US embassy cable - 04ANKARA1674

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 001674 
 
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, MARCH 19, 2004 
 
THIS REPORT WILL PRESENT A TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER 
THREE THEMES: 
 
 
HEADLINES 
BRIEFING 
EDITORIAL OPINION 
 
 
HEADLINES 
 
 
MASS APPEAL 
Karamanlis can't escape Lucerne talks - Hurriyet 
Denktas: Lucerne talks actually a `funeral service' - 
Milliyet 
Annan urges Denktas to keep promise - Milliyet 
Bin-Ladin's Deputy Zawahiri Under Siege - Sabah 
Serbs go wild - Turkiye 
31 dead in Kosovo - Hurriyet 
New bloodbath in the Balkans - Aksam 
Terrorists prefer Bush over Kerry - Hurriyet 
Bush al-Qaeda's favorite - Aksam 
Evangelist Bush Spreading his faith in Baghdad - Sabah 
 
 
OPINION MAKERS 
Terror Comes to Spain - Cumhuriyet 
Iraq war anniversary: Occupation front disintegrating - 
Cumhuriyet 
Washington warns Damascus not to pressure Kurds - Cumhuriyet 
US support for Syrian Kurds - Yeni Safak 
Al-Qaeda expands target country list - Cumhuriyet 
European Muslims timid after Madrid bombings - Zaman 
Bombs again target Iraqi civilians - Zaman 
Amnesty International: 10,000 civilians killed in Iraq - 
Yeni Safak 
Kerry: Bush's Iraq policy caused allies to Jump Ship - Yeni 
Safak 
 
 
 
 
BRIEFING 
 
 
Cyprus:  Denktas reportedly complained that the Greek 
Cypriots are leaving no room for bargaining in the ongoing 
Cyprus negotiations.  The UN-sponsored talks have become a 
`funeral service' for burial of Turkish Cypriots, Denktas 
lamented.  Denktas said he resented the fact that the 
Republic of Cyprus, founded in 1960, will join the European 
family on May 1, and that the EU is now calling on the 
Turkish Cypriots to join that accession.  The EU views south 
Cyprus as representative of the whole island, and wants the 
Turkish Cypriots to become a part of the Greek state, 
Denktas said.  "Aksam" expects Denktas to resign his 
position as negotiator before April 1 and to launch a public 
campaign against the Annan Plan.  Papers report that Ankara 
and Athens have agreed to attend the Lucerne talks at the 
Prime Minister level.  The GOT is still trying to convince 
Denktas to attend the negotiations in Lucerne. 
 
 
AKP votes on the rise:  A poll by the respected polling 
agency A and G in advance of the March 28 local elections 
indicates that the ruling AK Party will obtain more than 50 
percent of the vote in both Istanbul and Ankara.  AKP 
candidates are predicted to get an average 56.7 percent of 
votes cast in municipal elections in Istanbul, Ankara and 
Izmir.  The survey suggests, however, that the opposition 
CHP is likely to hold off the AKP challenge to its secular 
stronghold in Izmir.  If general elections were to be held 
today, the survey reports, the AK Party would receive 58.2 
percent to CHP's 19.1 percent of votes in the three major 
Turkish cities.  The opposition Republican People's Party 
(CHP) has lost the support of much of its base, while the AK 
Party has roughly doubled its strength since the November 3, 
2002 general elections.  In a hypothetical general election, 
ANAP, DSP, MHP, DYP and Cem Uzan's Genc Party (GP) would 
fall short of the 10 percent threshold required to gain 
seats in parliament. 
 
 
EDITORIAL OPINION:  Campaign against terrorism 
 
 
"Terror and Moderate Islam" 
Ahmet Tasgetiren commented in the Islamist Yeni Safak 
(3/19): "The King of Jordan has made a plea to the Muslims 
by suggesting that moderate Muslims should stand against the 
fanatics.  This approach, in fact, has been circulating 
within the Islamic world for quite some time, and it has 
been gaining support.  There is another speculation which 
considers the Greater Midle East project as an initiative to 
create an internal war in the Islamic world; i.e. a conflict 
between moderate Islam and radical Islam. . It goes without 
saying that both Europe and the US will gladly accept 
resistance against the fundamentalist version of Islam.  Yet 
there are some points which need clarification:  What are 
the possible ways to fulfill the concept of `moderate Islam' 
so that the Western world will be satisfied?  What are the 
ways to create a moderate Islam which can be acceptable to 
both the vast Islamic geography and the US and EU? . Let's 
look at the results of a recent survey by an American 
company.  The PEW opinion poll results clearly indicate an 
ongoing mistrust about US intentions in the Islamic world. 
The general perception is that the US goals are not really 
freedom and democracy, but about oil and domination.  It is 
true that Islam is a religion of peace, and that Islam 
envisions a peaceful world.  But the Islamic world is under 
severe outside pressure, and we should think about the 
psychology of those who are being pushed around. . I agree 
with the need to deepen the roots of moderate Islam, but not 
through a US filter.  Putting Islam in the proper context 
must be done within Islam itself and must fit the priorities 
of the Islamic world." 
 
 
EDELMAN