US embassy cable - 04ANKARA4526

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 004526 
 
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, 
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 11, 2004 
 
 
THIS REPORT PRESENTS THE TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER THREE 
THEMES: 
 
HEADLINES 
BRIEFING 
EDITORIAL OPINION 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
HEADLINES 
 
MASS APPEALS 
Al-Qaeda, PKK prime suspects in Istanbul bombings - DB- 
Tercuman 
Interior minister: Bombings target Turkish tourism - Aksam 
Iraqi defense ministry bans Kurdish - Milliyet 
Kerry supports Iraq war - Milliyet 
Bush's favorite, Nader, is Kerrys' nightmare - Hurriyet 
`Turkey's friend' Goss to administer CIA - Aksam 
`Time' correspondent detained for not revealing source - 
Hurriyet 
 
OPINION MAKERS 
Kerry no different than Bush on Iraq - Cumhuriyet 
US calls on civilians to leave Najaf - Radikal 
`Genocide' dispute between US, EU over Darfur - Zaman 
A `new generation' of al-Qaeda leaders - Radikal 
Libya to pay $35 million for `La Belle' bombing - Zaman 
Bush gives CIA to Goss - Radikal 
Democrats oppose Bush's CIA nominee - Zaman 
Russia concerned about US missile shield project - 
Cumhuriyet 
BP, Shell watch Iraq - Radikal 
German workers warn government - Cumhuriyet 
 
 
BRIEFING 
 
Bomb attacks on Istanbul hotels:  Separate Kurdish and 
Islamist groups say they were behind a series of bombs that 
killed two people and injured several in coordinated attacks 
in Istanbul on Tuesday morning.  A previously unknown 
Kurdish group - the Kurdistan Freedom Hawks - claimed 
responsibility for the explosions that occurred at two small 
hotels and a gas plant in Istanbul.  A group linked to al- 
Qaeda also claimed responsibility for the attacks, calling 
them the first of a `wave of operations' across Europe, and 
threatening worse to come.  Officials said that PKK 
separatists were the prime suspects.  The US State 
Department on Tuesday condemned the bombings in Istanbul, 
noting that no Americans had been killed or injured in the 
blasts.  "Cumhuriyet" fears that the PKK may shift attacks 
to urban areas as of August 15, the 20th anniversary of the 
establishment of the terrorist organization.  Terror first 
struck in southeast Turkey, and then Istanbul following the 
occupation by US forces in northern Iraq, the paper 
speculates.  Turkish police on Wednesday detained eight 
suspects with alleged links to the PKK following the 
Istanbul bomb attacks.  Police are working to locate some 
700 kg of TNT explosives taken into Turkey from northern 
Iraq by PKK teams, "Sabah" reports.  "Milliyet" claims that 
several PKK militants went to major cities in western Turkey 
after receiving explosives training on Gabar mountain in 
northern Iraq. 
 
Turkey rejects US demands again:  Ankara has turned down a 
US request for permission to carry out `extensive' military 
exercises in Konya province this year, writes "Vatan." 
Instead, Ankara has told the US it will allow the exercises 
to proceed under a routine memorandum of understanding which 
does not meet the US expectations of conducting `extensive' 
operations of unspecified duration. 
 
Iraqi Interim President due in Turkey next week:  Dailies 
expect Ankara to take tight security measures during the 
call by Iraqi Interim President Gazi al-Yawar next week. 
Turkish leaders will discuss with Yawar bilateral trade 
issues, Turkey's contribution to Iraq's reconstruction, and 
the recently intensified attacks against Turkish contractors 
in the region.  A "Sabah" commentary speculates that Ankara 
is also discussing with the US the current security hazards 
in Iraq.  Another commentary in "Sabah" claims that Zarkawi 
has denied responsibility for the killing of Turkish truck 
driver Murat Yuce in Baghdad last week.  Justice Minister 
and government spokesman Cemil Cicek said that Yuce may have 
been killed by Turkish `volunteers' collaborating with the 
insurgents in Iraq.  Turkey will not suspend trade with 
Iraq, but will set up loading stations for Turkish truckers 
carrying goods into the region.  An MFA official said that 
goods taken to US forces in Iraq constituted just a tiny 
fraction of Turkish shipments to Iraq.  Ankara believes a 
new border crossing into Iraq is needed to facilitate the 
transport of goods to Iraqis and to allow Turkey to continue 
providing logistical support to US forces in the region, 
according to "Sabah."  The issue is to be raised during the 
Yawar visit. 
 
