US embassy cable - 04ANKARA5882

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 005882 
 
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 
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2004 
 
 
THIS REPORT PRESENTS THE TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER THREE 
THEMES: 
 
HEADLINES 
BRIEFING 
EDITORIAL OPINION 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
HEADLINES 
 
MASS APPEAL 
French parliament: Turkey not ready for EU - Hurriyet 
France wants entry talks with Turkey, but `restricted' 
membership - Milliyet 
French PM: We cannot exclude Turkey from EU - Aksam 
Balir: Turkey definitely belongs to EU - Sabah 
Angela Merkel gives up anti-Turkey campaign - Hurriyet 
Zana: Turkey's Kurds want peace - Milliyet 
Another Turk beheaded in Iraq - Milliyet 
Killers behead another Turk in Iraq - Aksam 
`TRNC PM': Turkey must resist EU calls for recognizing 
Nicosia - Milliyet 
Kerry: 3 - Bush: 0 
 
OPINION MAKERS 
French parliament split over Turkey's EU bid - Zaman 
Blair: Turkey will be a significant gain for EU - Yeni Safak 
Iraqi insurgency on rise before upcoming elections - 
Cumhuriyet 
`TRNC PM': We won't accept recognition by Ankara of Nicosia 
- Radikal 
Kerry very eloquent - Cumhuriyet 
Kerry wins last round by a slight margin - Zaman 
Scowcroft: Bush a `toy' of Sharon - Yeni Safak 
Israeli foreign ministry warns against becoming a `rogue' 
state - Radikal 
Kerry: Bus a `mob boss'- Yeni Safak 
Serbs admit Srebrenidza massacre - Cumhuriyet 
 
 
BRIEFING 
 
Turkish leaders discuss Iraq:  On Thursday, PM Erdogan, FM 
Gul, TGS Chief General Ozkok and some other top Turkish 
officials met in Ankara to discuss the situation in northern 
Iraq and the security of Turkish workers in the region, 
papers report.  Ankara has decided to monitor closely the 
mass movement of Kurds around Kirkuk, and press for US 
military action against the PKK in northern Iraq.  Turkish 
leaders will tell the US that ethnic clashes in Iraq would 
have a negative effect on the stability in neighboring 
countries, say papers.  Dailies report TGS Chief General 
Ozkok as stressing that Kirkuk has become a powder keg 
following the US operation against the Turkmen in TalAfar. 
Turkish leaders, in an effort to prevent terrorist 
infiltration into Turkey, have agreed to launch a military 
cross-border operation against the PKK militants hiding in 
Kandil mountains in northern Iraq, "Aksam" speculates. 
 
Ocalan on US/Kurds:  Any Kurd not willing to cooperate with 
the US is a fool, said Osman Ocalan, brother of the PKK's 
imprisoned leader Abdullah Ocalan.  Ocalan told "Hurriyet" 
in Suleymaniye that the US has been removing dictatorships 
in the Middle East, and is working for a resolution to the 
Kurdish problem within that framework.  The founding of his 
dissident movement, the Patriotic Democrat Party (PWD) will 
be completed by late October, Ocalan said and noted that the 
new movement would then establish ties with the US.  Turkey 
is our country, and Kurds cannot be deprived of their right 
to return home, he stressed. 
 
AKP working to see Kurds in parliament:  The ruling AK Party 
is seeking a formula for the inclusion of pro-Kurdish DEHAP 
in parliament without removing the 10-percent elections 
threshold, says "Cumhuriyet."  AKP plans to reserve 100 
seats of the 550-seat parliament for political parties which 
remain under the threshold.  AKP aims to silence charges 
directed by EU to Ankara regarding non-representation of 
Kurds in the parliament, "Cumhuriyet" speculates. 
 
More Turks killed, abducted in Iraq:  An Al-Qaeda-linked 
group, Army of Ansar al-Sunna on Thursday posted a video on 
its website showing the beheading of a Turkish man it 
described as a truck driver who carries supplies to US 
`crusader' forces in Iraq.  The footage shows one of the 
hooded militants beheading the hostage and placing the head 
on the body.  Papers report two more Turkish truckers were 
abducted in Iraq on Thursday. 
 
Zana in Brussels:  Former Kurdish lawmaker Leyla Zana called 
on Turkey on Thursday to begin a dialogue with its Kurdish 
minority, saying efforts to improve human rights to meet EU 
criteria would otherwise be `cosmetic.'  Zana, in an address 
partly in Turkish and partly in Kurdish to the European 
Parliament, urged Ankara to be more serious about 
implementing basic human rights standards it must meet to 
join the EU.  `The Turkish government must include in its 
agenda the democratic solution to the Kurdish issue by 
giving it a proper name,' she said.  Bans on Kurdish 
broadcasting and education have been lifted during Ankara's 
drive to join the EU, but Turkey has not liberalized enough 
and is still too frightened to identify the problem, Zana 
emphasized. 
 
Gang boss extradited to Turkey:  Convicted Turkish 
underworld boss Alaattin Cakici, wanted on charges of 
corruption and extortion, was extradited from Austria to 
Turkey on Thursday.  Cakici previously served sentences for 
`forming and directing a gang to commit crime.  Austrian 
police captured him in July, two months after he fled 
Turkey.  He was at the center of a 1998 scandal over the 
privatization of a state bank, which resulted in the 
toppling of the government of then-prime minister Mesut 
Yilmaz.  Recently, his alleged ties with the judiciary and 
with intelligence officials triggered investigations against 
the top judge of the appeals court. 
 
 
EDITORIAL OPINION:  Afghanistan; Election 2004 
 
"What Type of Democracy?" 
Sami Kohen remarked in the mass appeal Milliyet (10/15): 
"The Afghanistan election is over.  Iraq is preparing for a 
general election process for the first time in the post- 
Saddam era.  Saudi Arabia is also going to hold a local 
election for the first time.  These are nice events, yet to 
what extent can we possibly call them democratic?  The fact 
of the matter is that none of the three examples bears any 
resemblance to Western-type democracies.  Yet we should take 
into account the fact that none of these countries has any 
democratic tradition, democratic institution, or a culture 
of democracy.  Elections are taking place either for the 
first time or in the midst of chaos and anarchy.  Thus it is 
easy to be cynical regarding the elections in these 
countries. . Given the circumstances, it would be too much 
to expect a Western-style democratic outcome and election 
process overnight in Iraq, Afghanistan or Saudi Arabia.  The 
most important gain is that these nations are on their way 
towards democracy.  This might be a rocky and thorny road. 
But their determination and will for democracy does matter." 
 
"Why Americans Continue to Believe Bush?" 
Haluk Ulman commented in the economic-politic Dunya (10/15): 
"The problems created after the intervention in Iraq are 
increasing every day.  The Bush administration brought 
uncertainty to Iraq and the whole region's future, which 
should be of direct concern to Turkey. . There is no 
encouraging development regarding the fight against 
terrorism either.  President Bush is only fooling himself by 
saying that the US managed to land a serious blow against 
international terrorism with the occupation of Iraq.  The 
occupation in fact helped Al Qaida grow even more. . Despite 
many blatant mistakes by the Bush administration, the public 
opinion polls in the US indicate continued support for Bush. 
The American electors are brain-washed by the neo-con- 
manipulated media.  Therefore at least the half of the US 
voters continue to believe whatever Bush says.  It remains 
to be seen how long this will continue." 
 
EDELMAN