US embassy cable - 03ANKARA7205

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 007205 
 
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 
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2003 
 
 
THIS REPORT WILL PRESENT A TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER 
THREE THEMES: 
 
 
HEADLINES 
BRIEFING 
EDITORIAL OPINION 
HEADLINES 
 
 
MASS APPEAL 
 
 
PM Erdogan: Terror has no religion - Milliyet 
Powell: Clues to synagogue bombing point to Al-Qaida - Sabah 
PM Erdogan: I reject any message given through terror - 
Sabah 
Three religions pray for synagogue bombing victims - 
Hurriyet 
Sharon: World Jews must return to Israel - Sabah 
Loizidu a pain for Turkey - Miliyet 
US bombs resistance around Tikrit - Turkiye 
 
 
OPINION MAKERS 
 
 
US Jewish lobby happy with Turkeys' reaction to terror - 
Zaman 
Sharon calls on Jews to return to Israel - Yeni Safak 
FM Gul: Synagogue attacks linked to Afghanistan - Cumhuriyet 
Bush tension in London - Radikal 
Hundreds of thousands of Britons to protest Bush - Yeni 
Safak 
UK to spend 5 million Pounds to protect Bush - Zaman 
Bush in London, but not welcome - Cumhuriyet 
Ankara will warn Talabani on humanitarian aid - Cumhuriyet 
Bargaining over Kurds in Mahmur camp - Zaman 
EU, Israel tense over security fence - Cumhuriyet 
 
 
 
 
BRIEFING 
 
 
Synagogue bombings in Istanbul:  Prime Minister Erdogan 
condemned Saturday's synagogue bombings in Istanbul and 
challenged the powers behind the attack.  `There is no ideal 
or cause that can justify terror,' Erdogan said.  Foreign 
Minister Gul said that the bombings are linked to an 
organization in Afghanistan, implying a connection between 
the terrorists and Al-Qaida.  Interior Minister Abdulkadir 
Aksu said the synagogue bombings were carried out by Turks 
manipulated by foreign groups linked to Al-Qaida.  "Yeni 
Safak" claims that the Turkish suicide bombers were linked 
to an Egyptian terror group, at-Tekfir va'l-Hijra.  The 
group is responsible for the recent blasts in Saudi Arabia, 
"Yeni Safak" claims, and they operate on behalf of the CIA 
and MOSSAD. 
 
 
Turkey and Israel have agreed to set up a special committee 
for cooperation against Islamic terror organizations, 
"Hurriyet" reports.  Turkey will share with Israel 
information about terror, and Israel will give Turkey 
information regarding fundamentalist organizations gathered 
via satellite. 
 
 
Jewish Americans denounce bombings:  Leading representatives 
of Jewish organizations in the US have condemned the 
synagogue bombings in Istanbul, and expressed gratitude to 
the Turkish nation, government and media for the way they 
responded to the attacks, "Zaman" reports.  American Jewish 
Committee (AJC) Director Barry Jacobs arrived in Istanbul 
soon after the bombings.  Jacobs said the attack was against 
Turkey, not just against Turkish Jews.  Jewish groups in the 
US have applauded Prime Minister Erdogan for officially 
visiting the Chief Rabbi in Istanbul to pay condolences. 
Congressman Robert Wexler, the head of the Turkey-US Caucus, 
drafted a bill urging US help for Turkey following the 
terror attacks in Istanbul. 
 
 
AKP blamed for loosening grip on Islamist terror: 
"Cumhuriyet" claims that Islamist terror organizations have 
had wider space for maneuver after the AKP assigned new 
police chiefs and governors in some provinces.  Cumhuriyet 
stresses that the officials appointed by the AK Party should 
have taken tighter measures to prevent terrorists' visit to 
fundamentalist training camps in Iran and other regional 
countries.  Security forces captured 1,596 terrorists in 
2001, but that figure fell to below 200 under the AK Party 
government.  The police announced that some 20,000 militants 
are operating in connection with Hizbullah, but the AK Party 
government made no move to capture them, the paper claims. 
Talabani in Ankara:  The temporary head of the Iraqi 
Governing Council (IGC), Jalal Talabani, is in Ankara today 
for meetings with Prime Minister Erdogan and MFA officials. 
Ankara will urge Talabani not to block humanitarian aid 
efforts by Turkey, and that the KDP should take measures for 
solving problems at the Habur border crossing.  The sides 
will also discuss possibilities for cultural and educational 
cooperation.  Talabani's aide, Bahram Salih, said the Kurds 
are not seeking independence, but rather to live in a 
federal Iraq.  Salih said the Kurds are seeking Ankara's 
support for this aim. 
 
