US embassy cable - 03ANKARA3826

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 003826 
 
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 
THURSDAY, JUNE 12, 2003 
 
THIS REPORT WILL PRESENT A TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER THREE 
THEMES: 
 
 
HEADLINES 
BRIEFING 
EDITORIAL OPINION 
----------------- 
 
 
HEADLINES 
 
 
MASS APPEALS 
Satellite broadcast from U.S. took Iranians to the street - 
Hurriyet 
Revolt rehearsal in Tehran - Aksam 
Iranian students chant `death to mullahs' - Sabah 
Blood bath in Middle East - Hurriyet 
Hamas retaliates: 17 dead - Milliyet 
Ali Bin-Hussein to settle in Baghdad - Turkiye 
Armenian `Genocide' at U.S. Senate - Turkiye 
U.S. military uneasy about Rumsfeld's candidate for Land 
Forces - Vatan 
Blix to Pentagon: Bastards! - Sabah 
Athens stepping up tension with Ankara - Milliyet 
 
 
OPINION MAKERS 
Bloody vicious cycle in Middle East - Cumhuriyet 
Violence breeds violence: 16 die in Jerusalem suicide attack 
- Radikal 
Tough retaliation by Hamas - Yeni Safak 
Road map in coma - Zaman 
Children of revolution demand `evolution' in Iran - Zaman 
Who pushed the button in Iran? - Yeni Safak 
Iranian students take to the streets - Cumhuriyet 
U.S. killed over 3,000 civilians in Iraq - Yeni Safak 
EU sides with Greece on Aegean dispute - Radikal 
U.S. reluctant to see its troops tried at ICC - Cumhuriyet 
 
 
FINANCIAL JOURNALS 
TUSIAD to government: Keep on path, our support will 
continue - Dunya 
PM Erdogan criticizes businessmen for exploiting state - 
Finansal Forum 
 
 
BRIEFING 
 
 
U.S. has urged Turkey to recognize Kurdistan: U.S. Special 
Presidential Envoy for Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, asked Ankara 
and the Turkmen before the Iraqi war to officially recognize 
Iraqi Kurdistan.  Furthermore, Khalilzad offered the Turkmen 
a role in the new Iraqi administration in exchange for 
written recognition of Iraqi Kurdistan.  Ankara had first 
agreed to recognize Kurdistan within the framework of the 
new Iraqi constitution, but had to step back in the face of 
the Turkmen reaction, according to Turkish diplomatic 
sources.  A U.S. diplomat in Iraq, David Pearce, has told 
the Turkmen that the U.S. regards the Iraqi Turkomen Front 
as an extension of Turkey, according to "Cumhuriyet."  `The 
U.S. has not forgotten, and will not forgive the reluctance 
displayed by Turkey during the war with Iraq,' Pearce said. 
Bomb attack on U.S. Consulate Adana: On Wednesday, a Turkish 
man tossed two grenades into the garden of the U.S. 
Consulate in Adana. One grenade detonated in the garden, but 
there were no injuries.  The attacker, who was apprehended 
immediately after the incident, said his action was meant as 
a retaliation against recent Israeli attacks on Muslims in 
Palestine. 
 
 
Ankara holds `secret' meetings with Armenians: Following the 
meeting between the Turkish and Armenian foreign ministers 
in Madrid last month, the MFA contacted Armenian 
representatives in the U.S. to explore the possibility of 
some goodwill gestures, papers report.  MFA officials in 
Yerevan gave the message that Ankara would open the border 
with Armenia immediately if the Armenians were to remove all 
territorial claims from their constitution and drop all 
references to a genocide by Turks.  The diplomats also urged 
Yerevan to exert influence on the Armenian diaspora to help 
block efforts to gain U.S. Congressional recognition of an 
Armenian genocide.  Other MFA diplomats told Armenians in 
the U.S. that provocative moves by the diaspora could 
undermine mutual good will. 
 
 
Greek note of protest to Turkey: Athens presented a note of 
protest to Turkey after increases in alleged harassment by 
Turkish military jets over the Aegean negatively influenced 
Turkish and Greek tourism.  Greek Foreign Minister 
Papandreou complained to EU's Verheugen the other day about 
the increased harassment of Turkish military jets.  A 
Turkish diplomat is quoted as saying that Ankara should 
block Greek efforts to secure EU support for the Greek 
position to avoid further confusion in Turkey's troubled 
relationship with the EU. 
 
 
Greeks admit past support for PKK: In an Athens court case 
exploring the illegal entry of PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan to 
Greece in 1998, some Greek officials have admitted that the 
PKK had been regarded as a second army on Greece's side in 
the Turkish-Greek conflict.  Former Public Order Minister 
Papatemelis reportedly said that Athens had supported the 
Kurds' cause of dividing Turkey, adding that the Kurdish 
state to be founded in Iraq would have triggered the 
disintegration of Turkey. 
 
 
 
 
EDITORIAL OPINION: 
 
 
a) Middle East 
b) US-Turkey relations in post war Iraq 
 
 
"The Middle East Vision" 
Ahmet Tasgetiren argued in the Islamic-intellectual Yeni 
Safak (6/12): "US policy in the Middle East is the 
imposition of the US vision on others.  That is the main 
reason for the current tension between Turkey and the US. 
Washington has been sending advice to Ankara urging Turkey 
to change its `vision.'  First Wolfowitz, and more recently 
Perle were giving the same advice: Turkey needs a new vision 
on the Middle East issue, and  a `diversion' of views would 
be a disaster.'  By referring to a `diversion,' the US 
officials are implying that Turkey must look at the Middle 
East in the same way as the US.  . This is an early 
indication of the US obsession to redesign the Middle East. 
. The US should realize that only Turkey can provide the 
right advice to the US on the region.  Turkey should never 
stop suggesting to Washington that it look at the region 
from a different angle, free from any subjective assessments 
and aspirations of imperial hegemony." 
 
 
"Turkey's condition to withdraw from northern Iraq" 
Mehmet Ali Birand wrote in the mass appeal-sensational Posta 
(6/12): "Iraq will be the most sensitive subject to be dealt 
with in Turkish-American relations in the days ahead. 
Turkey has not yet formulated a definite policy on Iraq. 
Some bitterness and a certain degree of disappointment is 
being experienced.  Turkey has felt a certain degree of 
uneasiness due to the uncertain American position regarding 
the presence of some 3,000 PKK militants in northern Iraq. 
The future of these militants who live in camps set up along 
the Iran and Iraq border has yet to be determined.  . The US 
wants Turkey to withdraw its troops, and Turkey will not 
budge until the PKK threat is entirely eliminated.  . There 
is another issue that the US considers `most important' as 
part of its medium and long-term expectations from Turkey: 
How exactly will Turkey view northern Iraq -- that is, the 
Kurds -- and Iraq in general?  The US wonders how Ankara 
will arrange its relations both with its own Kurds and the 
northern Iraqi Kurds.  . Ankara is expected to provide the 
answers to such questions.  Ankara, meanwhile, is expecting 
Washington to clarify its approach toward the PKK." 
 
 
PEARSON