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Cablegate: Southeast Turkey Press Summary for April 8, 2005

Published: Fri 8 Apr 2005 12:48 PM
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS ADANA 000075
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU ADANA
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR APRIL 8, 2005
This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for April 8, 2005.
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
OZGUR GUNDEM: Walter Scott Reid, the U.S. Adana Consul, paid
a courtesy visit to DEHAP's (Demcoratic People's Party)
Provincial Headquarters in Mersin. During his visit, the issues
discussed were the flag-incident in Mersin and recent political
and economic issues.
BOLGE: Environmentalists have planted citrus fruit
seedlings outside the coal-fired Sugozu power plant in
Yumurtalik district of Adana. The twenty-person-group comprised
representatives of environmentalist organizations from "around
the world" as well as students from the Cukurova, Erciyes and
ODTU universities in Turkey.
BOLGE: Bolge newspaper draws attention to complaints
against Yuregir Municipality's bureaucrats' in Adana, including
Yuregir's Deputy Mayor Yuregir Mehmet Abaci, who was allegedly
assigned to his position thanks to his business partner, Yuregir
Mayor Omer Topcu. Reportedly, Mehmet Abaci has only a primary
school graduate but is exercising full control over the affairs
of the Municipality.
EVRENSEL: Kemal Unakitan, Finance Minister, will be arriving
in Diyarbakir today to address the issue of landmines in the
border area with Syria. Unakitan plans to fly by helicopter to
examine the border area, beginning with the Kozluca site of
Nusaybin district in Mardin.
CUMHURIYET / OZGUR GUNDEM / EVRENSEL: Fourteen-year-old
Mehmet Latif Yilmaz died when a landmine exploded as he was
digging his field in Tasliburun village of Midyat district in
Mardin. Cumhuriyet reports that it was reported to be an
anti-personnel mine laid in the ground by the PKK. Separately,
in another mine incident in Lice district of Diyarbakir, one PKK
terrorist was killed and another injured as they attempted to
lay a mine on a road used by military vehicles.
EKSPRES: Kemal Anadol, CHP (Republican People's Party) Deputy
Chairperson of the Party Group in the Turkish Parliament, said
that they would not let anyone breach the Turkish Constitution
by making an agreement with the U.S. that bypassed a decision to
be given by parliament.
EVRENSEL / OZGUR GUNDEM: Radio Dunya had opened a lawsuit
with Ankara Business Court against RTUK (Supreme Board of Radio
and Television) after it received a warning by RTUK for
broadcasting a program in September 2001 which featured three
hours of Kurdish songs. The prosecution process ended recently
in favor of Radya Dunya; the Supreme Court of Administrative
Cases reportedly decided RTUK's warning was undue.
OZGUR GUNDEM: Turkey continues its military operations in
the Gabar Mountains. Beginning in the early morning, four Cobra
helicopters reportedly bombed the area and a 50-vehicle military
convoy traveled to the same place at noon. The paper reports
that many Turkish soldiers (allegedly) died in the conflicts.
Meanwhile, Security officers from Sirnak's Main Jandarma Command
raided the home of Osman Ayan, a DEHAP (Democratic People's
Party) member and arrested him upon allegedly finding four hand
grenades, four empty Kalachnikov cylinders and bullets of a
BKC-brand machine gun in front of Ayan's house. DEHAP's Sirnak
Provincial Chairperson described the finding of the guns in
Ayan's place as a "scenario that is contrived".
OZGUR GUNDEM: Syrian State Planning Institute Chairperson
Abdullah Dardari, accompanied by a Syrian delegation, arrived in
Gaziantep and was welcomed by the Turkish State Planning
Institute Chairperson, Gaziantep's Governor, Gaziantep
University's Rector, and the Gaziantep Mayor. Dardari said that
the border gates should be widened to make them more convenient
for people to pass through. During the meetings, the
infrastructure deficiencies of border gates will reportedly be
discussed.
REID
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