US embassy cable - 04ANKARA5717

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 ANKARA 005717 
 
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, OCTOBER 5, 2004 
 
THIS REPORT PRESENTS THE TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER THREE 
THEMES: 
 
HEADLINES 
BRIEFING 
EDITORIAL OPINION 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
HEADLINES 
 
MASS APPEAL 
Verheugen: No EU membership for Turkey before 2015 - Vatan 
FM Gul: We won't accept special EU conditions for Turkey - 
Vatan 
New EU expansion chief positive toward Turkey - Milliyet 
Incoming EU Commission wants referendum on Turkey - Sabah 
PM Erdogan: Referendum on Turkey is double-standard - Aksam 
`TRNC' to be represented at EU - Turkiye 
Another Turk killed in Iraq for `spying' - Milliyet 
Life paralyzed in Gaza - Aksam 
 
OPINION MAKERS 
Europe's historic debate on Turkey - Radikal 
Verheugen's successor positive on Turkey - Radikal 
Brussels presses Ankara to recognize Greek Cypriots - 
Cumhuriyet 
HRW: For Turkey, human rights hold key to EU gate - Yeni 
Safak 
Fallujah under fire, death toll 39 in Iraq - Zaman 
US kills children again in Fallujah raid - Yeni Safak 
Sharon's operation to destroy Gaza - Zaman 
Israeli operation isolates Palestine - Cumhuriyet 
Israel's bloody Gaza raid may go on for weeks - Yeni Safak 
Kerry catches up with Bush - Cumhuriyet 
 
 
BRIEFING 
 
EU-Turkey:  The European Commission will make a 
recommendation on Wednesday on whether Ankara has met the 
political and economic conditions to begin accession talks. 
EU leaders must then decide in December whether or not to 
set a date for the talks.  On Monday, EU Expansion 
Commissioner-designate Olli Rehn said that if the 
recommendation was positive, the bloc has a duty to `stick 
to its word.'  Rehn emphasized that a green light for the 
opening of entry talks would split European public opinion, 
but said the bloc should continue to encourage reform in 
Turkey.  Rehn also stressed that if accession talks began, 
`the EU definitely will need a strong monitoring mechanism 
in order to monitor Turkey's commitments concerning human 
rights and the rights of minorities.'  "Cumhuriyet" expects 
the Commission to press Ankara for the expansion of rights 
to the `Kurds and other minority groups in Turkey.'  Rehn 
said Turkey was taking the problem of torture seriously and 
noted that `a lot of progress has been made in the last few 
years.'  EU officials also said that Turkey has met EU 
conditions by supporting a UN peace plan for the 
reunification of Cyprus.  EU sources said the Commission 
would propose no date for opening entry talks, and no target 
date for Turkish accession.  But the report assumes that 
2015 would be the earliest realistic date.  Meanwhile, 
Turkish FM Abdullah Gul told reporters that there can be no 
question of special conditions for Turkey's membership.  On 
Wednesday, PM Erdogan will go to Strasbourg to address the 
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. 
Allegations of Pentagon `bribe money' for Halki Seminary:  A 
document sent to US Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz 
shows that the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomeos requested 
$12 million from the Pentagon for `bribes' to Turkish 
officials in an effort to see the reopening of Halki 
Seminary in Istanbul, "Vatan" reports.  The Pentagon sent 
the money to a special account at Barclay's Bank on October 
30, 2001.  However, the money `disappeared' after being 
transferred to the accounts of two Turks and a Muslim lawyer 
from Bahrain, Awadh Obaid al-Yamani, who is in charge of the 
Patriarch's private accounts and of donations made to the 
Patriarchate.  Businessman Vasilaki Floridi told a court in 
Istanbul that he had given $3.3 million to Bartholomeos to 
reopen the Seminary, but claimed that the Patriarch had used 
the money for personal purposes.  "Vatan" acknowledges that 
the authenticity of the document sent to Wolfowitz has not 
been verified. 
Hastings meets PM Erdogan:  PM Erdogan exchanged views on 
Monday with OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Chairman and US 
House of Representatives member Alcee Hastings on European 
security and developments in Iraq, "Yeni Safak" reports. 
Erdogan told Hastings that things are not going well in 
Iraq, and urged the OSCE to consult with NATO, the UN, and 
the EU to increase efforts for peace in the region. 
Hastings said that US-Turkey relations are not confined only 
to the struggle against terrorism.  Hastings noted that the 
OSCE has supported Turkey's EU membership for the last 10 
years.  Hastings later paid a courtesy visit to the deputy 
speaker of parliament, and recalled that a group of Turkish 
lawmakers would observe the US Presidential elections in 
November. 
Kizilay Employee Buried in Ankara:  Mustafa Pekcan, the 
Turkish Red Crescent employee who was critically wounded and 
later died from gunshot wounds suffered in an attack against 
a Turkish convoy near Mosul, was buried in a ceremony in 
Ankara yesterday.  FM Gul, Justice Minister Cicek, and 
Health Minister Akdag were all in attendance.  Murat Yetkin 
wrote in "Radikal" that, based on his conversation with an 
Iraqi Turkmen doctor who was on the scene in Mosul, American 
military doctors made extraordinary efforts to save Pekcan's 
life.  The delay in transporting Pekcan to Ankara, the 
doctor said, was due to the precariousness of his medical 
condition.  Meanwhile, CHP lawmaker Zulfi Livanelli said 
that if the US military had allowed the patient to be 
evacuated sooner from Iraq, he may well be alive today. 
Turkish Hostage Killed in Iraq:  All papers report that a 
Turkish hostage, Yilmaz Dabca, was shot and killed by his 
captors in Iraq.  An Italian citizen of Iraqi Turkmen 
origin, Ayad Enver Vali, was also killed.  Before the 
execution, then men's captors claimed that the two hostages 
had `confessed' to spying for Israel and Turkey. 
Body of Turkish Driver Founf Near Tikrit:  The body of 
another Turkish driver was found near the city of Tikrit, 
some 130 kilometers north of Baghdad.  The identity of the 
victim, who had been shot and killed, could not be 
immediately determined. 
Nicosia demands recognition by Turkey:  "Cumhuriyet" claims 
that Brussels is forcing Ankara to include southern Cyprus 
in the 1963 Ankara Agreement between Turkey and the EU.  The 
Greek Cypriots are urging EU to insist on full political 
recognition by Turkey.  The EU views the recent inclusion by 
Ankara of Nicosia in Turkey's 1996 Customs Union (CU) 
agreement with the EU as insufficient, and will present 
Ankara with an additional protocol to the Ankara Agreement 
which would introduce official recognition by Ankara of the 
Cyprus Republic.  Meanwhile, the Parliamentary Assembly of 
the Council of Europe (PACE) announced Monday that Turkish 
Cypriots would be allowed to attend the PACE meetings 
independent from the Greek Cypriots.  Papers view the 
decision as a goodwill gesture toward PM Erdogan before he 
addresses the Parliamentary Assembly on Wednesday.  The EU 
decision does not imply official recognition of the `TRNC.' 
Israel will not join air exercises in Turkey:  Israel did 
not join air exercises held every year in Turkey's Karapinar- 
Konya province due to the strain in bilateral relations with 
Turkey, "Radikal" reports.  The `Anatolian Eagle' military 
exercises were held in Konya in Turkey's Central Anatolian 
province with the participation of the US, Italy, the 
Netherlands, and Germany.  Diplomatic sources say the 
Palestine dispute and strained relations between Ankara and 
Tel Aviv are the main reason for Israel's withdrawal from 
the war games. 
 
