US embassy cable - 04ANKARA1539

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 001539 
 
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, MARCH 15, 2004 
 
 
THIS REPORT WILL PRESENT A TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER 
THREE THEMES: 
 
 
HEADLINES 
BRIEFING 
EDITORIAL OPINION 
 
 
HEADLINES 
 
 
MASS APPEAL 
Terror crushes Aznar - Milliyet 
Al-Qaeda shakes Spanish ballot box - Milliyet 
Kurds revolt in Syria, 52 dead - Milliyet 3/14 
FM Gul calls for peace in Syria - Hurriyet 
Iraqi Turkmen Front leader escapes assassination - Milliyet 
US moves in Afghanistan to get Bin Ladin - Milliyet 3/14 
War chimes in Georgia - Sabah 
NATO shield over Athens Games - Sabah 3/14 
 
 
OPINION MAKERS 
Terror bells toll in Europe - Radikal 3/14 
Spaniards punish government - Cumhuriyet 
Blix: Iraq war has fanned terror - Cumhuriyet 
Damascus closes border with Turkey - Radikal 
In Putin We Trust - Zaman 3/14 
Karamanlis, Denktas won't go to Lucerne talks - Cumhuriyet 
Turkey to send 3 helicopters to Afghanistan - Cumhuriyet 
3/14 
US-trained Iraqi policemen shot Americans - Zaman 3/14 
Double suicide attack in Israel: 11 dead - Zaman 
 
 
BRIEFING 
 
 
"Hurriyet" exclusive with the King of Jordan:  In an 
exclusive to "Hurriyet" on the eve of his March 16 visit to 
Ankara, Jordanian King Abdullah praised Turkey for 
maintaining an impartial position in the Middle East. 
Turkey's ties with the Middle East will be strengthened 
after Turkey's EU accession, Abdullah said.  Abdullah noted 
that the Iraqi Kurds have acquired de facto autonomy, and 
are not expected to step back from their current position. 
Regional countries are against the founding of an 
independent Kurdish state, Abdullah said, and added that the 
US must find a formula for resolving the problem.  The 
Jordanian King confirmed that members of the Uzan family had 
been given Jordanian passports, which will expire at the end 
of 2004.  He rejected allegations that some Uzan family 
members are hiding in Jordan, and said that the Uzans' 
passports would be confiscated if they try to enter the 
country.  Genc Party leader Cem Uzan had previously denied 
allegations that he had acquired Jordanian citizenship. 
 
 
Athens may ban anti-Turkey terror groups:  The Greek Foreign 
Ministry has asked Ankara to provide a list of terror groups 
that are active in Turkey.  Turkish authorities welcomed the 
step as a sign that Greece was considering ending its 
support for groups like the PKK and DHKP-C.  "Milliyet" 
claims that the Kurdish separatist PKK/Kongra-Gel and 
extreme left DHKP-C have been operating in Athens for some 
time.  The terrorists have allegedly been given military 
training at the Lavrion camp. 
 
 
Ethnic unrest in Syria:  52 people died in clashes between 
Kurdish and Arab groups in Syria's Kamishli village near the 
Turkish border, weekend papers report.  Pro-Kurdish 
demonstrations have also spread to the capital Damascus, and 
two Syrian diplomatic offices were been attacked in Europe. 
Syria closed its border with Turkey.  Turkish businessmen in 
northern Syria fled to Turkey to escape the violence, and 
the Turkish military was reportedly placed on high alert as 
a result of the rioting in Kamishli. 
Cyprus:  New Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis rejected 
a proposal by PM Erdogan that the four-way talks on Cyprus 
to be held in Lucerne, Switzerland be held at the level of 
Prime Minister.  Inexperienced on the Cyprus issue, 
Karamanlis prefers to remain distant from the negotiations 
due to his fear of failure, papers speculate.  Turkish 
Cypriot leader Denktas is unhappy with the uncompromising 
attitude of the Greek Cypriots at the UN-sponsored peace 
talks, and is reluctant to attend the Lucerne meetings.  If 
Denktas is not convinced by Ankara, Turkish Cypriots will be 
headed by the `TRNC Prime Minister' Talat at the four-party 
talks. 
 
 
TGS Chief says he is responsible for military directive: 
Monday papers report that TGS Chief General Hilmi Ozkok 
acknowledged responsibility for a controversial directive by 
the Land Forces Command asking district governors to spy on 
individuals seen as dangerous to national security.  `If 
there is a fault,' Ozkok said, `the responsibility falls on 
me as commander of the military.' The list called for 
intelligence to be gathered on a wide variety of groups 
including ethnic minorities, writers, artists and supporters 
of the EU and the US. 
 
