US embassy cable - 03ANKARA4068

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 004068 
 
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 
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 25, 2003 
 
THIS REPORT WILL PRESENT A TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER THREE 
THEMES: 
 
 
HEADLINES 
BRIEFING 
EDITORIAL OPINION 
 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
HEADLINES 
 
 
MASS APPEALS 
Gul: Foreign troops might be allowed on Turkish bases - 
Hurriyet 
Turkey to open bases, harbors to U.S. - Vatan 
UN: 27 million Iraqis need food, medicine - Turkiye 
Reeker unaware of possible Gul visit to U.S. - Hurriyet 
WP, ABC survey: 56 percent of Americans support strike 
against Iran - Milliyet 
AKP's `army of Imams' of 15,000 - Milliyet 
Graham Fuller: Turkey indispensable for U.S. - Aksam 
Joint contact group between TOBB-CSIS - Sabah 
1,000 paid $4 million to have dinner with Bush - Turkiye 
 
 
OPINION MAKERS 
Turkey to open bases for Iraqi humanitarian supply - Zaman 
Turkey urges U.S. on tighter control of Habur border 
crossing - Zaman 
Blair, Berlusconi, Aznar losing popular support - Yeni Safak 
6,000 `oil police' to guard Iraqi pipelines - Yeni Safak 
Religious Affairs becomes Gargantuan - Radikal 
EC plan to decrease Turkish population in Cyprus - 
Cumhuriyet 
Holbrooke angers Denktas - Cumhuriyet 
U.S. court approves `positive discrimination' on behalf of 
black students - Radikal 
 
 
BRIEFING 
 
 
`Iraq dialogue' between U.S., Turkey: "Cumhuriyet" reports 
about ongoing talks between the U.S. and Turkey on Iraq. 
Washington has a positive view of Ankara's approach to 
PKK/KADEK defectors, but wants the scope of the draft 
`Repentance Law' expanded.  During a recent visit to 
Washington, MFA U/S Ambassador Ziyal presented the U.S. with 
a list of possible Turkish contributions to the rebuilding 
of Iraq, according to Cumhuriyet.  Ankara signaled that 
Turkey's airbases and ports would be opened to the U.S., 
that Turkey would send troops for Iraqi peacekeeping, that 
U.S. troops in Iraq could spend vacations in Turkey, and 
that Turkey's higher education council (YOK) could help in 
the restructuring of Iraqi universities. 
 
 
Northern Iraq disarms: KDP and PUK officials have agreed 
with U.S. General Colin Schite that civilians living in 
Northern Iraq should be disarmed within two weeks, papers 
report.  Only peshmerges of the two Kurdish groups will be 
allowed to carry weapons. 
EC adopts `anti-Turkish' bills: Dailies write about two anti- 
Turkish reports adopted on Tuesday by the Council of Europe 
Parliamentary Assembly.  The first report claims that the 
Greeks and Maronites are living under pressure in Northern 
Cyprus, and that their properties have been seized.  The 
other report demands that migrants sent from Turkey to the 
north of the island following the Turkish occupation in 1974 
should return home.  The movement of settlers has caused 
significant changes in the demographic structure of the 
island, where settlers from Turkey now outnumber native 
Turkish Cypriots. 
 
 
Denktas rebuffs criticism by Holbrooke: Turkish Cypriot 
leader Denktas responded to Richard Hobrooke, who had blamed 
him for blocking a solution on the island merely out of 
personal ambition.  Denktas said: `I have turned 79, and 
cannot be obsessed by greed at this age.'  Denktas accused 
Holbrooke of involvement in financial dealings with the 
Greeks. 
 
 
AKP to hire more Muslim preachers: Ruling AKP lawmakers 
voted on Tuesday for a massive increase in the number of 
Muslim clerics and preachers employed by the state, papers 
report.  The AKP backed the increase in the budget for the 
Department of Religious Affairs (DIB), the state body that 
employs around 88,000 staff and preachers to run mosques 
across Turkey and in other countries. They voted to employ 
an additional 15,000 clerics and preachers, instead of a 
proposed 1,600.  Opposition party CHP officials said a total 
of 34,000 public sector appointments were planned by the 
government in 2003, and that the enormous additional 
staffing would make DIB the fifth largest public 
institution. The IMF had earlier opposed a similar attempt 
by AKP.  The decision still needs to be approved in the main 
assembly, where the AKP has a strong majority, and signed by 
the president before it takes effect. 
 
 
EDITORIAL OPINION: US-Pakistan; Iran 
 
 
"The US and Pakistan" 
Fikret Ertan wrote in the Islamist-intellectual Zaman 
(6/25): "The visit of Pakistan's leader Musharraf to Camp 
David is significantly important for the future of Asia as 
well as ties between Washington and Islamabad.  . Issues on 
the agenda range from the Kashmir problem to Afghanistan, 
and from changes in the Pakistani army to Pakistan's 
official recognition of Israel. . The issues discussed and 
results achieved at the Camp David meeting will not only 
have an enormous effect on the US-Pakistan relations, but 
will also play a determining role in the future of 
Afghanistan and other countries in the region.  The US- 
Pakistani summit could also have an impact on the political 
status of General Musharraf." 
 
 
"Changing regime in Iran" 
Ergin Yildizoglu argued in social democrat-intellectual 
Cumhuriyet (6/25): "The effort to change the regime in Iran 
is part of an American policy to alter the regional 
equilibrium.  Following the occupation of Iraq, regional 
balances have shifted.  Saudi Arabia and the Gulf countries 
have lost their strategic importance.  By stationing itself 
in northern Iraq, the US now has the advantage to be able to 
intervene in both Iran and Turkey. . If the Mullahs' regime 
in Iran is eventually replaced with a pro-American regime, 
the US will have the privilege of controlling an energy 
corridor from Iraq to China.  In this case, Turkey will lose 
its strategic importance and its future will be tied to its 
relationship with Washington. . It is in Turkey's interest 
as well that Iran changes its regime, yet becomes a 
democratic and independent country with which Turkey can 
establish a certain degree of alliance." 
 
 
PEARSON