US embassy cable - 04ANKARA6838

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 ANKARA 006838 
 
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 
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2004 
 
 
THIS REPORT PRESENTS THE TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER THREE 
THEMES: 
 
HEADLINES 
BRIEFING 
EDITORIAL OPINION 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
 
HEADLINES 
 
MASS APPEAL 
Powell: Turkey did a `very good job' on EU criteria - 
Hurriyet 
Washington gives Turkey December 17 support - Milliyet 
Erdogan believes EU will not raise Cyprus issue at 12/17 
summit - Sabah 
Ankara urges Putin to pressure Greek Cypriots - Milliyet 
90 US nuclear bombs at Incirlik Airbase - Sabah 
US troops: `Why don't we have enough armored vehicles?'-- 
Hurriyet 
Wiretapping to become legal in US - Hurriyet 
`Super-intelligence' reform in US - Milliyet 
 
OPINION MAKERS 
Powell praises Turkey - Radikal 
FM Gul: Turkey won't accept anything but full membership - 
Yeni Safak 
FM Gul: No recognition of Nicosia before Cyprus solution - 
Radikal 
Papadopoluos angered by US pressure in favor of Turks - 
Radikal 
Greek Cypriots threatening veto - Yeni Safak 
UN Seminar: Fear of Islam has become acute - Radikal 
US soldier: All Muslims viewed as terrorists by US military 
- Zaman 
US kills reporters, doctors in Fallujah to contain news of 
atrocities - Yeni Safak 
US claims Iraqi resistance leaders are sheltered in Syria - 
Cumhuriyet 
Israel admits killing 148 civilians in West Bank this year - 
Cumhuriyet 
Former UK diplomats urge Blair to investigate civilian 
losses in Iraq - Yeni Safak 
 
 
BRIEFING 
 
Rift growing between GOT-US Embassy:  Turkish papers 
speculate about a `rift' between the Turkish government and 
the US Embassy in Ankara, which allegedly made the 
government `uncomfortable' by referring to the Istanbul- 
based Patriarch, Bartholomew, as the `Ecumenical Patriarch' 
a title Ankara rejects.  PM Erdogan reportedly made 
Ambassador Edelman wait six weeks before granting him an 
appointment that was requested by the Embassy in October. 
MFA Spokesman Namik Tan said at his weekly press briefing on 
Wednesday that `Turkey and the United States have been close 
allies for more than 50 years and have a multi-dimensional 
relationship based on mutual respect and common values.' 
`Turkey and the US are determined to develop relations and 
to continue current cooperation in the region and 
internationally,' Tan noted.  The MFA Spokesman also 
criticized the Turkish press for resorting to personal 
attacks against foreign diplomats (presumably American) 
working in Turkey.  The Erdogan-Edelman meeting will 
reportedly take place on December 13.  `Another strain with 
the US is settled pleasantly,' a "Yeni Safak" report 
comments. 
 
Commentary on deputy PM Sahin's contacts in US:  "Hurriyet" 
columnist Sukru Kucuksahin claims that in a meeting with U/S 
Marc Grossman and Homeland Security advisor Frances 
Townsend, visiting Turkish deputy PM Mehmet Ali Sahin played 
down the strong criticisms made by AK Party members with 
regard to US conduct in Iraq.  `What matters is the view of 
the government rather than some individual statements,' 
Sahin said, referring to parliamentary human rights 
commission chairman Mehmet Elkatmis' recent remarks 
characterizing the US military operation in Fallujah as a 
`genocide.'  `However,' Sahin noted, `the civilian 
casualties and the images coming from Fallujah should not 
have taken place.'  `Your intention in coming to Iraq was to 
establish democracy, and that is what you need to do,' Sahin 
added.  Sahin told "Hurriyet" that Americans should `learn a 
lesson' from protest actions made by ordinary Turks, such as 
posting `Americans are not allowed' signs in their shop 
windows.  `The attitude by the Americans that they can do 
whatever they want anywhere in the world will cause a 
counter-reation,' Sahin said.  Columnist Kucuksahin regards 
such statements by Sahin as an indication of tension in the 
bilateral relationship.  Kucuksahin also speculates that 
Sahin's response to Grossman's call on Turkey to reopen 
Halki Seminary is one that `would not make the State 
Department happy at all.' 
 
Powell praises Turkey in Brussels:  Turkish papers report US 
Secretary of State Colin Powell's comments on Wednesday that 
 
SIPDIS 
Turkey has done a `very good job' of meeting the Copenhagen 
criteria required to begin EU membership talks.  Powell said 
it was not for him to suggest to EU leaders to set a date 
for Turkish entry negotiations at the upcoming December 
summit, but added that it would be `a good thing' if Turkey 
were to be given a date.  `I think it would be positive if 
the EU agrees to grant Ankara a date on december 17. But of 
course, that is up to the EU,' Powell said in remarks in 
Brussels. 
 
Turkey says if denied membership, it may not follow EU: 
Turkish ambassador to the EU, Oguz Demiralp, warned on 
Wednesday that the European Union should not expect Ankara 
to remain in its `orbit' if it did not open membership talks 
after the December 17 summit.  Demiralp said it would not be 
logical for Turkey to stay on a pro-EU course if EU leaders 
deny Ankara a date for entry talks or offered some kind of a 
partnership agreement arther than membership. 
 
US keeps 90 nuclear bombs in Turkey:  Citing a report by the 
French daily "Liberation," the Turkish daily "Sabah" claims 
that the US is keeping 90 of its 480 "B-61" nuclear bombs in 
Europe at the Incirlik Airbase in southern Turkey. 
Washington has reportedly allowed Turkey the use of 40 of 
those bombs under US supervision.  The report originated 
with the US-based organization "Atomic Scientist." 
 