PM Erdogan to Georgia:  PM Erdogan on Wednesday will be 
visiting Tbilisi and Batumi on a two-day official visit to 
Georgia, papers report.  Before setting off for Georgia, 
Erdogan met with Russian Ambassador to Turkey, Peter Stegny, 
to discuss Russia's Caucasus strategy.  Erdogan will be 
discussing bilateral relations and the situation in South 
Ossetia with Georgian leaders. 
 
Turkey/Greece:  Greek PM Karamanlis praised PM Erdogan in an 
interview with the French newspaper "Le Monde."  Karamanlis 
said that Erdogan had `improved' Turkish democracy and 
brought Turkey closer to the EU.  Erdogan will attend the 
opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Athens, and 
Karamanlis is expected to visit Turkey August 16-20. 
 
Kurdish mayors may be `sacked':  Turkey's Minister of the 
Interior, Abdulkadir Aksu, may sack Diyarbakir's Kurdish 
mayor Osman Baydemir and four district mayors for paying a 
condolence visit to the family of a PKK militant killed in 
fighting with police in late July, "DB-Tercuman" claims. 
`The mayors will have to face the consequences of their 
action,' Aksu stressed, saying that they have `hurt the 
conscience' of the nation. 
 
Turkish human traffickers arrested in Austria:  Several 
members of a 30-man Turkish human trafficking gang were 
arrested in Innviertel, Austria, "Radikal" reports.  The 
smugglers have been taking illegal immigrants from Turkey to 
Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and 
Britain.  Austrian police said the illegal immigrants were 
taken from Turkey to various EU countries before being 
transferred to the UK, where work and residence laws are 
more liberal. 
 
Churches, synagogues in Turkey to be given free electricity: 
"Hurriyet"s Editor in-Chief Ertugrul Ozkok writes today that 
the Turkish government has decided to provide free 
electricity to synagogues and churches in the country.  The 
Jewish community in Turkey has asked the authorities to 
provide synagogues and churches with free electricity -- a 
prerogative long enjoyed by Turkey's mosques.  `We are 
taxpaying Turkish nationals, and should enjoy the same 
rights as Muslims,' a leader of the Jewish community told 
Ozkok.  The electricity bills of non-Muslim communities' 
places of worship in Turkey will now be paid by the 
Religious Affairs Directorate (Diyanet). 
 
 
EDITORIAL OPINION 
 
"Iran and Turkey Will be at Top of New US Administration 
Agenda" 
Tulin Daloglu wrote from Washington in the government-run 
"Star" (8/11):  "Even though Bush and Kerry are neck and 
neck in the election campaign, I still believe that Kerry 
will win the election.  Regardless of who wins, Iran and 
Turkey will be at the top of the new administration's 
foreign policy agenda.  This week, both Bush and National 
Security Advisor Rice warned Iran once again about its 
nuclear program.  Foreign diplomats in Washington believe 
there is no difference between Republicans and Democrats 
when it comes to Iran.  But in the history of US politics, 
when national security is the issue, the Republicans have 
always been stronger.  Kerry has to prove himself on the 
issue of national security.  Kerry is aware of Turkey's 
strategic importance as well.  If he is elected, there will 
be no change in the administration's stance regarding 
Turkey, and he will support Turkey strongly for EU 
membership.  In summary, when you look at it from 
Washington, the stability of Turkey is critically important. 
If Turkey's main aim is EU membership, any US president will 
support that goal." 
 
"From Sudan to Iran" 
Ismail Kapan commented in the conservative "Turkiye" (8/11): 
"Recently, President Bush's national security advisor Rice 
officially threatened Iran once again, and implied that 
Iran's nuclear facilities could be destroyed.  The Bush 
Administration's stance on Iran is not unknown, but while 
the US was intensively involved in Iraq and Afghanistan, the 
Iran issue was temporarily put on the shelf.  Different 
formulas have been tried in order to establish stability in 
Iraq, but to no avail.  Now there is total chaos in Iraq, 
and it is spreading with every passing day.  Strangely, the 
new Iraq administration is now picking a fight with Iran 
instead of exerting its effort to establish stability in the 
country.  I wonder if the US is planning to intervene in 
Iran through Iraq?  Also, as the elections get closer, Bush 
might try to generate a diversion in the political 
environment.  The threat against Sudan is an example of 
this.  By threatening Sudan, the US administration's goal is 
very different from what it is saying publicly.  The region 
where the problems are taking place in Sudan is very rich in 
underground resources, including oil.  One other reminder: 
former US president Jimmy Carter has been working in this 
region for some time as a missionary.  Does that mean 
anything to you?  The superpower's political and military 
maneuvers  -- from Sudan to Iran -- should be followed 
carefully.  EU officials should also pay some attention to 
this issue." 
 
 
DEUTSCH