US embassy cable - 04ANKARA5183

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 005183 
 
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 14, 2004 
 
 
THIS REPORT PRESENTS THE TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER THREE 
THEMES: 
 
HEADLINES 
BRIEFING 
EDITORIAL OPINION 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
HEADLINES 
 
MASS APPEAL 
Gul to US: We'll end cooperation if Tal Afar attacks 
continue - Milliyet 
Ankara warns of ending cooperation with US- Aksam 
US troops in Tal Afar - Hurriyet 
Powell: We've miscalculated the problems in Iraq - Aksam 
Al-Qaeda kills another Turk - Milliyet 
Iraq a new `Jihad' zone for Turkish fundamentalists - Sabah 
Al-Qaeda Turks claim responsibility for Istanbul bombings - 
Aksam 
Powell: Saddam has nothing to do with 9/11 - Sabah 
 
OPINION MAKERS 
US takes Tal Afar - Cumhuriyet 
Amb. Edelman: Tal Afar operation is about to end - Yeni 
Safak 
Massacre of civilians feared in Tal Afar - Zaman 
Iraqi Turkmen fear mass killings - Yeni Safak 
Holbrooke: Iraq worse than Vietnam - Zaman 
Powell's belated confession on Iraq - Cumhuriyet 
First Greek Cypriot school opens in `TRNC' - Zaman 
Putin draws in the reins - Radikal 
 
 
BRIEFING 
 
Situation in Tal Afar:  FM Abdullah Gul said Monday he had 
asked Secretary of State Colin Powell to end the fighting in 
Tal Afar, and said he had warned the Secretary that `if it 
continues, Turkey's cooperation on matters concerning Iraq 
will come to an end.' Gul condemned what he called `the 
excessive use of force against civilians' in Tal Afar.  The 
MFA on Monday told US Ambassador Edelman about Turkey's 
concerns over the situation.  The US Ambassador replied that 
strikes by US forces in Tal Afar were aimed at combatants 
and not civilians.  `We cannot completely eliminate the 
possibility of civilian casualties,' the Ambassador said, 
`but we believe the operation is being conducted with great 
care,' Edelman said.  He said Turkey and the United States 
would cooperate to send humanitarian assistance to the area. 
Ambassador Edelman rejected claims in the Turkish media that 
US forces aimed to clear Tal Afar of Turkmen, who are close 
to Ankara, and replace them with Kurds.  `I assure you that 
we will not let the demographic structure of Tal Afar be 
changed,' Edelman stressed. 
 
Turkish fundamentalists join `Jihad' in Iraq:  "Sabah" 
estimates that about 700 fundamentalist Turkish militants 
are currently in Iraq fighting in the ranks of insurgents. 
The paper points to video footage of abducted Turkish 
workers, in which some militants are heard speaking fluent 
Turkish.  The Turkish fighters were first sent to 
Afghanistan, Chechnya, Bosnia, and Palestine before joining 
the resistance in Iraq, the paper claims.  Some of them are 
kept in Turkey to carry out fundraising activities, 
according to "Sabah." 
 
Osman Ocalan claims US support:  PKK defector Osman Ocalan, 
who has set up a new political organization in northern 
Iraq, said the US has a `positive view' of his efforts, 
"Milliyet" reports.  In a statement to the Kurdish webpage 
`Rizgari Online,' Ocalan said he had sent messages to Ankara 
through Kurdish leaders Necirvan Barzani and Jalal Talabani 
asking for contacts with the Turkish government.  `The 
Americans' positive approach to our initiative has been a 
gain for our freedom movement,' Ocalan reportedly said. 
 
Turkish truck driver beheaded in Iraq:  Video footage of the 
killing of a Turkish hostage by fundamentalist insurgents in 
Iraq was posted on an Islamist website Monday.  In the 
video, three hooded kidnappers are shown slitting the throat 
of Durmus Kumdereli, one of three Turkish truck drivers 
seized by the Tawhid wa al-Jihad group headed by Al-Qaeda 
operative al-Zarqawi.  The execution reportedly took place 
in August.  Kumdereli was killed for supplying goods to the 
US military in Iraq, the militants said. 
 
