US embassy cable - 03ANKARA3892

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 003892 
 
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, JUNE 16, 2003 
 
THIS REPORT WILL PRESENT A TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER THREE 
THEMES: 
 
 
HEADLINES 
BRIEFING 
EDITORIAL OPINION 
----------------- 
 
 
HEADLINES 
 
 
MASS APPEAL 
Mullah terror in Iran - Hurriyet 6/15 
Students want Hamanei's head - Hurriyet 6/14 
Iranians urge mullahs to leave - Vatan 
Bush supports Iranian dissidents - Milliyet 
Iranian students determined to continue protest until regime 
change - Milliyet 6/14 
Tehran employs Saddam's missile experts - Milliyet 
Turkey, Pakistan revive ties - Turkiye 
Greek defense minister: Generals in power in Turkey - Aksam 
6/15 
Iraqi Kurds to unite their administrations - Milliyet 6/14 
Erdogan: Turkey will do without IMF after 2004 - Hurriyet 
6/15 
 
 
OPINION MAKERS 
Iran on razor's edge - Radikal 
Conservatives take stage in Iran, beat civilians - Radikal 
6/14 
Bush hails Iranian students, tough on Hamas - Zaman 
Prof. Larouche: U.S. wants instability in Iran, not regime 
change - Zaman 6/14 
War in Iraq never ends - Cumhuriyet 
U.S. launches operation `Desert Scorpion' against Iraqi 
resistance - Radikal 
Iraq still on fire - Radikal 6/14 
Erdogan: We'll be happy with Pakistani presence in Iraq - 
Yeni Safak 
Gul: We want to turn Aegean into a sea of peace - Zaman 
Israel preparing for withdrawal - Cumhuriyet 
 
 
BRIEFING 
 
 
U.S.-Iran tension: Dailies from over the weekend and on 
Monday report on the growing demonstrations against the 
`regime of mullahs' in Iran.  Dailies mention an `open 
letter' issued by reformist politicians, clerics, opposition 
groups, intellectuals, and journalists in defense of the 
Iranian people's right to criticize and even bring down the 
Iranian administration.  President Bush has seized the 
opportunity to challenge the rulers of Iran, and voiced 
support for the protestors, saying that `people are 
expressing views for a free Iran, which is a positive 
development.'  Reports also quote Ari Fleischer as 
denouncing attacks by a militia loyal to Iran's spiritual 
leader Hamanei against the students. 
 
 
MFA U/S in U.S.: MFA U/S Ambassador Ugur Ziyal and his 
delegation are scheduled to meet with Grossman, Wolfowitz, 
Larson, Burns and some Congressmen in Washington before 
returning on Thursday.  Dailies regard the visit as an 
effort to `repair the damage' in U.S.-Turkey ties.  Ankara 
and Washington will discuss the future of the bilateral 
strategic relationship, and will also focus on Iran and 
Cyprus. 
 
 
PM Erdogan in Pakistan: The first Turkish Prime Minister to 
visit Pakistan in the last five years, Erdogan and his 
Pakistani counterpart have decided to hold annual bilateral 
meetings to boost ties.  In a joint press conference with 
his counterpart Prime Minister Jemali, Erdogan called for 
Pakistani participation in peacekeeping activities in Iraq. 
Erdogan, who is scheduled to meet with Pakistani head of 
state Musharraf on Monday, is expected to call for 
membership of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) 
in the Organization for Islamic Conference (OIC).  Papers 
say that Turkey and Pakistan will sign agreements on ground 
transportation, environmental protection, and the struggle 
against drug trafficking. 
 
 
Turkey, EU: On the eve of critical parliamentary discussions 
on the EU reform package this week, Foreign Minister Gul 
said that if Turkey manages to pass necessary reforms in the 
next two months, accession negotiations with the EU could 
begin in 2004.  This would pave the way for Turkey's EU 
membership by 2010.  Dailies expect no drastic change in 
Turkey-EU relations at the upcoming EU summit in 
Thessaloniki, Greece this weekend.  The Thessaloniki summit 
will call on Ankara and the Turkish Cypriots to support the 
UN-sponsored peace plan for Cyprus. 
EDITORIAL OPINION: 
 
 
a) Middle East 
b) Iran and US-Turkish relations 
 
 
"New era in the Middle East" 
Yasemin Congar observed in mass appeal Milliyet (6/16): "It 
may sound like a distant dream, yet there are some positive 
developments in the Middle East.  The first good sign comes 
with the reaffirmation of the US commitment to the roadmap. 
Secretary Powell's message that `we will not give up, we 
 
SIPDIS 
will not stumble' should be taken as a very important 
declaration. . There are also some positive things happening 
in the Israel-Palestine dialogue. Most importantly, the 
channel for dialogue remains open despite the negative 
developments on the ground. . The third good sign comes from 
Europe and regional countries, which have signaled their 
active participation in the process.  They all consider 
themselves part of the Middle East initiative. . As for 
Ankara, these developments should be read correctly, and 
Turkey should not remain an observer.  Ankara must give a 
hand to Palestinian PM Abbas.  Turkey is capable of 
accelerating the Israeli-Palestinian dialogue through clever 
diplomacy." 
 
 
"Ziyal's visit" 
Asli Aydintasbas wrote in mass appeal Sabah (6/16): "The 
visit of Turkish MFA U/S Ziyal to Washington is basically an 
effort to repair the bilateral relationship.  He will convey 
messages from Ankara and listen to what US officials have to 
say. . In fact, there are enough signs already about what 
Ziyal will be hearing from the US.  Richard Perle of the AEI 
recently revealed that message.  Perle highlighted the 
Iranian nuclear program and regime's link with terrorism, 
and hinted that the repair of Turkish-American ties goes 
through US-Turkish cooperation on Iran. . `Ankara should 
have a very clear stance about Iran' says an American 
official.  Washington wants to know whether Turkey will be 
on the US side in a possible campaign against Iran." 
 
 
PEARSON