Cablegate: Southeast Turkey Press Summary for April 25-26, 2005

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

270804Z Apr 05

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000087

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU ADANA
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR APRIL 25-26, 2005

This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for April 25-26,
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

RADIKAL: As construction of the BTC (Baku-Tibilisi-Ceyhan
Pipeline) nears an end, Kazakhstan - despite objections from
China and Russia - has announced that 7.5 million tons of Kazakh
oil would be carried through the BTC to the Mediterranean. To
this end, a pipeline under the Caspian Sea will be constructed
to bring Kazakh oil to the BTC.

HURRIYET: Unidentified people threw a burning fuel-filled
container into the entrance of the Turkish-American Association
in the city center in Adana. Upon noticing the flames at the
gate, local residents called the firefighters and the police.
Five minutes later, another attack was conducted against an
insurance agency on Turhan Cemal Beriker Boulevard in Adana.
Again, unidentified people threw a fuel-filled burning container
at the windows of the agency. The attack produced only a local
fire since the container fell against the exterior side of the
window and was prevented from entering by a Venetian blind.

SABAH (GUNEY) / EVRENSEL / BOLGE: Members of the
Education-Union (Egitim-Sen) protested a lawsuit that aims to
shut down the Union. People marched in the streets and chanted
slogans in Adana, Ankara, Istanbul, Mersin, Diyarbakir, Sivas
and Tunceli.

EKSPRES: Berc Kartun, the muhtar (headman) of Vakifli Koy in
Hatay, the only Armenian village in Turkey, reportedly said that
nobody had ever oppressed the Armenians in the village in the
course of the 300 years they have been there. Kartun is
reported as saying the EU has been exploiting the Armenian issue
for its political ends.

ZAMAN / BOLGE / EKSPRES: Adana Mayor Aytac Durak departs
for Iran today upon an invitation from the Iranian Ministry of
Internal Affairs to represent Turkey in an April 28 event called
"Congress for Municipality Assemblies."

OZGUR GUNDEM: Thirty thousand people, who reportedly
participated in a "Spring Festival" in Yuksekova district of
Hakkari, demanded that the military operations in southeastern
Turkey be ended, a peaceful environment be maintained, and
Abdullah Ocalan be released.

OZGUR GUNDEM: The family of Abdulgani Dag is still waiting
for the courts to take action on their request for an
investigation into Dag's alleged disappearance in July 1994,
after he was allegedly detained by soldiers in Nusaybin district
of Mardin. Despite the claim that there are witnesses to the
act, the Office of the Diyarbakir Prosecutor allegedly has not
responded to complaints filed by Dag's sister.

CUMHURIYET: The total amount of oil that leaked from BOTAS's
Batman-Yumurtalik pipeline (see press summ 4/18 and 4/20) was
reported as thirty-five thousand barrels. A 400-person group,
including American and English specialists, is handling the
decontamination activities of the affected area and the oil
extracted is being sent to Adiyaman province. Reportedly,
farmers' drainage activities caused the leak accident.

SABAH (GUNEY): A fight that broke out in Adana between two
clans, who originally come from Diyarbakir, wounded one police
officer and five people. Ten people were detained after the
police ended the clash that included guns, sticks and stones.

RADIKAL / EKSPRES: DYP (True Path Party) leader Mehmet Agar
arrived in Mersin to address the public at a political meeting.
As party members were waiting to welcome their leader, a fight
broke out between two groups of party members who could not
agree on who would occupy the front lines of the crowd that
awaited Agar's arrival.

EVRENSEL: Provincial Health Directorate of Van warned that the
environmental pollution in Van Lake has increased compared to
the previous years.

HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): Upon receiving an invitation from Kilis
Governor Aslan Kutukcu, mine clearing specialists came from
Germany and conducted studies around the border with Syria.

REID

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