US embassy cable - 03ANKARA6409

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 006409 
 
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 
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2003 
 
 
THIS REPORT WILL PRESENT A TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER 
THREE THEMES: 
 
 
HEADLINES 
BRIEFING 
EDITORIAL OPINION 
 
 
HEADLINES 
 
 
MASS APPEAL 
AKP Holds First Convention - Milliyet (10/13) 
MHP Re-elects Bahceli as Party Leader - Sabah (10/13) 
World Interest in AKP Convention - Hurriyet (10/13) 
President Sezer Goes to Islamic Summit with his Wife - 
Hurriyet (10/13) 
Turkish General Staff Briefs the Press on Troop 
Deployment -Hurriyet 
Military Expresses Concerns About Religious Schools - 
Milliyet 
TGS Says Turkish Troops Will Respond to Attacks - Sabah 
Harsh Response From Military on Troop Route to Iraq- 
Turkiye 
 
 
OPINION MAKERS 
Difficult Task Awaits Turks in Iraq - Radikal 
Imam-Hatip Tension between Government and Military- 
Radikal 
CIA Visit to PKK Camp - Cumhuriyet 
CIA Agents in Peshmerge Garb Visit KADEK Camp in Iraq - 
Yeni Safak 
 
 
BRIEFING 
 
 
AKP and MHP Conventions:  Monday papers give extensive 
front-page coverage to the AKP and MHP conventions held 
on Sunday.  There was no competition for the AKP 
leadership.  Tayyip Erdogan was re-elected withoutr 
opposition as party chairman by the delegates.  "Zaman" 
reports that the average age of participants at the AKP 
convention was quite young, and that the party took 
pains to show its moderate face, eschewing the remnants 
of the Islamist `National View.'  At the convention, 
Erdogan replaced 24 of the 50 members on the AKP 
Administrative Council, including Defense Minister 
Vecdi Gonul.  The number of women in the council was 
raised from five to ten.   "Radikal" notes that members 
of parliament with fundamentalist background have not 
been given seats in the new AKP administrative council. 
Devlet Bahceli was re-elected as MHP party chairman. 
"Vatan" notes that Bahceli had previously announced 
that he would resign and not seek the chairmanship 
following the November 3 elections. 
 
 
Turkish General Staff Briefing:  All papers and TV 
channels cover the press briefing given by the Turkish 
General Staff.  Military officials said that Turkey has 
been given three alternative sectors by the US for a 
possible troop deployment - Salahaddin to the north of 
Baghdad, the Al-Anbar region along the Euphrates River, 
and the northern area of Al-Anbar near the Syrian and 
Jordanian borders.  "Cumhuriyet" stresses that each of 
the alternatives is risky for Turkish troops, and that 
the logistic corridor for carrying supplies to Turkish 
troops in Iraq will be very dangerous because of the 
PKK and other fundamentalist Kurdish groups deployed 
there.  "Sabah" reports that the number of troops will 
be determined after the decision is made on which 
sector will be given to Turkey.  "Hurriyet" notes that 
the Habur gate will be used to transport the troops. 
The General Staff stressed that Turkish troops would 
respond with force if attacked by Iraqi Kurdish groups. 
 
 
CIA Visit to PKK Camp:  "Yeni Safak" and "Cumhuriyet" 
cite the American paper  `Newsday' to report the visit 
of a CIA team to a KADEK camp on Kandil mountain in 
Northern Iraq.  "Yeni Safak" says that the CIA members, 
who were wearing peshmerge clothes, urged the PKK/KADEK 
militants to give up their weapons.  During the 
meeting, which reportedly took place last week, 
PKK/KADEK representatives said they would give up their 
arms under certain conditions, but insisted that they 
be allowed to remain in Northern Iraq. 
 
 
EDITORIAL OPINION:  Iraq 
 
 
"Turkey and the Future of Iraq" 
University professor Ramazan Gozen wrote in the liberal- 
intellectual Radikal (10/14): "There is a very 
interesting historic background behind the relations 
between Turkey and Iraq.  In the 20th century, the 
destinies of Turkey and Iraq have intersected many 
times.  Now, in the early 21st century, a similar 
intersection is again approaching.  History has proven 
that any negative development in Iraq is immediately 
and inevitably reflected in Turkey. .   Current 
developments between Turkey and Iraq are so important 
that they can influence the entire region.  Thus, 
Turkey should be able to use this opportunity by 
carving out a pioneering role for itself.  This role 
requires Turkey to act as a model for the region as 
well as for Iraq -- that is, a democratic, 
multicultural Turkey that protects the rights of its 
citizens.   Achieving such a goal will require Turkey 
to abandon its fears of being `surrounded by enemies,' 
which dominated Turkish thinking in the 1990s." 
 
 
"Is Turkey a Trojan Horse?" 
Akif Emre argued in the Islamist-intellectual Yeni 
Safak (10/14): "The Iraq issue seems to be another 
factor in creating a crisis between Turkey and the 
Islamic world.  The upcoming Islamic Conference 
Organization summit will evidently be a venue where 
Turkey is harshly criticized for its decision to send 
troops to Iraq.  Turkey has always been viewed as a 
kind of `Trojan Horse' for the Western world.  It was 
the first Islamic country, for example, to recognize 
Israel. . Turkey should move away from this incorrect 
strategy.  Sending troops to Iraq, whatever the 
reasoning might be, will reinforce Turkey's image as a 
supporter of the US occupation." 
 
 
EDELMAN