US embassy cable - 04ANKARA3779

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 003779 
 
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, JULY 6, 2004 
 
THIS REPORT WILL PRESENT A TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER 
THREE THEMES: 
 
HEADLINES 
BRIEFING 
EDITORIAL OPINION 
 
HEADLINES 
 
MASS APPEAL 
PM Allawi signals amnesty for Iraqi resisters - Aksam 
Ms. El-Rahim the new face of Iraq in US - Hurriyet 
Saddam's judge a US citizen - Aksam 
Saddam studies law - Milliyet 7/5 
Gen. Karpinski: Rumsfeld ordered torture - Milliyet 7/5 
Halabja Kurds demand justice - Milliyet 
Cheney's doctor a drug addict - Sabah 
`TRNC' may go to early polls - Hurriyet 
45 percent of Greek Cypriots against Turkey in EU - Milliyet 
7/5 
Greek Cypriot daily: Turkey to withdraw 5,000 troops - Sabah 
7/5 
Turks celebrate Greeks' European championship - Sabah 
Milosevic's health deteriorates - Milliyet 
 
OPINION MAKERS 
Zana: We've turned a new page - Radikal 
`Freedom Tower' the new symbol of US - Cumhuriyet 7/5 
Iraq opposes peacekeeping troops from neighbors - Zaman 
Iraq to disclose which neighbors aiding resistance - 
Cumhuriyet 7/5 
Negroponte can't remember his Honduras days - Cumhuriyet 
Gen. Karpinski: Israelis involved in Iraq interrogations - 
Aksam 7/5 
Occupiers torture Iraqi children - Cumhuriyet 
Es-Sadr calls for mass resistance - Yeni Safak 
Fukuyama: Turkey a weak country - Cumhuriyet 7/5 
Clerides: `TRNC' may be recognized after December - Yeni 
Safak 
 
 
BRIEFING 
 
Kurdish ex-lawmakers meet with EU ambassadors:  Former DEP 
lawmakers headed by Leyla Zana gave a luncheon for EU 
ambassadors in Ankara yesterday.  An official from the US 
Embassy also attended the lunch.  Zana said the people in 
southeastern Turkey want to find a solution to their 
problems through peaceful dialogue.  `We don't want to 
repeat the sufferings of the past, she said, adding that `we 
want to turn a new page.'  The EU ambassadors called on the 
ex-MPs to take a firmer position against terror.  The Dutch 
Ambassador noted that Turkey is modernizing quickly and is 
moving toward a new future.  Zana urged the EU to grant 
Turkey a date for entry talks.  She argued that both Kurds 
and Turks need Europe. 
 
A civilian to chair NSC for the first time:  The AK Party 
government, the Presidency and the Turkish General Staff 
(TGS) have agreed to appoint Turkeys' permanent UN 
representative, Ambassador Umit Pamir, as the new National 
Security Council (NSC) Secretary General.  The appointment 
will be announced at the High Military Council meeting 
scheduled for August 1-4. 
 
