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Viewing cable 02ANKARA8798, ANKARA MEDIA REACTION REPORT

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
02ANKARA8798 2002-12-03 15:54 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED Embassy Ankara
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 008798 
 
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 
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 3, 2002 
 
 
THIS REPORT WILL PRESENT A TURKISH PRESS SUMMARY UNDER THREE 
THEMES: 
 
 
HEADLINES 
BRIEFING 
EDITORIAL OPINION 
 
 
                    ------- 
HEADLINES 
 
 
MASS APPEAL 
US wants troops, land, and bases - Hurriyet 
US asked for 40,000 thousand Turkish troops - Milliyet 
AKP Siirt deputy Mervan will go, Erdogan will come - 
Hurriyet 
Siirt becomes Erdogan's destiny - Sabah 
Heavy diplomatic traffic in Ankara for Cyprus - Milliyet 
 
 
OPINION MAKERS 
Turkey is the logistical base - Cumhuriyet 
US delegation arrives in Ankara today - Radikal 
Electoral Board clears the way for Erdogan's premiership - 
Radikal 
Siirt Elections cancelled - Cumhuriyet 
Another 48 hours from the UN - Cumhuriyet 
Tension on Cyprus issue - Radikal 
 
 
BRIEFING 
 
 
U/S Grossman and DepSecDef.Wolfowitz visit: "Hurriyet" gives 
front-page coverage to the Grossman-Wolfowitz visit.  The 
story reports that the US had earlier conveyed a list of 
requests from Turkey for a possible operation in Iraq 
through a letter to the Turkish Ambassador in Washington. 
The letter reportedly included a request for 35,000 Turkish 
troops to be held in reserve for possible intervention in 
Northern Iraq, the use of Turkish air bases, the use of 
Turkish territory for US ground troops, and the use of 
several ports.   The letter also reportedly included a 
December 8 deadline for response, and Grossman and Wolfowitz 
will attempt to learn Ankara's initial reaction today. 
Papers listed the predominant issues for the visit as Iraq, 
the EU, and Cyprus. 
 
 
Erdogan to Parliament: Turkey's Supreme Election Board (YSK) 
ruled on Monday that the elections in the southeastern city 
of Siirt will be canceled.  The decision came after the AKP 
applied to the YSK to cancel the elections in Siirt because 
of irregularities in three ballot boxes.  According to YSK 
procedures, the elections in Siirt will be repeated 60 days 
following the cancellation decision, i.e. in February 2003. 
All papers highlight this development as the opportunity for 
AKP leader Erdogan to be elected to parliament. 
 
 
Cyprus:  Papers note the increasing number of diplomatic 
visitors, and comment that the pressure on the Cyprus issue 
is mounting.  Greek FM Papandreou reportedly changed his 
program to come to Ankara a day early in order to meet U/S 
Grossman to discuss the Cyprus issue.  The visits of UN 
Representative De Soto, the Danish Foreign Minister, and 
British FM Straw are portrayed as efforts to `increase 
pressure on the Cyprus issue prior to the EU summit.' 
EDITORIAL OPINION: Grossman and Wolfowitz visit 
 
 
"Cards Uncovered on Iraq" 
Chief columnist of mass appeal Hurriyet, Oktay Eksi wrote 
(12/3): "It seems that the US has finally expressed its 
demands and expectations from Turkey on the Iraq issue and 
presented them formally to the Turkish side.  . All of the 
reported demands obviously serve US interests both in the 
short and long term.  They require, however, careful 
evaluation by Turkey based on Turkish interests. . Let's not 
forget the fact that once the Iraq operation takes place, 
the US will leave the region.  It will be Turkey that will 
be faced with the reality of Iraq as its immediate neighbor. 
This reality alone invalidates the possibility of `Turkish 
soldiers in combat against Iraq.'  After all, why do we have 
to get involved in the US operation against Iraq?  Clearly 
this is going to happen largely because of US oil 
interests."