Cablegate: Southeast Turkey Press Summary

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 0276

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU IZ ADANA
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY
OCTOBER 24, 2003

1. This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary
for October 24, 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/YENI SAFAK/MILLI GAZETE/TURKIYE:
PKK/KADEK has prepared a three-point "Road Map"
for solving the Kurdish issue which consists of
the following: 1) a bilateral cease-fire, 2) a
constitutional guarantee for the Kurdish
identity and 3) a general amnesty which would
allow Abdullah Ocalan and other high ranking
KADEK members to join active political life.
KADEK is planning to stage demonstrations. The
TNP General Directorate warned all the
provincial security directorates against likely
retaliation against security forces during such
actions.

3. CUMHURIYET: The Yenisehir District Municipality
of Diyarbakir applied to the government
employment office to employ Kurdish-speaking
psychologists in its recently opened Education
and Psychological Consulting Center (EPCC).
Mayor Remzi Azizoglu said Kurdish women
suffering from depression due to their eviction
from their villages could be treated best by
Kurdish-speaking psychologists.

4. SABAH (Guney Supplement): Adana AK Party will
set up a tent in which they will serve free
food to 1,500 people during the Ramadan.
Traditional Ramadan festivities will also be
staged. ZAMAN and BOLGE newspapers report that
the municipalities of Adana and Seyhan district
will also feed around 90,000 needy people
during the month of Ramadan.

5. TURKIYE: Two siblings playing with a grenade
they had found in an unspecified place were
wounded in Bingol yesterday. The police started
an investigation.

6. OZGUR GUNDEM: There were sizeable pro-Ocalan
demonstrations, including display of KADEK's
flags and Abdullah Ocalan's photos in Cizre,
Antalya, Izmir, Van, Gaziantep, Siirt, and
Hakkari provinces.

7. OZGUR ULKE: It is alleged that the security
forces have been confiscating food items during
the road checks which have intensified in Lice,
Diyarbakir. It is also reported that more JITEM
(Jandarma Intelligence Center) members dressed
in guerrilla uniforms are seen in the villages.

8. OZGUR GUNDEM: Deputy Mayor of Siirt, Abdullah
Gok, and DEHAP member Burhan Askara were
arrested on October 20 for an alleged arson
attack at a market. DEHAP announced the
charges.

9. TURKIYE: Batman's former DEHAP mayor, Abdullah
Akin, was detained in Ankara and put in jail
for violating article 312/1 of the Turkish
Criminal Law in a speech he had delivered in
Dogubeyazit on September 1, 2003.
REID

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