US embassy cable - 03ANKARA5945

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 005945 
 
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, Press Summaries 
SUBJECT: ANKARA MEDIA REACTION REPORT 
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2003 
 
 
THIS REPORT WILL PRESENT A TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER 
THREE THEMES: 
 
 
HEADLINES 
BRIEFING 
EDITORIAL OPINION 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
 
HEADLINES 
 
 
MASS APPEALS 
Osman Koruturk, Turkey's Special Coordinator to Iraq - 
Milliyet 
Baykal to Amb. Edelman: "Hand Over PKK/KADEK Militants to 
Turkey" - Sabah 
FM Gul: "Separate Permissions Will be Needed for Each Flight 
in Turkish Air Space - Sabah 
Babacan: "$8.5 Billion Credit is Not Vital for Turkish 
Economy" - Hurriyet 
PM Erdogan Wants UN Leadership in Iraq - Hurriyet 
 
 
 
 
OPINION MAKERS 
Baykal to Edelman: "Eradicate PKK" - Radikal 
Turkish Foreign Ministry Assigns Representative for Iraq - 
Radikal 
Babacan: "We Did Not Count on U.S. Credit in Our 
Calculations" - Radikal 
Turkey and India Sign Four Protocols for Cooperation - 
Cumhuriyet 
Gul: "U.S. Did Not Ask For New Permission to Use Turkish Air 
Space" - Yeni Safak 
Ambassador Edelman Visits Baykal - Yeni Safak 
Denktas Says New Attempts of Turkish Side on Agenda - Yeni 
Safak 
Ankara Could Not Convince India to Send Troops to Iraq - 
Zaman 
 
 
BRIEFING 
 
 
Ambassador Edelman-Baykal Meeting:  Most papers cover 
Ambassador Edelman's visit to CHP chairman Deniz Baykal 
yesterday.  "Hurriyet" reports that the Ambassador and 
Baykal had a 70-minute meeting.  During the meeting, Baykal 
urged the U.S. to transfer authority in Iraq to the UN and 
to neutralize the terrorists and hand them over to Turkey. 
 
 
Erdogan Wants UN Leadership in Iraq:  All papers and TV 
channels draw attention to PM Erdogan's remarks of 
yesterday, saying that `Turkey would like to see UN 
leadership in Iraq.' 
 
 
FM Gul Remarks on the Use of Turkish Air Space:  The 
permission authorizing the U.S. use of Turkish air space is 
said to expire on September 20.  Foreign Minister Gul 
reportedly said that the US has not yet presented Turkey 
with new requests.  If necessary, Turkey would issue 
separate authorizations for each individual flight.  Gul 
denied allegations regarding the existence of a secret 
decree covering the use of Turkish air space. 
 
 
Cyprus:  TRNC President Rauf Denktas said that as a goodwill 
gesture, the Turkish Cypriot side has placed on the agenda 
the opening of Maras (Varaso) for settlement under the joint 
control with the UN. 
 
 
EDITORIAL OPINION 
"Sending troops to Iraq" 
Cengiz Candar opined in mass appeal DB-Tercuman (9/18): "The 
U.S. Administration, concerned about the upcoming elections 
and the rising cost of the Iraq bill, is planning to bring 
troops to Iraq from Muslim Turkey, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and 
India. .  Even conservative Republicans point to the 
possibility that the Bush Administration's Iraq policy might 
end up as a fiasco. .  They believe that Iraq's Sunni/Arab 
zone, which is to be left under Turkish peacekeepers' 
mandate, will become a safe haven for the Baath Party 
supporters. .  Republican conservatives warn that Bush will 
suffer a significant loss of votes if the U.S. brings 
`improper' peacekeepers to Iraq.  After his meetings in 
Iraq, Secretary Powell had qualified the issue of Turkish 
troops in the region as `sensitive.'" 
 
 
"Orientalist rhetoric on Iraq" 
Akif Emre wrote in the Islamist intellectual Yeni Safak 
(9/18): "Americans' occupation of Iraq not only targeted the 
physical resources of the region, but also aimed at 
destroying the memory of a civilization that goes beyond 
Iraq's borders. .  The U.S. has brought back to the region 
something unseen in American history - colonialism. .  The 
main question that should be posed regarding Iraq is the 
number of civilians who have lost their lives under 
occupation. .  Robert Fisk says that about 1000 Iraqi 
civilians are killed every week. .  A large majority of 
these Iraqis are killed by American soldiers during raids or 
at checkpoints.  Panicky Americans pull the trigger without 
much thinking while fighting the Iraqis. .  Is there an 
international institution to define this humanitarian crime? 
.  Our government said it would not become a police force 
for the Americans in Iraq.  Who are we going to protect in 
Iraq - the American troops there, or the Iraqi people from 
the American troops?" 
 
 
EDELMAN