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Viewing cable 06PARIS7636, MEDIA WRAP-UP: NATO SUMMIT AND AFGHANISTAN; TURKEY--THE

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
06PARIS7636 2006-12-01 14:40 2011-08-24 00:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy Paris
VZCZCXRO4089
RR RUEHIK RUEHYG
DE RUEHFR #7636/01 3351440
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 011440Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY PARIS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3514
INFO RUEHZG/NATO EU COLLECTIVE
RUEHMRE/AMCONSUL MARSEILLE 1460
RUEHSR/AMCONSUL STRASBOURG 0264
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 007636 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/PPD, EUR/WE, INR, R 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: OPRC PREL KPAO FR
SUBJECT:  MEDIA WRAP-UP: NATO SUMMIT AND AFGHANISTAN; TURKEY--THE 
POPE AND A BID TO JOIN THE EU. DECEMBER 01, 2006. 
 
 
PARIS 00007636  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
Sensitive but unclassified.  Please protect accordingly. 
 
------- 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
1. (SBU) The NATO Summit in Riga and President Bush's support for a 
Global Partnership Initiative elicited commentary highlighting 
divergent French and American views, while discussion on Afghanistan 
illustrated the "urgent need to help NATO reverse the growing 
impression it was losing its grip."  The Pope's visit to Ankara and 
Istanbul made headlines throughout the week, with widespread 
discussion of his gesture towards Turkey's Muslims in the context of 
his new and "conditional" support for Turkey's EU membership.  End 
Summary. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
NATO SUMMIT AND AFGHANISTAN - U.S. AND FRANCE DIFFER 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
2. (SBU) According to left-of-center Le Monde, at the end of the 
summit's first day, NATO leaders had agreed that the situation in 
Afghanistan was "an emergency."  Laurent Zecchini contended that the 
26 heads of state and governments were "convinced the future of the 
Atlantic Alliance would be played out in part in the Hindu Kush." 
In Catholic La Croix, Jean-Christophe Ploquin argued that "NATO had 
neither the means nor the will to react to what Afghanistan was 
becoming, a drug-trafficking nation," and concluded that the Riga 
Summit would be "dominated by the battle against the Taliban." 
Joseph Limagne in his editorial in regional Ouest France described 
the opening dinner of the Summit as "a war council" because, in 
Afghanistan, "NATO was losing on all fronts."  Earlier in the week, 
right-of-center Le Figaro editorialist Pierre Rousselin 
characterized NATO's situation in Afghanistan as "an impasse" and 
compared NATO's "grim future" to that of the Americans and the 
British in Iraq, "where they were losing their wager." 
 
3. (SBU) In right-of-center Le Figaro, Arnaud de La Grange quoted 
Minister of Defense Alliot-Marie's warning against "diluting the 
Alliance in unclear missions."  De La Grange described Paris's 
"opposition to NATO's 'civilian shift'" and contrasted President 
Chirac's idea of a "contact group" with the democratic partnerships 
proposed by the U.S.  Right-of-center Le Figaro concluded that 
President Chirac was eager to avoid "the mixing of the genres" or, 
as one French diplomat warned in right-of-center Le Figaro, "using 
the Alliance like a Swiss Army knife, everywhere and for 
everything."  In right-of-center Le Figaro, Alexandrine Bouilhet 
argued that the "a la carte partnerships which NATO wanted to 
implement were irritating Paris" and claimed that "this was becoming 
a new bone of contention" between Washington and Paris.  Bouilhet 
argued that "Washington did not look favorably on Iran lurking over 
NATO's shoulder in Afghanistan." 
 
4. (SBU) On the second day of the Summit, right-of-center Le Figaro 
concluded that "France was instrumental in limiting the political 
aspirations of the Atlantic Alliance" and managed to push through 
"the principle of a 'contact group' on Afghanistan."  Arnaud de La 
Grange commented in right-of-center Le Figaro that "French diplomacy 
did not want the Riga summit to turn into a summit for NATO's 
expansion, its globalization or its dilution" and concluded that 
"none of this had happened, as a dose of realism emanating from the 
harsh situation in Afghanistan had doused these high ambitions."  In 
Catholic La Croix, Jean-Christophe Ploquin agreed that "NATO had 
kept its distance from President Bush's ambitions" and concluded 
that "one was left with the feeling that George W. Bush had not been 
able to convince the Europeans of the urgency of the situation in 
Iraq and Afghanistan."  In regional Ouest France, Joseph Limagne 
warned that "increased troop commitment in raging war zones carried 
the seeds of a worrisome shift" and affirmed that there was a 
"perceptible shift from peace-keeping to imposing peace," which in 
his view meant "war."  In left-of-center Le Monde, Laurent Zecchini 
concluded that NATO leaders reached a consensus in Riga about the 
need to "reverse the growing impression that NATO was beginning to 
lose its grip in the battle with the Taliban guerrilla."  Arnaud de 
La Grange concluded in right-of-center Le Figaro that "France 
managed to keep the principle of a global partnership from being 
formalized," which he saw as France's way of "leaving a door open 
for a future role for Europe's defense." 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
TURKEY:  THE POPE'S VISIT, ANKARA'S BID TO JOIN EU 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
5. (SBU) Pope Benedict's visit to Turkey was widely publicized in 
the context of his previous controversial remarks on Islam.  In an 
editorial entitled "Papal Diplomacy," left-of-center Le Monde argued 
that the "controversy had encouraged the Pope to reflect on Turkey's 
 
PARIS 00007636  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
EU membership and see it in a different light."  For left-of-center 
Le Monde, "the Pope's stopover in Ankara was re-opening the debate 
in a constructive manner."  On FR2 television, the Pope's spokesman 
clarified what some analysts termed "the Pope's change of stance," 
and explained that "the theologian was learning the other aspect of 
a Pope's job, diplomacy."  In right-of-center Le Figaro, 
editorialist Yves Threard characterized the Pope's trip as "a 
courageous gesture" because of the Pope's "personal opposition to 
Turkey's EU membership."  Catholic La Croix pointed to the "risks" 
the Pope was taking, because his trip "would be seen as a political 
event and scrutinized as such."  Left-wing Liberation called the 
visit a "charm offensive" directed at the Muslim world. 
 
6. (SBU) The Pope's softer stance on Turkey's EU membership, 
characterized in right-of-center Le Figaro as "a real revolution," 
was offset by the EU Commission's recommendation to "partially 
freeze" the EU-25 talks with Ankara, leading Catholic La Croix to 
editorialize on a "message with two voices," which mixed the Pope's 
"comforting words to PM Erdogan" with "the insult by the EU-25." 
While right-of-center Le Figaro contended that "the EU decision was 
the equivalent of a de facto break in the negotiations," Dominique 
Quinio in Catholic La Croix argued that "despite appearances, the 
Pope and the EU's messages complemented each other."  Quinio 
concluded that "Turkey's EU integration could only come about if 
Turkey complied with the requests made by both."  Quinio further 
admonished Erdogan to "heed the demands" for religious freedom and 
"make the necessary concessions on Cyprus" if he wanted his country 
"to stay on course" with the European Union. 
STAPLETON