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 03 ANKARA 001225

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, MARCH 8, 2005

THIS REPORT PRESENTS THE TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER THREE
THEMES:

HEADLINES
BRIEFING
EDITORIAL OPINION
--------------------------------------------- -----

HEADLINES

MASS APPEAL
Syria Begins Historic Withdrawal from Lebanon - Sabah
Syrian Troops in Lebanon Start Packing - Hurriyet
Turkey Calls on Syria to Pull Out of Lebanon - Milliyet
Sgrena Claims US Troops Wanted to Kill Her - Sabah
Iraq Terror Pushes Arabs to Kurdish Region to Seek Jobs -
Aksam
EU Urges Croatia to Hand Over War Crimes Suspect - Hurriyet
Hans Bethe, Father of the A-Bomb, Dies at 98 - Aksam

OPINION MAKERS
Talabani: Turkey Supports a Federal Iraq - Cumhuriyet
US Diplomats Receive Survival Training Before Tour in
Baghdad - Hurriyet
Insurgency in Iraq Helps Boost Kurds' Economy - Zaman
Rage Against the US in Italy - Radikal
Assad, Lahud Agree: Syria Begins Lebanon Pullback -
Cumhuriyet
Syria to Complete Lebanon Pullback By Late March - Zaman
Turkey Pleased By Syrian Withdrawal - Yeni Safak
Helsinki Report: Anti-Muslim Sentiment on the Rise -
Cumhuriyet

BRIEFING

Poll Says Bush Policies Responsible for Anti-Americanism in
Turkey: Research by opposition CHP lawmaker Bulent Tanla
purportedly showed that anti-American sentiment in Turkey
has risen due to policies carried out by President Bush,
papers report. The opinion poll was conducted among 1,200
Turks in 73 provinces in late February. The reasons for
anti-Americanism in Turkey were ranked as follows: US
attitudes against Turkey's interests and `expansionist' US
policies: 36 percent; US policies toward Islam/Muslims: 27
percent; US' `aggressive' policies and Americans' intention
to dominate the international arena: 14 percent; US war
against Iraq and US policies in the Middle East and Israel:
10 percent; concerns about Iran and Syria: 13 percent.
Tanla said the responsibility for reversing the anti-
American trend in Turkey falls primarily on the US
Administration, and voiced hope that `reasonable' people in
the United States will evaluate these facts correctly.
Tanla also criticized a recent BBC global poll that showed
82 percent of Turks as being anti-American, saying it did
not reflect the actual situation in Turkey today. `Anti-
American sentiment is on the rise in Turkey in recent years,
but it is neither at the level shown in the BBC poll nor
reflects a feeling of enmity towards the United States,' he
stressed.

US Ankara Embassy Holds Anti-Americanism Seminar:
University of Virginia Professor of Political Science James
W. Caesar told an audience of journalists and academics in a
seminar held Monday by the US Embassy in Ankara that anti-
Americanism has deep historical and intellectual roots in
Europe, "Zaman" reports. Caesar said the reasons behind
current anti-American sentiment include anti-globalization
and the association of the US with the globalization
phenomenon, opposition to technological advancement, and a
dislike for the powerful. During the Codl War, Ceaser
argued, some European intellectuals perceived the US and
Russia as a kind fo `Axis of Evil.' Caesar chastised many
critics of the United States for spreading anti-American
views despite never having traveled in America.

EU Slams Ankara for Police Violence in Istanbul: In a joint
statement issued ahead of a meeting between the EU Troika
and Turkish officials in Ankara on Monday, EU
representatives -- President of the EU Council Jean
Asselborn, Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn, and
British Minister for Europe Denis MacShane -- expressed
concern over the use of `disproportionate force' against a
group demonstrating in Istanbul in connection with
International Women's Day. The EU officials asked the
Turkish authorities to carry out an investigation into the
incident. They said they were `shocked by the images of
police beating women and young people demonstrating in
Istanbul last weekend.' FM Abdullah Gul promised a full
investigation into the incident, and said Turkey remained
fully committed to meeting all EU norms. 63 people were
detained when riot police quashed the demonstration Sunday
in Istanbul. Footage broadcast on TV channels showed
officers using truncheons and pepper gas against the
protestors and hauling them onto buses. FM Gul and
government spokesman and Justice Minister Cemil Cicek
carefully avoided criticizing the police. PM Tayyip Erdogan
said that `freedoms have their limits' and noted that six
policemen were injured in the women's demonstration. `There
is not a country in the world where demonstrators can choose
the time, place, and form of their demonstration,' Erdogan
said. The EU Troika also urged Turkey to fully implement
all human rights reforms, including a `zero tolerance'
policy on torture and full property rights for non-Muslim
religious groups.

