US embassy cable - 03ANKARA2432

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 002432 
 
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 
MONDAY, APRIL 14, 2003 
 
 
THIS REPORT WILL PRESENT A TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER THREE 
THEMES: 
 
 
HEADLINES 
BRIEFING 
EDITORIAL OPINION 
                         ------- 
 
 
HEADLINES 
 
 
MASS APPEAL 
FM Gul: We Shall Take Part in Iraq's Reconstruction - 
Hurriyet 
Now it is Syria's Turn - Milliyet 
Saddam Might be Hiding in Beirut- Milliyet 
Baghdad Museum Looted-Sabah 
Syria Summit At the White House - Turkiye 
Turkish Military Officers are in Critical Region - Aksam, 
4/12 
Talabani Assigns his man to Kirkuk as Governor-Hurriyet, 
4/12 
 
 
OPINION MAKERS 
US Guns Aimed at Syria - Radikal 
Bush Threatens Syria and Iraq - Yeni Safak 
Cheney's Daughter Meets with Baath Party Members-Yeni Safak 
Kirkuk Puzzle - Cumhuriyet 
US Calls Saddam's Police for Duty- Zaman 
Israeli Foreign Minister Comes To Turkey-Zaman 
Peshmerges Withdraw-4/13 
Looting, Chaos, Poverty in Baghdad-Radikal-4/12 
 
 
BRIEFING 
 
 
Iraq: Saturday's "Cumhuriyet" reports that Turkey wants to 
play an active role in the reconstruction of Iraq.  Within 
this framework, Turkey has already prepared a list of Arab 
and Turkoman officials who should definitely take place in 
the new Iraqi administration.  Weekend papers report that 
Kurdish groups have started leaving Kirkuk and Mosul, but 
Turkish troops remain on the highest alert to intervene if 
necessary.  Meanwhile, 15 Turkish military officials went to 
Northern Iraq to monitor developments in Mosul and Kirkuk. 
"Sabah" covers the military delegation's report, saying that 
`there have been no systematic attacks against the 
Turkomen.'  The majority of peshmerge militants have left 
Kirkuk, but a few have remained to assist US troops until 
the arrival of reinforcements.  "Radikal" reports that Syria 
has become the new US target following the fall of Iraq. 
The Bush administration accuses Syria of giving military 
support to Saddam, providing shelter to fleeing Iraqi 
officials, and hiding Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. 
Today's "Turkiye" reports that the US is considering 
launching a military operation against Syria.  Sunday's 
"Hurriyet" reports that portraits of Saddam have been 
removed from the walls of the Iraqi Embassy in Ankara. 
"Yeni Safak" reports that during the first week of the 
operation against Iraq, the US administration , in order to 
change the war situation through diplomatic channels, sent a 
delegation to Iraq led of Dick Cheney's daughter Elizabeth 
Cheney.  Elizabeth Cheney, who works for the State 
Department's Middle and Near East department, is also an 
advisor to Israeli PM Ariel Saron, according to "Yeni 
Safak." 
 
 
EU:  "Radikal" reports that the Cyprus issue will be at the 
top of the agenda of Turkey-EU relations this week.  Today 
the EU will approve an updated Accession Partnership Accord 
for Turkey.  FM Abdullah Gul will go to Luxembourg today to 
participate at the EU Foreign Ministers meeting. 
 
 
 
 
EDITORIAL OPINION 
 
 
"The cost of war to the U.S." 
Cuneyt Ulsever opined in mass appeal Hurriyet (4/14): "The 
war with Iraq has brought the U.S. some long-term costs. . 
Unlike the Clinton-era understanding of the U.S. as a 
`gracious imperial state,' the U.S. has now become a state 
that will mainly be viewed from a position of pure fear. 
Coercion breeds coercion.  Unfortunately, terrorist acts 
against the U.S. will increase henceforth, and without 
receiving the sympathetic reaction the world displayed 
against the September 11 attacks. .  Palestinian-inspired 
terrorist acts will expand their area of legitimacy, and the 
U.S. will feel, more than ever, obliged to solve the 
Palestine problem.  The U.S. has shattered essential 
organizational models such as the UN and NATO.  However, 
America badly needs such organizations if globalization is 
to gain legitimacy.  The U.S. will have to pay a high cost 
for its ambition." 
 
 
"After Saddam" 
Yasemin Congar wrote in mass appeal Milliyet (4/14): "A day 
before the collapse of the Baath regime in Baghdad, a U.S. 
official said to reporters that a democratic Turkey should 
be pleased with the change in Iraq.  `Turkey will have the 
largest trade volume with the new Iraq. .  Turkey has got no 
reason to be worried about the rights of the Kurds.  We want 
the Kurds, as all other Iraqi ethnic groups, to get an equal 
share from Iraq's national wealth.  If Turkey continues to 
implement democratic and economic reforms, the Turkish 
nation, and Kurdish-origin Turks, will live a more 
prosperous life.  There will be no reason for Ankara to 
worry that Iraqi Kurds will act as a model in the region,' 
he said. .  In a briefing for Arab and Muslim journalists, 
Deputy Secretary of Defense Wolfowitz said that Turkey's 
concern regarding Northern Iraq is legitimate, for 
terrorists who found shelter in the region have killed 
thousands in the 1990s.  He noted that not only the U.S., 
but the KDP and PUK have also helped `a great deal' in 
Turkey's fight against the PKK.  Wolfowitz stressed that 
both the Kurds and Turkomen have been targeted in Saddam's 
ethnic cleansing operations.  He reminded that Arabs were 
settled in place of displaced ethnic groups, and claimed 
they would be allowed to return home through a `systematic 
legal process' instead of by `brute force.' .  How does 
Ankara regard Wolfowitz's assertion?  Is it possible for 
Turkey to establish a relationship of trust with the KDP and 
PUK in a new Iraq? .  How many in Ankara believe that 
removal of Saddam will be the beginning of a much better 
future for Iraq and Turkey?" 
 
 
"Who is threatening world peace?" 
Semih Idiz commented in mass appeal Aksam (4/14): "Allowing 
the destruction of the National Museum in Baghdad, which 
stood witness to Mesopotamia's five thousand years of 
history, will be remembered as a crime against humanity by 
the U.S.  Washington had planned measures for the protection 
of oil wells months before the operation, but did nothing to 
protect the museum. .  It's gradually becoming clear that 
this war has got nothing to do with the welfare of the Iraqi 
nation.  It is now understood that it is related with the 
`black gold' and Israel, a country essential for America's 
regional interests.  The evidence for the latter is seen in 
U.S. statements that Syria might be next because of its 
support for Hizbullah, the enemy of Israel.  It seems that 
the Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Perle `cabal' has developed an 
extremely dangerous master plan.  Those who claim that Bush, 
not Saddam was a threat to world peace are right." 
 
 
PEARSON