 
TGS Deputy Chief due in US:  Deputy Chief of the TGS General 
Ilker Basbug will convey to the United States Turkey's 
uneasiness over Iraq, and will discuss the PKK, Cyprus, and 
EU during his upcoming visit to the US, "Milliyet" reports. 
The article speculates that Washington wants to see the 
Turkish military soften its grip on domestic politics in 
light of developments in Cyprus and Turkey's EU drive.  US 
officials were "perplexed" to hear about an army directive 
for spying on Turks who are known to be supporters of the EU 
and US, but will not raise the issue with General Basbug. 
An unnamed US official said that the US has launched a fresh 
initiative in support of Turkey with some countries that 
will join the EU in May 2004. 
 
 
Jailed Kurdish lawmakers boycott court hearing:  Kurdish 
lawmakers from the former DEP -- Leyla Zana, Hatip Dicle, 
Orhan Dogan and Selim Sadak -- refused to appear at their 
hearing before the State Security Court (SSC) in Ankara last 
Friday in an act of protest.  The defendants reportedly 
objected to comments made by Government Spokesman Cicek, who 
accused them of intentionally dragging out their trial for 
political purposes.  The defendants' lawyers noted that 
their clients have been in prison since 1994, and demanded 
their immediate release.  The court turned down the request. 
The defendants will not attend hearings for the remainder of 
the trial. 
 
 
 
 
EDITORIAL OPINION:  Spanish Elections/Madrid Bombings 
 
 
"Madrid Bombings" 
Yilmaz Oztuna observed in the conservative Turkiye (3/15): 
"The Madrid bombings mark the spread of terrorism to the 
European Union.  When Istanbul suffered its terrorist 
attacks, there was no mention of terrorism in EU countries. 
Yet the Madrid attack indicates the spread of 9/11 terrorism 
in the US to the EU. .  The EU countries have never 
understood terrorism, and they preferred to remain aloof to 
the issue as long as they were not affected.  Moreover, some 
of them did not change their policy and continued to support 
terrorist organizations in Turkey.  They had better 
reevaluate their approach in light of these events. . There 
are indications that strongly suggest that Al-Qaeda was 
behind the terrorist attack in Madrid, but the Spanish 
government seems determined to label the bombings as an ETA 
attack.  Worst of all is the possibility that there was 
collaboration between Al-Qaeda and ETA. . The events of 9/11 
led to a change in world politics, and the events of 3/11 in 
Madrid mark another important event in that process of 
change." 
"Terror in Spain" 
Zafer Atay noted in the economic-political Dunya (3/15): 
"Arguing about whether ETA or Al-Qaeda carried out the 
terrorist attack may be too limited an approach, because it 
is now common for terrorist organizations to cooperate and 
coordinate with each other.  ETA might be the driving force 
behind this attack, and may have used Al-Qaeda as a kind of 
subcontractor.  Let's not forget that the Japanese Red Army 
used to carry out terrorist attacks on behalf of Palestinian 
organizations. . Searching for the truth about who may have 
done this, we should also look at EU member countries. 
Basque terror still enjoys support from some EU members. 
Some of them also continue to provide support for terrorist 
organizations in Turkey. After the Spanish elections, the 
Turkish government should immediately begin a process to 
enhance cooperation against terrorism with the new 
administration in Madrid.  We can only hope that some other 
EU members will eventually come to their senses as well." 
 
 
"Terrorist States and the Terrorists" 
Erol Manisali argued in the social democrat-intellectual 
Cumhuriyet:  "During the cold war, the US used terrorism as 
a tool in order to continue its struggle for `global 
hegemony.' Now that the cold war is over, the US has turned 
into a terrorist state and has acted like a war machine by 
occupying the Middle East and Asia.  The process began with 
the first Gulf war and continued with the occupation of 
Afghanistan and Iraq. In between, Yugoslavia was divided by 
force, and operations took place against the Caucasus and 
Indonesia. The US and Great Britain, ignoring the world and 
the UN, are continuing their war and occupations.  Half of 
the EU, including Spain, contributed to this crime directly. 
Trying to legitimate the belief that the powerful can 
realize their objectives by force, the US (and western 
capitalism) has helped to expand the swamp in which terror 
flourishes.  The US believes that, in order to remain a 
superpower, it has to act under the principle that `whoever 
doesn't stand with me is against me.'  Western capitalism 
contributes to this instability, sometimes through force of 
arms as in Iraq, and sometimes through civil revolutions, as 
in Turkey.  It is impossible to stop terrorism while there 
is deep instability and terrorist states in the world. 
Since it is not to their benefit to understand this fact, 
the US and the EU have chosen to ignore it." 
 
 
EDELMAN