US embassy cable - 04ANKARA1420

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 001420 
 
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, MARCH 9, 2004 
 
THIS REPORT WILL PRESENT A TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER 
THREE THEMES: 
 
 
HEADLINES 
BRIEFING 
EDITORIAL OPINION 
 
 
HEADLINES 
 
 
MASS APPEAL 
$10 million March 8 gift to Iraqi women from Powell - 
Milliyet 
Powell assures Gul that `real' Iraqi constitution to come in 
June - Hurriyet 
Powell promises to consult Turkey on Iraqi constitution - 
Turkiye 
Karamanlis' first task will be Cyprus - Milliyet 
Shiites agree, Iraq temporary administrative law signed - 
Milliyet 
Kurds' constitution terror in Kirkuk: 3 dead - Milliyet 
Ankara uneasy with Iraq constitution - Sabah 
Iraqi Kurdish parties claim Kirkuk belongs to them - Sabah 
International investors to attend March 15 Istanbul meeting 
- Turkiye 
 
 
OPINION MAKERS 
US sends Ambassador Neumann to console Ankara - Zaman 
Iraqi constitution crisis resolved for now - Zaman 
Karamanlis wins a clear victory - Radikal 
Karamanlis cautious on Turkey - Radikal 
Erdogan: TRNC sanctions must be lifted if Greeks reject 
Annan Plan - Zaman 
Europe's Cyprus formula unclear - Zaman 
Regional countries object to Greater Middle East plan - 
Radikal 
Brzezinski warns on Greater Middle East plan - Yeni Safak 
Human Rights Watch gives US poor grade on Afghanistan - 
Radikal 
Reformists beaten in Damascus - Radikal 
 
 
 
 
BRIEFING 
 
 
Ankara uneasy with Iraq temporary administrative law: 
Foreign Minister Gul conveyed to Secretary of State Powell 
Turkey's concerns regarding Iraq's temporary administrative 
law in a letter to the Secretary on Sunday, "Cumhuriyet" 
reports.  Powell eased Gul's worries in a phone call on 
Monday.  Powell pointed out that the document signed 
yesterday was a temporary law, and that Turkey's views would 
be taken into account when the final constitution is 
prepared.  US Ambassador to Bahrain, Ronald Neumann, is due 
in Ankara together with a delegation of the Iraqi Governing 
Council on Tuesday.  Dailies expect Neumann to discuss the 
temporary law as well as economic issues with MFA officials. 
 
 
Secretary Powell remarks for International Women's Day:  In 
 
SIPDIS 
a message to commemorate the March 8 International Women's 
Day, Secretary Powell announced a $10 million initiative to 
train Iraqi women in the skills and practices of democratic 
public life, Turkish papers report.  The rooms where members 
of  Saddam's regime systematically raped Iraqi women are 
gone, the Secretary said.  He emphasized that torture 
chambers have been replaced by women's self-help centers. 
Such organizations have been opened from Baghdad to Babylon 
and Basra, papers report. 
 
 
Cyprus:  A European Parliament report on Cyprus warns that a 
disagreement between the Cypriots would pose a significant 
obstacle to Turkey's EU accession.  In a meeting with the EU 
troika in Ankara on Monday, Turkey asked for EU guarantees 
about resettlement, travel and property rights on the 
island.  Ankara has not been given further assurances from 
the EU regarding the prevention of Greek Cypriot lawsuits 
demanding compensation in the future. 
A survey with 200 heads of chambers throughout Turkey shows 
that 72.7 percent believe that concessions should be made to 
work out a settlement in Cyprus, "Dunya" reports.  67 
percent of those surveyed say that the Turkish side could 
make territorial concessions.  The majority of businessmen 
surveyed believe that the Turks should make no concessions 
regarding bizonality and the issue of international 
representation. 
 
 
Ankara positive about Karamanlis:  New Greek Prime Minister 
Costas Karamanlis and Turkish PM Erdogan established a warm 
friendship at last year's AK Party congress, and Turkish 
officials are hopeful that the Greek government will 
strengthen its ties with Turkey.  Karamanlis regards the 
Cyprus problem as an obstacle to improvement of Turkish- 
Greek relations.  "Cumhuriyet" notes that four-party Cyprus 
talks will begin on March 22, with Ankara and Athens joining 
the Cypriot sides at the UN-sponsored peace negotiations. 
Prime Minister Erdogan is planning a visit to Greece 
following Turkish municipal elections on March 28. 
 
 
New member of Fener Synod arrives:  Archbishop Demetrios, 
head of the Greek Orthodox Church in the United States and 
of the recently-appointed foreign members of the Fener 
Patriarchate Synod, arrived in Istanbul on Monday to take up 
his duties.  Prime Minister Erdogan visited Demetrios on an 
official visit to New York last January, and asked the 
Archbishop at that time to put pressure on the Orthodox 
Church in south Cyprus for a solution to the Cyprus issue. 
"Yeni Safak" claims that the MFA believes the Synod 
appointments violate Turkish regulations and are therefore 
invalid, and that the Fener Patriarchate should have 
requested approval from the government. 
 
 
EDITORIAL OPINION:  Iraq 
 
 
"Iraq's Transitional Administrative Law" 
Muharrem Sarikaya commented in the mass appeal Sabah (3/9): 
"Turkey has repeatedly voiced its concerns about the future 
of Iraq, particularly about the fact that the Turkmen 
population has been neglected.  Washington has always given 
assurances that the Turkmen will not be ignored, and that 
they will play an important role in Iraq's future. .However, 
in the end the temporary administrative law (TAL) does not 
meet these expectations.  The Turkmen population was treated 
the same way as other minority groups.  Worse than that is a 
provision in the TAL that provides for the rejection of the 
draft constitution in the event that 2/3 of voters in at 
least 3 provinces reject the draft at referendum.  This 
provision gives enormous bargaining power to the Kurds, and 
Washington did not even bother to mention this to Ankara. . 
When Secretary Powell called Turkish FM Gul, he tried to 
ease his concerns by saying that the current situation is a 
transitional period and the US will take into account the 
views of Iraq's neighbors in the final constitutional 
process.   Despite Powell's assurances, Ankara has not been 
convinced, largely due to other (unmet) promises from 
Washington.  There is also something worrying for Ankara 
about Paul Bremer's treatment of Turkish firms in Iraq. 
Ankara continues to be worried about the TAL due to a 
perceived favoritism for the Shiites and the Kurds." 
 
 
 
 
EDELMAN