US embassy cable - 04ANKARA5013

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 005013 
 
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, SEPTEMBER 7, 2004 
 
 
THIS REPORT PRESENTS THE TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER THREE 
THEMES: 
 
HEADLINES 
BRIEFING 
EDITORIAL OPINION 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
HEADLINES 
 
MASS APPEAL 
Chechen terrorist: Mashadov and Basayev ordered school raid 
- Hurriyet 
Verheugen: Turkey has passed critical threshold - Milliyet 
Verheugen to visit evacuated village in Diyarbakir - 
Milliyet 9/6 
Diyarbakir welcomes Verheugen in Kurdish - Hurriyet 9/6 
FM Gul: EU reforms will continue - Turkiye 
Pope cancels November Istanbul visit - Hurriyet 9/6 
Tel Afer burning - Sabah 9/6 
`Dovish' Powell won't leave post - Sabah 
Iraqi intellectuals protest coalition forces' operations - 
Sabah 
Clinton undergoes heart surgery - Turkiye 
 
OPINION MAKERS 
Russia mourns Beslan victims - Radikal 
World blames Putin - Yeni Safak 
Russian press blames Putin for Beslan violence - Cumhuriyet 
Heart-shattering farewell to Beslan children - Cumhuriyet 
9/6 
Bush leads by 11 points, runs to victory - Zaman 
Newsweek: Powell to keep post in new administration - 
Radikal 
20,000 Turkomen flee Tel Afer - Cumhuriyet 9/6 
Iraq: Al-Duri not yet captured - Radikal 
Armenia to send 50 troops to Iraq - Cumhuriyet 
Israel determined to `exile' Arafat - Cumhuriyet 
Palestine's Kurei cancels Turkey visit - Cumhuriyet 9/6 
Israeli rightists to form militia force - Cumhuriyet 
Pakistan, India re-start Kashmir peace talks - Zaman 9/6 
 
 
BRIEFING 
 
EU enlargement chief in Turkey:  The moment of truth is 
approaching for Turkey`s bid to join the European Union, EU 
enlargement chief Guenter Verheugen said during his visit to 
Ankara  on Monday.  `We agree that now the moment of truth 
is coming,' he said.  `Nothing must postpone the decision 
that is foreseen for December,' Verheugen told reporters 
after meeting FM Abdullah Gul.  However, Verheugen 
underlined that there are sill some hitches, especially in 
the implementation of reforms.  He nonetheless praised 
Ankara's efforts to clean up its poor human rights record, a 
key demand of the EU.  Asked about allegations of torture in 
Turkey, Verheugen said that, compared with the past, it is 
`very difficult' to say that a systematic practice of 
torture exists in Turkey today.  FM Gul said that Turkey 
would continue to carry out democratic reforms regardless of 
the EU decision in December.  Verheugen also met PM Tayyip 
Erdogan before traveling to the southeastern city of 
Diyarbakir to call on the governor and mayor there.  `The EU 
attaches particular importance to Diyarbakir and this 
region,' Verheugen stressed, adding that `I would not have 
been allowed to visit Diyarbakir five years ago.'  `Turkey's 
reform process has enabled me to come here,' he added. 
`Violence is not the solution,' Verheugen said.  `I strongly 
believe that the best way to guarantee the political, 
social, and cultural rights of Kurdish citizens is through 
European integration,' he concluded.  Diyarbakir's Kurdish 
mayor, Osman Baydemir, said that despite shortcomings in the 
implementation of EU reforms, Turkey deserved to be granted 
a date for entry talks.  Baydemir argued that a positive 
decision in December would speed up the reforms process in 
Turkey.  The EU enlargement chief later met with former DEP 
parliamentarian Leyla Zana.  Verheugen will travel to the 
western city of Izmir and later to Istanbul for meetings 
with businessmen and civic groups before wrapping up his 
visit on Thursday. 
FM Gul on Tel Afer incidents:  FM Gul rejected press reports 
about clashes between Turkomen and US coalition forces in 
Tel Afer in northern Iraq, which allegedly caused 20,000 
Turkomen to flee to surrounding villages.  Gul said the US 
operation in Tel Afer was launched against insurgents who 
had come to the area from Fallujah.  Gul noted that Turkish 
intelligence and the Turkish General Staff share this view 
of the Tel Afer clashes. 
 
Iraqi Kurdish leaders due in Turkey:  Ankara expects Iraqi 
Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) official Necirvan Barzani 
to arrive in Ankara on Tuesday, and Patriotic Union of 
Kurdistan (PUK) leader Jalal Talabani on Wednesday.  The 
Kurdish leaders will discuss security and political issues 
in northern Iraq with officials at the Foreign Ministry. 
Ankara will warn the Kurdish leaders against efforts to 
change the demography of northern Iraq in favor of the 
Kurds. 
 
PKK Attack Leaves 2 Dead in Diyarbakir:  Radio and 
television reports this morning confirm that one Turkish 
soldier and a security guard were killed in a raid by PKK 
militants in Diyarbakir overnight.  Turkish security forces 
are conducting a large-scale operation in the area to 
capture the perpetrators.  The attack comes during EU 
Commission member Gunther Verheugen is in Diyarbakir for 
talks on Turkey's EU reform process. 
 
 
EDITORIAL OPINION: Terrorism/Chechnya 
 
"How content you are as a Muslim?" 
Cuneyt Ulsever observed in the mass appeal Hurriyet (9/4): 
"Let's look at the recent performance of Muslims worldwide: 
Children were treated as enemies in North Ossetia; 
terrorists crashed two planes in Russia and killed nearly 
100 passengers; three Turkish Muslims in Iraq were murdered 
for nothing but trying to earn a living; another Turkish 
Muslim businessman has been kidnapped; three journalists 
from France, which stood against the American occupation, 
were kidnapped; ongoing bombings in Iraq continue to kill 
more Iraqis than American soldiers; another sabotage against 
the Kirkuk-Ceyhan oil pipeline has been reported; Hamas 
killed innocent people in Israel despite its claim that 
Israel is the one killing innocents.  Even this recent 
compilation shows that regardless of how right their cause 
may be, Muslims have been producing nothing beyond treachery 
and death.  99.9 percent of Muslims worldwide have nothing 
to do with this, of course, but by now it no longer matters. 
The word Muslim is being identified with treason, not even 
with terrorism.  A fly is almost invisible, but is always 
enough to spoil the soup.  Muslims should never forget this 
fact." 
 
"Reaping what you sow" 
Haluk Ulman argued in the economic-politic Dunya (9/7): 
"This article is absolutely not intended to defend terrorism 
in any way.  I want to curse the recent terrorist events, 
but also to analyze the concept of `Islamic terror.' . The 
fanatics in the Western world, namely Jewish-Christian 
fanatics, put the whole blame on Islam.  They strongly 
believe that Islam as a religion is a source for terrorism. 
The Islamic world, in turn, is busy finding arguments to 
acquit itself.  . Identifying Islam with terrorism is a big 
mistake and an injustice toward Muslims.  History tells us 
that terrorist attacks have also been carried out by non- 
Muslims.  Thus, terrorism does not have a religion.  On the 
other hand, it is true to say that most of the perpetrators 
of terrorist events in recent decades have come from the 
Arab-Islamic world.  The Islamic world should undergo some 
self-criticism in this regard.  At the same time, the 
western world also should examine its policies toward the 
Islamic world.  These terrorists are the `side-effects' of 
the demise of the Ottoman Empire caused by the British, 
French and, finally, the Americans in order to protect their 
geopolitical and economic interests in the Arab-Islamic 
world.  They are reaping the results of what they have 
sown." 
 
EDELMAN