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Cablegate: Southeast Turkey Press Summary

Published: Wed 18 Dec 2002 11:37 AM
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 ADANA 0418
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU IZ ADANA
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY
DECEMBER 17, 2002
1. This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary
for December 17, 2002. Please note that Turkish
press reports often contain errors or
exaggerations; AmConsulate Adana does not vouch
for the accuracy of the reports summarized here.
POLITICS, SECURITY, HUMAN RIGHTS
--------------------------------
2. TURKISH TROOPS ON IRAQI BORDER
(Hurriyet/Sabah) A high-level Turkish military
official made a statement to the British Reuters
Agency by phone, saying that Turkey has deployed
10,000-15,000 soldiers and engineers along the
Iraqi border in preparation for a possible U.S.
war in Iraq.
3. ECHR ORDERS TURKEY TO PAY INDEMNITY
(Cumhuriyet) The European Court of Human Rights
(ECHR) ruled against the Government of Turkey in
connection with six cases, including "prolonged
detention, violation of right to fair trial,
torture, death in custody and prevention of
freedom of thought" and ordered a total payment
of EUR 130,000 (approx. USD 133,000) in
reparations. These cases included the killing by
a landmine of 16-year-old suspect Orhan Yakar,
arrested in Bingol in 1996, after Yakar was taken
to a rural area to show a PKK member's body.
ECHR also ordered that Turkey pay Mus resident
Makbule Kinay, whose home had been burned by
soldiers, EUR 59,000 (approx. USD 60,300) in
indemnity.
4. LANDMINE THREAT IN THE SOUTHEAST
(Sabah) Turkey faces the problem of over one
million landmines planted across the Southeast.
According to the Human Rights Association (HRA),
600 people, among them children, lost their
lives, and over one thousand others were injured
by landmines over the past ten years. Turkish
security forces swept 10,638 landmines in various
border regions by the end of 2001. However,
Turkish Armed Forces said USD 12 million is
initially needed to remove the remaining
landmines. Five years and USD 36 million are
needed to remove all the landmines.
5. CHOMSKY IN DIYARBAKIR
(Evrensel) U.S. writer and linguist Noam Chomsky
held a press conference in Diyarbakir on December
16 in which he said he had returned to the U.S.
in a very positive mood following his visit to
Turkey in 2001. In answer to the question
whether or not the U.S. would launch an operation
against Iraq, Chomsky said it was not easy to
find a statement of reasons for the resolution
made by the U.N. "No matter what the report of
weapons inspectors in Iraq is, the U.S. and the
U.K. have from the very beginning been determined
to wage a war against Iraq. The U.N.'s decision
clearly foresees disarmament in the region.
There are thousands of nuclear weapons in the
hands of Israel. Saddam Hussein is not the only
problem in the region," he added.
6. 3.5 TONS OF UNPROCESSED HEROIN SEIZED IN
ELAZIG
(All papers) In collaboration with U.S. and
Russian units, Elazig police seized 3.5 tons of
asitanhidrite in 15 plastic barrels concealed
among timber on a trailer truck headed for
Hakkari. The truck first came to the Samsun Port
by a ferryboat that left Russia's Novorossisk
Port. The value of the seized asitanhidrite,
which was reported to be associated with the
PKK/KADEK, was estimated at EUR 600,000 (approx.
USD 613,000). In the truck, nine people were
arrested and an unlicensed pistol was
confiscated. Five other suspects, including a
Syrian national, were arrested during ensuing
operations in Kilis and Ankara. The 15 arrestees
were later sent to the (Elazig) State Security
Court.
ECONOMIC AND AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENTS
--------------------------------------
7. ADANA FOREIGN TRADE CLUB
(Turkiye/Bolge/Milliyet) The Adana Foreign Trade
Club project launched by the Adana Chamber of
Commerce (ACOC), the Adana Chamber of Industry
(ACOI) and the U.K.'s Sheffield Chamber of
Commerce and Industry has been shown as a model
project on the way to the EU.
HOLTZ
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