US embassy cable - 04ANKARA6069

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 006069 
 
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 26, 2004 
 
THIS REPORT PRESENTS THE TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER THREE 
THEMES: 
 
HEADLINES 
BRIEFING 
EDITORIAL OPINION 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
 
HEADLINES 
 
MASS APPEAL 
Ambassador Edelman: Foreign investment in Turkey will 
increase in time - Milliyet 
Prince Charles: Murderous attacks unite us - Aksam 
Prince Charles: Murderers cannot divide us - Milliyet 
Erdogan, Schroeder to try to persuade Chirac - Hurriyet 
Critical tripartite summit in Berlin - Milliyet 
Erdogan to meet Schroeder, Chirac, and sign Airbus deal - 
Aksam 
Clinton on campaign trail for Kerry - Aksam 
Clinton vs Arnie - Hurriyet 
Last week to go, Bush leads by 2 points - Hurriyet 
 
OPINION MAKERS 
Ambassador Edelman criticizes closure of gold mine in Izmir 
- Cumhuriyet 
Prince Charles: Terror brought us together - Zaman 
Kerry may win by `Clinton margin' - Zaman 
Jimmy Carter: Bush exploits 9/11 - Yeni Safak 
Hollywood stars launch a last attack for Kerry - Radikal 
Iraq Ambassador to Ankara pledges cooperation against PKK - 
Cumhuriyet 
Critical bargaining in Berlin - Radikal 
Greek Cypriot FM: No EU talks with Turkey without Cyprus 
troop pullout - Cumhuriyet 
FM Gul: Turkey expects EU to keep its promise - Yeni Safak 
Israel carries out daily massacre in Gaza: 14 killed - 
Cumhuriyet 
Massacre in Palestine: 14 killed - Yeni Safak 
 
 
BRIEFING 
 
Ambassador Edelman visits Izmir:  On Monday, US Ambassador 
to Ankara Eric Edelman addressed the business community in 
Turkey's Aegean city of Izmir at the Izmir Chamber of 
Commerce, papers report.  In his speech `Turkey-US Economic 
and Trade Relations,' Edelman voiced doubts that foreign 
investment has been fully put under legal guarantees in 
Turkey.  American companies have been experiencing problems 
with Turkish partners, Edelman said and pointed to two 
negative experiences suffered by Newmont Mining digging for 
gold near the town of Bergama, and the hardships encountered 
at the Pier construction in Izmir's Konak district. 
Responding to a question after delivering his speech, 
Edelman said agricultural subsidies prevented global 
competition.  Ambassador Edelman called for strong legal 
guarantees for foreign investors in Turkey.  Edelman also 
stressed that Turkey's European membership would increase 
opportunities for European and American companies. 
 
Erdogan, Gul to Berlin:  PM Tayyip Erdogan will join 
President Jacques Chirac and Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in 
Berlin Tuesday to discuss Turkey's EU membership drive. 
Opposition in France is seen as high as 75 percent, with the 
polls showing the French fear allowing in a large Muslim 
country, say papers.  The Turkey accession issue has shrunk 
Chirac's popularity ratings to their lowest levels in recent 
years, according to reports.  Observers believe  that due to 
opposition at home, Chirac would prefer to delay Turkey's 
accession negotiations until the second half of next year. 
Accompanying Erdogan will be FM Abdullah Gul, who will meet 
his German counterpart Joschka Fischer.  Erdogan will also 
join Chirac and Schroeder at a signing ceremony for the 
purchase of 36 Airbus planes for Turkish Airlines (THY). 
 
FM Gul in Paris:  FM Abdullah Gul told the press after 
speaking at the 11th Foreign Ministers' Meeting of the 
Mediterranean Forum in Paris that at the Copenhagen Summit, 
the EU has pledged to open the entry talks with Turkey 
without any delay after fulfillment of the political 
criteria.  Now, we expect the EU to keep its promise, Gul 
noted.  `The EU Constitution and the entry talks between 
Turkey and the EU are two different issues. They should not 
be connected to each other,' he added.  Gul later held a 
bilateral meeting with his French counterpart Michel 
Barnier.  Barnier reportedly told Gul that the EU Council 
would decide whether and when to open entry talks with 
Turkey at a December summit.  President Chirac will finalize 
the decision of Paris whether to approve EU accession 
negotiations with Turkey, say reports. 
 
Prince Charles reopens British Consulate in Istanbul: 
Prince Charles on Monday re-opened Britain's Istanbul 
consulate, partly destroyed by a suicide bombing last year. 
Seventeen people, including Consul-General Roger Short, were 
killed in the suicide attack on November 20, 2003.  A 
simultaneous suicide attack at the British HSBC bank, and 
attacks on two Istanbul synagogues five days earlier killed 
another 44 people and wounded hundreds.  A Turkish cell 
linked to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network claimed 
responsibility for the Istanbul bombings.  Prince Charles 
praised Turkey as proof that Islam and democracy can co- 
exist.  `Far from dividing us, those who planned these 
murderous attacks simply brought us together - Britons and 
Turks, Muslims, Jews and Christians,' Charles said.  He then 
flew to Ankara, where he was received by President Sezer and 
had dinner with PM Erdogan.  Prince Charles is to visit the 
southeastern Turkish province of Mardin on Tuesday before 
flying on to Jordan. 
 
