US embassy cable - 05ANKARA6824

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 006824 
 
SIPDIS 
 
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 
SUBJECT: ANKARA MEDIA REACTION REPORT 
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2005 
 
 
THIS REPORT PRESENTS THE TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER THREE 
THEMES: 
 
HEADLINES 
BRIEFING 
EDITORIAL OPINION 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
HEADLINES 
 
MASS APPEAL 
Blue Stream Officially Opens- Hurriyet 
Tense Funeral in Yuksekova - Hurriyet 
Edinburgh Recognizes Armenian Genocide - Hurriyet 
FIFA Convicts Turkey Without Trial - Sabah 
Turkey Briefs US After Gul's Damascus Visit - Sabah 
US Urges Denmark to Close Roj-TV - Milliyet 
Blue Stream Turns Dream to Reality - Turkiye 
Dogan Group Takes Over Star TV - Star 
Funeral Under Shadow of F-16s in Yuksekova - Posta 
Gul: I did not Carry Third Country's Message to Syria - 
Vatan 
 
OPINION MAKERS 
Energy Summit in Samsun - Radikal 
Gul Says Syria Visit was to Discuss Regional Issues - 
Radikal 
Scottish People Recognize Armenian Genocide - Radikal 
Gul: I went to Syria to Discuss Stability - Cumhuriyet 
US Base on Romania's Black Sea Coast - Cumhuriyet 
Turkey to become World Energy Center - Yeni Safak 
US Offers Turkey Cooperation in Black Sea - Yeni Safak 
New Pipeline Offer from Putin - Zaman 
Majority of Americans Approve Torture during Interrogation - 
Zaman 
 
 
BRIEFING 
 
Gul's Visit to Syria:  Foreign Minister Gul denied media 
reports yesterday that he had conveyed Washington's message 
to Assad during his visit to Damascus earlier this week. 
Gul said that it is Turkey's responsibility to prevent 
regional issues from becoming chronic.  FM Gul said that 
`the UN Commission plans to carry out its investigation in 
the Hariri assassination.  There have been some problems in 
this regard.  I shared Turkey's view on this issue with 
Assad, but I made no demands.  Turkey will fulfill its 
duties, but we believe that the main task falls to UN 
officials.'  "Sabah" reports that Turkey briefed the US on 
the visit following the Foreign Minister's return.  After 
being briefed by Turkish officials, US Charge McEldowney 
told a group of reporters that the US wants to see concrete 
steps that indicate the Syrian regime is addressing the 
requirements of the international community - full 
cooperaton with the UN report, support for regional 
stability, ending support for terrorism, and progress on 
democratic reform. 
 
Tensions in Hakkari:  All papers give extensive coverage to 
the funeral for three protestors who died on Tuesday in 
Yuksekova during clashes with security forces.  Around 
50,000 attended the funerals, and many chanted slogans in 
support of the PKK and imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah 
Ocalan.  Two F-16 fighter jets and a military helicopter 
flew over the crowd as a precaution against PKK militants 
trying to cross the border.  "Hurriyet" notes that security 
forces did not leave their barracks during the ceremony in 
order to avoid tension.  "Sabah" reports that security at 
 
ANKARA 00006824  002 OF 003 
 
 
the funeral was provided by 2,000 activists from pro-Kurdish 
DEHAP. 
 
Blue Stream Pipeline Officially Opens:  All papers covered 
the ceremony held yesterday to inaugurate the Blue Stream 
pipeline that carries natural gas from Russia to Turkey via 
the Black Sea.  Prime Minister Erdogan hosted Russian 
President Vladimir Putin and Italian Prime Minister Silvio 
Berlusconi in Samsun for the opening ceremony.   In his 
remarks, PM Erdogan urged that the project be expanded so 
that the gas can be transported all the way to the 
Mediterranean port city of Ceyhan, and from tehre to Israel 
through an undersea pipeline or on tankers as liquefied 
natural gas (LNG).  Erdogan also urged the Russian leader to 
support a Samsun-Ceyhan oil pipeline project that would 
transport Russian and Kazakh oil to international markets by 
bypassing the overcrowded Bosphorus Straits.  Erdogan argued 
that Turkey's becoming an important energy corridor will 
contribute to regional peace. 
 
Europeans Criticize PM Erdogan:  A high-level European 
official told "Sabah" that PM Erdogan's comments criticizing 
Denmark for allowing a Danish newspaper to publish cartoons 
of the Prophet Mohammed were `worrying and discriminatory.' 
`What is holy to some is not to others,' the official noted. 
`Should we outlaw cartoons depicting women without 
headscarves just because they might offend people from Iran 
or Saudi Arabia?'  Meanwhile, EU Enlargement Commissioner 
Olli Rehn expressed support for Danish PM Rasmussen on the 
issue of Roj-TV.  "Milliyet" reports that Rehn said there 
has been no evidence presented to suggest that Roj-TV has a 
connection to the PKK.  Rehn criticized PM Erdogan's 
decision to walk out of a a joint press conference in 
Copenhagen because of the presence of a Roj-TV reporter: `In 
this case, the Prime Minister should have tried to look at 
the issue more as a European leader,' he said. 
 
