This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 009084 
 
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
SUBJECT: ANKARA MEDIA REACTION REPORT 
MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2002 
 
THIS REPORT WILL PRESENT A TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER THREE 
THEMES: 
 
 
HEADLINES 
BRIEFING 
EDITORIAL OPINION 
                         ------- 
 
 
HEADLINES 
 
 
MASS APPEAL 
Military advises support for air operations alone - Milliyet 
Turkey transit passage for U.S. troops - Hurriyet 
Amb. Pearson urges Gul, Erdogan to decide on Iraq - Milliyet 
12/22 
Gen. Myers: U.S. ready for Iraq war - Aksam 12/22 
Erdogan to discuss Iraq w/Putin - Turkiye 
Russia denounces KADEK before Erdogan's visit -- Aksam 
 
 
OPINION MAKERS 
Tough week for parliament - Radikal 
Turkey is key country in U.S. Iraq plans - Radikal 
U.S. presses for air bases - Radikal 12/22 
U.S. demands immediate response regarding Iraq - Cumhuriyet 
12/22 
State  minister Tuzmen: Muslim world against Iraq war - Yeni 
Safak 
AKP planning post-Saddam Iraq - Cumhuriyet 
Baykal: Government must inform nation on Iraq - Zaman 12/22 
Weston: Compromise before late February - Zaman 
 
 
FINANCIAL JOURNALS 
Government, NGO summit on Wednesday - Dunya 
Government seeking trade rapprochement w/Moslem countries - 
Dunya 
Election honeymoon over in money markets - Finansal Forum 
 
 
BRIEFING 
 
 
Iraq: Today's papers report that the Turkish government will 
respond this week to U.S. demands for military cooperation 
against Iraq.  Monday's "Milliyet" claims that the military 
has advised the government to provide support for air 
operations, but to refrain from promises on ground troops. 
Ankara is also negative about the use of Turkish ports, 
Milliyet reports.  However, the government has accepted air 
base inspections in Batman, Diyarbakir, Mus, and Malatya. 
Ankara wants a wider coalition against Saddam Hussein, and 
believes that Muslim countries must be convinced to join the 
U.S. and UK in their efforts to topple the tyrant, weekend 
papers note.  Sunday's dailies report that U.S. Ambassador 
to Ankara Robert Pearson has urged Prime Minister Abdullah 
Gul to decide in the coming days about U.S. military 
requests.  After meeting with Ambassador Pearson on 
Saturday, Prime Minister Gul said Ankara would wait to see 
the first report by UN weapons inspectors.  Ankara, 
skeptical of U.S. intentions in Northern Iraq, is not 
enthusiastic about large numbers of U.S. troops being 
stationed in Turkey, Monday's papers say.  A final `summit' 
meeting will be held this evening, including the Prime 
Minister, Foreign Minister, and Chief of TGS.  The `summit' 
will lay the groundwork for a government decision to be 
submitted to parliament for approval this week.  Monday's 
"Cumhuriyet" outlines U.S. demands from Turkey: 
 
 
-- the use of air bases in Batman, Incirlik, Malatya, 
Diyarbakir, and Afyon; 
-- access to ports in Mersin, Iskenderun, Samsun, and 
Trabzon; 
-- an estimated 100,000 U.S. troops to be deployed in 
Turkey, subject to NATO regulations, 
-- missile defense systems will to be set up in Turkey. 
Cumhuriyet also draws attention to forthcoming visits to 
Turkey by Iraqi opposition leaders Sharif Ali Bin Hussein 
and Ayad Allawi, and Northern Iraqi Kurdish leaders Barzani 
and Talabani this week.  The paper regards these meetings as 
part of Turkey's preparation for the post-Saddam period. 
 
 
Cyprus: Monday's "Zaman" reports that U.S. Special Cyprus 
Coordinator Thomas Weston urged the sides in Cyprus to reach 
a compromise before the end of February.  Weston said there 
was enough time for a settlement, and urged both parties to 
make compromises.  Weston said that the decision reached at 
the Copenhagen summit --unconditional EU membership for 
Cyprus, and a date to begin membership negotiations for 
Turkey -- was positive.  A "Radikal" commentary suspects 
that Ankara is inclined to delay implementation of a 
possible Cyprus deal until Turkey's EU accession is assured. 
Radikal says that Ankara is trying to blackmail the EU via 
Cyprus. 
 
 
Constitutional amendments: The parliament is to discuss this 
week the constitutional package vetoed by President Sezer. 
The government is expected to send back the package to Sezer 
without changes on Friday, papers report.  A press amnesty 
bill drafted to lift the ban on AKP leader Erdogan will be 
enacted this week.  The former leader of the pro-Kurdish 
party HADEP, Murat Bozlak, voiced support for Sezer's veto. 
Bozlak, who was also barred from running for election to 
parliament, said that the changes were tailored for Erdogan 
alone.  Bozlak, (the former Human Rights Association 
chairman) Akin Birdal, and (banned Islamist leader) Erbakan 
have received prison terms of one year for violating Article 
312, while Erdogan was sentenced to ten months.  The 
Constitutional liberalization would not have applied to 
those sentenced to at least one year of prison.  "The 
Constitution must be amended to remove bans on all 
politicians, not only on Erdogan," Bozlak reportedly said. 
 
 
 
 
EDITORIAL OPINION:  Iraq 
 
 
"Listen to what the US military has to say" 
Washington correspondent of mass appeal Milliyet, Yasemin 
Congar wrote: (12/23): "Contrary to ongoing speculation 
about the start of a US military strike as early as 
February, members of the American military tell it 
differently.  Their assessment that an operation would take 
place either sometime next summer or toward the end of 2003. 
. The reason for their uncommon evaluation stems from 
military facts.  The military knows that in the event of an 
extensive war -- the figure in the press is some 200,000 
troops -- detailed preparations will require at least 4 to 6 
months. . My military sources in Washington who are familiar 
with the capabilities and logistics of the US army remind 
that the military build-up during the Gulf War was carried 
out via aircraft carriers.  That brings us to three 
countries which have ports with ground access to Iraq: 
Turkey, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.  The Saudis are reluctant 
to cooperate, and Kuwait's port capacity is very limited. 
This is the reason for Washington's gradually increasing 
pressure on Turkey." 
 
 
"The pretext for US military deployment: Deterrence" 
Zeynep Gurcanli wrote in tabloid Star (12/23): "Washington 
has finally come up with a pretext in order to break 
Ankara's reluctance about the stationing of US troops in 
Turkey.  The use of bases and ports by the US military will 
be presented under the pretext of `modernization,' and the 
deployment of US troops on Turkish soil will be a `show of 
force for deterrence.'  . From now on, we should be ready to 
see a dramatic increase in the US military presence in 
Turkey.  First, US special operations teams are expected. 
These will be followed by many others. . Turkey has not yet 
given its approval to be a host country for US military 
operations against Iraq.  The inclusion of NATO as part of 
the operation seems to be a possible way to break Ankara's 
resistance on the issue. . War is knocking at the door.  It 
is only a matter of time before all the pretexts are worked 
out." 
 
 
PEARSON