INDEPENDENT NEWS

Cablegate: Southeast Turkey Press Summary,

Published: Wed 7 May 2003 04:37 PM
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 0132
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU IZ ADANA
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY,
MAY 7, 2003
1. This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary
for May 7, 2003. Please note that Turkish press
reports often contain errors or exaggerations;
AmConsulate Adana does not vouch for the accuracy
of the reports summarized here.
POLITICAL, SECURITY, HUMAN RIGHTS
2. Cumhuriyet: Turkish President Ahmet Necdet
Sezer's visit to Bingol with the Head of TGS,
Gen. Hilmi Ozkok, caused a protocol crisis.
Bingol's DEHAP Mayor, Feyzullah Karaaslan, went
to the 49th Domestic Security Brigade Command to
welcome the president on behalf of the people of
Bingol, but was denied access to the military
compound. Bingol's Governor, Huseyin Avni Cos,
seeing that the mayor was denied entry to the
military compound, did not intervene in the case.
After Mayor Karaaslan returned to his tent in the
park to continue his activities, he received a
call from a captain saying there had been a
misunderstanding and invited him back to the
Brigade Command, but Mayor Karaaslan refused to
go. Mayor Karaaslan said he would not go to the
place he had been dismissed from.
3. Cumhuriyet/Evrensel/Milliyet: Bingol's DEHAP
Mayor, Feyzullah Karaaslan, complained that all
the humanitarian relief items sent to the
municipality following the earthquake were seized
by the governor's office. Mayor Karaaslan said
the municipality tried to cooperate with all
government agencies in town from the very
beginning of the earthquake, but because of the
governor's efforts to render the municipality
ineffective, the municipality decided to withdraw
from the "Crisis Table" headed by the governor.
He stated that the needy people did not get the
relief items, adding the "Crisis Table" seized
all the relief assistance coming to the town and
stored them in military facilities, a gymnasium,
and in an orphanage. He also claimed the Crisis
Table was prevented from receiving humanitarian
assistance sent by other municipalities in the
region. In addition, Karaaslan said that rather
than supplying the needs of the people, the
Crisis Organization Center and its officials
drove their cars and APCs against the people, and
responded with gunfire by Special Operation
Teams. He further claimed yesterday police
seized food and shelter materials sent by
Kigi/Yayladare Assistance and Solidarity
Association. The police, taking the relief
materials to the Security Directorate, denied the
request of association officials for the delivery
of the material.
4. Cumhuriyet: 800 students boarding at Kozluk
Regional Boarding School in Batman are being
evacuated from the school because of the cracks
formed in the building after the earthquake in
Bingol. It has been determined that already part
of the school slid. The school was built on a
salt rock foundation four years ago.
5. Milliyet: Hamdiye Aslan, a woman arrested and
allegedly tortured by police in Kiziltepe of
Mardin on the charges of assisting and harboring
the PKK, claimed she recognized the policewoman
who had maltreated her, Hanife Sennur Pat, and
sued. Police said Aslan rolled herself on the
ground and traces were left on her body when they
grabbed her by the arm to lift her from the
ground. Aslan claimed she was tortured
constantly while under detention, but could not
see the faces of the male police officers because
of black plastic bags put on her head. She said
four to five policemen beat her all the time, and
she tried to remove the plastic bag when she was
out of breath. Aslan said it was at that time
that she saw the policewoman who tortured her.
The court adjourned the hearing to an unspecified
date.
6. Bolge: The following four members of the DYP
party resigned from their positions yesterday:
1) DYP's Adana Provincial Chairman, Yavuz Tekeli;
2) the chairman for Yuregir District; 3) the
chairman of Seyhan District; 4) the chairman of
Kozan District; and 5) the chair of the Youth and
Women Organization of the party. Tekeli was
elected to the office at DYP's Adana Provincial
Convention on June 22, 2002.
7. Milli Gazete: Approximately eight thousand
students left school before the completion of the
academic year in Siverek township of Sanliurfa in
order to work as seasonal- farm-workers for six
months with their families during the harvesting
period.
HOLTZ
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