US embassy cable - 05ANKARA2096

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 002096 
 
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, APRIL 12, 2005 
 
 
THIS REPORT PRESENTS THE TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER THREE 
THEMES: 
 
HEADLINES 
BRIEFING 
EDITORIAL OPINION 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
HEADLINES 
 
MASS APPEAL 
Yakovu: Nicosia Won't Block Turkey's EU Drive - Hurriyet 
Pentagon Sources: US to Pull Back 37,000 Troops From Iraq 
Next Year - Sabah 
Iraqi Insurgents Bargain With US Over Life of Saddam - Sabah 
Sharon Sees a `First' Opportunity for Peace - Sabah 
Palestine to Follow Gandhi's `Civil Disobedience' - Milliyet 
Graham Fuller Sees Turkey on Right Track, US Erroneous - 
Vatan 
 
OPINION MAKERS 
Molyviatis Calls for Removal of Barriers Between Greece, 
Turkey - Yeni Safak 
Bush, Sharon Discuss Jewish Settlements in Texas - Radikal 
Sharon Asks Bush for Support for Withdrawal Plan - 
Cumhuriyet 
Another Turkish Truck Driver Killed in Iraq - Radikal 
LA Times: Do Not Write Off the Turks - Cumhuriyet 
Fuller: Turkey Not Anti-American, Only Sovereign - Zaman 
Fight for Power in Kyrgyzstan - Cumhuriyet 
Bush, Zarkawi Among TIME's `100 Most Influential People' - 
Yeni Safak 
Former Arch-Enemies China, India Now Strategic Partners - 
Zaman 
 
 
BRIEFING 
 
Erdogan Visits Norway:  Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, in 
Oslo on an official visit, addressed Monday Turks living in 
Norway on the Armenian and Kurdish issues and the situation 
of human rights in Turkey, papers report.  `The PKK is a 
terrorist organization,' Erdogan said, emphasizing: `It is a 
mistake to characterize all Kurds, citizens of Turkey, as 
members of the PKK.'  `There is no Kurdish minority in 
Turkey,' Erdogan said: `The Kurdish people are a main 
element of our country.'  `We have allowed language courses 
in Kurdish and broadcasts in Kurdish.  However, no one 
should expect us to allow a terrorist organization's banners 
to be carried in the country,' he added.  Erdogan warned 
that Turkey had three `red lines' -- ethnic nationalism, 
regional nationalism and religious nationalism, and blamed 
some Western `circles' for attempting to divide Turkey. 
`The EU is not a Christian club,' Erdogan noted, `it is the 
outcome of compromise among civilizations.'  Erdogan 
`regretted' recently seeing negative attitudes toward Turks 
and Muslims living in European countries: `It's impossible 
to understand such attitudes against Turks and Muslims in a 
time when the world focuses on dialogue among civilizations 
and cultures,' he said.  On the Armenian `genocide' claims, 
Erdogan said the Turkish parliament will hold a special 
session on the issue on April 13.  He said a declaration to 
be signed by the 550 lawmakers in the parliament will be 
sent to the parliaments of several countries. 
 
Ankara Calls On Baku for a Fast Solution to the Nagorno- 
Karabakh Problem:  Ankara conveyed to Baku a message urging 
a fast resolution of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem on the eve 
of a general assembly discussion on Wednesday in the Turkish 
parliament of the Armenian `genocide' claims, "Radikal" 
reports.  Turkish Foreign Ministry (MFA) Deputy U/S Ahmet 
Uzumcu called on the Azerbaijani foreign ministry last month 
to not `delay' opportunities for a solution.  Unidentified 
MFA officials told "Radikal" that a resolution of the 
problem in line with the interests of all parties would 
`relieve' Ankara as well.  "Radikal" regards the message as 
part of the Turkish action plan for countering efforts by 
the Armenian diaspora on the 90th anniversary of the 
`genocide.'  Ankara believes that if the Nagorno-Karabakh 
question is settled, it may take a `flexible' position in 
dealing with both `genocide' claims and Yerevan, the paper 
comments. 
 
Kocharyan: Armenia Has No Territorial Claims Against Turkey: 
Armenian President Robert Kocharyan told students at Yerevan 
State University that they should be `realistic' in dealing 
with the Armenian `genocide' issue, "Milliyet" reports. 
`Armenia has never raised territorial claims against 
Turkey,' Kocharyan said, adding that international 
recognition of Armenian genocide claims is on their agenda. 
`Future Armenian leaders and politicians will decide what 
legal consequences this may have.  We need to be realistic,' 
Kocharyan said. 
 
