US embassy cable - 03ANKARA7509

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 007509 
 
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 
MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2003 
 
 
THIS REPORT WILL PRESENT A TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER 
THREE THEMES: 
 
 
HEADLINES 
BRIEFING 
EDITORIAL OPINION 
 
 
HEADLINES 
 
 
MASS APPEAL 
Grossman and terror delegation to Turkey - Hurriyet 12/7 
Bin Ladin sends 24 terrorists to Turkey - Hurriyet 
Will Wolfowitz quit Pentagon? - Hurriyet 
Al-Qaida's new targets are Turkey, Iraq - Sabah 
Saddam leads resistance from west of Baghdad - Milliyet 
TRNC referendum on the Annan Plan December 14 - Milliyet 
PM Eroglu: Elections will determine the fate of TRNC - 
Turkiye 
Kirkuk last stop on Rumsfeld's oil tour - Sabah 12/7 
Hillary Clinton: Bush the largest threat to America's future 
- Milliyet 12/7 
 
 
OPINION MAKERS 
Grossman coming to press for Cyprus solution - Cumhuriyet 
TRNC elections to determine the future of Cyprus - 
Cumhuriyet 
FM Gul: Elections mark the beginning of a new era in Cyprus 
- Radikal 
Rumsfeld's secret Iraq visit - Cumhuriyet 12/7 
Rumsfeld in Iraq to boost morale of US troops - Radikal 12/7 
US killed nine Afghan children - Cumhuriyet 
US bombs children in Afghanistan - Yeni Safak 
US-Russia tension growing over Tbilisi - Zaman 12/7 
 
 
 
 
BRIEFING 
 
 
Grossman due in Turkey:  US Undersecretary of State Marc 
Grossman will be in Turkey on Monday, "Hurriyet" reports. 
Accompanied by counter-terrorism specialists, Grossman will 
visit the sites which were targeted by fundamentalist 
suicide bombers in Istanbul in November.  Grossman is 
expected to meet with Foreign Minister Gul and MFA U/S 
Ambassador Ziyal in Ankara on Tuesday.  Grossman is coming 
to step up pressure on Ankara regarding Cyprus, according to 
Monday's "Cumhuriyet." 
 
 
PM Erdogan to US in January:  Prime Minister Erdogan will be 
visiting the US January 28-30 at the invitation of President 
Bush, Sunday's "Cumhuriyet" claims.  Erdogan is expected to 
discuss some crucial issues such as Cyprus, Iraq, Turkish- 
American relations and the struggle against terrorism. 
"Cumhuriyet" regards the visit as a tactical AK Party effort 
aimed at renewing trust with the US. 
 
 
Al-Qaida elements in Turkey:  Quoting security sources, 
Sunday's "Cumhuriyet" reports that Al-Qaida spent about 
$400,000 for the suicide bombings in Istanbul.  The C-4 
explosives used in the bombings had been smuggled into 
Turkey in cheese cans, according to "Cumhuriyet." 
Logistical support came from abroad, and the bombings were 
planned and staged by local al-Qaida cells.  Monday's papers 
cite a "Newsweek" report claiming that Osama bin-Laden had 
ordered 24 Turkish members of Al-Qaida who were living along 
the Pakistan-Afghanistan border to go to Turkey for 
operations against the US and its allies. 
 
 
Cyprus:  Deputy Prime Minister Abdullatif Sener visited the 
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) on Sunday to 
discuss a number of development projects.  Turkey has no 
intention of injecting funds into the TRNC for the upcoming 
elections in December, Sener stressed before his departure. 
Papers view the Sener visit as signaling AK Party support 
for the current TRNC government.  Meanwhile, TRNC Prime 
Minister Eroglu has voiced confidence that his party would 
get 40 percent of the votes in Sunday's poll.  An agreement 
within the framework of the Annan Plan will bring the end of 
the TRNC in five or ten years, Eroglu claimed. 
 
 
Uzans hiding in the US:  US officials have notified Turkey 
through Interpol that Kemal Uzan and his brother Yavuz, are 
in the US, Monday's "Hurriyet" reports.  Kemal Uzan is under 
surveillance in California, while Yavuz Uzan is hiding in 
New York.  The paper claims that Attorney-General John 
Aschcroft assured Justice Minister Cemil Cicek last week in 
Washington that if the Uzans are in the US, they would be 
caught and extradited to Turkey. 
 
 
EDITORIAL OPINION: 
 
 
"Rumself in the Middle East" 
Yilmaz Oztuna wrote in the conservative, mass appeal Turkiye 
(12/8): "Secretary Rumsfeld's visit to the Middle East is 
symbolically very important because he is the prime 
proponent of the "Pax Americana."  "Pax Americana" is a 
national policy for both Democrats and Republicans. 
However, the Republican Party has followed the policy 
guidelines designed by hawks such as Rumsfeld, and pursued 
this strategy in an inexperienced and aggressive way. . 
Rumsfeld's visit to Tbilisi looked like a sci-fi movie.  He 
called on the Russians to withdraw from Georgia, which could 
have been a subject for a science fiction novel 15 years 
ago.  Yet his visit to Baghdad presented the real challenge 
for him.  Rumsfeld is trying to capture the reality of Iraq. 
This can't happen, because the US occupied Iraq without a 
viable plan once the military operation was complete. 
Rumsfeld can only boost the morale of US troops in Iraq. 
When it comes to understanding the reality in Iraq or 
Afghanistan and taking control of events on the ground, the 
US has already missed that chance." 
 
 
"The US and the AKP" 
Yasemin Congar wrote in mass appeal Milliyet (12/8): "The 
year 2004 is critically important for the US administration, 
particularly in the fight against terrorism in the aftermath 
of operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.  2004 is also 
crucially important for Turkey, particularly concerning the 
future of Cyprus as well as Turkey's EU accession process. 
Not surprisingly, then, Washington attaches great importance 
to PM Erdogan's upcoming visit to the US in early January. 
. Justice Minister Cicek's recent visit to Washington set 
the tone for the prime ministerial visit.  A high-level US 
official expressed satisfaction with the meetings with the 
Turkish minister.  The official said Cicek's evaluation of 
terrorist events as a `fight against radical Islam' was 
viewed as highly important in Washington circles.  `It is 
very important to see that the message about the fight 
against radical Islam comes from the AKP, which has a clear 
Islamic character yet has the political will to develop 
relations with the Western world and with democracy,' the US 
official noted.  This is going to be the gist of the agenda 
when Erdogan and Bush meet in Washington." 
 
 
EDELMAN