Istanbul bombers' trial:  Al-Qaeda financed the bomb attacks 
against two synagogues and British interests in Istanbul 
that killed a total of 63 people in November 2003, Adnan 
Ersoz, one of the suspects in the bombings, told a court in 
Istanbul Monday.  `There is no Al-Qaeda branch in Turkey, 
but there are ties of mutual assistance between us and Al- 
Qaeda, and the money came from Al-Qaeda,' Ersoz said.  At 
Monday's session of the trial of 69 people accused of 
involvement in the attacks, Ersoz acknowledged that he had 
received training in Afghanistan and Pakistan, where he met 
Habib Aktas.  Aktas, one of the alleged masterminds of the 
plot, was reportedly killed in Iraq last week during a US 
raid on Al-Anbar.  Another chief suspect, Harun Ilhan said, 
`I have fought in the ranks of Al-Qaida and I'm proud of 
it.'  Ilhan apologized to Muslim victims of the terror 
attacks, but said, his group had `sent the Jews a message in 
a language they can understand.'  `The bombings were carried 
out by Habib Aktas, Gurcan Bac (another suspect, still on 
the run) and me,' Ilhan said. 
 
AK Party's `adultery bill':  The ruling AK Party government 
is expected to submit a draft revised criminal code to 
parliament on Tuesday that includes a provision that would 
criminalize adultery.  Voting will be held in the next 
several days.  Turkish papers say the AK Party effort to ban 
adultery would jeopardize Turkey's EU hopes.  Several EU 
foreign ministers criticized the proposal yesterday at a 
meeting in Brussels.  The proposal is characterized by 
Europeans as `a step backward' for Turkey.  Some AK Party 
officials said the proposal to criminalize adultery is a 
social measure aimed at persuading men to be faithful to 
their wives.  They say it has nothing to do with religion. 
 
 
EDITORIAL OPINION: 9/11 Anniversary 
 
"Destroying It Completely while Fixing It" 
Haluk Ulman noted in the economic-political Dunya (9/14): 
"Three years after the events of 9/11 the world is 
surrounded with fear and insecurity.  The Bush 
administration started the Iraq war without finishing the 
job regarding Al Qaida and Bin Laden, and currently it is 
experiencing serious pitfalls in both Iraq and Afghanistan, 
not to mention the US's difficult position in the 
international arena. . Bin Laden is still not finished, and 
even if he is captured there is no chance of seeing the Al 
Qaida terror end.  The Iraq war did not deter Al Qaida, in 
fact, it helped it to grow even more rapidly.  Al Qaida 
terror speeded across the continent, from Spain to Saudi 
Arabia, Turkey to Indonesia.   9/11 was certainly a very sad 
event.  Yet the Bush administration's method of dealing with 
the issue is even more sad.  Washington tried to `fix' it 
and `destroyed it completely' in the end." 
 
"Is This Counter-Terrorism?" 
Ismail Kapan commented in the conservative Turkiye (9/14): 
"Three years after the September 11 incident, how does the 
global war the US has started against terrorism proceed? 
Was the US able to bring democracy and freedom to 
Afghanistan and Iraq, as it claimed?  Or, with the 
occupation, were much blood, tears and chaos brought to 
these countries?  Actually, it is very clear that the 
situation gets worse with every passing day.  One other 
thing is very clear-- that the US, with the excuse of 
fighting against terrorism, started its operation to become 
the only ruler of the world, for which it has been in 
preparation for many years.  In short, the fight against 
terrorism is an excuse, and the real reason and target is to 
control the strategic regions and the energy resources of 
the world.  The claim of  `fight against terrorism' loses 
its persuasiveness with every passing day.  What do you 
think is the number of the civilian lives lost in Iraq and 
Afghanistan since the occupation?  As a recent example, how 
many civilians lost their lives in Tal Afar? Or in Fallujah, 
Bakuba, Ramadi and Najaf, which are under constant bombing? 
While heavily bombing Tal Afar with the claim that there 
were about 200 terrorists there, how come the US ignores 
thousands of PKK terrorists in the northern Iraq mountains? 
The more the world realizes the real US intentions and 
witnesses the deaths of civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan, 
the more the reaction against the US grows.  This is because 
the Bush administration's wrong policies increase terrorist 
activities globally.   The most important conclusion reached 
from all this is: No one believes the fight against 
terrorism argument anymore." 
 
EDELMAN