US embassy cable - 04ANKARA512

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 000512 
 
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, JANUARY 27, 2004 
 
 
THIS REPORT WILL PRESENT A TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER 
THREE THEMES: 
 
 
HEADLINES 
BRIEFING 
EDITORIAL OPINION 
 
 
HEADLINES 
 
 
MASS APPEAL 
Erdogan proposes QIZs, Mideast peace conference to AJC - 
Sabah 
Erdogan: Turkey has a headscarf problem - Milliyet 
Erdogan warns Kurds against attempts in Kirkuk - Hurriyet 
Athens against a new mediator for Cyprus - Aksam 
Denktas, Papandreou agree: Solution unlikely before May - 
Milliyet 
Cheney, Powell, Blair take U-turn on Iraqi WMD - Sabah 
Powell criticizes Russian democracy - Sabah 
Kurds cry war for Kirkuk - Turkiye 
 
 
OPINION MAKERS 
Erdogan wants American investors in Turkey - Cumhuriyet 
Erdogan tells international investors to trust Turkey - 
Zaman 
AJC's Courage Award for Erdogan - Yeni Safak 
Greeks, Greek Cypriots dragging feet on Cyprus - Radikal 
Peshmerge insist on controlling Northern Iraqi oil - Zaman 
PUK's Salih: Kirkuk may turn into Bosnia, Kosovo - Yeni 
Safak 
KDP launches signature campaign for Kurdish federation - 
Radikal 
Blair may quit post - Cumhuriyet 
 
 
 
 
BRIEFING 
 
 
PM Erdogan in US:  In an exclusive interview with `Newsweek' 
magazine, Prime Minister Erdogan warned the US against 
allowing Iraqi Kurds to take the oil-rich province of 
Kirkuk.  Speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations in New 
York, Erdogan said that Turkish institutions must reach a 
social consensus over the headscarf issue. He also 
criticized France's recent decision to restrict the public 
use of the headscarf as a religious symbol.  In a meeting 
with representatives of the American Jewish Coucil (AJC) in 
New York, Erdogan said Turkey wanted to set up qualified 
industrial zones (QIZ) along with the US and Israel in order 
to boost investment.  He reassured the AJC that Turkey's 
Jewish community is safe despite last November's car bomb 
attacks at two synagogues in Istanbul, which have been 
blamed on fundamentalists.  Erdogan also suggested holding a 
regional conference for Middle East peace in Turkey. 
Cyprus:  Prime Minister Erdogan told UN Secretary General 
Annan that Cyprus peace talks could be accelerated if an 
abridged version of the Annan Plan were taken as a basis for 
discussion.  Turkish Cypriot leader Denktas, however, said 
on Monday that a solution before May 1 was `unlikely.' 
Turkish dailies agree that Ankara's willingness to see a 
peaceful settlement on Cyprus has put Athens and the Greek 
Cypriots in a difficult position.  Greece's Prime Minister 
Simitis characterized Erdogan's statements as `vague,' and 
urged Ankara to change its attitude.  Foreign Minister 
Papandreou objected to the proposed appointment of a new 
Cyprus mediator, saying that it would waste time and delay a 
solution.  `Milliyet' reports that Papandreou and Denktas 
agree on one thing -- that it will be difficult to forge a 
deal before the island joins the EU on May 1.  Foreign 
Minister Gul said on Monday that Turkey `strongly preferred' 
a powerful mediator who can facilititate and accelerate 
efforts to achieve a solution on Cyprus. 
 
 
PM Erdogan to convey message from Syria:  Turkish Prime 
Minister Erdogan will convey to President Bush some messages 
from Syrian President Bashar Assad, "Vatan" reports.  Syria 
is ready for peace talks with Israel, but is demanding 
Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights.  Syrian Foreign 
Minister al-Shara also reiterated Syrian concerns about the 
preservation of Iraq's territorial integrity. 
 
 
RTUK regulation on broadcast in mother tongues:  The 
Diyarbakir Bar Association will appeal to the Council of 
State for cancellation of a Radio and Television High Board 
(RTUK) regulation allowing only national media outlets to 
broadcast in languages other than Turkish.  Bar Association 
President Sezgin Tanrikulu notes that the regulation 
promulgated by RTUK restricts the content of such programs 
to adult audiences only, and discriminates against loval and 
regional broadcasters.  The Association also complained 
about the daily and weekly time limitations on non-Turkish 
programs included in the new regulation. 
 
 
 
 
EDITORIAL OPINION:  WMD; US-Turkey Relations 
 
 
"The Suspicion War" 
Fikret Ertan commented in the Islamist-intellectual Zaman 
(1/27): "The Iraq turmoil was created by a war based on a 
suspicion about the existence of WMD that allegedly posed a 
global threat. . In the post-war situation, no weapons of 
mass destruction have been identified and it looks like they 
never will.  This is because Iraq had been eliminating such 
weapons since 1990.  There are also credible facts to make 
us believe that there were actually no WMD in Iraq before 
the war. . The resignation of David Kay is a significant 
event in this regard, and Secretary Powell has failed to 
come up with a convincing argument against the claims made 
by Kay. . Nevertheless, Kay also pointed the finger at Syria 
for having WMD.  This war of suspicion might be moving 
towards Syria." 
 
 
"What Kind of Strategic Partnership Is This?" 
Ozgen Acar argued in the social democrat-intellectual 
Cumhuriyet (1/27): "The US has some other strategic partners 
like the UK, Israel, and Australia which enjoy a full-scale 
working relationship with the United States.  For instance, 
Israel has only 2 percent voting support in the Congress, 
yet the benefits provided to Israel are ten times this much. 
Strategic partnerships deserve to be treated equally in all 
senses.  Turkey is making important contributions to the US 
in Afghanistan, in the Caucasus, and particularly in the 
transportation of oil to the West.  But none of these mutual 
interests are making Turkey an equal partner with the US. 
Given the pro-Greek or Armenian lobbies in the Congress, we 
cannot talk about equal treatment or even about a genuine 
partnership.  We still need to consider the question of 
whether there really are mutual interests in the Turkish- 
American relationship or whether the interests are more in 
conflict." 
 
 
DEUTSCH