Iraq wants consulate in Turkey:  Iraq wants to open a 
consulate in Turkey in exchange for Ankara's request to open 
a consulate in Mosul, papers report.  Iraqi Ambassador to 
Ankara Umran al-Sabah told the press that Iraq wanted to 
open a consulate in Istanbul or Diyarbakir.  Al-Sabah said 
Iraq was ready to cooperate with all forces in the region, 
including Turkey, to launch a military operation to remove 
the PKK presence in Iraq.  The Iraqi Ambassador claimed that 
Turkey was trying to see how the US and Iraq would react if 
Turkey launched a comprehensive military action against the 
PKK inside the Iraqi territory.  Iraq elections may be 
postponed for one or two months due to security reasons, al- 
Sabah noted.  He added that it was unclear whether a 
referendum would be held in Kirkuk.  Al-Sabah also called 
for the opening of airspace between Iraq and Turkey. 
 
Turkish troops won't go to Iraq:  Turkish military officers 
will not join the 300 NATO officers to be sent to Iraq early 
2005 to provide strategic training to the Iraqi army, 
reports "Yeni Safak."  Instead, Ankara will send a team of 
liaison officers, and has offered to train Iraqi army 
officers in Turkey, according to the paper.  US General 
Hildering will coordinate the overall training, says "Yeni 
Safak." 
 
Turks, Armenians to meet in Vienna:  Turkish and Armenian 
scholars are to meet in Vienna in the first half of 2005 to 
discuss the massacre of Armenians by Ottoman forces in 1915, 
reports "Hurriyet."  Turkey is to be represented at the 
talks by historian Prof. Yusuf Halacoglu and a senior 
diplomat from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Caucasus 
desk.  Minutes of the meetings will be made public after 
talks are wrapped up in Vienna, said Prof. Halacoglu. 
 
Turkey introduces new currency:  Turkey on Monday unveiled 
its new currency, two months before it goes into 
circulation, in what is described as a significant step in 
Ankara's battle against chronic inflation.   The New Turkish 
Lira (YTL) comes into effect on January 1, 2005, removing 
six zeroes from the current money, which symbolizes 30 years 
of hyperinflation.  On January 1 next year, the banknotes in 
circulation will be one, five, 10 and 2O YTL, which 
correspond to the current one million, five million, ten 
million and 20 million notes. 
 
EDITORIAL OPINION: Iraq; Kyoto Protocol 
 
"Kirkuk" 
Ercan Citlioglu commented in the economic-politic Referans 
(10/26): "KDP leader Barzani's recent visit to Ankara 
highlighted his real intentions about Kirkuk.  In a very 
contradictory manner, Barzani was talking about the need for 
a peaceful and harmonious atmosphere for Kirkuk at the same 
time he was characterizing Kirkuk as `a city with a Kurdish 
identity.'  The effort to change Kirkuk's demographic 
structure is a serious concern not only for Turkey but for 
the US as well.  . Barzani was hoping for a weak reaction 
from Ankara regarding the ongoing "Kurdisization" in Kirkuk, 
as he thought Turkey was completely preoccupied with the EU 
process.  However, Ankara issued very strong warnings. . 
Kirkuk continues to play a crucially important part in 
Turkish foreign policy for Iraq.  Its importance stems from 
both Kirkuk's strategic location and its potential to affect 
the developments in the whole region." 
 
"Good News For the World" 
Mehmet Sucu commented in the social democrat-intellectual 
Cumhuriyet (10/26):  "The sub-wing of the Russian 
Parliament, Duma, ratified the Kyoto Protocol, which 
supports the fight against climate change.  For some reason, 
such an important development for the world's future did not 
get much attention in Turkey.  The main goal of the Kyoto 
Protocol as agreed in 1997 is to reduce carbon dioxide 
emissions 5 percent by the year 2010, which are mainly 
produced in the industrial nations of the northern 
hemisphere and cause the greenhouse effect.  As it is well 
known, global warming causes melting of the glaciers and 
this causes storms, rain and drought to increase globally. 
Russia and the US were hesitant to sign the protocol.  But, 
after the Duma's approval of the protocol, things have 
changed.  In fact, the ratification process for the protocol 
to go into effect is as complicated as its implementation. 
The total emission amount in protocol-supporting countries 
needs to be over 55 percent for the protocol to be put into 
effect. .  The participation of Russia in the Kyoto Protocol 
is very important.  The US, which is the world's biggest 
carbon dioxide producer, refuses to sign the protocol and 
has pulled itself out from the protocol in 2001." 
 
EDELMAN