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 002646 
 
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 
THURSDAY, APRIL 24, 2003 
 
THIS REPORT WILL PRESENT A TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER THREE 
THEMES: 
 
 
HEADLINES 
BRIEFING 
EDITORIAL OPINION 
                    -------------------- 
 
 
HEADLINES 
 
 
MASS APPEALS 
Garner nonsense: Kirkuk a Kurdish town - Hurriyet 
Garner: Kirkuk to Kurds - Turkiye 
Iraqi Shiites pose a problem for U.S. - Sabah 
Shiites protest U.S. in Karbala - Turkiye 
Bush calls to thank Erdogan - Aksam 
Bush promises not to mention Armenian `massacre' - Sabah 
Dream becomes reality: Two sides of Cyprus wall meet - Vatan 
Second Berlin Wall down after 29 years - Sabah 
Peoples unite Cyprus - Milliyet 
EU pleased by free travel in Cyprus - Milliyet 
Erdogan angered at Arinc for turban row - Vatan 
 
 
OPINION MAKERS 
Garner is Kurds' merchant of hope - Radikal 
Kurds seize Iraqi army weapons in Kirkuk, Mosul - Cumhuriyet 
Erdogan  complains: Europe has abandoned Turkey  on  Iraq  - 
Yeni Safak 
White  House  corrects Powell: France won't  be  punished  - 
Zaman 
Weapons manufacturers real winner of war - Cumhuriyet 
`Day without frontiers' in Cyprus - Cumhuriyet 
Turkish, Greek Cypriots happy with free travel - Zaman 
Green Line becomes Open Line - Radikal 
Unnecessary row over headscarf - Radikal 
Erdogan  calls for common sense against reception boycott  - 
Zaman 
 
 
FINANCIAL JOURNALS 
Turkish food exporters in Iraq - Dunya 
Industry Minister: Turkey must get rid of IMF, WB - Finansal 
Forum 
BRIEFING 
 
 
Iraq:  Wednesday's  papers report that Turkey  notified  the 
U.S.  of  its  willingness  to  send  1,400  troops  for   a 
peacekeeping  force  in Iraq, and to contribute  to  health, 
humanitarian aid, and construction efforts as well.   Ankara 
insists that the flow of Iraqi oil from Kirkuk to Yumurtalik 
should begin as soon as possible.  Turkey and the U.S.  have 
agreed to use the port of Iskenderun as a key shipping point 
in  the reconstruction of Iraq, papers report.  Uneasy  with 
the  attitude of KDP leader Barzani, Ankara is preparing  to 
open  a  new  border gate to Iraq, close to the border  with 
Syria,  to  by-pass the Kurdish-controlled  Habur  crossing, 
thus  depriving  Barzani  of  a  major  source  of  revenue, 
Thursday's "Zaman" reports.  Kurds have been alarmed by  the 
proposal,  and have voiced hope that the UN would not  allow 
such a move.  Papers highlight `Iraqi Governor' Jay Garner's 
remarks about Kirkuk being a Kurdish city after he was given 
a  cheerful welcome by the Kurds.  Garner was given a king's 
welcome by Kurds in Kirkuk and Irbil, where he said the U.S. 
would stay in Iraq until a democratic regime is established. 
The U.S. has a strong relationship with Turkey, Garner said, 
and  voiced hope that Ankara would get along well  with  the 
new administration in Iraq. 
 
 
Turkish  Cypriot government allows passage to South:  Papers 
continue  extensive  coverage  of  Turkish  Cypriot   leader 
Denktas' decision to bring down the wall dividing the island 
by  opening border checkpoints so the island's ethnic Greeks 
and  Turks can cross over for day trips.  Thursday's  papers 
report  that 2,000 Turkish and 1,300 Greek Cypriots  crossed 
the  border  on  the  first  day of  the  implementation  of 
unrestricted  passage.  All papers hail the  end  of  travel 
ban,  particularly highlighting the warm  welcome  given  to 
Greek Cypriots returning to the Turkish sector. 
 
 
`Turban'  crisis  at reception: President Sezer,  opposition 
party   CHP,  and  the  military  boycotted  the  April   23 
Children's  Day reception in a dispute over the  possibility 
that  the  wife of parliamentary speaker Arinc would wear  a 
headscarf.   The  incident highlights tensions  between  the 
ruling  AKP  and secularists.  In an effort  to  reduce  the 
tension, Arinc and Prime Minister Erdogan opted not to bring 
their  wives to the reception.  However, about a half  dozen 
spouses  of  parliamentary deputies did turn up in  scarves. 
AKP  officials  said that the boycott was an insult  to  the 
parliament.   Erdogan criticized the president and  military 
commanders, saying they had no right to boycott the national 
holiday.   Arinc's announcement the day before the reception 
that  his wife would not attend the event was not enough  to 
convince  Sezer and the TGS, papers note.  Mainstream  media 
believe  that the headscarf tension has exacerbated  a  rift 
between  the government and the state.  "Vatan" claims  that 
Prime  Minister  Erdogan was uneasy  with  the  attitude  of 
Speaker  Arinc.   Erdogan dreams of  becoming  president  by 
introducing  a presidential system to Turkey, and  wants  to 
avoid  tension  with key national and international  actors, 
according to "Vatan," while Arinc is trying to increase  his 
power in the AKP by taking advantage of his post. 
 
 
 
 
EDITORIAL OPINION: Post War Iraq 
 
 
"The US strategy for Iraq" 
Umit  Kardas commented in Islamic-intellectual Zaman (4/24): 
"The  post-war  situation  has  proved  that  none  of   the 
arguments  for  the Iraq war was real, but  only  served  to 
justify the genuine intention: the invasion of Iraq.  The US 
is not worried about the democratization of Iraq.  The US is 
clearly  trying to establish a puppet regime  to  serve  its 
interests in the post-Saddam era.   . It also seems that the 
US  will  continue  to  promote more military  spending  and 
implement  serious cuts in the social security budget.   The 
US  focus  will be to encourage global rearmament under  the 
guise of the war against terrorism.  The reelection campaign 
of  President  Bush could run into serious  opposition.   As 
Noam  Chomsky  put it, we will either have a  world  without 
war, or we won't have a world." 
 
 
"The Shiite lessons for Washington and Ankara" 
Cengiz  Candar  noted  in  the  conservative  Dunden  Bugune 
Tercuman  (4/24): "In the post-war Iraq, there are  two  new 
major players on the Iraqi political scene that the US  will 
have to deal with: Iraqi Shiites and Iraqi Kurds. . It seems 
that  due  to the Iraqi Shiite factor, the US will  be  even 
more   sympathetic  toward  the  `secular-democratic-federal 
Iraq'  thesis  of  the  Kurds.  The US will  definitely  not 
tolerate  a  sympathetic  approach from  Turkey  toward  the 
possible establishment of an Islamic Republic of Iraq.   The 
lesson  for Ankara is that since there is no way of bringing 
back  Saddam  to power, Turkey better make its policy  clear 
about what type of Iraq it wants to see." 
 
 
PEARSON