Closure of northern Iraqi refugee camp suspended:  The 
agreement reached last January by Turkey, the US, UNHCR and 
Iraq to close the Mahmur refugee camp in northern Iraq has 
not been implemented due to a lack of follow-up by the US 
and the Iraqis, "Hurriyet" reports.  Letters of confirmation 
from Secretary Powell and the Iraqi interim government have 
not been received by Ankara.  The agreement has now been 
`suspended,' diplomatic sources told "Hurriyet." 
"Armenians will not forget the genocide":  Monday's 
"Radikal" featured an interview with Hrant Dink, editor-in- 
chief of Turkey's prestigious Armenian daily, "Agos."  Dink 
said that some in the Armenian diaspora may regard 
friendship with Turkey as treasonous.  Consequently, there 
is a need for a normalization of relations between the two 
countries before friendship with Turkey becomes realistic. . 
Dink claimed that the majority of Turks and Armenians, with 
the exception of `marginal' nationalists in both countries, 
want the border between the two countries reopened. .  He 
added that Armenia wants diplomatic ties established with 
Turkey, and has committed to unconditional talks. . 
Armenian President Kocharian has made it clear that Yerevan 
has no territorial demands from Turkey.  Dink stressed that 
Yerevan has never asked Ankara to recognize the Armenian 
genocide.  `That demand is voiced only by our diaspora,' he 
said.  Dink acknowledged that most Armenians support the 
call to recognize the genocide, because the tragic events of 
that period are `part of our historic drama.' .  Dink said 
that a recognition of the genocide by Ankara would allow 
Turkey to maek a strategic opening to the Caucasus.  He 
urged Turkey to establish a bridge to the countries of the 
Caucasus so that Armenia will gain a more European, Western 
character. .  Dink noted that the EU has given the countries 
of the Caucasus a special `neighboring' status with the EU, 
and speculated that this status may one day be turned into 
full EU membership.  Dink said that Armenians in the 
diaspora should not insist that Turkey or any other country 
recognize the genocide. .  However, Turkey must show the 
world that it is not afraid of discussing the incident.  `We 
don't need the issue to be discussed in the US or French 
parliaments,' Dink said.  `It should be discussed here in 
Turkey.' Dink said he was pleased by recent signs of 
normalization between the two countries. . He lamented the 
fact that while in the early days of the Turkish Republic 
there were 300,000 Armenians in Turkey, today there are just 
60,000. .  Dink complained that Turkey's official curriculum 
does not recognize the existence of different cultures in 
this country. He stressed that the Turkish state has always 
regarded its minorities as a security issue, and noted that 
Turkish textbooks teach Armenian children about the treason 
of the Armenians.  Despite the hardships, Dink said he would 
never want to leave Turkey. .  He warned that if Turkey 
delays too long in establishing ties with Armenia, Yerevan 
may draw closer to Russia." 
 
 
EDITORIAL OPINION: Saddam's Trial 
 
"Even Dictators Need Law" 
Ali Sirmen commented in the social democrat-opinion maker 
Cumhuriyet (7/6): "The trial of Saddam causes us to think 
about the definition of law.  Every discipline and every 
legal system does not necessarily make a lawful society, 
unless each piece of the legal frame complies with the rules 
of international law and order.  The same rule applies to 
courts that try dictators.  Any court under the supervision 
of an occupying force suffers from the absence of 
legitimacy.  Even the trial of a dictator does not make an 
exception to this rule.  The Iraqi court is asking Saddam 
about the Halabja massacre.  What about those who provided 
chemical weapons to Saddam?  Who is going to sue them? ... 
In a similar vein, what about the trial of the Abu Ghraib 
torturers by an Iraqi court? ... In short, the court case in 
Baghdad represents a mockery of justice.  On the other hand, 
even this comedy does not mitigate the fact that Saddam is a 
brutal dictator and a murderer.  Any irregularity in the 
legal process for Saddam's trial will become a model for the 
future of the Iraqi regime.  This trial must not be allowed 
to turn into an exercise in historic revenge.  A vindictive 
process outside the proper legal framework might end up 
turning a bloody dictator into a martyr or a hero in the 
mind of the public.  Unfortunately, this appears to be 
happening in the case of Saddam." 
"The Trial of Saddam" 
Turgut Tarhanli wrote in the liberal-intellectual Radikal 
(7/6): "The court in Iraq has the authority to sentence 
Saddam Hussein death.  Therefore it is vitally important 
that the Iraqi court obeys international human rights 
standards without exception.  Take the similar cases in 
Yugoslavia and Rwanda.  Those who were held responsible for 
genocide and other violations of human rights did not face 
death sentences because of international legal standards. 
These two cases are also regarded as examples for other 
cases that fall within the context of international human 
rights.  The Iraq case seems to be an effort to establish an 
exception to this international trend.  This is probably the 
reason that an international court was not established for 
the trial of Saddam.  It seems that the process in the trial 
of Saddam ignores a basic rule -- legitimate justice must be 
supported by commonly held tenets of fairness." 
 
EDELMAN