 
Mahmur camp to be closed:  US Assistant Secretary of State 
for Population, Refugees and Migration Arthur Dewey will 
meet with UNHCR and MFA officials in Ankara on Wednesday to 
discuss the return to Turkey of Kurds living in the Mahmur 
refugee camp in Northern Iraq.  9,000 Kurdish refugees are 
sheltered in the Mahmur camp, and another 3,000 in Dohuk and 
Irbil.  Papers say that the accord for the return of Kurdish 
refugees is ready, but needs some final adjustments. 
 
 
Erdogan asks for removal of US loan conditions: 
"Cumhuriyet" writes that Prime Minister Erdogan discussed 
with US Ambassador Edelman last Friday the possibility of 
removing the political conditions attached to the agreement 
for the 8.5 billion dollar US credit package for Turkey. 
Ambassador Edelman said that the conditions included in the 
financial agreement had been mandated by the Congress. 
However, Edelman told Erdogan that he would explore various 
possibilities in Washington.  Diplomatic sources believe 
removal of the conditions is unlikely, as this would require 
new action by the US Congress. 
 
 
Turkish Cypriot opposition supports Annan Plan:  Leaders of 
the three opposition parties in the Turkish Republic of 
Northern Cyprus (TRNC) -- Mehmet Ali Talat, Ali Erel and 
Mustafa Akinci -- have addressed the European Parliament in 
support of the Annan Plan for a peaceful resolution on 
Cyprus.  The Turkish Cypriot leaders regard Denktas as the 
largest obstacle to a solution.  They drew attention to the 
new migrants arriving from Turkey who were granted 
nationality and voting rights in advance of the general 
election in December.  The leaders complained of increasing 
pressure on the Turkish Cypriot media.  They drew attention 
to the deteriorating economy of the TRNC under international 
sanctions. 
 
 
 
 
EDITORIAL OPINION:  Istanbul bombings/Iraq 
"Transnational Terror" 
Cuneyt Ulsever noted in mass appeal Hurriyet (11/19): 
"Globalization provided the world as an accessible 
information market.  First of all, this fact changed the way 
of doing business.  In a global world, the companies 
acquired a transnational identity in order to provide world- 
wide competition. . As of September 11, 2001 we began to 
observe that terrorist organizations were the first ones 
which implemented the transnational model.  Al Qaeda is one 
of them.  The terrorists are working through local 
individual organizations yet the orders are coming from one 
center.  The recent Istanbul bombings proved this fact once 
again.  The organizers of the terrorist attack are local yet 
they are centrally trained and they are using global 
technology. . Given the circumstances, transnational 
terrorism can only be eliminated via transnational struggle. 
Achieving this goal requires cooperation from every country 
with no exception.  There are still some European countries 
that believe in manipulating the terrorist organizations; 
and there are others, that make a distinction between `good 
and bad' terrorists.  Nothing can be achieved in the fight 
against terrorism as long as this weakness or opportunistic 
approach exists." 
 
 
"The Evil Face of Terror" 
Mehmet Ocaktan argued in Islamist Yeni Safak (11/19): "The 
recent terrorist attack against the two synagogues is under 
investigation and most likely we will read about the link 
with terrorist organizations, including Al Qaeda.  Are we 
going to be safe even after capturing the terrorists and 
sentencing them?  Let us not forget that Al Qaeda was held 
responsible for the September 11 attacks, and the US 
launched a global war against terrorism.  This war continues 
to the day, yet terror continues to shatter lives as well. 
The fact of the matter is that the evil of terrorism has 
global patrons.  The US is the very one that developed and 
supported Al Qaeda when it served to American interests. 
Now the same America is carrying out a global war against 
terrorism and killing people, as well as slaughtering 
democracy and freedom, not to mention brutally occupying 
foreign lands.  The lords of the world feel comfortable in 
creating terror for the sake of the survival of their 
reigns." 
 
 
EDELMAN