US embassy cable - 05ANKARA1128

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 001128 
 
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, MARCH 3, 2005 
 
 
THIS REPORT PRESENTS THE TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER THREE 
THEMES: 
 
HEADLINES 
BRIEFING 
EDITORIAL OPINION 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
HEADLINES 
 
MASS APPEAL 
Greece's Perception of Threat Scales Terror Up, Turkey Down 
- Hurriyet 
Turkey Not Prime Threat for Greece - Sabah 
Four Turkish Truck Drivers Killed in Iraq - Milliyet 
Saddam's Judge Executed - Hurriyet 
EU, Regional Countries Call for Syria to Leave Lebanon - 
Sabah 
Moscow: Syria Must Pull Out of Lebanon - Milliyet 
Iran Blocks IAEA Investigation of Military Facility - Sabah 
British Judiciary Approves `Hijab' in Schools - Hurriyet 
 
OPINION MAKERS 
Greece's Fear of Turkey Subsides - Zaman 
Abizaid to Turkey: Don't Worry About the Kurds - Radikal 
General Bell Due in Ankara Today - Cumhuriyet 
Pressure on Syria Gives Rise to `Cedar Revolution' - Zaman 
Demonstrations in Syria Demand President to Quit - Yeni 
Safak 
Syria Under Attack From All Directions - Radikal 
Turkish Truck Drivers Targeted in Iraq Again - Radikal 
Turkish Truckers Killed While Ferrying Goods to US Army in 
Iraq - Cumhuriyet 
Israel Threatens Abbas - Yeni Safak 
Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) Opposes Attack 
Against Iran - Yeni Safak 
William Rivers Pitt Predicts End of the US `Empire' - 
Cumhuriyet 
 
 
BRIEFING 
 
Wolfowitz Praises Turkey:  US Deputy Defense Secretary Paul 
Wolfowitz called Turkey an `example' for the Islamic world, 
"Cumhuriyet" reports from Washington.  In Senate testimony 
in support of the Bush Administration's 2006 defense budget, 
Wolfowitz said that if Indonesia can strengthen its 
democratic institutions, it will become, along with Turkey, 
another model of success in the Muslim world.  `I hope that 
Afghanistan, Iraq, and others will follow that example,' 
Wolfowitz reportedly said. 
 
Secretary Rice Pledged Solution of PKK Problem - Ambassador 
 
SIPDIS 
Logoglu:  Turkey's Ambassador to United States, Faruk 
Logoglu, told defense writers in Washington that Secretary 
of State Rice pledged during her visit to Ankara that the 
problem of the PKK would be `solved,' reports "Milliyet." 
 
General Abizaid Gives Assurances on Kurds:  Papers carry a 
dispatch from Washington by Turkey's official "Anatolian 
Agency" in which General John Abizaid is reported as saying 
that all Iraqis, including Kurds, want to keep their country 
intact.  `There is no need for Turkey to be concerned about 
Kurdish sovereignty in northern Iraq,' Abizaid said. 
Abizaid blamed Iran for trying to exercise political 
influence in Iraq, but noted that he does not believe that 
the Shiites, the winners of the Iraqi election, will try to 
establish an Iranian type regime in the country, say 
reports. 
 
DEHAP Says Kirkuk Is a Kurdish City:  Turkey's pro-Kurdish 
party DEHAP said in the final declaration of a party meeting 
held February 28 that Kirkuk in northern Iraq should be seen 
as a Kurdish city, "Milliyet" reports.  DEHAP Chairman 
Tuncer Bakirhan said those claims were made on the basis of 
the January 30 election results in Kirkuk. 
 
Turkish Truck Drivers Killed in Iraq:  The Al-Qaeda-linked 
`Army of Ansar al-Sunna' claimed in a statement posted on an 
Islamist website Wednesday that it had killed two Turkish 
truck drivers ferrying supplies to US forces in Iraq.  `On 
February 25, two trucks on the Kirkuk-Tikrit road carrying 
cement to US forces were burned along with their cargo, and 
the rule of God was then implemented against the two 
drivers, the statement said. 
 
