Turkey a weak country - Cumhuriyet 7/5
Clerides: `TRNC' may be recognized after December - Yeni
Safak
BRIEFING
Kurdish ex-lawmakers meet with EU ambassadors: Former DEP
lawmakers headed by Leyla Zana gave a luncheon for EU
ambassadors in Ankara yesterday. An official from the US
Embassy also attended the lunch. Zana said the people in
southeastern Turkey want to find a solution to their
problems through peaceful dialogue. `We don't want to
repeat the sufferings of the past, she said, adding that `we
want to turn a new page.' The EU ambassadors called on the
ex-MPs to take a firmer position against terror. The Dutch
Ambassador noted that Turkey is modernizing quickly and is
moving toward a new future. Zana urged the EU to grant
Turkey a date for entry talks. She argued that both Kurds
and Turks need Europe.
A civilian to chair NSC for the first time: The AK Party
government, the Presidency and the Turkish General Staff
(TGS) have agreed to appoint Turkeys' permanent UN
representative, Ambassador Umit Pamir, as the new National
Security Council (NSC) Secretary General. The appointment
will be announced at the High Military Council meeting
scheduled for August 1-4.
Closure of northern Iraqi refugee camp suspended: The
agreement reached last January by Turkey, the US, UNHCR and
Iraq to close the Mahmur refugee camp in northern Iraq has
not been implemented due to a lack of follow-up by the US
and the Iraqis, "Hurriyet" reports. Letters of confirmation
from Secretary Powell and the Iraqi interim government have
not been received by Ankara. The agreement has now been
`suspended,' diplomatic sources told "Hurriyet."
"Armenians will not forget the genocide": Monday's
"Radikal" featured an interview with Hrant Dink, editor-in-
chief of Turkey's prestigious Armenian daily, "Agos." Dink
said that some in the Armenian diaspora may regard
friendship with Turkey as treasonous. Consequently, there
is a need for a normalization of relations between the two
countries before friendship with Turkey becomes realistic. .
Dink claimed that the majority of Turks and Armenians, with
the exception of `marginal' nationalists in both countries,
want the border between the two countries reopened. . He
added that Armenia wants diplomatic ties established with
Turkey, and has committed to unconditional talks. .
Armenian President Kocharian has made it clear that Yerevan
has no territorial demands from Turkey. Dink stressed that
Yerevan has never asked Ankara to recognize the Armenian
genocide. `That demand is voiced only by our diaspora,' he
said. Dink acknowledged that most Armenians support the
call to recognize the genocide, because the tragic events of
that period are `part of our historic drama.' . Dink said
that a recognition of the genocide by Ankara would allow
Turkey to maek a strategic opening to the Caucasus. He
urged Turkey to establish a bridge to the countries of the
Caucasus so that Armenia will gain a more European, Western
character. . Dink noted that the EU has given the countries
of the Caucasus a special `neighboring' status with the EU,
and speculated that this status may one day be turned into
full EU membership. Dink said that Armenians in the
diaspora should not insist that Turkey or any other country
recognize the genocide. . However, Turkey must show the
world that it is not afraid of discussing the incident. `We
don't need the issue to be discussed in the US or French
parliaments,' Dink said. `It should be discussed here in
Turkey.' Dink said he was pleased by recent signs of
normalization between the two countries. . He lamented the
fact that while in the early days of the Turkish Republic
there were 300,000 Armenians in Turkey, today there are just
60,000. . Dink complained that Turkey's official curriculum
does not recognize the existence of different cultures in
this country. He stressed that the Turkish state has always
regarded its minorities as a security issue, and noted that
Turkish textbooks teach Armenian children about the treason
of the Armenians. Despite the hardships, Dink said he would
never want to leave Turkey. . He warned that if Turkey
delays too long in establishing ties with Armenia, Yerevan
may draw closer to Russia."
EDITORIAL OPINION: Saddam's Trial
"Even Dictators Need Law"
Ali Sirmen commented in the social democrat-opinion maker
Cumhuriyet (7/6): "The trial of Saddam causes us to think
about the definition of law. Every discipline and every
legal system does not necessarily make a lawful society,
unless each piece of the legal frame complies with the rules
of international law and order. The same rule applies to
courts that try dictators. Any court under the supervision
of an occupying force suffers from the absence of
legitimacy. Even the trial of a dictator does not make an
exception to this rule. The Iraqi court is asking Saddam
about the Halabja massacre. What about those who provided
chemical weapons to Saddam? Who is going to sue them? ...
In a similar vein, what about the trial of the Abu Ghraib
torturers by an Iraqi court? ... In short, the court case in
Baghdad represents a mockery of justice. On the other hand,
even this comedy does not mitigate the fact that Saddam is a
brutal dictator and a murderer. Any irregularity in the
legal process for Saddam's trial will become a model for the
future of the Iraqi regime. This trial must not be allowed
to turn into an exercise in historic revenge. A vindictive
process outside the proper legal framework might end up
turning a bloody dictator into a martyr or a hero in the
mind of the public. Unfortunately, this appears to be
happening in the case of Saddam."
"The Trial of Saddam"
Turgut Tarhanli wrote in the liberal-intellectual Radikal
(7/6): "The court in Iraq has the authority to sentence
Saddam Hussein death. Therefore it is vitally important
that the Iraqi court obeys international human rights
standards without exception. Take the similar cases in
Yugoslavia and Rwanda. Those who were held responsible for
genocide and other violations of human rights did not face
death sentences because of international legal standards.
These two cases are also regarded as examples for other
cases that fall within the context of international human
rights. The Iraq case seems to be an effort to establish an
exception to this international trend. This is probably the
reason that an international court was not established for
the trial of Saddam. It seems that the process in the trial
of Saddam ignores a basic rule -- legitimate justice must be
supported by commonly held tenets of fairness."
EDELMAN
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