Cablegate: Southeast Turkey Press Summary for August 22, 2005

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 000154

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU ADANA
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR AUGUST 22, 2005

This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for August 22,
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

CUMHURIYET / BOLGE / OZGUR GUNDEM: A group of women
protestors, calling themselves Working Women's Association
staged a demonstration in Adana and demanded that the U.S.
withdraw from the Middle East and the Incirlik Airbase. The
group demanded that a women's shelter house be built instead of
the airbase.

BOLGE: A group of people calling themselves Peoples and
Liberties Front staged a demonstration in Adana, and demanded
that Incirlik Airbase be shut down. The group announced that
people would be marching to Adana from various cities to gather
in front of the Airbase on August 28 for a protest action.
(This article is from 08/21 edition.)

CUMHURIYET / BOLGE / EKSPRES: Sedat Memili, provincial
chairperson of IP (Labor Party) in Adana, made a press statement
at the party building declaring, "The U.S. has been occupying
our country and the government has been serving to that end."

BOLGE: A quarantine, which was imposed on a highland area
in Mersin's Bozyazi distict, where a woman and her goats
suddenly died, was removed when no trace of anthrax disease was
found. (This article is from 08/21 and 08/22 editions.)

HURRIYET / SCUMHURIYET: Deniz Baykal, leader of CHP (Republican
People's Party), criticized PM Erdogan for creating
vulnerabilities in (Turkey's) struggle against terrorism and for
politicizing the ethnicity issue (in Turkey) through the
statements he made about the Kurdish issue (in Diyarbakir).
Baykal labeled the PKK's declaration of ceasefire as a move
directly taking orders from Abdullah Ocalan.)

CUMHURIYET: MHP (Nationalist Movement Party) Leader Devlet
Bahceli, in his address to party members in Eskisehir, sharply
criticized PM Erdogan for statements Erdogan made about the
Kurdish issue. For Bahceli, Erdogan's statements endangered the
unitary state structure of Turkey.

OZGUR GUNDEM: Veterinaries, complaining about insufficient
vaccination practices, said that the figures provided by the
Ministry of Agriculture on the number of animal diseases in
Turkey were misleading. Contradicting data from the Ministry,
animal diseases such as anthrax, brucellosis, etc., have been
reportedly on the increase in the first half of 2005 compared to
the previous years.

HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): Preparations are under way in the Hatay
province for a 25-30 September event named "Meeting of
Civilizations." The governor of Hatay said that the Pope
Benedictus XVI and many other religious figures were invited to
attend the event.

OZGUR GUNDEM: Rains causing flooding in many hamlets of
Van's Baskale district, damaged crops and killed many farm
animals.

CUMHURIYET / OZGUR GUNDEM / HURRIYET: DTH (Democratic
Society Movement), which reportedly decided to form a political
party in September, embarked upon efforts to end an ongoing
blood feud among members of four families in Kars's Digor and
Susuz districts. Separately, the paper reported that DTH was
considering unification with a political figure, Celal Dogan,
former mayor of Gaziantep province, and his accompanying
delegation.

OZGUR GUNDEM: Terrorist organization PKK/Kongra-Gel
announced an unconditional ceasefire for a period of one month
(August 20-September 20). (This article is from 08/20 edition.)

OZGUR GUNDEM / CUMHURIYET / HURRIYET: On the first day of
the terrorist organization PKK's cessation of terrorist
activities for one month, the governor of Tunceli announced that
two PKK members were killed during a military operation in
Tunceli's Pulumur district. Hurriyet reported that the
terrorists opened fire when the security official's called them
to surrender.

OZGUR GUNDEM: A 100-person group gathered in front of the
Gaziantep's Court of Justice to give support to PKK's decision
to cease its activities for one month. The group, which chanted
slogans in favor of the terrorist leader Abdullah Ocalan, called
on the government to end the military operations.