Greece Scales Down Threat From Turkey:  Athens has scaled 
down the threat that Turkey is considered to pose to its 
security for the first time in over 30 years in its annual 
defense report.  The primary threats for Greece now include 
terrorism, arms dealing, international crime, and 
instability, said the report.  The report cited improved 
bilateral ties with Turkey and notes Greece's support of 
Ankara's drive to join the European Union.  It also said 
that Turkey has not shifted its policies regarding the 
territorial integrity of Greece, thus a sufficient deterrent 
force must be maintained. 
 
MFA Denies Transfer of Weapons to North Cyprus:  Turkish MFA 
spokesman Namik Tan denied at a press conference Wednesday 
Greek Cypriot claims about the transfer of weapons from 
Turkey to the `TRNC.'  The Department of State also made a 
statement regarding the claims and denied such a transfer of 
weapons,' Tan noted.  Kyriakos Mavronicolas, defense 
minister of the Greek Cypriot administration, recently sent 
a letter to defense ministers of 24 EU member countries and 
complained that Turkish troops in the TRNC were given new 
weapons systems. 
 
Turkey a `Bridge' for Refugees - Study:  A study conducted 
by the Turkish human rights organization "Mazlum-Der" and 
other NGOs of 5,000 refugees in camps in several provinces 
says Turkey has become a `bridge' for thousands of 
immigrants from Asia and Africa who aim to move to Europe, 
reports "Yeni Safak."  Mazlum Der said the majority of the 
refugees were people who had to flee their countries due to 
ethnic, ideological, or religious pressure.  The study says 
that Turkey is being used by refugees from Afghanistan, 
Pakistan, Bangladesh, Iraq, Iran, Palestine, Syria, Tunisia, 
Algeria and Sudan as a transit country before they move to 
countries such as the US, Canada, and Australia.  It notes 
that 94,514 illegal immigrants were apprehended in Turkey 
last year. 
 
Brussels Sees No Progress in Turkey's EU Work:  A war of 
words between Turkey and Brussels continues, papers report. 
Ankara says the EU, not Turkey, is dragging its feet on 
preparations for the launch of entry talks on October 3. 
Brussels recently said it has seen no progress in Turkey 
since December.  Hansjorg Kretschmer, head of the European 
Commission's delegation to Turkey, told a news conference 
Wednesday: `We maintain our view that in the area of 
political reforms not much has happened since December 17.' 
`I'm not only looking at the issue of new legislative 
proposals but also at the issue of implementation,' 
Kretschmer stressed. 
 
 
EDITORIAL OPINION:  Iraq; Human Rights Report 
 
"Occupation Democracy" 
Nuray Mert commented in the liberal-intellectual Radikal 
(3/3):  "The concept of democracy has never been so 
denigrated.  Even the leftist British paper `The Guardian' 
used the title of `the first democratic elections in 50 
years' for the elections in Iraq which were arranged by its 
occupiers and their Iraqi collaborators.  Iraq did not exist 
in the past.  The US has created it for its own purposes. 
Now, the presence of Iraq disturbs the US and the US tries 
to break it up.  Of course, you cannot say this openly, but 
at least don't call it a `democracy'.  Leave the few 
political values and concepts still unstained for the people 
who are trying to defend their countries.   Otherwise, the 
bloodshed will continue." 
 
"What Kind of Shamelessness is This?" 
Ibrahim Karagul wrote in the Islamist-opinion maker Yeni 
Safak (3/3):  "After seeing the US 2004 Human Rights report, 
I couldn't stop saying `what kind of shamelessness is this?' 
I am not going to debate the content of the report.  In its 
Turkey section, there is no new discovery other than the 
`Yarsanists'(cult of angels).  Many of us heard this word 
for the first time when we read the report, and a prize 
should be given to the US diplomat who discovered this cult. 
It is shameful that the US still publishes the Human Rights 
Report.  As a serious violator of human rights, how can the 
US talk about freedom and the human rights.  There are the 
examples of Guantanamo, Iraq, many prison camps, and many 
torture cases.  Than there is the massacre in Fallujah.The 
spokesman of the Iraq Health Ministry, Dr. Halid el-Sigali, 
at a press conference, which was attended by the Washington 
Post, stressed that the US used chemical weapons, mustard 
gas, and nerve gas in the Fallujah attacks.  Now there are 
hundreds of dead animals on the streets of Fallujah.  Why 
does no one pay attention to this news?  Which human rights 
you are talking about?  What right you have to publish a 
human rights report?  What kind of shamelessness is this?" 
 
EDELMAN