US embassy cable - 05ANKARA6901

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 ANKARA 006901 
 
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 
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2005 
 
 
THIS REPORT PRESENTS THE TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER THREE 
THEMES: 
 
HEADLINES 
BRIEFING 
EDITORIAL OPINION 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
HEADLINES 
 
MASS APPEAL 
Talabani Pays Surprise Visit to Tehran - Sabah 
Zarkawi Allegedly Killed in Mosul - Sabah 
Sharon Quits Likud, Will Found Liberal Party - Milliyet 
Political Earthquake in Israel - Aksam 
US, Mongolia to Become Strategic Partners - Turkiye 
Bush Thanks Mongolia for Iraq Assistance - Milliyet 
Bush Says Mongolia `Just Like Texas' - Aksam 
 
OPINION MAKERS 
Erdogan Given Cold Reception in Hakkari - Cumhuriyet 
Erdogan Consoles Semdinli, Warns Against Supporting 
Terrorism - Zaman 
Murtha: 80 Percent of Iraqis Oppose US - Cumhuriyet 
Biden: Civil Strife in Iraq Not in Turkey's Interests - 
Cumhuriyet 
Mahmud Osman: Bremer Wasted Kurds' Money - Radikal 
Talabani First Iraqi President in Iran for 40 Years - 
Cumhuriyet 
US Troops Kill Entire Family in Bakuba - Radikal 
Rumsfeld: Iraq Pullout Will Only Benefit Terrorists - Yeni 
Safak 
Bush Pays Visit to Genghis Khan's Descendants - Yeni Safak 
Israel Prepares for Elections - Cumhuriyet 
Sharon Leaves Likud; Israeli Parliament Dissolved - Yeni 
Safak 
US Vacates Uzbekistan Military Base - Yeni Safak 
Bob Woodward Falls from Grace - Radikal 
Non-Aligned Movement Unites against Western Media - 
Cumhuriyet 
 
 
BRIEFING 
 
Erdogan Pays Visit to Southeast Turkey:  Accompanied by his 
interior and justice ministers, Prime Minister Tayyip 
Erdogan rushed on Monday to the southeast province of 
Hakkari in an effort to address the ongoing unrest in the 
region.  Tensions have escalated in Hakkari province since 
the November 9 bombing in the nearby town of Semdinli, in 
which two people died.  The bombing has been widely blamed 
on members of Turkish security forces.  Erdogan told a large 
crowd from the balcony of the governor's office in Hakkari 
that Turkey has been `paying the cost of terrorism over the 
past three decades.'  `Terrorism has cost Turkey 40,000 
victims over the past thirty years.  Killing people will not 
yield any results,' Erdogan stressed, warning that 
terrorists will try to break up the country if the Turkish 
people cannot manage to live in peace.  Erdogan noted that 
his government opposes all forms of ethnic, regional, and 
religious nationalism, and said that people should live as 
citizens of the Republic of Turkey regardless of their 
ethnicity.  Erdogan underlined that the incidents which 
occurred several days ago in the region are `under close 
scrutiny' by his government.  `Let us close this period of 
hatred.  All must know that if there is wrongdoing, we will 
investigate it.  We must join hands with you,' he said.  The 
PM later moved on to Semdinli and visited 67 houses and 
shops that were destroyed in a bombing on November 1.  Two 
 
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were killed and 23 wounded in that blast.    Dailies comment 
that Erdogan was given a `cold reception' in Semdinli, where 
he was greeted with placards condemning the involvement of 
state officials in the bombings.  In Yuksekova, Erdogan held 
a meeting with local leaders and NGOs.  Erdogan told a group 
of 2,000 people who were shouting slogans demanding the 
resignation of the provincial governor that `solidarity' is 
needed to solve the region's problems.  "Zaman" comments 
that the PM's `sudden' visit 12 days after the bombings has 
revived hopes in the region that the perpetrators of the 
November 9 bombing will be found.  "Zaman" says that local 
people agree that Erdogan is the leader with the greatest 
potential to bring a solution to the problem.  Papers 
speculate that Erdogan's visit had not been announced 
beforehand in order to prevent organized protests. 
 
