US embassy cable - 04ANKARA3328

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 003328 
 
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, JUNE 14, 2004 
 
 
THIS REPORT WILL PRESENT A TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER 
THREE THEMES: 
 
HEADLINES 
BRIEFING 
EDITORIAL OPINION 
 
HEADLINES 
 
MASS APPEAL 
Zana `quake' in Diyarbakir - Sabah 
FM Gul: Years in prison have `matured' DEP lawmakers - Aksam 
DEHAP: PKK members should be allowed into politics - 
Hurriyet 6/13 
DEHAP: We are at equal distance from Turkish government, PKK 
- Milliyet 6/13 
PM Erdogan: We are Muslims who take a middle way - Sabah 
Center-right boom in Europe - Hurriyet 
Blair won't resign despite defeat in local elections - 
Milliyet 6/13 
Voters kick Blair - Aksam 6/13 
 
OPINION MAKERS 
PM Erdogan: Arafat missed peace opportunity - Zaman 
`Time for peace,' Zana tells the PKK - Radikal 
DEHAP calls for cease fire - Cumhuriyet 
Al-Qaeda targets Americans in Saudi Arabia - Radikal 
Bloody Sunday in Iraq: 21 killed - Yeni Safak 
First assassination against new Iraqi government - 
Cumhuriyet 6/13 
Turkish police prepare for NATO Istanbul Summit - Yeni Safak 
100,000 signatures against NATO Summit - Cumhuriyet 
OIC gives Turkey many promises, little support - Cumhuriyet 
Moscow may change Cyprus policy - Cumhuriyet 6/13 
Bosnian Serb government admits Srebrenica killings - Radikal 
6/13 
 
 
BRIEFING 
 
PM Erdogan visits US:  Prime Minister Erdogan asked the US 
to keep its word to eliminate the PKK/Kongra-Gel presence in 
northern Iraq.  Erdogan told American Jewish groups in 
Washington that his recent criticism of Israeli policies 
toward the Palestinians is not directed against the state of 
Israel, but at PM Ariel Sharon's government.  Erdogan 
asserted that Turkey's political and economic relations with 
Israel will continue.  Erdogan criticized Arafat for missing 
a significant opportunity for peace during the time of 
former Israeli PM Barak.  `Arafat should not have left the 
negotiating table, and Barak should not have withdrawn from 
politics,' he said.  Erdogan added that `the peace process 
requires a great effort.' He urged Arafat not to stand in 
the way of peace.  `The issue can be resolved between the 
two peoples,' Erdogan said. 
 
Freed Kurdish MPs in Diyarbakir:  Four Kurdish ex-MPs -- 
Leyla Zana, Hatip Dicle, Selim Sadak and Orhan Dogan -- went 
to the mainly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir over the weekend, 
where they were given a warm welcome by tens of thousands of 
local citizens.  Zana called on the PKK to extend its 
unilateral cease-fire by at least six months, and to 
continue efforts for peace with the `brotherly Turkish 
people.'  `This country must not be turned into another 
Palestine, Lebanon or Yugoslavia,' Zana said.  Hatip Dicle 
described the suffering in the region, and urged `new legal 
arrangements' that could end the armed conflict.  `The 5,000 
Kurds now in prison should be allowed to contribute to the 
peace process,' Dicle stressed.  He also noted that if the 
necessary conditions are established, imprisoned PKK leader 
Abdullah Ocalan could become the `architect of peace.'  Over 
the weekend Tuncer Bakirhan, chairman of the pro-Kurdish 
DEHAP party, which faces possible closure for alleged ties 
with the PKK, called on PKK militants to lay down their arms 
and resume their five-year cease-fire.  Bakirhan called on 
the Turkish government to declare an unconditional general 
amnesty.  The mayor of Diyarbakir, Osman Baydemir, said a 
lasting peace in the region is possible now that the four 
former pro-Kurdish lawmakers have been freed. 
Congressman Wexler, Ambassador Edelman meet lawmakers:  US 
Ambassador to Ankara, Eric Edelman, and Congressman Robert 
Wexler paid a `surprise' visit to members of the 
parliamentary foreign relations committee last week, 
"Hurrriyet" reports.  Wexler told the Turkish lawmakers that 
a vessel loaded with heavy weaponry that was stopped by 
Turkish police on the Bosphorus last week was not going to 
Egypt as announced, but rather to Gaza.  Wexler responded to 
AK Party lawmakers who hold Sharon responsible for the 
unrest in Palestine by saying that terror has always existed 
in the region.  Some CHP lawmakers urged Wexler to help 
postpone the US-sponsored `Greater Middle East Initiative' 
due to objections by some Arab states.  Wexler said that 
such a postponement would not be possible. 
 