EU Suggests International Investigation Into Armenian
`Genocide' Claims: EU representatives suggested an
investigation of Armenian genocide claims by an
international organization such as the United Nations,
"Milliyet" reports. On Monday, EU Troika officials said
that increasing allegations of `genocide' of Armenians by
Ottoman forces during World War One are negatively affecting
Ankara's EU bid. The paper also claims that Ankara signaled
to EU officials its intention to sign the Customs Union
agreement with the EU within the next few weeks. Both EU
and Turkish officials have made clear that signing the
protocol does not amount to recognition of the Repuiblic of
Cyprus.

HRW Says Turkey Misled EU on Resettlement of Displaced
Kurds: Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Monday that the
government of Turkey had exaggerated the number of people
returning to their villages in the mainly Kurdish southeast
of the country last year. A HRW report said Ankara's claim
that one-third of nearly 400,000 refugees displaced by
fighting between the army and Kurdish separatists in the
1980s and 1990s had returned home was `not credible.' The
report said a HRW investigation showed that the real number
was less than a fifth of official estimates. It said many
villagers were reluctant to return because their homes and
villages had been destroyed. HRW accused `village guards'
of killing returnees in some parts of southeast Turkey, and
urged a visiting EU delegation to raise the issue in talks
with Ankara.

Turkey Welcomes Syria's Pledge for Lebanon Pullback: The
Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Monday that although Turkey
has a close and constructive dialogue with its neighbors
Syria and Lebanon, `Turkey supports rapid implementation of
resolution 1559 of the UN Security Council.' The MFA
statement added that it is necessary to hold parliamentary
elections in Lebanon in April in a democratic atmosphere in
which Lebanese people can freely express their political
will. `We are pleased that the withdrawal of Syrian troops
from Lebanon will begin today and that Syrian and Lebanese
officials will meet in Damascus to discuss the pullout,' the
statement continued.

Talabani: Turkey Supports a Federal Iraq: Northern Iraqi
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) leader Jalal Talabani
told "Kurd-Sat TV" that Turkey supports a federal structure
in Iraq. `Our Turkish brothers said they support a federal
Iraq,' Talabani said, referring to a recent meeting with
Turkey's special representative, Osman Koruturk, held in
Dokan, Suleymaniye.

EDITORIAL OPINION: The Syrian Pull Out

"Losing Both the Middle East and the EU"
Cengiz Candar commented in the conservative "DB Tercuman"
(3/8): "The Turkish statement regarding the Syrian pullout
from Lebanon came rather belatedly. The timing of the
statement is also interesting, in that it was issued 48
hours after the Syrian President's announcement of a
withdrawal. It seems that Ankara was trying to do a favor
to Assad, who also happens to be a `beloved leader' in the
eyes of the Turkish Foreign Minister. . The entire world
including the US, the EU and the Arab League -- but not
Turkey - has been giving the same message to Damascus on the
need to pull Syrian forces out of Lebanon. As one foreign
statesman suggested, Turkey could soon be put into the same
category as Syria, Iran, and Sudan unless the recent
statements from Ankara begin to change. One clear example
has already been in the news: Turkey was not invited to the
London conference to take part in the discussion of the
Palestinian issue. . It seems that Turkey, through its
repeated mistakes and wrong-headed Middle East policies, is
losing not only the Middle East, but the EU as well."

"Is the Problem Over?"
Sami Kohen commented in the mass appeal "Milliyet" (3/8):
"Is it possible to believe that the Syrian withdrawal from
Lebanon will ease international concerns or end the problem?
First, there needs to be a clear definition of what the
problem is. At first glance, it seems rather simple: the
people of Lebanon want Syrian military forces to leave the
country, and the international community supports this.
Syrian President Assad has agreed to pull out Syrian forces
from Lebanon. Yet the issue is much more complicated than
this. First of all, the Lebanese people are demanding an
immediate and full withdrawal rather then a gradual or
partial one. This increases the risk that Lebanon could be
carried into a new period of instability. There is also a
Syrian angle to the issue -- is the decision to withdraw
going to end the the international pressure on Damascus?
Will the US, in particular, stop its efforts to effect a
regime change in Syria? That possibility has the potential
to create new tensions in the region. The agreement reached
between Syria and Lebanon reflects the success of the
Lebanese people and Lebanese democracy. But the US strategy
appears to be an effort to wear down the Assad
Administration. The Bush Administration now hopes that the
winds of democracy will reach all the way to Damascus.
Washington seems to be ready to manipulate this. But there
is always the danger that this could pave the way for new
conflicts and tensions in the region."
EDELMAN

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