PKK Defector: 500 Informants Work for Jandarma:  "Zaman" 
carries a story from the weekly political magazine "Aksiyon" 
claiming that as many as 500 PKK defectors now work for 
jandarma intelligence (JITEM).  An informant code-named 
Firat said the PKK is not sincere in its stated goal of 
expanding `Kurdish rights.'  `I worked for long years for 
the PKK.  Their only goal is to partition the country.  We 
have sided with the state to protect Turkey.  To me, murders 
and bombings are an effort to intimidate.  They are 
necessary for the sake of the state.  Nobody is killed 
people for nothing,' Firat said. 
 
Pro-Kurdish Demonstration in Mersin:  Tensions rose in 
Turkey's Mediterranean city of Mersin Monday following the 
funeral of Murat Demir, a Kurdish demonstrator killed during 
a rally to protest against the Semdinli incident, papers 
report.  A group of some 1,000 protestors carrying PKK flags 
pelted police with rocks on the streets of Mersin, and 
damaged cars and shops.  Police used tear gas to break up 
the protest. 
 
Plastic Explosives Seized in Mersin:  In security operations 
conducted in Mersin on Monday, police detained 2 suspects 
and seized 11 kilograms of A-4 plastic explosives and 
electronic circuits used in bomb-making.  Police declined to 
elaborate on the operation. 
 
US Denies Pressure Urging Denmark to Ban Roj TV:  US State 
Department spokesmen Sean MacCormack and Adam Ereli denied 
Danish media reports that the US had put pressure on Denmark 
to close Roj-TV, the pro-Kurdish broadcaster believed to 
have ties to the outlawed PKK, the Cihan News Agency 
reported on Tuesday. The two spokesmen stressed that the US 
has listed the PKK as a terror organization and that the 
fight against the PKK is a `continuing factor of US foreign 
policy.'  Prime Minister Erdogan last week walked out of a 
joint press conference with Danish PM Rasmussen in 
Copenhagen to protest the presence of Roj-TV in the briefing 
room. 
 
Biden Opposes Premature Iraq Pullout:  US Senator Joseph 
Biden said in response Congressman John Murtha's proposal 
for an immediate withdrawal of US troops from Iraq that a 
premature pullout in the next six months would be `a great 
mistake,' Turkish papers report.  Biden advised the US 
Administration to do `what it did in Afghanistan,' and call 
in the regional and international powers in Iraq.  `We need 
a regional strategy that persuades Iraq's neighbors to wield 
their influence with the Shiites, Sunnis, and Kurds for 
political compromise. They will do it, because no one other 
than the terrorists has an interest in Iraq's descent into 
civil war.  Grounds for a settlement must be created, and 
reconstruction must begin from that point,' Biden said. 
 
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TNA: Ankara-Barzani Seek New Ties:  A column in the English- 
language daily "The New Anatolian" (TNA) claims that Massoud 
Barzani, regional president of Iraqi Kurdistan, held a 
meeting with a top-level official from the Turkish National 
Intelligence Organization (MIT) before the Kurdish leader 
flew to Washington late last month to meet President Bush at 
the White House.  The meeting aimed to establish a new 
dialogue between Ankara and the Barzani administration.  The 
US and UK have told Barzani to tone down his Kurdish 
nationalist rhetoric on the Kirkuk issue in order not to 
offend Turkey.  Turkey claims that the Kurds are trying to 
change the demography of Kirkuk to the disadvantage of the 
Turkmen living in the city.  Kurds say the province should 
be a part of the Kurdistan federal entity.  They want a 
referendum for the people of Kirkuk to decide the future of 
the province.  The new constitution stipulates that such a 
referendum should be held by 2007.  The US and UK are urging 
the Iraqi Kurds to at least contain the PKK and not allow 
PKK militants free movement in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. 
The Kurds say an independent Kurdistan is a `dream' for them 
but stress that both in practical and political terms, it is 
impossible to achieve.  Turkey views the Kurdish leaders as 
`a reality of Iraqi politics,' and understand that the 
Kurdistan region has become a legitimate entity under 
international law.  Ankara is seeking a new approach on the 
issue, and wants to turn a new page with the Kurds, the 
column claims. 
 
