US embassy cable - 04ANKARA6092

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 006092 
 
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 
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2004 
 
THIS REPORT PRESENTS THE TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER THREE 
THEMES: 
 
HEADLINES 
BRIEFING 
EDITORIAL OPINION 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
HEADLINES 
 
MASS APPEALS 
Chirac, Schroeder point to 2005 as Turkey-EU talks date - 
Sabah 
Turkey's EU flight on 36 Airbus planes - Aksam 
Prince Charles visits Mardin - Sabah 
Prince Charles supports Turkey's EU membership - Aksam 
Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania to determine Election 2004 
outcome - Milliyet 
Americans want Clinton as president - Hurriyet 
 
OPINION MAKERS 
Chirac's final decision: `Yes' - Radikal 
Chirac says `Yes' for Turkey - Yeni Safak 
Berlin, Paris support entry talks with Turkey in 2005 - 
Zaman 
Le Monde: Paris may ask postponement of EU entry talks with 
Turkey - Zaman 
Israel withdraws from Gaza, West Bank - Cumhuriyet 
Knesset approves, Israel leaves Gaza - Zaman 
Afghanistan, `liberated' by US, in terrible condition - 
Cumhuriyet 
Karzai wins by 55 percent of votes - Radikal 
Turkish Airlines sign deal for 36 Airbus planes - Yeni Safak 
State terror in Thailand: 84 killed - Cumhuriyet 
 
 
BRIEFING 
 
Erdogan meets Schroeder, Chirac:  Prior to a meeting Tuesday 
with Turkish PM Tayyip Erdogan, French President Jacques 
Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said they 
would vote at a summit in December in Brussels for Ankara to 
be invited to EU membership talks.  Schroeder is the 
strongest supporter of Turkey's bid within the EU.  But 
Chirac has bowed to domestic pressure to hold a referendum 
on Ankara's accession and warned that Paris could veto 
membership talks at any time. Chirac said in Berlin he 
believed the talks could be launched sometime in 2005 and 
noted that negotiations will result in eventual Turkish 
membership.  Chirac added that a referendum in France would 
only be held at the end of the negotiation process, in 10 or 
15 years' time.  During a meeting in Berlin with Germany's 
Green Party leader Claudia Roth, PM Erdogan voiced objection 
to such a referendum.  The official reason for Erdogan's 
invitation to join the French-German summit was for the 
signing of a $2.8 billion contract for Turkish Airlines 
(THY) to buy 36 Airbus passenger planes to renew its fleet, 
say papers.  THY signed the deal with the European aircraft 
maker Airbus on Tuesday.  The deal comprised 19 A320s, 12 
A321s and five A330-200s, and delivery was scheduled for 
October 2005 through 2008. 
FM Gul visits Czech Republic:  During a visit to the Czech 
Republic, FM Abdullah Gul said fulfilling the criteria for 
EU accession would not be easy.  `We know the negotiation 
period is not easy, particularly for big countries. And we 
know that it will take long, maybe 10 years,' Gul told a 
press conference in Prague Tuesday.  Gul's Czech counterpart 
Cyril Svoboda said the Czech government has made clear that 
it supports Turkey launching EU negotiations. 
Prince Charles visits Turkey:  Britain's Prince Charles on 
Tuesday toured religious and historic sites in Turkey's 
southeastern city of Mardin on the last leg of a two-day 
visit to Turkey.  Charles visited centuries-old madrasahs 
and mosques in the region.  On Monday, Prince Charles 
reopened the British consulate in Istanbul that was partly 
destroyed in November 2003 in a car bomb attack by a local 
cell linked to the Al-Qaeda network.  He later held talks 
with Turkish leaders in Ankara before going to Mardin on 
Tuesday afternoon.  Prince Charles was scheduled to leave 
Turkey for Jordan later in the day. 
Greece protests airspace violations by Turkish jets:  Greece 
said on Tuesday it had protested recent air and sea 
violations by Turkish vessels and jetfighters, saying such 
behavior could damage Turkey's drive to be granted EU entry 
talks.  Ankara denied any violations had taken place.  While 
the Greek officials have refused to issue details of the 
violations, sources have said they include Turkish warships 
sailing in Greek waters off a disputed islet in the eastern 
Aegean, and Turkish jetfighters flying low over Greek 
frigates in Greek waters.  The Turkish Foreign Ministry said 
Turkish forces were carrying out routine operations in 
either Turkish or international waters and airspace. 
Turkish Cypriots search for a new government:  Turkish 
Cypriots' outgoing PM Mehmet Ali Talat, leader of TRNC's 
last coalition government, has turned down an offer by prime 
minister-designate Dervis Eroglu to form a coalition 
government, papers report.  Observers say early elections 
are likely in north Cyprus in January of next year. 
 
EDITORIAL OPINION: Iraq; EU-Turkey 
 
"Chain of Mistakes in Iraq" 
Tevfik Dalgic commented in the economic-politic Referans 
(10/27): "The US continues to make mistakes in Iraq which 
stems from its serious lack of familiarity with Middle East 
culture, its history and its ethnic structuring. . The first 
in the series of mistakes started with the ideological 
obsession that the American neo-conservatives had about Iraq 
and Saddam.  Because of the Saddam-obsessed policy, the Bush 
administration failed to turn the global war on terrorism 
into a global cooperation.  The unilateralist approach 
prevailed in American policy on Iraq and terrorism, which 
resulted in the US being in a conflict with NATO, the EU and 
the UN.  The mistakes continued right after the Iraq 
operation when the Iraqi army was dissolved.  Among many 
mistakes, the ongoing US support for Kurds is one with 
serious consequences.  The US gave support to Kurdish feudal 
leaders and ignored the fact that they knew nothing about 
democracy, human rights and the supremacy of law and order. 
This can be a criterion to put the US through a sincerity 
test:  Washington started the Iraq war to bring democracy 
and a group of tribal figures were tasked with the 
establishment of democracy.  . In short, the US is 
experiencing serious difficulty in Iraq which increases the 
possibility of the US making more as well as crucial 
mistakes.  Turkey should consider this as a factor while 
shaping its policy regarding Iraq and its future.  The Iraq 
policy should be formulated to provide guidance to the US 
and to protect both Turkey's strategic interests as well as 
relations with the EU." 
 
"EU is the Only Option" 
Kamuran Ozbir commented in the nationalist Ortadogu (10/27): 
"The European Union should take the steps to integrate with 
Turkey.  Turkey emerged as a role model for the Western 
world, especially after 9/11 and the fear about the clash of 
civilizations.  Turkey being a full member of the EU will 
serve the interests of both.  Turkey is the only country 
with which the EU can enjoy a genuine integration instead of 
a typical alliance.  The accession of Turkey into the EU 
will provide a message that Europeans have no problem with 
Islam and embrace Turkey as a democratic nation with a free 
market economy, which is urgently needed in the wake of a 
clash of civilizations." 
EDELMAN