US embassy cable - 04ANKARA3077

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 003077 
 
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, 
THURSDAY, JUNE 3, 2004 
 
THIS REPORT WILL PRESENT A TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER 
THREE THEMES: 
 
 
HEADLINES 
BRIEFING 
EDITORIAL OPINION 
 
 
HEADLINES 
 
 
MASS APPEALS 
Annan thanks Turkish Cypriots, criticizes Greeks - Aksam 
Annan praises Turks, angry at Greeks - Milliyet 
Rice: Erdogan to tell G-8 about Turkey's success - Hurriyet 
US to leave Iraq in 2006 - Sabah 
Syria bans Kurdish parties - Aksam 
Amnesty: Turkish women need `affirmative action' - Sabah 
Amnesty: Abuse of Turkish women goes unnoticed - Hurriyet 
 
 
OPINION MAKERS 
Annan report calls for end to `TRNC' isolation - Zaman 
Papadopulos: Annan has no right to criticize Greek Cypriots 
- Radikal 
`TRNC' to be represented at OIC as `Turkish Cypriot State' - 
Zaman 
MFA: Turkey's policy toward Israel unchanged - Zaman 
Israeli tanks besiege Arafat HQ - Yeni Safak 
PKK `mine' on Turkey's road to EU - Yeni Safak 
FM Gul: Occupation forces should withdraw from Iraq - Yeni 
Safak 
Brahimi: Bremer Iraq's `dictator' - Cumhuriyet 
US accuses Chalabi of spying for Iran - Cumhuriyet 
Putin won't attend NATO Summit - Cumhuriyet 
 
 
 
 
BRIEFING 
 
 
Cyprus:  UN Secretary General Kofi Annan urged the world to 
end the isolation of Turkish Cypriots as a reward for their 
support for the UN-backed plan to reunify the island. 
Annan, in a report to the UN Security Council on the failed 
plan, praised the Turkish Cypriots and Turkey for having 
done everything possible to support the plan and criticized 
Greek Cypriot leader Papadopulos for having campaigned 
against it.  "The Turkish Cypriot vote endorsing the U.N. 
plan in the April 24 referendum has undone any rationale for 
isolating them," Annan wrote.  `While the Greek Cypriots' 
judgment must be respected, they should realize they have 
dealt a major setback to the cause of reunification,' he 
added.  `TRNC PM' Mehmet Ali Talat and Ankara have welcomed 
the report.  Dailies note that Papadopulos will meet with 
Annan on Thursday, but that the Greek Cypriot leader has 
been refused any official meetings with the US 
Administration. 
 
 
Parliamentary delegation to Tel Aviv for Barghouti:  A 
Turkish parliamentary delegation will visit Tel Aviv to 
extend support to imprisoned Palestinian lawmaker Marwan 
Barghouti at the final hearing of his trial on June 6, 
"Zaman" reports.  The delegation will also request 
permission from Israeli authorities to visit Barghouti in 
prison. 
 
 
PKK may renew attacks:  Hundreds of the 5,000 PKK fighters 
thought to be in northern Iraq have returned to Turkey in 
recent months, Turkish authorities said on Wednesday. 
Security forces went on high alert after a PKK/Kongra-Gel 
announcement last week announcing the end of the unilateral 
cease-fire as of June 1.  The PKK threat has resurfaced 
while Turkey is striving to get date from the EU to begin 
accession talks, "Yeni Safak" notes.  The paper also notes 
that the PKK has decided to take action following the 
enactment of key reforms for democratization in southeast 
Turkey.  PKK/Kongra-Gel aims to disrupt such efforts and 
spoil Turkey's image in Europe, the paper speculates.  The 
MFA spokesman said on Wednesday that the PKK/Kongra-Gel 
announcement threatening Turkey proves that the PKK is an 
armed terror organization.  `The PKK is on the US and EU 
terrorist lists, and countries engaged in the struggle 
against international terrorism should cooperate with us in 
the fight against the PKK terrorism,' the spokesman 
stressed. 
 
