US embassy cable - 05ANKARA1225

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 001225 
 
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, MARCH 8, 2005 
 
THIS REPORT PRESENTS THE TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER THREE 
THEMES: 
 
HEADLINES 
BRIEFING 
EDITORIAL OPINION 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
HEADLINES 
 
MASS APPEAL 
Syria Begins Historic Withdrawal from Lebanon - Sabah 
Syrian Troops in Lebanon Start Packing - Hurriyet 
Turkey Calls on Syria to Pull Out of Lebanon - Milliyet 
Sgrena Claims US Troops Wanted to Kill Her - Sabah 
Iraq Terror Pushes Arabs to Kurdish Region to Seek Jobs - 
Aksam 
EU Urges Croatia to Hand Over War Crimes Suspect - Hurriyet 
Hans Bethe, Father of the A-Bomb, Dies at 98 - Aksam 
 
OPINION MAKERS 
Talabani: Turkey Supports a Federal Iraq - Cumhuriyet 
US Diplomats Receive Survival Training Before Tour in 
Baghdad - Hurriyet 
Insurgency in Iraq Helps Boost Kurds' Economy - Zaman 
Rage Against the US in Italy - Radikal 
Assad, Lahud Agree: Syria Begins Lebanon Pullback - 
Cumhuriyet 
Syria to Complete Lebanon Pullback By Late March - Zaman 
Turkey Pleased By Syrian Withdrawal - Yeni Safak 
Helsinki Report: Anti-Muslim Sentiment on the Rise - 
Cumhuriyet 
 
 
BRIEFING 
 
Poll Says Bush Policies Responsible for Anti-Americanism in 
Turkey:  Research by opposition CHP lawmaker Bulent Tanla 
purportedly showed that anti-American sentiment in Turkey 
has risen due to policies carried out by President Bush, 
papers report.  The opinion poll was conducted among 1,200 
Turks in 73 provinces in late February.  The reasons for 
anti-Americanism in Turkey were ranked as follows: US 
attitudes against Turkey's interests and `expansionist' US 
policies: 36 percent; US policies toward Islam/Muslims: 27 
percent; US' `aggressive' policies and Americans' intention 
to dominate the international arena: 14 percent; US war 
against Iraq and US policies in the Middle East and Israel: 
10 percent; concerns about Iran and Syria: 13 percent. 
Tanla said the responsibility for reversing the anti- 
American trend in Turkey falls primarily on the US 
Administration, and voiced hope that `reasonable' people in 
the United States will evaluate these facts correctly. 
Tanla also criticized a recent BBC global poll that showed 
82 percent of Turks as being anti-American, saying it did 
not reflect the actual situation in Turkey today. `Anti- 
American sentiment is on the rise in Turkey in recent years, 
but it is neither at the level shown in the BBC poll nor 
reflects a feeling of enmity towards the United States,' he 
stressed. 
 
US Ankara Embassy Holds Anti-Americanism Seminar: 
University of Virginia Professor of Political Science James 
W. Caesar told an audience of journalists and academics in a 
seminar held Monday by the US Embassy in Ankara that anti- 
Americanism has deep historical and intellectual roots in 
Europe, "Zaman" reports.  Caesar said the reasons behind 
current anti-American sentiment include anti-globalization 
and the association of the US with the globalization 
phenomenon, opposition to technological advancement, and a 
dislike for the powerful.  During the Codl War, Ceaser 
argued, some European intellectuals perceived the US and 
Russia as a kind fo `Axis of Evil.' Caesar chastised many 
critics of the United States for spreading anti-American 
views despite never having traveled in America. 
 
EU Slams Ankara for Police Violence in Istanbul:  In a joint 
statement issued ahead of a meeting between the EU Troika 
and Turkish officials in Ankara on Monday, EU 
representatives -- President of the EU Council Jean 
Asselborn, Commissioner for Enlargement Olli Rehn, and 
British Minister for Europe Denis MacShane -- expressed 
concern over the use of `disproportionate force' against a 
group demonstrating in Istanbul in connection with 
International Women's Day.  The EU officials asked the 
Turkish authorities to carry out an investigation into the 
incident.  They said they were `shocked by the images of 
police beating women and young people demonstrating in 
Istanbul last weekend.'  FM Abdullah Gul promised a full 
investigation into the incident, and said Turkey remained 
fully committed to meeting all EU norms.  63 people were 
detained when riot police quashed the demonstration Sunday 
in Istanbul.  Footage broadcast on TV channels showed 
officers using truncheons and pepper gas against the 
protestors and hauling them onto buses.  FM Gul and 
government spokesman and Justice Minister Cemil Cicek 
carefully avoided criticizing the police.  PM Tayyip Erdogan 
said that `freedoms have their limits' and noted that six 
policemen were injured in the women's demonstration.  `There 
is not a country in the world where demonstrators can choose 
the time, place, and form of their demonstration,' Erdogan 
said.  The EU Troika also urged Turkey to fully implement 
all human rights reforms, including a `zero tolerance' 
policy on torture and full property rights for non-Muslim 
religious groups. 
 
