US embassy cable - 05ANKARA325

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 000325 
 
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, JANUARY 18, 2005 
 
 
THIS REPORT PRESENTS THE TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER THREE 
THEMES: 
 
HEADLINES 
BRIEFING 
EDITORIAL OPINION 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
HEADLINES 
 
MASS APPEAL 
US infiltrates Iran - Sabah 
Secret US operations inside Iran - Hurriyet 
 
SIPDIS 
US targets 40 Iranian nuclear facilities - Milliyet 
Bush aims to topple the mullahs in Iran - Milliyet 
Archbishop Casmoussa abducted in Mosul - Hurriyet 
Saddam denies responsibility in Halabja killings - Sabah 
Israeli military opposes Gaza withdrawal plan - Aksam 
 
OPINION MAKERS 
US special teams in Iraq - Yeni Safak 
Saddam loyalists plan attacks against Iraqi ballot boxes - 
Cumhuriyet 
Ankara warns UN, Iraq on Kirkuk vote - Cumhuriyet 
Shiites want democracy for Iraq, not theocracy - Zaman 
Robert Fisk: Western journalists report form Baghdad hotel 
rooms - Yeni Safak 
Erdogan to lobby for Cyprus at Davos meetings - Cumhuriyet 
Abbas wants to block attacks against Israel - Zaman 
 
 
BRIEFING 
 
US operatives gather intelligence on Iranian nuclear sites: 
All Turkish papers cite a "New Yorker" magazine report by 
Seymour Hersh claiming that US special forces commandos have 
been operating inside Iran since mid-2004 to identify 
nuclear weapons sites for possible air strikes.  The 
Pentagon and White House have strongly denied the 
allegations. 
 
Ankara warns Iraq over Kirkuk vote:  Osman Koruturk, 
Turkey's special Iraq representative, cautioned Iraqi 
electoral authorities to reject the registration of Kurdish 
voters in Kirkuk who are not legally entitled to vote, 
"Sabah" reported on Sunday.  The Kurds reportedly reached 
agreement with the Iraqi government Friday that cleared the 
way for an estimated 100,000 Kurds expelled from Kirkuk 
under Saddam Hussein's Arabization policy to vote in the 
January 30 elections.  The deal disrupted the region's 
balance of power in favor of the Kurds, at the risk of 
enflaming tensions in the ethnically volatile city. 
Koruturk, the top Turkish diplomat on Iraq, said Ankara was 
not opposed to the return of displaced Kurds to Kirkuk, but 
warned that the Kurds who have recently returned to Kirkuk 
are not those who were expelled under Saddam.  The Iraqi 
Turkmen Front (ITF) threatened last week to boycott the 
elections unless the Kurds put an end to `tricks' aimed at 
influencing the outcome of the vote in Kirkuk.  "Cumhuriyet" 
quotes an unidentified MFA official as saying it is the duty 
of the Turkish Government to warn the UN, Iraqi officials, 
and the international community against efforts to create 
tension in Kirkuk `at such a sensitive time.' 
 
Erdogan sends peace message to Abbas:  Turkey's Minister of 
Transport, Binali Yildirim, conveyed a `peace message' from 
PM Erdogan to new Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas and 
Israeli Communications Minister Dalia Itzik, "Yeni Safak" 
reports.  In his message, Erdogan said Turkey is ready to 
contribute to the Middle East peace process.  The 
establishment of a Palestinian state will be made a reality 
through diplomacy rather than fighting, Erdogan stressed. 
He also urged Abbas to prevent violence by making some 
radical Palestinian organizations part of the political 
system. 
 
Azerbaijan, Armenia to discuss nagorno-Karabakh: 
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and his Armenian 
counterpart, Robert Kocharyan, will reportedly meet this 
summer to negotiate the Nagorno-Karabakh issue, "Zaman" 
reports on Monday.  According to the Azeri APA news agency, 
Russia has promised to help the OSCE Minsk Group in its 
mediation efforts. 
 
PM Erdogan to visit tsunami-stricken regions:  PM Erdogan is 
to visit South Asian countries affected by the December 26 
tsunami beginning February 3, Monday papers report.  Erdogan 
 
SIPDIS 
will take aid donated by Turkish government foundations and 
NGOs to Indonesia, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Tailand, 
Singapore and Malaysia on his four-day visit. 
 
