US embassy cable - 05ANKARA1656

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 ANKARA 001656 
 
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 22, 2005 
 
THIS REPORT PRESENTS THE TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER THREE 
THEMES: 
 
HEADLINES 
BRIEFING 
EDITORIAL OPINION 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
HEADLINES 
 
MASS APPEAL 
PM Erdogan: Retrial for Ocalan Out of the Question - 
Milliyet 
FM Gul: Turkey's Left Should Take Tony Blair As a Model - 
Milliyet 
Papadopoulos Opposes UN Arbitration on Cyprus - Sabah 
Sistani is Friedman's Candidate for Nobel Peace Prize - 
Sabah 
Racism on the Rise in France - Hurriyet 
 
OPINION MAKERS 
Edelman: Lots of Things to Do Before I leave Ankara - Yeni 
Safak 
Erdogan-Karamanlis Discuss Cyprus in Brussels - Radikal 
Arab League Supports Damascus - Radikal 
Israel Intends to Expand Along West Bank - Radikal 
Israel Allows 3,500 New Settlements - Cumhuriyet 
Professor McCarthy: Armenian Genocide Never Happened - Yeni 
Safak 
Germany Backs Wolfowitz for World Bank - Zaman 
Annan Proposes Sweeping UN Reforms - Cumhuriyet 
Annan Proposes UN Human Rights Council - Zaman 
OSCE: Traffickers `Sell' 1.2 Million Children Every Year - 
Yeni Safak 
Feminists Build Women-Only Mosque in Amsterdam - Yeni Safak 
 
 
BRIEFING 
 
Ambassador Edelman: Lots of Things to Do Before I Leave 
Ankara:  US Ambassador Eric Edelman told "Yeni Safak" that 
he had announced his resignation decision early in order to 
allow Secretary of State Rice time to assign someone else as 
ambassador to Ankara.  Edelman said that the posts to be 
vacated at the US Embassy in Ankara would likely be filled 
by late this summer.  `I've still got three more months in 
Ankara, and lots of things to do before I leave,' Edelman 
stressed.  Ambassador Edelman said the reason behind his 
decision to quit the Foreign Service was to launch a second 
career, according to "Milliyet."  `Ethical rules would have 
prevented me from evaluating offers coming from the private 
sector while serving as Ambassador.  That, too, may have 
influenced my decision to resign,' Edelman said. 
 
US Sends Another Signal to AKP:  Bruce Jackson, one of the 
board members of `Project for the New American Century,' 
told the US Congress that difficulties lay ahead for Turkey, 
a country which has failed to solve its national and 
geopolitical identity crisis, the liberal/opinion maker 
"Radikal" reports in a front page story.  Turkey's ruling AK 
Party is reluctant to cooperate with the West, Jackson said, 
citing the AKP government's `termination' of strategic ties 
with Israel, its reluctance to meet with Yerevan over the 
opening of Turkey's border with Armenia, demanding that the 
US pressure the Kurds in Iraq, and Ankara's policy of 
seeking closer ties with Russia instead of Western-oriented 
democracies.  Jackson told the committee that the AKP is a 
secular Islamic party that has revived xenophobia in Turkey 
by following policies that are anti-European and anti- 
American. 
 
US Diplomats Take to Anatolia:  Alarmed by rising anti- 
American sentiment in Turkey, US diplomats in Ankara have 
started touring Anatolia to meet with local administrators 
and provincial party organizations, "Radikal" reports.  US 
Embassy Deputy Political Counselor James R. Sopp talked to 
extremist nationalist `Nationalist Action Party' (MHP) 
leaders about the `indispensibility' of US-Turkey relations 
and the lack of justification for anti-American feelings in 
Turkey.  MHP leaders said that anti-Americanism prevailed in 
Turkey because of the improper policies of the AKP 
government which, they claimed, had been brought to power 
through the backing of the United States. 
 