OIC Istanbul Summit:  Ankara is hoping that the Organization 
of the Islamic Conference (OIC) will back its candidate for 
the post of OIC secretary-general and lift international 
sanctions against the Turkish Cypriot enclave when OIC 
foreign ministers meet in Istanbul beginning on Monday. 
Ankara also expects the OIC to upgrade the position of the 
`TRNC' to that of a `Turkish Cypriot State' within the 
organization.  Foreign ministers of 57 Islamic countries 
will attend the three-day summit.  Observers expect Saudi 
Arabia and Egypt to voice opposition to the Greater Middle 
East initiative.  Iraq's neighbors will hold a meeting 
within the summit framework.  UN Special Representative 
Lakhdar Brahimi will also attend this session. 
 
Cyprus:  In a meeting in Istanbul last week, PM Erdogan and 
`TRNC PM' Talat discussed a symbolic withdrawal of 5,000 
Turkish troops from Cyprus in an effort to remove the 
remaining obstacles to Ankara's attempt to obtain a date 
from the EU for entry talks, "Milliyet" reports.  EU 
enlargement chief Verhuegen told Talat that EU regulations 
did not allow direct trade with the Turkish Cypriot enclave, 
weekend papers report.  However, Verheugen said the EU will 
grant 259 million euros in aid to the Turkish Cypriots and 
work to improve regulations concerning the buffer zone in 
the island. 
 
 
EDITORIAL OPINION: 
 
a)   G-8 Summit/BMENAI 
b)   US-Turkey-EU 
 
"Don't disparage the importance of this partnership" 
Yasemin Congar wrote in the mass appeal Milliyet (6/14): 
"The participation of Turkey in the G-8 summit was an 
important achievement for Turkish diplomacy.  PM Erdogan's 
messages about the Middle East and the Broader Middle East 
and North Africa Initiative (BMENAI) included very valuable 
assessments and warnings.  All of these concerns were 
reflected in the final G-8 documents.  Turkey also was named 
as a co-chair for the `Democratic Assistance Dialogue' group 
along with Italy and Yemen.  This led some to comment that 
Turkey was beginning to turn away from its EU vision.   On 
the contrary, taking part in such a mechanism will be an 
important step to enhance Turkey's ties with the EU. . 
American officials attach great importance to the working 
dialogue between Turkey's PM and the King of Jordan, which 
went even beyond the Sea Island meetings.  There is also 
great optimism that the Turkish business community and 
Turkish NGOs will cooperate successfully in the region to 
promote economic, social and political reform." 
 
"BMENAI is a project for occupying the region" 
Erol Manisali argued in the social democrat Cumhuriyet 
(6/14): "Whether it is the GME or the BMENAI, the project 
provides clear goals for both the US and the EU.  In short, 
the goal of the initiative is to control the region 
politically, culturally, economically and militarily.  Pro- 
Western regimes will be established and, from an economic 
point of view, they will do whatever the US and EU request. 
American and western capital would then be able to 
monopolize the entire region.  This is what the BMENAI is 
all about.  Democracy is a sheer lie to cover up its real 
aims, which are fascist. . In order to achieve the goals, 
the western world is now engaged in a vicious game.  It is 
using Israel, Armenia, Georgia and the Kurds against the 
Muslim peoples.  There are strong indications to prove this 
kind of plot.  Therefore, it is impossible to understand the 
decision of the Turkish government to be a part of the GME. 
Turkey's participation in such a plan which is designed to 
occupy the region will achieve nothing, except perhaps to 
bring Turkey to the brink of civil war." 
 
"The Ball is in the EU's court" 
Semih Idiz opined in the mass appeal Aksam (6/14):  "In the 
past, Turkey has missed many EU trains.  Strategic mistakes, 
especially during the time of PM Ecevit and  President 
Demirel, have become part of our history.  History will also 
register the train we missed at the 2002 Copenhagen summit 
because of Denktas' intransigence.  As a result of this 
mistake, Greek Cyprus has now entered the EU on its own. 
But recently, under the leadership of PM Erdogan, Turkey is 
fulfilling all of the criteria the EU has established.  If 
the EU still blocks Turkey's accession, the impact will be 
very negative for the EU.  Therefore, let us continue to do 
what is necessary.  But at this point, the ball is really in 
the EU's court." 
 
EDELMAN