US embassy cable - 03ANKARA7491

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 007491 
 
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 
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 2003 
 
 
THIS REPORT WILL PRESENT A TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER 
THREE THEMES: 
 
 
HEADLINES 
BRIEFING 
EDITORIAL OPINION 
 
 
 
 
HEADLINES 
 
 
MASS APPEAL 
General Pace: US, Turkey in joint struggle against PKK - 
Hurriyet 
US, Turkey agree to move against PKK - Aksam 
Parliament of Europe: No negotiation date without a Cyprus 
solution - Hurriyet 
Sunni Triangle the center of resistance in Iraq - Aksam 
AKP removes restrictions on Koran courses - Sabah 
 
 
OPINION MAKERS 
Verheugen continues targeting Denktas - Cumhuriyet 
Loizidou case might launch a new wave of lawsuits - 
Cumhuriyet 
Businessman Nadir: Denktas betrayed the Cypriot people - 
Radikal 
Verheugen believes Turkey may join the EU in 10-15 years - 
Zaman 
Turks may grab parts of the Iraqi reconstruction pie - Yeni 
Safak 
Iraqi resistance conducted from a single center - Yeni Safak 
Turkey sends three helicopters to Afghanistan - Zaman 
Rumsfeld visits Kabul - Radikal 
 
 
 
 
BRIEFING 
 
 
General Peter Pace in Ankara:  Vice Chairman of the Joint 
Chiefs of Staff, General Peter Pace, said after meeting with 
Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul in Ankara on Thursday that the 
PKK/KADEK is a terrorist organization despite its recent 
announcement of a name change. "We will continue exploring 
ways to fight terrorism," General Pace said. "The struggle 
against terrorism must be carried out through financial, 
political and military methods, Pace added."  Dailies expect 
the US to give priority to political and financial efforts 
until the amnesty offered by Turkey to terror organization 
members expires in February 2004. 
 
 
Alan Larson calls on Turks to compete for Iraq contracts: 
US Assistant Secretary of State Alan Larson advised Turkish 
businessmen to compete for new contracts worth up to $18.7 
billion to be offered by the Iraqi authority in coming days. 
The US Congress is expected to approve the $18.7 billion, 
which will be awarded for 25 large and 2,000 small 
infrastructure projects, some time in February 2004.  US 
Eximbank board member April Foley applauded Turkey's 
economic stabilization program and privatization efforts. 
 
 
Ankara's show of support for TRNC government:  The Turkish 
government is sending three cabinet members to the Turkish 
Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) on Friday.  The visit 
comes on the eve of critical general elections in December. 
The visit will demonstrate top-level economic and political 
support for the current government in the TRNC, according to 
Turkish dailies.  Turkey's Treasury is to give the TRNC $160 
million in loans, and the Turkish Development Bank will fund 
17 tourism-related projects. 
Military uneasy over AKP policies:  The military has given 
tough messages to the ruling AK Party regarding secularism, 
"Cumhuriyet" claims.  The military was bothered by the fact 
that Prime Minister Erdogan acknowledged that religious 
elements were involved in the Istanbul bombings only under 
heavy domestic and international pressure.  The AK Party 
policy of assigning its supporters to key bureaucratic posts 
is another source of concern for the military.  AKP 
provincial officials are encouraging fundamentalist 
activities, "Cumhuriyet claims, and "politicized" the Muslim 
holy month of Ramadan. 
 
 
AKP removes restrictions on Koran courses:  The AK Party 
government has discreetly amended the regulation on Koran 
courses.  A new regulation was published in the Official 
Gazette during the Bayram holiday.  Koran courses, which had 
only been allowed in summer, will now be open all year 
round, including during evening hours.  Mainstream media 
believe the changes were designed to attract working 
children to Koran courses.  The opposition CHP strongly 
criticized the new implementation, and claimed the new 
system would serve to train fundamentalists. 
 
 
Turkey sends helicopters for ISAF:  Foreign Minister Gul 
announced that Turkey would send three Black Hawk 
helicopters to the ISAF mission in Afghanistan.  Gul noted 
that the helicopters would be used for humanitarian 
purposes, not for combat.  Gul also noted that NATO and EU 
members had accepted a Turkish proposal for holding a 
seminar on terrorism, in which the sources of terrorism and 
possible action against terrorist activities will be 
discussed. 
 
 
 
 
EDITORIAL OPINION: Iraq; Iran 
 
 
"The Plan for Getting Out of Iraq" 
Mehmet Ali Kislali commented in the liberal-intellectual 
Radikal (12/5): "The US has changed its Iraq strategy.  The 
election plan and the plan for transferring authority to 
Iraqis indicate that the US has acknowledged the reality: 
Getting out of Iraq can only be possible by transferring 
administrative authority to Iraqis. . This is not what the 
US originally intended when it began the occupation of Iraq. 
The US wanted to create a new Iraqi nation and establish 
democracy.  And the US also hoped to be treated by the Iraqi 
people as a liberator.  Yet US forces now are viewed as 
occupiers, not liberators.  . History tells us about the 
aftermath of US intervention efforts in the past.  Since the 
founding of the United States of America, there have been 
200 foreign interventions carried out by the US.  Among 16 
of the total 200, the US intended to create a nation, which 
resulted in success in Japan, Germany, Panama and Grenada. 
Yet in 11 countries, efforts for democracy failed. 
Moreover, these countries went backward to rule by 
dictatorial regimes right after the US withdrawal.  In the 
Iraq case, it is quite possible that history will repeat 
itself and the US will live through a similar experience as 
Britain did when it occupied Iraq during the Ottoman 
Empire." 
 
 
"Iran's Nuclear Capacity" 
Murat Birsel opined in the mass appeal Vatan (12/5): "We are 
all preoccupied by Iraq and have overlooked a clear Iranian 
threat which remains right next door to us.  Iran's nuclear 
program continues to be kept secret from international 
inspection, and the recent warning about the issue by the 
US, UK, France and Germany did not receive enough coverage 
in the Turkish media.  Yet it was an alarmingly important 
warning, and the foreign press interpreted it as a step 
toward a potential Israeli attack against Iranian nuclear 
facilities. . There are credible estimates that predict that 
Iran could have an atomic bomb within three or four years. 
This is a direct and imminent concern for Turkey.  Let's 
face reality: Our neighbors are labeled as `terrorist 
states' by the Western world, and there are measures to be 
implemented for punishing them.  The fact of the matter is 
that once terrorist states are punished by the Western 
world, Turkey is the venue for reprisal.  The Western world 
is making a serious mistake by alienating Turkey and leaving 
it helplessly in the wake of terrorism.  We can only hope 
that common sense prevails and the EU opens its doors to 
Turkey." 
 
 
EDELMAN