US Troops, Peshmerge Raid Turkmen Houses:  "Zaman" reports 
from Kirkuk that US troops, accompanied by Kurdish 
peshmerge, raided 10 houses belonging to Turkmen in 
`Tuzhurmatu' near Kirkuk early Monday.  A number of Turkmen 
were reportedly detained for suspected ties with terrorist 
groups.  Peshmerge reportedly looted the Turkmen houses and 
took gold and silver from Turkmen families.  Iraqi Turkmen 
Front (ITF) member Fevzi Ekrem Terzi said the situation in 
the city remains tense. 
 
PM Erdogan to Visit Israel, Palestine:  "Zaman" reports that 
Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan will visit Palestine May 1 
before proceeding to Israel on a three-day official visit. 
Erdogan's call in Tel Aviv will help to normalize ties with 
Israel, the paper reports. 
 
Israel Asks for Turkish Support on Development Programs: 
Israeli Ambassador to Ankara Pinhas Avivi told "Sabah" that 
deputy PM Shimon Peres asked PM Erdogan at a meeting in 
Spain for Turkey's support for some development programs 
involving Israel, Palestine and Turkey.  Avivi noted that 
Israel and Palestine need a third party to assist them in 
the implementation of confidence building measures. 
 
Lawmaker Tells His Impressions After US Visit:  AKP Deputy 
Group Chairman Faruk Celik told reporters about his 
impressions of the US following meetings with Rumsfeld, 
Wolfowitz, Grossman and US Congressmen in the United States. 
Celik was part of a visiting delegation from the Turkish 
Parliamentary Committee for Democracy.  Celik reportedly 
told the Americans that anti-American sentiment in Turkey 
would end if the US takes measures against the PKK, helps to 
end the international isolation of Turkish Cypriots, and 
takes forward steps on the Armenian issue in line with 
Turkey's requests, "Yeni Safak" reports.  Wolfowitz 
reportedly told the Turks that the US would handle the PKK 
issue according to the level of stability achieved in Iraq 
following the January 30 elections.  Wolfowitz also noted 
that the European Union has not given Turkey sufficient 
support with regard to Cyprus. 
 
Turkey-Iraq Relations:  A delegation from the Supreme 
Council of Islamic Revolution In Iraq (SCIRI), the 
influential Iraqi Shiite group, will visit Ankara soon, 
"Yeni Safak" reports.  The paper also says that Ankara is 
waiting for the formation of a cabinet in Iraq before 
launching initiatives to open a consulate in Mosul and to 
host the next meeting of Iraq's neighbors in Istanbul in 
April. 
 
ECHR Expected to Call for Retrial of Ocalan:  Turkish papers 
quote diplomatic sources as saying that the European Court 
of Human Rights (ECHR) has accepted claims that jailed PKK 
leader Abdullah Ocalan was unfairly tried and will call for 
his retrial.  However, Turkish government officials, 
including the Prime Minister, denied that Ocalan could ever 
be retried at the court's request. 
 
Professor Justin McCarthy in Turkey:  Main opposition CHP 
leader Deniz Baykal received historian Professor Justin 
McCarthy from Louisville University to discuss Armenian 
`genocide' claims.  Professor McCarthy said that what 
happened in 1915 between the Ottoman Turks and Armenians 
should be defined as `war' rather than `genocide.' 
Armenians killed more Turks than they lost in fighting with 
Ottoman forces, McCarthy claimed.  Baykal said the works of 
Professor McCarthy, an expert on demography and the history 
of migrations, would help in correcting a serious mistake. 
McCarthy will give a series of conferences to ambassadors in 
Ankara, the Turkish Parliament, and universities in Ankara 
and Istanbul. 
 
Interior Minister on Missionary Activities in Turkey: 
Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu said Monday in response to 
a motion by an opposition lawmaker that 338 Muslims have 
converted to Christianity, and 6 to Judaism in Turkey in the 
last seven years.  Aksu noted that there are 72 Protestant, 
6 Bah'ai, and 10 Jehovah's Witnesses prayer houses in 
Turkey.  Aksu said that the exact number of missionaries in 
Turkey is not known. 
 
