US embassy cable - 03ANKARA4349

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 004349 
 
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, JULY 10, 2003 
 
 
THIS REPORT WILL PRESENT A TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER 
THREE THEMES: 
 
 
HEADLINES 
BRIEFING 
EDITORIAL OPINION 
--------------------------------------------- - 
HEADLINES 
 
 
MASS APPEALS 
Cheney intervenes to block Armenian bill - Hurriyet 
Katsav: We accept a sovereign Palestine state - Sabah 
Turkey's Jews to Diaspora: Stand against Armenian 
claims - Turkiye 
Chalabi thanks Turkey for supporting democracy in Iraq 
- Hurriyet 
Verheugen: Turkey has a chance for EU membership - 
Milliyet 
 
 
OPINION MAKERS 
U.S. Captain Mordago: Turkish troops in N. Iraq a 
terror unit - Radikal 
Turkish side insists on official apology from U.S. - 
Radikal 
Talabani: Turkish troops our guests - Zaman 
Bush losing popular support - Cumhuriyet 
U.S. `hawks' act for Turkey against Armenia - Zaman 
Turkish lobby vs. Armenian lobby - Cumhuriyet 
Bush to intervene in Armenian genocide voting - Yeni 
Safak 
 
 
 
 
BRIEFING 
 
 
Detention crisis: NATO Deputy Commander Lieutenant 
General John Sylvester attended the first meeting of 
the joint fact-finding commission with Turkish 
counterparts at the TGS on Wednesday.  The commission 
is to investigate the detention of Turkish special 
forces in the Northern Iraqi town of Suleymaniye last 
weekend.  The Turks have asked General Sylvester to 
sack Colonel Bill Mayville, and presented him with 
evidence on alleged U.S. ties to PKK/KADEK.  General 
Sylvester will proceed to Northern Iraq on Thursday, 
and return to Ankara this weekend.  Papers expect the 
U.S. and Turkish sides to issue a joint statement 
outlining principles for future military operations in 
Northern Iraq.  The U.S. side has conveyed to Ankara 
its concerns over the cache of arms kept by Turkish 
units in Northern Iraq, which included a considerable 
amount of C-4 explosives.  "Radikal" reports that U.S. 
officers in Northern Iraq accuse the 11 detained 
Turkish soldiers of belonging to a "terror unit" 
involved in illegal activities. The underlying reason 
for the arrests, "Radikal" reports based on AKP 
sources, is that the U.S. wants Turkey out of Northern 
Iraq.  Ankara has refused to pull back its troops, and 
has demanded written guarantees from the U.S. that 
PKK/KADEK activities and a sovereign Kurdish state 
would be prevented.  "Radikal" believes the arrests to 
be part of a regional policy pursued by the U.S. 
Administration, and expects the Americans to continue 
narrowing Turkey's room for maneuver in the region. 
"Cumhuriyet" reports a senior U.S. official as saying 
that the 11 Turks were released on the condition that 
they will remain under the supervision of the Turkish 
military. 
 
 
Responding to press reports that Turkey denied landing 
permission for U.S. planes during the Iraq campaign, 
Foreign Minister Gul said that over 30 damaged American 
planes had been allowed to land at Turkish bases.  The 
TGS, which had been expected to seal a $4 billion deal 
for the purchase of Cobra helicopters by late July, has 
suspended negotiations with the Americans over the 
Suleymaniye incident. 
 
 
Armenian genocide: Foreign Minister Gul said that the 
U.S. Administration is working to block the Armenian 
genocide draft being considered by the U.S. Congress. 
President Bush opposes the bill, and Vice President 
Cheney and Deputy Secretary of Defense Wolfowitz are 
lobbying to convince Congressmen to vote against the 
resolution. 
 
 
Israeli President visits Turkey: Visiting Israeli 
President Katsav said that the tension between U.S. and 
Turkey would not negatively affect ties between Israel 
and Turkey.  Katsav also said that Israel had activated 
the Jewish lobby in the U.S. to help repair the strain 
between Ankara and Washington. 
 
 
 
 
EDITORIAL OPINION: US-Turkish Relations/N. Iraq 
 
 
"A new roadmap for US-Turkish relations" 
Islamist-intellectual Zaman carried an analysis by two 
academics, Orhan Gokce and Birol Akgun (7/10): "There 
is a significant difference in US policies in the post- 
9/11 period and the post Word War II period.  Yet it 
seems the Turkish foreign policy-makers have not fully 
realized it. . We have to realize the fact that Turkey 
and the US are not strategic allies, and that our 
regional interests might conflict with US interests 
from time to time.  Turkey must be able to revise its 
relationship with Washington through a new vision.  It 
seems best for Turkey to design its `roadmap' by taking 
the new political facts into account and by arranging 
bilateral ties in the spirit of a more `distant' 
partnership." 
 
 
"Shaking the trust within NATO" 
Zafer Atay argued in the economic-political Dunya 
(7/10): "The incident in Suleymaniye is not only an 
appalling game, but also shakes the basic pillars of 
NATO.  The NATO alliance is based on mutual trust, 
solidarity, and willingness to work hand-in-hand for 
the achievement of shared ideals.  The arrest of 
Turkish soldiers and the treatment they were given have 
undermined the pillars of NATO. . There is no point in 
believing that there were `disturbing acts by the 
Turkish team.'  The event was a clear show of force on 
the US side.  The normalization of Turkish-American 
relations requires two conditions to be met: The US 
should convey an official apology to both Turkey and 
NATO; and those responsible for the Suleymaniye 
incident should be punished." 
 
 
"Iraq issue should not be left to the military alone" 
Mehmet Ali Birand wrote in the mass appeal-sensational 
Posta (7/10): "The Iraq issue is too sensitive a 
problem to be left to the military alone.  The military 
should always be under civilian checks and controls. 
They must act within the framework of the policies to 
be formulated by the civilian authority.  The 
military's view should always be provided, but the 
civilian authority should make the final decision. If, 
in Iraq, State Department and the other institutions 
had joined the loop rather than the Pentagon alone 
dealing with such issues, today's problems would not 
have occurred." 
 
 
PEARSON