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 005882
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
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2004
THIS REPORT PRESENTS THE TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER THREE
THEMES:
HEADLINES
BRIEFING
EDITORIAL OPINION
--------------------------------------------- -----
HEADLINES
MASS APPEAL
French parliament: Turkey not ready for EU - Hurriyet
France wants entry talks with Turkey, but `restricted'
membership - Milliyet
French PM: We cannot exclude Turkey from EU - Aksam
Balir: Turkey definitely belongs to EU - Sabah
Angela Merkel gives up anti-Turkey campaign - Hurriyet
Zana: Turkey's Kurds want peace - Milliyet
Another Turk beheaded in Iraq - Milliyet
Killers behead another Turk in Iraq - Aksam
`TRNC PM': Turkey must resist EU calls for recognizing
Nicosia - Milliyet
Kerry: 3 - Bush: 0
OPINION MAKERS
French parliament split over Turkey's EU bid - Zaman
Blair: Turkey will be a significant gain for EU - Yeni Safak
Iraqi insurgency on rise before upcoming elections -
Cumhuriyet
`TRNC PM': We won't accept recognition by Ankara of Nicosia
- Radikal
Kerry very eloquent - Cumhuriyet
Kerry wins last round by a slight margin - Zaman
Scowcroft: Bush a `toy' of Sharon - Yeni Safak
Israeli foreign ministry warns against becoming a `rogue'
state - Radikal
Kerry: Bus a `mob boss'- Yeni Safak
Serbs admit Srebrenidza massacre - Cumhuriyet
BRIEFING
Turkish leaders discuss Iraq: On Thursday, PM Erdogan, FM
Gul, TGS Chief General Ozkok and some other top Turkish
officials met in Ankara to discuss the situation in northern
Iraq and the security of Turkish workers in the region,
papers report. Ankara has decided to monitor closely the
mass movement of Kurds around Kirkuk, and press for US
military action against the PKK in northern Iraq. Turkish
leaders will tell the US that ethnic clashes in Iraq would
have a negative effect on the stability in neighboring
countries, say papers. Dailies report TGS Chief General
Ozkok as stressing that Kirkuk has become a powder keg
following the US operation against the Turkmen in TalAfar.
Turkish leaders, in an effort to prevent terrorist
infiltration into Turkey, have agreed to launch a military
cross-border operation against the PKK militants hiding in
Kandil mountains in northern Iraq, "Aksam" speculates.
Ocalan on US/Kurds: Any Kurd not willing to cooperate with
the US is a fool, said Osman Ocalan, brother of the PKK's
imprisoned leader Abdullah Ocalan. Ocalan told "Hurriyet"
in Suleymaniye that the US has been removing dictatorships
in the Middle East, and is working for a resolution to the
Kurdish problem within that framework. The founding of his
dissident movement, the Patriotic Democrat Party (PWD) will
be completed by late October, Ocalan said and noted that the
new movement would then establish ties with the US. Turkey
is our country, and Kurds cannot be deprived of their right
to return home, he stressed.
AKP working to see Kurds in parliament: The ruling AK Party
is seeking a formula for the inclusion of pro-Kurdish DEHAP
in parliament without removing the 10-percent elections
threshold, says "Cumhuriyet." AKP plans to reserve 100
seats of the 550-seat parliament for political parties which
remain under the threshold. AKP aims to silence charges
directed by EU to Ankara regarding non-representation of
Kurds in the parliament, "Cumhuriyet" speculates.
More Turks killed, abducted in Iraq: An Al-Qaeda-linked
group, Army of Ansar al-Sunna on Thursday posted a video on
its website showing the beheading of a Turkish man it
described as a truck driver who carries supplies to US
`crusader' forces in Iraq. The footage shows one of the
hooded militants beheading the hostage and placing the head
on the body. Papers report two more Turkish truckers were
abducted in Iraq on Thursday.
Zana in Brussels: Former Kurdish lawmaker Leyla Zana called
on Turkey on Thursday to begin a dialogue with its Kurdish
minority, saying efforts to improve human rights to meet EU
criteria would otherwise be `cosmetic.' Zana, in an address
partly in Turkish and partly in Kurdish to the European
Parliament, urged Ankara to be more serious about
implementing basic human rights standards it must meet to
join the EU. `The Turkish government must include in its
agenda the democratic solution to the Kurdish issue by
giving it a proper name,' she said. Bans on Kurdish
broadcasting and education have been lifted during Ankara's
drive to join the EU, but Turkey has not liberalized enough
and is still too frightened to identify the problem, Zana
emphasized.
Gang boss extradited to Turkey: Convicted Turkish
underworld boss Alaattin Cakici, wanted on charges of
corruption and extortion, was extradited from Austria to
Turkey on Thursday. Cakici previously served sentences for
`forming and directing a gang to commit crime. Austrian
police captured him in July, two months after he fled
Turkey. He was at the center of a 1998 scandal over the
privatization of a state bank, which resulted in the
toppling of the government of then-prime minister Mesut
Yilmaz. Recently, his alleged ties with the judiciary and
with intelligence officials triggered investigations against
the top judge of the appeals court.
EDITORIAL OPINION: Afghanistan; Election 2004
"What Type of Democracy?"
Sami Kohen remarked in the mass appeal Milliyet (10/15):
"The Afghanistan election is over. Iraq is preparing for a
general election process for the first time in the post-
Saddam era. Saudi Arabia is also going to hold a local
election for the first time. These are nice events, yet to
what extent can we possibly call them democratic? The fact
of the matter is that none of the three examples bears any
resemblance to Western-type democracies. Yet we should take
into account the fact that none of these countries has any
democratic tradition, democratic institution, or a culture
of democracy. Elections are taking place either for the
first time or in the midst of chaos and anarchy. Thus it is
easy to be cynical regarding the elections in these
countries. . Given the circumstances, it would be too much
to expect a Western-style democratic outcome and election
process overnight in Iraq, Afghanistan or Saudi Arabia. The
most important gain is that these nations are on their way
towards democracy. This might be a rocky and thorny road.
But their determination and will for democracy does matter."
"Why Americans Continue to Believe Bush?"
Haluk Ulman commented in the economic-politic Dunya (10/15):
"The problems created after the intervention in Iraq are
increasing every day. The Bush administration brought
uncertainty to Iraq and the whole region's future, which
should be of direct concern to Turkey. . There is no
encouraging development regarding the fight against
terrorism either. President Bush is only fooling himself by
saying that the US managed to land a serious blow against
international terrorism with the occupation of Iraq. The
occupation in fact helped Al Qaida grow even more. . Despite
many blatant mistakes by the Bush administration, the public
opinion polls in the US indicate continued support for Bush.
The American electors are brain-washed by the neo-con-
manipulated media. Therefore at least the half of the US
voters continue to believe whatever Bush says. It remains
to be seen how long this will continue."
EDELMAN