 
 EDITORIAL OPINION: Iraq; US-Turkish Relations 
 
"The War Has Not Brought Peace Yet" 
Sami Kohen commented in the mass appeal "Milliyet" (3/22): 
"Although the declaration about the end of the Iraq war was 
made three weeks after it began, in fact, after two years' 
time the war still continues in different ways.   Given the 
circumstances, the Iraq war has not yet brought peace and 
stability. . Time has shown that besides the official 
reasons expressed by the Bush administration to initiate the 
war, there were some other secret and selfish intentions 
attached.  Washington, under the influence of `hawks,' 
sketched a new order for the region, including Iraq, and 
designed it according to US interests.  This apparently was 
the major motive to attack Iraq.  This plan was so important 
for Bush that he defied warnings from friends and allies and 
implemented it. . Today the result is not promising:  At 
least 100,000 Iraqis have died to date along with demolished 
towns and the resurrection of religious and ethnic 
conflicts.  The US has lost 1,500 soldiers and experienced a 
heavy fiscal burden.  Moreover, Washington has lost the 
support and trust of its allies as well as Iraqis.  Under 
current circumstances the only way out is to speed up the 
Iraqi rebuilding process and terminate the occupation as 
quickly as possible.  The second anniversary of the Iraq war 
brings to mind a question:  Is the Bush administration going 
to take lessons from what has happened so far and act 
realistically?" 
 
"Edelman, Syria and Other Issues" 
Yalim Eralp, a retired diplomat, wrote in the conservative- 
sensational "DB Tercuman" (3/22):  "Ambassador Edelman is 
about to leave Ankara.  For some reason, Ankara has not yet 
learned the importance of working with US ambassadors who 
are influential in Washington.  I wonder what we are going 
to do if Edelman now gets appointed to an important position 
in Washington. . Despite contrary claims by Turkish 
officials, this phase of Turkish-American relations is not 
heading in the right direction, and is getting worse. 
American officials, on the other hand, are making statements 
to indicate that `things are not right' but somehow Turkish 
officials tend not to read them properly.  Turkey cannot 
benefit from having a fight with the US.  Turkey is also 
presenting an image of alienating itself from the EU, which 
eventually will leave us `twisting in the wind' as far as 
foreign policy is concerned. . The Turkish president is 
preparing for an official visit to Damascus.  What happens 
if the UN Investigation Commission charges Syria or the 
Syrian intelligence services with the assassination of 
Hariri?   If Turkey really wants to be a regional power, it 
should act properly; for instance, Turkey should cooperate 
with the US and EU on how to achieve reforms in Syria." 
 
"The Feelings Are Mutual in the US and in the AKP" 
Murat Yetkin commented in the liberal-intellectual "Radikal" 
(3/22):  "Ankara was disturbed by US Defense Secretary 
Donald Rumsfeld's comments at an interview with FOX 
television the other day.  Rumsfeld stressed that by 
blocking the transfer of US troops into Iraq from the north 
two years ago, Turkey paved the way for insurgency there to 
flourish.  While the foreign ministers of both countries 
have been trying to ease tensions with their statements, 
Turkish government circles were surprised to hear the 
Defense Secretary's comments.  As a matter of fact, 
Rumsfeld's comments could be considered as a reflection of 
Washington's opinion about the AKP government and 
Washington's characterization of March 1, 2003, as the start 
date for weakening bilateral relations.   This reaction was 
clearly expressed in the US Senate.  The theme of a 
presentation to the Senate on March 8 in the Senate Foreign 
Relations Commission's Europe sub-commission hearing was 
`Democracy's Future in the Black Sea Region'.  The presenter 
was Bruce P. Jackson, and the expressions he used about 
Turkey and especially about the AKP, were rather hard to 
digest.  The name of Jackson should not be underestimated. 
Bruce Jackson worked at the Pentagon as a nuclear weapons 
and arms control expert after 11 years with the US military 
as an intelligence officer.  This means that he is very 
close to Rumsfeld, Cheney and Wolfowitz.  Some of the 
expressions used in his presentation were rather 
exaggerated, but this presentation proves that this group, 
which determines the ideological and political basis of the 
US administration, has started to hit the AKP now to hurt." 
 
EDELMAN