US embassy cable - 04ANKARA3149

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 003149 
 
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, JUNE 8, 2004 
 
 
THIS REPORT WILL PRESENT A TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER 
THREE THEMES: 
 
 
HEADLINES 
BRIEFING 
EDITORIAL OPINION 
 
 
HEADLINES 
 
 
MASS APPEAL 
G-8 Summit will be a turning point for Middle East - Sabah 
Erdogan to US for G-8 - Milliyet 
Iraqi Kurdish groups ask Bush for autonomy guarantees - 
Milliyet 
Kurds threaten to withdraw from Iraqi government - Aksam 
Kurds ask for US consulate in Erbil - Sabah 
Iraqi PM: Armed militias to be dissolved - Aksam 
ECHR will to review case of Abdullah Ocalan - Hurriyet 
 
 
OPINION MAKERS 
G-8 to discuss Greater Middle East project - Yeni Safak 
G-8 to discuss future of Middle East - Zaman 
FM Gul secures Egyptian support on Cyprus, OIC - Zaman 
Government prepares to open trade relations with Greek 
Cyprus - Cumhuriyet 
Iraqi Kurds threaten to leave government - Yeni Safak 
Kurdish threat to Washington - Radikal 
1,000 Iraqis killed in two months - Yeni Safak 
Israeli FM: Gaza will be left to Egyptian control - Yeni 
Safak 
Gaza plan shakes Sharon government - Zaman 
WSJ: Pentagon report gives Bush authority for torture - Yeni 
Safak 
License to torture for Bush - Cumhuriyet 
US withdraws from Seoul - Radikal 
Journalists targeted in Riyadh - Cumhuriyet 
 
 
 
 
BRIEFING 
PM Erdogan to G-8 Summit:  President Bush will seek Turkish 
support for his Greater Middle East (GME) Initiative, which 
aims to boost democracy in the region, at the G-8 summit in 
Sea Island, Georgia.  Prime Minister Erdogan leaves for the 
United States on Tuesday to attend the summit.  Erdogan is 
expected to warn against effort to impose reforms on 
countries in the region.  Erdogan will also urge that the 
Palestinian issue be given priority.  Turkey will decide at 
the summit whether to join the `Forum for the Future,' an 
open dialogue framework of regional foreign ministers, 
"Zaman" reports.  President Bush expects Erdogan to give 
`strong political support' to the GME, "Cumhuriyet" writes. 
The paper speculates that Turkey's participation in the G-8 
meeting could negatively affect Turkey's relations with the 
Islamic world. 
Turkey may open EU Customs Union to Greek Cyprus:  Foreign 
Minister Abdullah Gul said Turkey is looking for a formula 
for including Cyprus in its long-standing customs union (CU) 
with the European Union.  On June 4, the EU Commission urged 
Ankara to apply the customs union to Greek Cyprus, which 
joined the EU on May 1.  Sources close to the Turkish 
government said that trade relations with south Cyprus 
within the EU framework will not be equivalent to formal 
recognition of the Greek Cypriot state. 
Greeks uneasy about OIC Istanbul Meeting:  The Greek 
Cypriots and Greece are worried that the Organization of 
Islamic Conferences (OIC) will agree at a meeting in 
Istanbul next week to recognize the Turkish Cypriot north of 
the island as a "state."  On Monday, Greece's FM Moliviatis 
met with the ambassadors of 12 OIC members in Athens to 
discuss the issue.  Greek Cypriot FM Yakovu said the OIC had 
no legitimacy on the international level, but added that a 
characterization of northern Cyprus as a "state" would still 
be perceived as important. 
DEP lawmakers may be retried:  Turkey's state prosecutor 
claimed that there were seven irregularities in the retrial 
of the four DEP lawmakers sentenced in 1994 to a 15-year 
jail sentence.  The prosecutor launched an appeal to have 
the Kurdish ex-MPs -- Leyla Zana, Hatip Dicle, Selim Sadak 
and Orhan Dogan -- released.  The case is being closely 
followed by the EU. 
Government working to reopen Halki Seminary:  The MFA is 
working on a formula to reopen Halki Seminary under the 
theology department in Istanbul University.  Current 
legislation does not allow for the reopening of the seminary 
as an autonomous school, so legal adjustments would be 
necessary.  However, the Fener Patriarchate in Istanbul 
opposes affiliating the seminary with a Turkish theology 
faculty.  The MFA is working on a draft that would allow for 
the reopening of the school before the visit of President 
George Bush to Turkey in late June. 
 
 
EDITORIAL OPINION:  Reagan; Iraq 
 
 
"President Bush's Political Father" 
Tamer Korkmaz wrote in the Islamist-intellectual Zaman 
(6/8): "It took a very long time for the US to realize that 
Ronald Reagan's `star wars' project was a very costly means 
of blackmail against the Russians.  The Reagan 
administration accelerated defense spending so much that the 
Soviet Union's economy began to stumble.  Reagan not only 
helped bring about the end of communism by working with 
Gorbachev, but also expanded capitalism all over the world 
by working hand-in-hand with Margaret Thatcher.  Reagan was 
the most conservative of American politicians, and the 
founding father of the `neo-cons.' Reagan is also 
undoubtedly the `political father' of President Bush.  This 
has also been noted by the American press. The New York 
Times, for instance, referred to the `third Reagan term' 
when Bush was elected." 
 
 
"Reagan" 
Murat Belge commented in the liberal-intellectual Radikal 
(6/8): "Ronald Reagan is now being presented as the man who 
ended the cold war.  This common belief is based on a 
mistaken assessment.  The real credit for this belongs to 
Carter, not Reagan.  Carter and his staff pursued `human 
rights' as opposed to `nuclear armament' as its primary 
weapon against the Soviet system. . The Soviet system during 
the Reagan era was weak enough to die at any time.  Only a 
president with a serious myopia would have launched a multi- 
billion dollar arms project by declaring weakness as a 
colossal threat in those circumstances.  . There are many 
similarities between the short-sightedness of Reagan's 
advisors and those of President Bush.  Reagan's diagnosis 
and proposed solution for the Soviet Union was as `ethically 
correct' as Bush's current policy is for Iraq. 
 
 
"Iraqi Kurds are Losing Patience" 
Ilnur Cevik opined in the English language Turkish Daily 
News (6/8):  "The Kurds feel that despite all the sacrifices 
they have made and the maturity they have displayed for the 
sake of Iraqi unity and territorial integrity, they are 
again being sidelined. This is unacceptable to them.  They 
feel that their gains are being eroded.  The international 
community and Turkey have to pay more attention to Iraqi 
Kurdish sensitivities.  All sides must realize that if the 
Kurds spoil the sensitive balances in Iraq, a much more 
complicated situation may emerge that could be impossible to 
sort out.  The Iraqi Kurds felt they had obtained solid 
assurances from their Arab counterparts about autonomy in 
the north and that the Kurds would be accepted as first- 
class citizens of Iraq.  However, they are starting to see 
that this may not be the case.  Do the Arabs realize what 
they are getting into?  We had warned everyone that this 
kind of a situation may develop and that the Kurds could 
turn to the international community -- especially to Turkey 
-- and ask: What would you do if you were in our shoes?" 
 
 
EDELMAN