EU Delays Financial Aid to North Cyprus until December:  The 
foreign ministers of European Union member countries 
discussed the issue of financial aid to Turkish Cypriots in 
Brussels yesterday.  Following the April 24, 2004 referndum 
on the island, the European Commission prepared a financial 
aid package of 259 million USD and proposed direct trade 
between the north and EU member countries.  However, these 
proposals were rejected because of Greek Cypriot objections. 
120 million USD of the initial aid package will be lost if 
the proposal is not approved by the end of the year. 
 
RSF Criticizes Turkish Court Decision against Journalist: 
The Paris-based Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) criticized a 
decision by Turkey's Supreme Court upholding a 20-month 
suspended prison sentence against Burak Bekdil, editor of 
the English-language  "Turkish Daily News" (TDN) for 
`insulting state institutions.'  Bekdil was sentenced after 
the paper carried a column on August 27, 2001 exposing the 
failings and inconsistencies of the Turkish legal system. 
Bekdil will face a full jail term if he repeats the offence 
between now and July 2007.  `An ordinary Turk has a one in a 
million chance for a fair trial if he is foolish enough to 
trust Turkish courts and judges,' Bekdil wrote in his 
column.  RSF said that the sentence `shows again the flaws 
in the new Turkish criminal code that allow the authorities 
to suppress media by using vague formulations according to 
whim.  Such practices are utterly inconsistent with the 
norms of free expression within the European Union,' the RSF 
said.  Bekdil's lawyer has decided to appeal the verdict to 
the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). 
 
 
EDITORIAL OPINION:  Israel; US-Turkey-Iraq 
 
"The Surprise Move from Sharon" 
Sami Kohen argued in the mainstream "Milliyet" (11/22): "The 
most recent developments in Israel are like a political 
tremor.  This tremor will not only change the political 
equilibrium of the region but also will have some after- 
shocks, which could have the effect of putting things in 
 
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order. Opinion polls indicate that the Likud party as it 
becomes more extreme is losing strength, and Sharon's brand 
new center-right party is expected to take the lead against 
Likud.  But Perez's Labor Party is expected to emerge as the 
strongest force.  In any case, after the elections a center- 
left coalition with Sharon and Perez is the most likely 
scenario.  An Israeli government of this kind will likely be 
helpful for the Middle East peace process.  If the upcoming 
Palestinian elections in January result in some positive 
developments, we might be talking about a `Middle East 
Spring' after the month of March." 
 
"Observation in the US" 
Cuneyt Ulsever observed in the mass appeal "Hurriyet" 
(11/22): "After meeting some people in Washington D.C., my 
observation is that there is a division in the Bush 
administration regarding its Turkey policy.  The State 
Department sees a considerable improvement in Turkish- 
American ties since June, while the Pentagon largely 
believes that the AKP government is a `lost cause' as far as 
US policy for the Middle East is concerned. In addition, the 
neo-cons in the Bush administration seem to be lost in 
current events and don't know what to do.  Even Republicans 
are showing support for the Democratic efforts to leave 
Iraq's security to the Iraqis in 2006.  Nobody takes the 
Greater Middle East project seriously anymore. American 
officials were annoyed by the sudden visit of Turkish 
Foreign Minister Gul to Damascus." 
 
"Once the Beads Scatter Around." 
Haluk Ulman wrote in the economic-political "Dunya" (11/22): 
"The US occupation of Iraq not only pulled the country into 
a circle of violence but also started affecting the 
stability and the political future of the countries in the 
region.  It seems that, because of the policies of Bush and 
his team, the post-occupation Middle East is going to be 
very different than the pre-occupation Middle East.  The 
beads have already been scattered around; only God knows 
what kind of picture will come out after they are re-strung. 
Despite all the efforts of the US, stability has not been 
established in Iraq.  Iraq has been divided between the 
Kurds and the Shiites.  The Sunnis, angered by this 
division, continue the insurgency with bloody terror 
attacks.  Over 2,200 American soldiers have lost their lives 
in Iraq and countless civilian lives have been lost as well. 
Iraqi President Talabani stresses that the establishment of 
an independent Kurdish State in Iraq is not possible.  But 
Barzani says he will announce the region's independence if 
there is a civil war in Iraq.   Whether a civil war erupts 
or not, Barzani is determined to establish an independent 
Kurdish state in the region.  In fact, this is the only hope 
for the US to remain in the Middle East, particularly after 
the failure in Iraq." 
 
MCELDOWNEY