EDITORIAL OPINION:  Iraq-Election 2004; EU-Turkey 
 
"Any chance for democracy in the United States?" 
Can Dundar commented in the mass appeal "Milliyet" (10/5): 
"In the post-9/11 atmosphere, the Patriotic Act has become a 
final blow against freedom.  The image of the Statue of 
Liberty has now turned into a police state.  President Bush 
has an authority to limit freedoms that any dictator would 
envy.  The law allows the tracking of financial records, 
electronic mail, and other communication without a court 
order. . The Patriotic Act has also expanded the list of 
crimes punishable by a capital sentence by 15.   The US is 
living in a psychology of fear of terror, where people are 
encouraged to spy on each other. . The American character 
and status as a superpower is rooted in the ability to 
encourage multiple cultures and successfully blend them into 
a single nation.  Unfortunately, the US is on the verge of 
losing this character.  It seems that the `Big Brother' 
nightmare of George Orwell is now being played out in 
America.  It will be interesting to see whether the US will 
return to democracy in the end, or whether it will turn to 
fascism?  The answer to this question requires a study of 
many factors, including the election results and 
developments in the Iraq war.  In the event of a defeat in 
Iraq, the American people might start to think about where 
things went wrong.  It may seem ironic, but the resistance 
in Iraq might bring democracy back to the US, even though 
the US has failed to bring democracy to Iraq." 
 
"The Cost of Fear" 
Haluk Ulman commented in the economic-political "Dunya" 
(10/5):  "During the first Presidential debate, President 
Bush did not promise any policy change if he is re-elected. 
Stubbornly, he continued to defend his Iraq policy.  Since 
it has been clearly proven that there were no WMDs in Iraq, 
Bush can no longer defend his case, but still insists that 
Saddam was on the verge of building WMDs if the US hadn't 
removed him from power.  Ignoring the situation in Iraq 
after the occupation and the danger it posed to regional and 
the world peace, Bush insists that the world became much 
safer after the removal of Saddam.  While all experts agree 
that the occupation of Iraq helped Al-Qaeda to become more 
powerful, Bush can't stop talking about how the occupation 
weakened terrorist organizations in the region.  Bush also 
highlighted the progress made by Iraq and Afghanistan on the 
road to democracy, even while there are no signs of 
democracy in either country.  The worst thing about the 
debate was that although Kerry proved with  examples that 
everything Bush said was far removed from reality, Bush 
still managed to convince a large number of American voters 
that his policies were correct.  Now, for the first time, 
Kerry is shouting to the American people that `the emperor 
has no clothes.'  The result of the election will show 
whether the American people have heard him." 
 
"EU up in arms, Paris in panic" 
Mehmet Ali Birand wrote in the mass appeal-sensational 
"Posta" (10/5): "After Turkey completes a decade of 
negotiations and reaches an agreement signed by all EU 
governments, France cannot turn around and reject that 
agreement in a referendum.  Therefore, the most important 
thing for Turkey is to start negotiations.  If the EU 
Commission's recommendation is clear enough to result in 
Turkey getting a date to start negotiations, it will be 
satisfactory.  It does not matter if a different method or 
an additional set of preconditions is attached due to 
domestic considerations. . If there is to be a new method of 
negotiations, it will not be applied only on Turkey.  It 
will also be applicable to all countries that begin 
negotiations after Turkey. . In any case, I believe the 
report will be very positive." 
EDELMAN