US embassy cable - 03ANKARA4490

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 004490 
 
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 17, 2003 
 
THIS REPORT WILL PRESENT A TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER 
THREE THEMES: 
 
 
HEADLINES 
BRIEFING 
EDITORIAL OPINION 
--------------------------------------------- - 
HEADLINES 
 
 
MASS APPEALS 
U.S.: Suleymaniye raid a regrettable, unfortunate 
incident - Hurriyet 
Gul: Rumsfeld letter voices respect for Turkey's 
military - Aksam 
Gul to U.S. next week - Milliyet 
U.S. troops in Iraq furious at Bush, Rumsfeld - Vatan 
Chaos prevails in Iraq - Sabah 
Consumers boycott U.S. goods - Hurriyet 
Denktas invites Greeks to Varosha - Turkiye 
 
 
OPINION MAKERS 
U.S. voices regret over Suleymaniye raid - Radikal 
Iraq swamp pulling Washington down - Radikal 
Wexler slams Rumsfled over Suleymaniye arrests - Yeni 
Safak 
A PKK member in Iraqi interim council - Zaman 
Tehran admits Canadian reporter beaten to death - 
Cumhuriyet 
 
 
 
 
BRIEFING 
 
 
Rumsfeld letter to Erdogan: In a letter on behalf of 
President Bush to Prime Minister Erdogan, Secretary of 
Defense Rumsfeld emphasized the significance of U.S.- 
Turkish friendship and voiced regret about the 
Suleymaniye detentions, most dailies report.  However, 
some papers interpret the letter was concrete evidence 
that the detentions were carried out with the approval 
of Washington.  The Rumsfeld letter says that the 
Turkish soldiers were detained for arming the Turkomen, 
a clear violation of agreements between the U.S. and 
Turkey.  Sources close to the ruling AKP are inclined 
to regard the letter as a message voicing regret over 
the Suleymaniye arrests, an `isolated incident.' All 
papers agree that the letter fell outside of 
conventional diplomatic practice, and stress that it 
should have been signed either by the President or Vice 
President. 
 
 
Washington approves fact-finding commission statement: 
Washington approved a statement by the joint fact- 
finding commission probing the detention of Turkish 
troops in Suleymaniye.  The U.S. approval comes 24 
hours after TGS released the Turkish version of the 
statement.  Papers claim that the U.S. had been upset 
by the TGS decision to release the statement without 
official confirmation from Washington.  U.S. officials 
said the delay was caused by bureaucratic formalities. 
 
 
Pro-PKK figure in Iraqi governing council: Dr. Mahmud 
Osman, a member of the Iraqi governing council formed 
by the U.S., is closely linked to the PKK, "Aksam" 
reports.  The paper deems the appointment `surprising,' 
since the PKK/KADEK is in the U.S. list of terrorist 
organizations.  The U.S. wanted to silence criticism of 
the PKK/KADEK, and to give a message that the new 
administration will include representatives of all 
Kurds in Iraq, "Aksam" speculates.  Foreign Minister 
Gul said Turkey is investigating Osman's alleged ties 
with the PKK, and noted that Ankara would not recognize 
a terrorist in the Iraqi administration. 
 
 
Palestinian FM in Ankara: Visiting Palestinian Foreign 
Minister Shaath asked for Ankara's support in 
convincing Israel to move forward in the Middle East 
peace process.  After meeting with Shaath on Wednesday, 
Foreign Minister Gul said that the reform process in 
Palestine was being discussed, and that Turkey would 
help Palestine to draft a constitution.  Gul also noted 
that Ankara has extended an invitation for an official 
visit by Palestinian Prime Minister Abbas. 
 
 
Denktas invites Greek Cypriots to Varosha: Turkish 
Cypriot leader Denktas said that if the Greek Cypriot 
government rejects his offer of jointly opening Varosha 
to tourism, the Greek Cypriots would be allowed to 
settle in Varosha.  Denktas reportedly said the 
deserted town of Varosha `cannot remain closed 
forever.' 
 
 
Decline in consumption of U.S. goods: Papers report on 
a survey carried out by Roper ASW, which shows a 13 
percent decline in consumption of U.S.-made goods in 
Turkey since 1999.  Roper ASW claimed that the Iraq 
crisis has caused consumers worldwide to boycott 
American culture and consumer products. 
 
 
 
 
EDITORIAL OPINION: Iraq 
 
 
"Can't we be more specific?" 
Sami Kohen stated in mass appeal Milliyet (7/17): 
"Ankara is suffering because of its failure to present 
a clearly defined policy for Northern Iraq.  This issue 
has not been  properly discussed to this point, but 
there is an urgent need for an open discussion and to 
work toward new strategies based on the facts in the 
region.  Northern Iraq has turned into an issue that 
could determine the fate of Turkish-American relations. 
Both Turkey and the US need to fine-tune their policies 
on Iraq if there is a common desire to enhance 
bilateral ties." 
 
 
"Iraq and Turkey" 
Cengiz Candar commented in DB Tercuman (7/17): "Turkey 
has experienced a defeat in Iraq in all military, 
political and diplomatic senses.  Turkey must 
completely change its approach to Iraq, particularly 
its `northern Iraq mentality,' as quickly and 
thoroughly as possible.  Otherwise, we can expect new 
challenges with the US, new defeats for Ankara, and 
more problems for the Turkoman community." 
 
 
"Agreeing to disagree" 
Ilnur Cevik is back from the region and observed in the 
English language Turkish Daily News (7/17): "The 
Americans have decided not to pursue the issue any 
further for the sake of Turkish-American ties, but the 
dispute is still there.  Now Turkish leaders have to 
sit down and decide what we want to do in northern Iraq 
and how.  This means the civilian leadership should be 
more involved in the decision-making process, and 
should not leave everything to the military." 
 
 
PEARSON