Molyviatis Due in Ankara:  Greek Foreign Minister Petros 
Molyviatis is due in Ankara Tuesday to discuss improvement 
of bilateral ties, Cyprus, and Turkey's EU drive, papers 
report.  Molyviatis' visit is expected to enhance ongoing 
dialogue and cooperation between Turkey and Greece, 
unidentified diplomatic sources told the Anatolian Nes 
Agency on Tuesday.  Bilateral relations between Turkey and 
Greece are developing toward `partnership,' the sources 
said.  They recalled that 11 confidence-building measures 
had been adopted in the Aegean and that new confidence- 
building measures were under discussion.  Papers recall 
Parliament Speaker Bulent Arinc's suggestions over the 
weekend that Turkey revise a 1995 parliamentary declaration 
which stipulates that a Greek extension of territorial 
waters to 12 miles would be a `cause for war.'  Foreign 
Minister Abdullah Gul dismissed any revision in Turkey's 
position the following day, and papers expect the Turkish 
side to play down the Arinc suggestion during talks with 
Moliviatis. 
 
US Embassy Dragged Into `Cola Wars':  Economic/political 
daily "Referans" reports that Ambassador Edelman conveyed to 
PM Erdogan and some cabinet ministers complaints by Coca- 
Cola and Pepsi over unfair competition in the Turkish 
market.  Coca-Cola and Pepsi released a joint statement last 
week protesting that Turkey's "Ulker" food group was being 
allowed into the sector without getting a license for 
production of sugar syrup for its "Cola Turca."  Turkish 
government shrugged off the complaint, and Ambassador 
Edelman had to repeat it to authorities several times, says 
the report.  "Referans" has earlier reported on March 8 that 
Ulker became a partner to the US firm Cargill in the 
production of starch-based sugar.  The Turkish government 
has not promised a solution, but is working on a new sugar 
law, says "Referans." 
 
ECHR Expected to Ask for Retrial of Ocalan:  The European 
Court of Human Rights (ECHR) is to announce its decision 
next week calling for a retrial of Abdullah Ocalan, the 
imprisoned leader of the separatist PKK organization, 
reports "Vatan."  The AK Party government had been denied by 
the powerful National Security Council (NSC) and the 
opposition CHP in its efforts to remove legal barriers to 
the retrial of Ocalan through legal adjustments, according 
to "Vatan." 
 
Turkish Truck Driver Killed in Iraq:  Turkish truck driver 
Cevat Bahtiyar was killed in Bayji, north of Baghdad, early 
Monday by a roadside bomb aimed at Bahtiyar's convoy that 
was ferrying goods to the US military, papers report.  Some 
90 Turkish truck drivers have been killed in Iraq since the 
occupation of the country by US forces, say reports. 
 
 
EDITORIAL OPINION: Middle East/Turkish Foreign Policy 
"The Middle East Lessons" 
Cengiz Candar observed in the conservative-sensational DB 
Tercuman (4/11):  "My recent trip to Beirut provided a 
remarkable experience to observe how strongly the winds of 
democracy are blowing in the Middle East.  The current 
situation in Iraq is another good example of that. . I am 
now attending an international conference in Qatar where a 
vast variety of speakers from different nations have met, 
including former politicians from the regional countries, as 
well as Americans and Turks.  In the course of debates one 
thing becomes very clear to me.  Turkey's argument that it 
is a pivotal  country for Middle East issues is totally 
unrealistic and nothing but `Turks making propaganda for 
Turks.'  . Turkey should realize sooner, not later, that 
moving enthusiastically toward the EU accession target would 
provide us a meaningful place with the US and the Islamic 
World.  Derailing from the EU track can only take Turkey 
completely out of the loop in both the US and the Middle 
East. . The current meeting between PM Sharon and President 
Bush is very important and its results will directly affect 
the future course of the Israel-Palestine dispute.  If the 
US administration fails to be convincingly tough with 
Sharon, the Middle East could experience a very violent 
period again. . Meanwhile, our president's upcoming visit to 
Damascus seems nothing but sailing in the open seas without 
a compass." 
 
"Foreign Policy Agenda" 
Ilter Turkmen warned in the mass appeal Hurriyet (4/11): 
"The Turkish president's upcoming visit to Syria is without 
doubt an untimely and unfortunate policy decision.   The 
argument that the visit was on the agenda long before the 
current international debate is not helping to correct the 
error.  If it had been, Turkey should have postponed the 
visit right after UNSC Resolution 1559.  This visit will not 
only upset the people of Lebanon but also all western and 
Arab countries which are supportive of the UNSC resolution. 
Let's be realistic.  How convincing is it to say that the 
Turkish president will convey certain messages to Damascus 
when there is already a UNSC resolution that has been 
supported by the US, the EU and Arab World?  One way or the 
other, the Turkish president's visit to Damascus will be 
interpreted as Turkey's support for Syria.  It is very 
difficult to understand Turkish foreign policy priorities in 
the Middle East." 
 
EDELMAN