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 001635 
 
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 
FRIDAY, MARCH 14, 2003 
 
 
THIS REPORT WILL PRESENT A TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER THREE 
THEMES: 
 
 
HEADLINES 
BRIEFING 
EDITORIAL OPINION 
                         ------- 
 
 
HEADLINES 
 
 
MASS APPEAL 
Bush warns Erdogan: Our patience running out - Sabah 
Bush demands air corridor fast - Milliyet 
Bush to Erdogan: Delay means `No' - Vatan 
Cheney calls Ankara, tension rising - Hurriyet 
U.S. to GOT: Enough already! - Aksam 
 
 
OPINION MAKERS 
Bush: Open up air space, Erdogan: Not without the parliament 
- Radikal 
Harsh Bush letter almost broke ties w/U.S. - Zaman 
UN, Ankara against war; Bush cornered - Yeni Safak 
End of UN road for U.S. - Radikal 
The end for HADEP - Cumhuriyet 
 
 
FINANCIAL JOURNALS 
OECD: Turkey to grow 5.7 percent in 5 years - Dunya 
950 to attend Turkey, U.S. Business Council Conference - 
Finansal Forum 
 
 
 
 
BRIEFING 
 
 
Iraq: In a letter to AKP leader Erdogan, President Bush 
warned Turkey to refrain from unilateral action in northern 
Iraq, and urged him to open Turkish airspace to the U.S. 
Vice President Cheney called Erdogan on Thursday, telling 
him to speed up the decision mechanism regarding deployment 
of troops.  Erdogan did not make any commitment on the troop 
deployment issue, and said it would be taken up after the 
new cabinet is formed.  Erdogan reminded VP Cheney of the 
Turks' sensitivities, and admitted that the government would 
not be able to survive a second defeat of the resolution in 
parliament.  With hopes to get a new UNSC resolution 
gradually fading, reports suggest that the Washington 
Administration has stepped up pressure on Ankara.  Cheney, 
impatient for an immediate response regarding the use of a 
Turkish air corridor, was not happy with Erdogan's response, 
according to today's press.  Papers expect Erdogan to 
present his cabinet list to President Sezer for approval on 
Friday.  The new government program will be discussed in the 
parliament on Tuesday, and the vote of confidence will be 
sought on Thursday, March 20.  Some reports suggest that the 
government could submit a second decree for troop deployment 
to the parliament as early as March 21. 
 
 
Court closed pro-Kurdish HADEP: The Constitutional Court has 
banned pro-Kurdish HADEP (People's Democracy Party) for 
allegedly providing support to terrorist activities.  The 
Court's justification claimed that HADEP has provided 
`concrete support' to the terrorist PKK, and ruled that 46 
party members, including chairman Murat Bozlak, are barred 
from politics for five years.  Chief Prosecutor Kanadoglu 
has also filed a case for the closure of DEHAP, a party 
regarded as the `continuation' of HADEP.  The HADEP 
leadership has denounced the court's decision as a 
`political massacre,' and the party is expected to appeal to 
the ECHR.  "Yeni Safak" notes that the closure decision for 
HADEP came immediately after the ECHR ruling calling for the 
retrial of PKK leader Ocalan.  The paper sees the 
development as another instance of Turkey's defiance of 
Europe. 
 
 
EDITORIAL OPINION: 
 
 
¶1. Post Djindjic assassination in Serbia and the Balkans 
¶2. Iraq and US-Turkey relations 
 
 
 "Djindjic was victimized by foreign intervention" 
Ferai Tinc commented on the assassination of the Serbian 
leader in mass appeal Hurriyet (3/14): "Djindjic was killed 
on the eve of a meeting to shape Kosovo's future structure. 
Although a decade has already gone by, the process of the 
dissolution of the former Yugoslavia has not yet been 
concluded.  Djindjic was one of the victims of the `divide 
and restructure' process.  . Djindjic had found himself 
trapped between his efforts to clean out the country's 
underworld figures and organizations on the one hand, and 
foreign pressure about Kosovo on the other.  The internal 
situation also did not help him, as some ultra nationalist 
movements continued to flourish at a time of economic 
difficulty.  The demise of Djindjic opens a new page in the 
Balkans story.  It also shows that none of the Balkan- 
related problems, including Bosnia, has been resolved." 
 
 
"Bush pressures; Erdogan resists" 
Murat Yetkin commented in the liberal-intellectual Radikal 
(3/14): "President Bush sent a letter to AKP leader Erdogan 
which, in fact, was an ultimatum about Iraq wrapped in 
diplomatic courtesy.  Yet Erdogan, with the help of the 
Turkish Foreign Ministry, studied the ultimatum as two 
separate parts.  The decision is to continue cooperation 
between Turkey and the US, but to decline, for the moment, 
the request for permission to open Turkish airspace for US 
air strikes.  Erdogan believes that neither the political 
nor the legal framework is ready for requesting this 
permission from the parliament.  The parliament 
authorization will be initiated as soon as the new 
government is formed, and right after it receives the vote 
of confidence. . Nobody can possibly predict where this is 
going to go.  But one thing is clear: Washington is 
increasing the pressure, and Ankara continues to resist." 
 
 
PEARSON