EU Suggests International Investigation Into Armenian 
`Genocide' Claims:  EU representatives suggested an 
investigation of Armenian genocide claims by an 
international organization such as the United Nations, 
"Milliyet" reports.  On Monday, EU Troika officials said 
that increasing allegations of `genocide' of Armenians by 
Ottoman forces during World War One are negatively affecting 
Ankara's EU bid.  The paper also claims that Ankara signaled 
to EU officials its intention to sign the Customs Union 
agreement with the EU within the next few weeks.  Both EU 
and Turkish officials have made clear that signing the 
protocol does not amount to recognition of the Repuiblic of 
Cyprus. 
 
HRW Says Turkey Misled EU on Resettlement of Displaced 
Kurds: Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Monday that the 
government of Turkey had exaggerated the number of people 
returning to their villages in the mainly Kurdish southeast 
of the country last year.  A HRW report said Ankara's claim 
that one-third of nearly 400,000 refugees displaced by 
fighting between the army and Kurdish separatists in the 
1980s and 1990s had returned home was `not credible.'  The 
report said a HRW investigation showed that the real number 
was less than a fifth of official estimates.  It said many 
villagers were reluctant to return because their homes and 
villages had been destroyed.  HRW accused `village guards' 
of killing returnees in some parts of southeast Turkey, and 
urged a visiting EU delegation to raise the issue in talks 
with Ankara. 
 
Turkey Welcomes Syria's Pledge for Lebanon Pullback:  The 
Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Monday that although Turkey 
has a close and constructive dialogue with its neighbors 
Syria and Lebanon, `Turkey supports rapid implementation of 
resolution 1559 of the UN Security Council.'  The MFA 
statement added that it is necessary to hold parliamentary 
elections in Lebanon in April in a democratic atmosphere in 
which Lebanese people can freely express their political 
will.  `We are pleased that the withdrawal of Syrian troops 
from Lebanon will begin today and that Syrian and Lebanese 
officials will meet in Damascus to discuss the pullout,' the 
statement continued. 
 
Talabani:  Turkey Supports a Federal Iraq:  Northern Iraqi 
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) leader Jalal Talabani 
told "Kurd-Sat TV" that Turkey supports a federal structure 
in Iraq.  `Our Turkish brothers said they support a federal 
Iraq,' Talabani said,  referring to a recent meeting with 
Turkey's special representative, Osman Koruturk, held in 
Dokan, Suleymaniye. 
 
 
EDITORIAL OPINION:  The Syrian Pull Out 
 
"Losing Both the Middle East and the EU" 
Cengiz Candar commented in the conservative "DB Tercuman" 
(3/8): "The Turkish statement regarding the Syrian pullout 
from Lebanon came rather belatedly.  The timing of the 
statement is also interesting, in that it was issued 48 
hours after the Syrian President's announcement of a 
withdrawal.  It seems that Ankara was trying to do a favor 
to Assad, who also happens to be a `beloved leader' in the 
eyes of the Turkish Foreign Minister. . The entire world 
including the US, the EU and the Arab League -- but not 
Turkey - has been giving the same message to Damascus on the 
need to pull Syrian forces out of Lebanon.  As one foreign 
statesman suggested, Turkey could soon be put into the same 
category as Syria, Iran, and Sudan unless the recent 
statements from Ankara begin to change.  One clear example 
has already been in the news: Turkey was not invited to the 
London conference to take part in the discussion of the 
Palestinian issue.  . It seems that Turkey, through its 
repeated mistakes and wrong-headed Middle East policies, is 
losing not only the Middle East, but the EU as well." 
 
"Is the Problem Over?" 
Sami Kohen commented in the mass appeal "Milliyet" (3/8): 
"Is it possible to believe that the Syrian withdrawal from 
Lebanon will ease international concerns or end the problem? 
First, there needs to be a clear definition of what the 
problem is.  At first glance, it seems rather simple: the 
people of Lebanon want Syrian military forces to leave the 
country, and the international community supports this. 
Syrian President Assad has agreed to pull out Syrian forces 
from Lebanon.  Yet the issue is much more complicated than 
this.  First of all, the Lebanese people are demanding an 
immediate and full withdrawal rather then a gradual or 
partial one.  This increases the risk that Lebanon could be 
carried into a new period of instability.  There is also a 
Syrian angle to the issue -- is the decision to withdraw 
going to end the the international pressure on Damascus? 
Will the US, in particular, stop its efforts to effect a 
regime change in Syria?  That possibility has the potential 
to create new tensions in the region.  The agreement reached 
between Syria and Lebanon reflects the success of the 
Lebanese people and Lebanese democracy.  But the US strategy 
appears to be an effort to wear down the Assad 
Administration.  The Bush Administration now hopes that the 
winds of democracy will reach all the way to Damascus. 
Washington seems to be ready to manipulate this.  But there 
is always the danger that this could pave the way for new 
conflicts and tensions in the region." 
EDELMAN