OZGUR GUNDEM: Murat Karayalcin, Chairperson of SHP (Social
Democratic People's Party), said that [the government's]
recognition of the Kurdish reality would, by itself, not be
satisfactory. According to Karayalcin, the Kurds on their part,
should acknowledge the unitary state structure of Turkey, as
well.

OZGUR GUNDEM: Villagers in Van's Ozalp district protested
the soldiers' alleged killing of a 17-year-old boy, Ersin
Ozince, in a village of Ozalp district by leaving their identity
cards at the spot where the boy's body had lain. (see press
summary 08/18). (This article is from 08/20 edition.)

OZGUR GUNDEM: A 13-year-old child, grazing his flock in
Sirnak's Guclukonak district, died when the explosive he found
on the ground exploded. It was claimed that the explosive was
military ammunition. (This article is from 08/20 edition.)

HURRIYET: National Security Directorate warned all the
security offices in Turkey against the threat of a suicide
bomber; a 22-year-old woman called Fatma Gocer. The Directorate
distributed the human bomb's photographs to the security offices
in all of Turkey's provinces.

SABAH / HURRIYET / CUMHURIYET: PM Erdogan said that the
Kurdish issue and the PKK terrorism were two separate matters
that should not be mixed with each other.

SABAH / HURRIYET / CUMHURIYET: Selim Sadak, member of the
DHT Coordination Council, who attended the ground-breaking
ceremony for a facility in Mardin's Nusaybin district,
congratulated PM Erdogan for acknowledging the Kurdish issue.
Sadak further said, "Abdullah Ocalan is a sensitive issue for
the Kurdish people...Ocalan should be regarded as a counterpart
in the Kurdish issue and his isolation (in prison) should be
ended."

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS

1. BOLGE: The daily reports that the purpose of U.S.
Embassy Charge d'Affaires Nancy McEldowney's visit last week to
Turkey's Agricultural Ministry was to pressure Turkey on its
recent decision to restrict rice imports from the U.S. in order
to prevent material injury to Turkish rice producers. The U.S.
sees the restriction as a violation of the World Trade
Organization's codes. (This article is from 08/20 edition.)

2. BOLGE / HURRIYET (CUKUROVA) / SABAH (GUNEY) / EKSPRES:
The government has reportedly become a target of criticism at
"TOBB's (Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges)
Mediterranean Regional Meeting" (see press summary 08/18) in
Adana. Rifat Hisarciklioglu, chairperson of TOBB, said that if
an economic crisis struck the (Turkish) economy, everyone would
suffer from its aftereffects. Hisarciklioglu further said,
"firstly the agricultural issues and secondly the closing down
of some of the industrial premises were the most pressing
problems of the Mediterranean region." Umit Ozgumus, chairperson
of Adana Chamber of Industry, reportdly depicted gloomy economic
prospects for Adana's and Turkey's economies. (This article is
from 08/20 editons.)

3. SABAH (GUNEY): Edvar Mum, general director of the
Mersin Free Trade Zone's (FTZ) operating company, said that,
compared to the previous year, the trade volume of the FTZ has
decreased by 30 percent in the first seven months of 2005
following the termination of tax exemption practice for the
companies in the FTZ.

4. SABAH (GUNEY): Ali Kavak, chairperson of the
Mediterranean Vegetable and Fruit Exporters' Union, said that,
because of negligence on the part of some farmers who did not
spray their products in a timely manner, exporters were now
hesitant to buy citrus fruit products from the farmers due to a
possible Mediterranean fruit fly infestation. This fruit pest
caused a crisis at the end of May between Russia and Turkey, and
Russia had decided to stop buying fruit from Turkey then. (This
article is from 08/21 editon.)

5. OZGUR GUNDEM: The paper reported that applications
from Eastern Turkey's municipalities to benefit from EU funds
under the "Eastern Anatolia Development Project" were rejected
by the project coordinating office in Van on the grounds that
these municipalities were indebted.

MANSON

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