US Supports Turkey on Roj-TV Issue:  Several papers and the 
all-news channel CNN-Turk report that the United States has 
intervened with Denmark to support Turkey's request that the 
Danish Government close down Roj-TV, which the Turks claim 
has ties to the outlawed PKK.  US Charge McEldowney told 
reporters yesterday that `the US has an initiative to try to 
cut off PKK financing, propaganda, and front groups by 
working with our European friends.'  Turkish sources 
revealed that the US initative included support for Turkey 
on the specific issue of Roj-TV. 
 
Assistant Secretary Flory Proposed Black Sea Cooperation: 
Islamist-oriented "Yeni Safak" claims that Assistant 
Secretary of Defense Peter Flory proposed during last weeks 
 
SIPDIS 
high-level defense talks that the US and Turkey establish a 
`security net' in the Black Sea.  The report asserts that 
the arrangement would include a coordination mechanism 
between Incirlik Air Base and US base in Romania, Bulgaria, 
and Georgia.  The aim of the project would be to strengthen 
efforts to counter terrorism and trafficking in persons, 
weapons, and drugs.  It would also strengthen security in 
the Black Sea and provide a platform for rapid intervention 
in the Balkans and the Caucasus.  The initiative would 
entail additional US ships going into the Black Sea, and 
joint military exercises in the region.  "Yeni Safak" claims 
that Turkey gave `provisional approval' to the idea within 
the framework of the Montreux Convention that regulates the 
use of the Bosphorus Straits. 
 
Supreme Court Prosecutor Warns on Statements Against 
Constitution:  Nuri Ok, Chairman of the Turkish Supreme 
Court (Yargitay) said yesterday that the Court is 
 
ANKARA 00006824  003 OF 003 
 
 
`continuously following the activities' of Turkey's 
political parties. He urged the parties to `avoid targeting 
the constitutional system, the secular state, and modern 
values.'  The media widely interpreted Ok's comments as a 
warning to the Prime Minister, who reportedly commented that 
`only the Islamic religious community' has the authority to 
pass judgment on the headscarf issue.  Asked specifically 
about Erdogan's comments, Ok said that `statements regarding 
the European Court's decision about the headscarf ban must 
remain within the bounds of the law.' 
 
 
EDITORIAL OPINION:  Syria 
 
"The US and Damascus" 
Mustafa Balbay argued in the leftist-nationalist 
"Cumhuriyet" (11/18): "Frustrated by the deadlock in 
Baghdad, the US has started looking for an exit strategy 
that goes through Damascus.  The transition to democracy in 
Iraq has only led to growing violence, and the US is in need 
of a `success' at all costs.  . Shortly after the Hariri 
assassination, the US named Syria as the killer.  Now the US 
is trying to make that accusation stick.  It seems that the 
plan is to link the Hariri murder investigation and trial to 
an effort to `democratize' Syria.  This would involve a 
process of occupying, toppling the regime, and establishing 
a new one, and the US seems to be looking for a reason to 
start. . The US statement about the Turkish Foreign 
Minister's sudden visit to Damascus asserted that Turkey and 
the US `share the same views' on Syria.  Adding Syria to the 
list of problems in our neighborhood will not serve Turkey's 
interest at all.  We should be very careful about offering 
Turkey to play the role of messenger." 
 
"Syria" 
Yilmaz Oztuna wrote in the conservative "Turkiye" (11/18): 
"The Middle East cannot endure a war in Syria after what has 
happened in Iraq.  This argument is theoretically sound, but 
the fact of the matter is that the US is the only one who 
can make that decision.  On the other hand, Turkey should 
not engage in any effort to present itself as the `savior' 
of Syria, as this would put Ankara and Washington on 
opposite sides of the issue.  The Baath administration in 
Syria is one of the cruelest regimes in recent history.  In 
the past, it was Syria that trained and sheltered terrorists 
to destabilize Turkey.  For now, Damascus has abandoned that 
policy.  But we still haven't seen an apology.  Syria has 
not made any attempt to correct its maps that show certain 
parts of Turkish territory as if they belonged to Syria. 
Our policy in Iraq was a failure, and as consequences of 
that we now face a new state of Kurdistan, the resurrection 
of PKK terrorism, and the denial of the existence of the 
Turkmen.  Turkey cannot withstand the consequences of 
another `March 1 disaster' (editor's note: reference is 
being made to the Turkish parliament's refusal to allow US 
troops to pass through Turkey and into Iraq in 2003).  Syria 
should make every effort to adapt itself to the modern world 
and work on radical reforms as quickly as possible." 
 
MCELDOWNEY