 
Amnesty International: Turkish women victims of rape, abuse: 
According to an Amnesty International report released on 
Wednesday, up to half of Turkish women are victims of family 
violence, and many are subject to rape and other forms of 
physical and verbal abuse.  Many Turkish women live in a 
state of constant fear in a society where honor killings are 
still practiced against women, Amnesty said.  `Hundreds of 
thousands of women in Turkey face fear daily in their homes. 
Up to half of all women in Turkey are estimated to be 
victims of physical violence at home,' Amnesty's Turkey 
researcher Christina Curry told a news conference in 
Istanbul.  Experts estimate that up to 70 women are killed 
each year for `dishonoring' their family, but the state has 
turned a blind eye to much of the violence and little 
official data exists on the number of women killed or beaten 
each year.  The reports adds that Turkish women suffer 
inequality at home, in education, and in employment. 
Women's salaries in Turkey are between 20 and 50 percent of 
those of Turkish men.  The report praised parliament's 
recent moves to improve the rights of women, including 
tougher sentencing for rapists and a possible ban on 
virginity testing.  But the report also noted Turkey's 
failure to comply with several international human rights 
treaties to which it is a signatory.  The report called on 
high-level Turkish officials, including the prime minister, 
to issue public condemnations of violence against women 
 
 
EDITORIAL OPINION:  Iraqi Government 
 
 
"The US is Stumbling" 
Yilmaz Oztuna observed in the conservative Turkiye (6/3): 
"Things are not going well for the US in Iraq, and there are 
indications of more complications ahead.  On the other hand, 
it is very unlikely that the US will give up on its policy 
of a `Pax Americana.'  This policy is based on three targets 
-- oil, terrorism, and support for Israel. . The fact is 
that the US only knew Iraq and Afghanistan in a theoretical 
way, so the real-life situation has brought about mistake 
after mistake.  The current Iraqi government is yet another 
example of these mistakes.  Even puppet governments should 
have certain standards, but this one fails even the most 
basic test.  The US mistakes stem from the misconception 
that giving authority to Kurds will stabilize the future of 
Iraq.  The Kurds do not consider themselves Arab or Iraqi. 
How could they possibly play a constructive role in the 
future of the country?" 
 
 
"It is Hard to Name it Correctly" 
Sami Kohen commented in the mass appeal Milliyet (6/3): 
"Until now, it has been called the `Greater Middle East 
Project,' or GMEP.More recently it is addressed as the 
`Broader Middle East  and Northern Africa Project', or 
BMENAP. Because final decisions about this project have not 
yet been made, one cannot be sure whether this name will 
remain as it is.   The BMENAP is not as crude as the GMEP, 
but it will need a lot of time and effort to shape it 
properly.  Starting from next week, the BMENAP will be 
presented in various international for a such as the G-8 
meeting in the US and the NATO summit in Istanbul.  An 
effort will be made to reflect this concept more concretely. 
During bilateral discussions, Turkey reiterates that 
democracy cannot be imposed by force.  Priority should be 
given to economic support for these countries so that the 
process of reform can be accelerated.  NATO should avoid 
direct intervention and to obtain security cooperation. 
Turkey has given another important message to Washington in 
connection with its own role in the project.  Turkey is not 
pretending to be a model for countries in the region, and 
does not want others to hold it up as a model.  However, 
Ankara is always ready to help countries tha want to use 
Turkey's past experiences as a model.   A Turkish official 
said that `naturally, we don't want to be left out of a such 
big project.  But we need to contribute on a realistic 
basis'.   The message PM Erdogan will be giving next week at 
the G-8 summit will be in this direction." 
 
 
"A New Face for the New Colonialism: Iraqi Interim 
Government" 
Akif Emre argued in the Islamist-opinion maker Yeni Safak 
(6/3): "The Iraqi interim government begins a new era for 
the region, but this does not mean a democratic and free 
Iraq.  It is indeed the beginning of the first act in the 
Greater Middle East Project.  The composition of the interim 
government has been portrayed as representing the mosaic of 
Iraq.  In fact, it only creates more distortion than before, 
because the representation system does not have any clear 
reference to either ethnic or religious balances.  The Kurds 
are treated as privileged allies, and were placed in the 
critical positions.  Given the current cooperation between 
Kurdish groups and US forces, one might easily guess who 
will be the collaborators of the colonial power in the 
future. . The US intention is not to achieve a fair 
distribution of Iraq's natural, political, and cultural 
resources among the people of Iraq.  The US is beginning a 
new colonialism based on military supremacy.  Iraq is the 
pilot project." 
 
 
EDELMAN