Ansar al-Sunna threatens to kill a Turk abducted in Iraq: 
The Al-Qaeda linked fundamentalist group Ansar Al-Sunna 
threatened in an Internet video that it would soon kill a 
Turkish hostage it said was working for a company serving US 
forces in Iraq, Turkish papers report.  The video said that 
businessman Fattah Narjess, who came to Iraq from Turkey 
aided by Massoud Barzani's KDP, will be executed by Ansar al- 
Sunna. 
 
US soldiers in Iraq hire workers from Incirlik, Turkey:  US 
soldiers in Iraq and some foreign contractors prefer to hire 
manpower from the town of Incirlik in southern Turkey, home 
to the Turkish airbase near Adana.  3,000 Turks have been 
taken to Iraq by to work for the Americans, thus eliminating 
the unemployment problem in Incirlik, "Radikal" reports. 
Some 20 shop owners who had been running souvenir shops in 
Incirlik before have now opened shops in Iraqi areas where 
US troops are deployed, according to the report. 
 
Erdogan opens 'Garden of Religions':  PM Tayyip Erdogan 
pledged Wednesday that his government would remove all 
obstacles to religious freedom in Turkey as he opened a 
complex of Muslim, Christian and Jewish worship sites in 
Belek near Turkey's coastal city of Antalya.  The "Garden of 
Religions" includes a mosque, a church and a synagogue. 
Speaking at the ceremony, Erdogan said that religious 
tolerance was a heritage of the Ottoman Empire.  `Owing to 
this historical experience, Turkey is today the guarantor of 
peace and brotherhood in its region,' he said.  Turkey's 
Jewish, Orthodox Christian, Catholic and Armenian community 
leaders, as well as visiting Dutch European Affairs Minister 
Atzo Nikolai, whose country currently holds the EU 
presidency, attended the ceremony. 
 
 
EDITORIAL OPINION: Turkey-US-Europe Relations 
 
"Is There Any Problem in Turkish-American Relations?" 
Nuray Basaran observed in the mass appeal-sensational 
"Aksam" (12/9):  "Since the US and Turkey developed what is 
often referred to as a `strategic partnership,' there has 
been a parallel campaign underway to undermine that concept. 
Turkey-US relations began to intensify for the first time 
after 1944.  The US had the war ship `Missouri' anchored in 
the straits after the USSR had claimed Kars and Ardahan from 
Turkey.  With that incident, a military-based relationship 
began with the US.  Over time, social, political and 
economic relations were also established and started to 
improve.  With Turkey's membership in NATO, US-Turkey 
relations were reshaped as Transatlantic relations.  As a 
result of the first Gulf war, these relations were extended 
to the Middle East as well.  That is where the problems 
began.  From 1990 onwards, problems on the military side of 
the Turkish-American relationship gradually escalated over 
developments in the Middle East and Iraq.  Even though 
Turkey had received its most important logistical and 
intelligence support from the US in its fight against PKK - 
support that peaked in 1999 with the capture of Ocalan -- 
the nationalist reflex caused Turkey to maintain distance 
from elements of the United States security structure.  The 
very close relations that had  been established between 
Turkish and Israeli security forces allowed Turkish security 
elements to move away from the US.  Problems in the dialogue 
between the US and Turkey carried the bilateral relationship 
to a crisis level.  No one will benefit from either ignoring 
the problems in our relations with the US or closing 
Turkey's doors to dialogue with the Americans.  In short, if 
we want to continue our relations with the US, we have to 
take urgent action to redefine what that relationship means. 
But if we don't value our relationship with the US and plan 
to move in different directions, then our leaders should 
announce this openly so that we won't exert our effort for 
nothing." 
 
"The End of Defiant Diplomacy" 
Chief Editor Ertugrul Ozkok wrote in the mass appeal 
"Hurriyet" (12/9): "Yesterday's headline in most Israelie 
papers was this: `Egypt encourages Kuwait and Egypt to take 
more decisive steps in the peace process.'  It's 
interesting, isn't it?  An Arab country encouraging two 
other Arab countries to move closer to Israel.  You probably 
also noticed this statement by Egyption President Mubarak 
earlier in the week: `Sharon is a chance for peace between 
Palestine and Israel.  This chance must be used.'  So an 
Arab leader views Sharon not as a `butcher' but as a man who 
can help bring peace.  At the same time, we see a completely 
opposite picture in Turkey's relationship with Israel. 
Tayyip Erdogan's statements last May raised tensions between 
the two countries.  Although those tensions now appear to be 
`under control' (in fact, Foreign Minister Gul may travel to 
Israel before the January elections in Palestine), the 
political relationship still doesn't correspond to the 
enormous growth we have seen in Turkey's economic and 
tourism ties with Israel.  Now let me come to the final 
piece of the puzzle - the open alliance between the US and 
the EU with regard to the Ukrainian elections.  These two 
great powers have shown that their common values on an issue 
like this are very important. Now let me repeat what I said 
last weekend:  This is not the time to engage in unilateral, 
defiant behavior.  This is not the time to be more 
Palestinian than the Arabs.  This is the time to show 
solidarity with the powers that can solve the big problems 
in our region.  This applies also to the government, which 
has recently used this kind of `defiance' as a diplomatic 
tool.  It also applies to (the opposition) CHP mayors who 
are hanging posters in the streets that say `we are all 
Fallujans.'" 
EDELMAN