US embassy cable - 05ANKARA1260

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 001260 
 
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, MARCH 9, 2005 
 
THIS REPORT PRESENTS THE TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER THREE 
THEMES: 
 
HEADLINES 
BRIEFING 
EDITORIAL OPINION 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
HEADLINES 
 
MASS APPEAL 
New Torture Scandal in Ramadi - Aksam 
Washington Times: Gold Medal to Turks for Anti-Americanism - 
Aksam 
Hizbullah Demonstrators Urge Syria Not to Leave Lebanon - 
Milliyet 
Bush: Freedom Will Prevail in Middle East - Sabah 
Russia Kills Separatist Chechen Leader Maskhadov - Milliyet 
Bush Assigns `Hawkish' Envoy Bolton to UN - Sabah 
Assignment of Bolton to UN is Bush's `Slap' at UN - Milliyet 
Clinton to Undergo Heart Surgery - Sabah 
 
OPINION MAKERS 
US Troops Make Movie of Torture in Iraq - Zaman 
Abu-Ghraib Comes to Ramadi - Yeni Safak 
Erdogan, Baykal Stand Together Against Armenian `Genocide' - 
Yeni Safak 
Maskhadov `Martyred' by Russian Army - Yeni Safak 
Hizbullah Takes Stage, Lebanon Divided into Two - Cumhuriyet 
Hizbullah Urges `Occupier' Syria to Stay in Lebanon - 
Radikal 
Abbas Criticizes Israel for Delay in Withdrawal - Cumhuriyet 
Israels Test New Lora Missiles - Yeni Safak 
London Mayor: Al-Qaeda Terror Inspired by Israel - 
Cumhuriyet 
Kosovo PM resigns - Zaman 
Georgia's FM Zurabishvili Due in Ankara Tomorrow - Radikal 
 
 
BRIEFING 
 
EU Urges Ankara to Sign Protocol, Continue Reforms:  The 
European Union's Enlargement Commissioner, Olli Rehn, said 
on Tuesday that a change in mentality is needed for Turkey 
to embrace democratic reform and become part of the EU. 
Rehn called on Ankara to put an end to the torture of 
prisoners, and made a visit to a rehabilitation center for 
victims of torture in Istanbul.  Rehn said it is important 
for Turkey to move in time for an upcoming EU report that 
will review progress on democratic reforms. The report will 
be published in November, one month after the EU and Turkey 
are set to begin membership talks. `It will be embarrassing 
for Turkey to receive a critical review one month after the 
opening of the negotiations,' Rehn noted.  Rehn's visit was 
overshadowed by a police crackdown on a women's rally in 
Istanbul last weekend.  Brussels sharply criticized the 
police for using `disproportionate force' against the 
demonstrators, mostly women.  Rehn also called on Ankara to 
extend its customs union agreement with the EU in a way that 
will cover all new members, including Cyprus.  This 
condition must be fulfilled before the start of entry talks, 
he stressed.  `The European Commission continues to support 
the resumption of Cyprus talks under the auspices of the 
United Nations.  We are ready to play an active role to 
prepare the ground for this goal,' Rehn added.  Before 
flying out of Istanbul Ataturk Airport on Tuesday, Rehn 
called on Ankara to show `zero tolerance' toward torture, to 
broaden political reform, to facilitate development in 
southeast Turkey, and to stabilize the economy.  He 
cautioned that the road to accession will be `long, uneven 
and winding.' 
 
US Accuses Islamist Paper of Working With Al-Qaeda Websites: 
The US Embassy in Ankara claimed that the Islamist-oriented 
"Yeni Safak" daily used a report taken from a jihadist 
website to accusw American forces of using chemical weapons 
in Iraq, "Milliyet" reports.  According to the Embassy 
statement, the real source of the report was the pro-al- 
Qaeda Islammemo.cc website.  The statement notes that the 
false claim later appeared on the official Cuban news 
service, Prensa Latina.  The story appeared in newspapers in 
Turkey, Iran, and China, according to the Embassy. 
 
AKP, CHP Unite to Counter Armenian `Genocide' Claims:  On 
Tuesday, PM Tayyip Erdogan told a press conference in Ankara 
after talks with opposition leader Deniz Baykal that Turkey 
is ready to open its archives to those who charge that Turks 
committed `genocide' against Armenians in 1915.  He also 
called for an unbiased study by historians of such claims. 
`If there remains a need for a political settling of 
accounts after such a study takes place,' Erdogan said, 
`then Turkey's government and opposition are ready to do 
that.'  Baykal joined Erdogan at the press conference to 
stress his party's backing for an independent inquiry into 
the accusations, which he said are being fed by `political 
lobby groups' and others with a political agenda. 
 
