VZCZCXRO0571
RR RUEHDA
DE RUEHDA #0157/01 1871255
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 061255Z JUL 06
FM AMCONSUL ADANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4218
INFO RUEHDA/AMCONSUL ADANA 0818
RUEUITH/AFOSI DET 521 ANKARA TU
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 0766
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 0663
RUEKJCS/OSD WASHINGTON DC
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000157
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR JULY 06, 2006
This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for July 06, 2006.
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
HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): Hakkari police conducted an operation
and seized 67 kilograms of pure heroin upon receiving a tip-off
that drugs will be trafficked in the area. A person has been
detained in connection with the trafficking. (This summary is
from 07/05 edition)
RADIKAL / HURRIYET / EVRENSEL: Allegedly in connection with
the expulsion of Van Prosecutor from office a while ago, the
dailies pointed out that Ministry of Interior allegedly included
in the decree which relocates positions of judges and
prosecutors in Turkey, the name of Van's Chief Prosecutor Kemal
Kacan, a move which is interpreted as a disciplinary action
against Kacan for his roles in the cases of Van Centennial
University's trial process and in the Semdinli case. (This
summary is from 07/05 edition) 07/06 edition of Radikal cites
Minister of Justice as dismissing such allegations and branding
the development as a normal procedure.
RADIKAL: PM Erdogan, who is reportedly not pleased that
numerous candidates have been running for chairmanship in AKP's
Agri chapter, have rolled up his sleeves to convince circles to
name one person and one crew to run for chairmanship.
OZGUR GUNDEM: The daily claims that two soldiers died and
five soldiers have been wounded in a reported PKK attack on a
jandarma station in Hakkari's Cukurca district on July 2.
HURRIYET: A group of PKK terrorists attacked a police
checkpoint which has been guarding the police residences in
Tunceli's Cemiskezek district with hand grenades and
long-barelled guns. Terrorists reportedly escaped after a
10-minute clash with the police officers.
EVRENSEL / OZGUR GUNDEM: Nineteen out of 26 people, who
were arrested during demonstrations in Mardin's Kiziltepe
district (on an unspecified date) held to protest events that
took place in late March in Diyarbakir following the funeral of
four terrorists, have been released by Diyarbakir's 6th heavy
Penalty Court. The rest of the people will continue to stay
under arrest.
EVRENSEL / OZGUR GUNDEM: Twenty DTP members in Sirnak had
two trials brought against them: one for "making propaganda of
terrorist organization and praising the criminals" during
support extended by the DTP members to the human shields in May
last year; the DTP members in Sirnak stood a second trial for
remarks they made at a January 27 announcement of the DTP party
organization.
EVRENSEL: Chairperson of DTP's Kars chapter said that despite
only being appointed for six months as a party chairperson, 7
investigations had been started against him.
OZGUR GUNDEM: British attorneys from the London-based
Kurdish Human Rights Project came to Van to see at a local level
how committees set up to compensate for the losses incurred
because of terrorism and measures taken to counter terrorism in
the southeastern region have been operating. The delegation of
attorneys and senior administrators of Van's Goc-Der (Solidarity
Association for Displaced People) paid visits to two villages of
Gurpinar district.
EVRENSEL: A group of Italian journalists came to Mardin and
talked with relatives of people who lost their lives in clashes
or extra-judicial killings. The journalists also paid a visit
to Mardin chapter of DTP.
RADIKAL / CUMHURIYET / HURRIYET / OZGUR GUNDEM / EVRENSEL: A
16-year-old girl in Gaziantep was reportedly killed yesterday
morning by her brother in the name of honor. The girl was
reportedly pregnant because of an extra-marital affair.
HURRIYET: During searches made in a highland area of
Diyarbakir, Jandarma teams and temporary village guards
discovered 20 fields where hemp has been cultivated. The teams,
who claimed that those fields were cultivated by PKK terrorists
to produce drugs, uprooted a total of 9 million hemps and
destroyed them.
CUMHURIYET / BOLGE / EVRENSEL / EKSPRES: Nearly 30 cleaning
services workers continued their demonstrations and held a march
towards Seyhan Municipality in Adana to protest their dismissal
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from their jobs.
BOLGE / EKSPRES: Adana Governor Cahit Kirac announced that
recent rumors claiming that an organ mafia was behind
disappearances, murders and drowning cases in Adana were mere
hoaxes.
HURRIYET (CUKUROVA) / RADIKAL: Members of the chambers
convened in Adana's Ceyhan district to hold a consultation
meeting ahead of the opening ceremony for Baku-Tibilisi-Ceyhan
(BTC) pipeline which will be held in Adana's Ceyhan district on
July 13. Radikal daily separately notes that world leaders were
not showing much interest in the 3-million-dollar BTC opening
and only two of the presidents of 16 countries who have been
invited have responded affirmatively to Turkey's BTC invitation.
CUMHURIYET: The decision of Administrative Court of the Council
of State, which suspended enforcement of the privatization of
the port of Mersin, reportedly pleased Liman-Is (Union of
Ports).
CUMHURIYET: Cumhuriyet daily reports on the controversy between
Turks and Kurds on where to open two new border gates on the
border between Turkey and Iraq. Turkish side is reportedly not
favoring a border gate opening to the Kurdish area in northern
Iraq.
REID