30,000 terror victims demand compensation:  "Sabah" reports 
30,000 victims of terrorism around Turkey have applied to 
the government for compensation for damages suffered during 
clashes with separatist terrorists.  Turkey's mainly Kurdish 
Diyarbakir province tops the list with 10,000 applications 
for compensation.  The Turkish parliament approved a law in 
July 2004 that provides for compensation to be paid to 
victims of terror. 
 
 
EDITORIAL OPINION: 
 
?    Iran 
?    Cyprus 
 
"Iranian Crisis At the Door" 
Erdal Safak commented in the mass appeal "Sabah" (1/18): 
"Ever since the Reagan administration, US administrations 
have looked for ways to exact revenge on Iran for the 
embarrassing 444-day hostage crisis in Tehran.  In November 
1979, Abbas Abdi led a group of Iranian youth who attacked 
the US Embassy in Tehran, took 52 Embassy officials hostage, 
and continued their action for 444 days. The Americans were 
released right after Reagan's inauguration ceremony in 
January 1981.  Surprisingly, while President Bush prepares 
for his second term in the White House, information about a 
possible operation against Iran has started to leak into the 
US media.  Allegedly, US special forces entered Iran through 
Pakistan six months ago in order to locate and identify 
Iranian nuclear facilities.  Even though the White House has 
denied the allegations, we have three good reasons to 
believe that they are true: 1. The Bush Administration will 
never admit that preparations for such an operation are 
underway. 2. The source for this news, reporter Seymour 
Hersh, is a very credible journalist who uncovered the Abu- 
Ghraib scandal. 3. The US has repeatedly said it will not 
tolerate Iran's becoming a nuclear power.  After two years 
of pressure from the US, Iran says it has every right to 
continue its uranium enrichment program, and points out that 
international inspectors have confirmed that Iran's is not a 
military program.  According to the experts, it is very easy 
to produce nuclear weapons from enriched uranium.  Unless 
there is a regime change in Iran, this decision leaves the 
US with two choices -- either accept Iran as a nuclear 
power, or carry out a military strike.  If the US accepts 
the continuation of this program, the Middle East will turn 
into a nuclear storage facility.  Plans for the second 
alternative - not only by the US, but by Israel as well - 
have been underway for a long time.  But there is one very 
serious problem:  Iran has dispersed its nuclear facilities 
(in all, 36 of them) all around the country, including in 
underground facilities.  The US special forces have been 
trying to find these facilities for the past six months.  I 
think Bush's foreign policy menu in the new term will 
include Iran.  That means we can expect new earthquakes in 
our region." 
 
"No Meeting with Annan in Davos, No Cyprus Plan in the Near 
Future" 
Murat Yetkin opined in the liberal-intellectual "Radikal" 
(1/18):  "I had been wondering about the credibility of 
recent reports claiming that a new Cyprus plan will be 
discussed by PM Erdogan and Kofi Annan in Davos during the 
World Economic Summit.  If we look at the facts, it becomes 
obvious that such plans will not be realized.  First of all, 
PM Erdogan will be in Davos in January 27-28.  Annan will be 
in Poland on Jan.27 to participate in ceremonies marking the 
60th anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz 
concentration camp.  From Poland, Annan will travel to south 
Asian countries to meet with tsunami victims.  In Davos, 
Erdogan has already scheduled a meeting with British Prime 
Minister Tony Blair to discuss the Cyprus issue.  That 
meeting is expected to focus on the customs union between 
Turkey and the EU, extension of Turkey's EU accession 
protocol to the union's 10 new members, and ending the 
economic isolation of the `TRNC.'  Erdogan and Blair are not 
likely to discuss a new plan to resolve the Cyprus issue, 
because no such plan has yet been prepared.  There are a few 
ideas being tossed around on this issue, but even a draft 
for a plan does not exist.  The efforts for a settlement in 
Cyprus are being handled separately from Turkey's EU entry 
process, and are being viewed as a long-term initiative. 
There are many obstacles to a settlement in the short term, 
especially the election timetable that will make it 
politically difficult to move such a plan forward.  Annan 
believes that a new Cyprus plan needs the support of Greek 
Cypriot leader Papadopoulos.  His cooperation is a must in 
prepararing a new plan.  Therefore, Turkey's priority now 
should be to force Papadopoulos to undertake steps for a 
settlement." 
 
EDELMAN