Minorities' Hands `Tied' on Property Assets:  Turkey's 
National Property Directorate hurriedly sold a building it 
had seized from the `Surp Pirgic Armenian Hospital' in 
Istanbul without waiting for the outcome of an appeal by the 
Armenian community to the European Court of Human Rights 
(ECHR) to annul the sale, "Radikal" reports on its front 
page.  Hrant Dink, editor-in-chief of Turkey's only Armenian 
daily, "Agos," sharply criticized the sale, saying that 
`mafia' methods had been used to expropriate and sell the 
property.  Dink said that 41 assets of the Armenian 
community had been confiscated through decisions by the 
Court of Cassation (Yargitay). 
 
Denktas Approves New Coalition Government in North Cyprus: 
Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktas approved a new coalition 
government on Tuesday presented by outgoing PM Mehmet Ali 
Talat, who won early elections last month.  The new 
government is a renewed alliance between Talat's Republican 
Turkish Party (CTP) and the Democrat Party (DP) of Serdar 
Denktas.  Talat's CTP won led the February 20 polls, gaining 
24 seats in the 50-member parliament, while Denktas' DP 
obtained 6 seats.  Talat is widely expected to run in the 
April 17 presidential elections in north Cyprus.  If Talat 
is elected president, papers expect CTP Secretary-General 
Ferdi Sabit Soyer to follow him as the next `prime 
minister.' 
 
Erdogan-Annan to Meet in Spain:  PM Tayyip Erdogan is to 
meet tomorrow with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan at an 
international security symposium organized by the "Club de 
Madrid" in Madrid, Spain.  Erdogan is expected to urge Annan 
to renew attempts to resolve the Cyprus question under a 
United Nations framework, "Yeni Safak" reports. 
 
Fifth Lawmaker Quits AKP:  Mehmet Erdemir, a member of 
parliament from the ruling AK Party's nationalist wing, 
resigned from the party on Tuesday, saying party had become 
too far removed from the people who elected it.  He charged 
that decision-making in the AKP is concentrated in a few 
hands, and that democracy is being blocked.  The AKP retains 
a large majority, holding 362 seats in the 550-seat 
parliament. 
 
Protests Against Emine Erdogan on Headscarf Issue:  All 
papers report small protests against Emine Erdogan during 
her appearance yesterday at a conference at Ankara's Bilkent 
University.  As the Prime Minister's wife was delivering her 
remarks, two leftist students began shouting and were 
roughly removed from the hall by Mrs. Erdogan's security 
detail.  Four young women in headscarves subsequently held 
up signs protesting the Government's inaction on the 
headscarf issue.  The women were escorted from the hall by 
famale police. 
 
EDITORIAL OPINION:  The Syrian Pull Out 
 
"No to War" 
Mete Cubukcu commented in the leftist-opinion maker "Birgun" 
(3/9):  "A small group of Turks who stand against all wars 
and occupations paid a modest but effective visit to Syria 
to draw attention to such dangers in the region. Around 
sixty people from the `East Conference Initiative' and the 
`Global Peace and Justice Coalition' went to Damascus to 
give support to the Syrian people in their struggle against 
the threat of war and occupation.  The main aim of the 
civilians who went there was to express their opposition to 
the occupation policies in the region and draw the Turkish 
people's attention to this issue.  This was an entirely 
civilian initiative undertaken order to bring these 
occupation policies to the world's agenda.  The people of 
this delegation oppose repressive policies all over the 
world, including in Turkey. . Syria is nothing more than a 
symbol to show that we should not surrender ourselves to 
repressive policies.  Therefore, the joint message from our 
trip to Syria is rather important: `La Lil Harp,' which 
means `No to War.'"  (embassy editor's note: the `purely 
civilian' delegation from Turkey met with Mrs. Asad and 
several ministers of the Syrian Government during the visit 
to Damascus.) 
 
"The Peace is Still Far Away" 
Kenan Akin observed in the nationalist "Ortadogu" (3/9): 
"In May 2000, Israel ended its 22-year occupation of South 
Lebanon.  This initiative has increased the pressure on 
Syria to withdraw its military forces from Lebanon as well. 
In June 2001, Syrian forces pulled out from large areas of 
the Beirut region.  In September 2004, the UN Security 
Council demanded that Syria withdraw its military forces 
from Lebanon and refrain from interference in Lebanon's 
internal affairs.  At the insistence of Syria, the Lebanese 
Parliament extended the term of the pro-Syrian President 
Lahud.  Former Prime Minister Hariri was killed in an 
assassination on February 14.  After this development, Syria 
started to withdraw its military forces from Lebanon, 
heeding a warning from the United States.  But still, the 
winds of war in the region have not stopped.  One danger is 
that the Syrian `hawks' may use this withdrawal as a pretext 
to take action against the young President Assad.  It is a 
well established custom that the Syrian military topples 
presidents who oppose it." 
 
EDELMAN