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 005013
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, SEPTEMBER 7, 2004
THIS REPORT PRESENTS THE TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER THREE
THEMES:
HEADLINES
BRIEFING
EDITORIAL OPINION
--------------------------------------------- -----
HEADLINES
MASS APPEAL
Chechen terrorist: Mashadov and Basayev ordered school raid
- Hurriyet
Verheugen: Turkey has passed critical threshold - Milliyet
Verheugen to visit evacuated village in Diyarbakir -
Milliyet 9/6
Diyarbakir welcomes Verheugen in Kurdish - Hurriyet 9/6
FM Gul: EU reforms will continue - Turkiye
Pope cancels November Istanbul visit - Hurriyet 9/6
Tel Afer burning - Sabah 9/6
`Dovish' Powell won't leave post - Sabah
Iraqi intellectuals protest coalition forces' operations -
Sabah
Clinton undergoes heart surgery - Turkiye
OPINION MAKERS
Russia mourns Beslan victims - Radikal
World blames Putin - Yeni Safak
Russian press blames Putin for Beslan violence - Cumhuriyet
Heart-shattering farewell to Beslan children - Cumhuriyet
9/6
Bush leads by 11 points, runs to victory - Zaman
Newsweek: Powell to keep post in new administration -
Radikal
20,000 Turkomen flee Tel Afer - Cumhuriyet 9/6
Iraq: Al-Duri not yet captured - Radikal
Armenia to send 50 troops to Iraq - Cumhuriyet
Israel determined to `exile' Arafat - Cumhuriyet
Palestine's Kurei cancels Turkey visit - Cumhuriyet 9/6
Israeli rightists to form militia force - Cumhuriyet
Pakistan, India re-start Kashmir peace talks - Zaman 9/6
BRIEFING
EU enlargement chief in Turkey: The moment of truth is
approaching for Turkey`s bid to join the European Union, EU
enlargement chief Guenter Verheugen said during his visit to
Ankara on Monday. `We agree that now the moment of truth
is coming,' he said. `Nothing must postpone the decision
that is foreseen for December,' Verheugen told reporters
after meeting FM Abdullah Gul. However, Verheugen
underlined that there are sill some hitches, especially in
the implementation of reforms. He nonetheless praised
Ankara's efforts to clean up its poor human rights record, a
key demand of the EU. Asked about allegations of torture in
Turkey, Verheugen said that, compared with the past, it is
`very difficult' to say that a systematic practice of
torture exists in Turkey today. FM Gul said that Turkey
would continue to carry out democratic reforms regardless of
the EU decision in December. Verheugen also met PM Tayyip
Erdogan before traveling to the southeastern city of
Diyarbakir to call on the governor and mayor there. `The EU
attaches particular importance to Diyarbakir and this
region,' Verheugen stressed, adding that `I would not have
been allowed to visit Diyarbakir five years ago.' `Turkey's
reform process has enabled me to come here,' he added.
`Violence is not the solution,' Verheugen said. `I strongly
believe that the best way to guarantee the political,
social, and cultural rights of Kurdish citizens is through
European integration,' he concluded. Diyarbakir's Kurdish
mayor, Osman Baydemir, said that despite shortcomings in the
implementation of EU reforms, Turkey deserved to be granted
a date for entry talks. Baydemir argued that a positive
decision in December would speed up the reforms process in
Turkey. The EU enlargement chief later met with former DEP
parliamentarian Leyla Zana. Verheugen will travel to the
western city of Izmir and later to Istanbul for meetings
with businessmen and civic groups before wrapping up his
visit on Thursday.
FM Gul on Tel Afer incidents: FM Gul rejected press reports
about clashes between Turkomen and US coalition forces in
Tel Afer in northern Iraq, which allegedly caused 20,000
Turkomen to flee to surrounding villages. Gul said the US
operation in Tel Afer was launched against insurgents who
had come to the area from Fallujah. Gul noted that Turkish
intelligence and the Turkish General Staff share this view
of the Tel Afer clashes.
Iraqi Kurdish leaders due in Turkey: Ankara expects Iraqi
Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) official Necirvan Barzani
to arrive in Ankara on Tuesday, and Patriotic Union of
Kurdistan (PUK) leader Jalal Talabani on Wednesday. The
Kurdish leaders will discuss security and political issues
in northern Iraq with officials at the Foreign Ministry.
Ankara will warn the Kurdish leaders against efforts to
change the demography of northern Iraq in favor of the
Kurds.
PKK Attack Leaves 2 Dead in Diyarbakir: Radio and
television reports this morning confirm that one Turkish
soldier and a security guard were killed in a raid by PKK
militants in Diyarbakir overnight. Turkish security forces
are conducting a large-scale operation in the area to
capture the perpetrators. The attack comes during EU
Commission member Gunther Verheugen is in Diyarbakir for
talks on Turkey's EU reform process.
EDITORIAL OPINION: Terrorism/Chechnya
"How content you are as a Muslim?"
Cuneyt Ulsever observed in the mass appeal Hurriyet (9/4):
"Let's look at the recent performance of Muslims worldwide:
Children were treated as enemies in North Ossetia;
terrorists crashed two planes in Russia and killed nearly
100 passengers; three Turkish Muslims in Iraq were murdered
for nothing but trying to earn a living; another Turkish
Muslim businessman has been kidnapped; three journalists
from France, which stood against the American occupation,
were kidnapped; ongoing bombings in Iraq continue to kill
more Iraqis than American soldiers; another sabotage against
the Kirkuk-Ceyhan oil pipeline has been reported; Hamas
killed innocent people in Israel despite its claim that
Israel is the one killing innocents. Even this recent
compilation shows that regardless of how right their cause
may be, Muslims have been producing nothing beyond treachery
and death. 99.9 percent of Muslims worldwide have nothing
to do with this, of course, but by now it no longer matters.
The word Muslim is being identified with treason, not even
with terrorism. A fly is almost invisible, but is always
enough to spoil the soup. Muslims should never forget this
fact."
"Reaping what you sow"
Haluk Ulman argued in the economic-politic Dunya (9/7):
"This article is absolutely not intended to defend terrorism
in any way. I want to curse the recent terrorist events,
but also to analyze the concept of `Islamic terror.' . The
fanatics in the Western world, namely Jewish-Christian
fanatics, put the whole blame on Islam. They strongly
believe that Islam as a religion is a source for terrorism.
The Islamic world, in turn, is busy finding arguments to
acquit itself. . Identifying Islam with terrorism is a big
mistake and an injustice toward Muslims. History tells us
that terrorist attacks have also been carried out by non-
Muslims. Thus, terrorism does not have a religion. On the
other hand, it is true to say that most of the perpetrators
of terrorist events in recent decades have come from the
Arab-Islamic world. The Islamic world should undergo some
self-criticism in this regard. At the same time, the
western world also should examine its policies toward the
Islamic world. These terrorists are the `side-effects' of
the demise of the Ottoman Empire caused by the British,
French and, finally, the Americans in order to protect their
geopolitical and economic interests in the Arab-Islamic
world. They are reaping the results of what they have
sown."
EDELMAN