Cablegate: Southeast Turkey Press Summary for July 10, 2006

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TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR JULY 10, 2006

This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for July 10, 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

CUMHURIYET / HURRIYET / ZAMAN / EVRENSEL: Tunceli Mayor Songul
Erol Abdil showed reaction to the girls wearing turbans as they
danced folkloric dances in Tunceli in a 07/08 opening ceremony
attended by parliament spokesperson Bulent Arinc. Abdil made
clear that the costumes of folkloric dances in Tunceli never
included the turban component and regarded inclusion of turban
in the costumes as an insult to the Alevi community. According
to Zaman, Arinc dismissed any supposed official connection or
manipulation in the clothing of the dancers, and branded such
allegations as speculation aiming to wear out official bodies
and the parliament offices. Tunceli Governor Mustafa Erkal
reportedly said that that folkloric group performed in the same
clothes several times before.

CUMHURIYET / HURRIYET: Hakkari Governor's Office announced that
a clash took place between security members and PKK terrorists
around the border area in Hakkari's Cukurca district. Three PKK
members have reportedly been killed.

OZGUR GUNDEM: During a joint military operation of Turkish
and Iranian forces against PKK members in the border area around
Hakkari's Semdinli district, the daily claims that four Iranian
soldiers and one PKK member have been killed. One PKK member
has been taken captive by the Turkish Armed Forces.

SABAH (GUNEY): A ceremony has been held in a village of
Sirnak's Idil district to commemorate 16 people killed by PKK
terrorist on July 08, 1987.

BOLGE: Three persons have been arrested in a district of
Elazig on charges of providing logistic support for the PKK.

ZAMAN / OZGUR GUNDEM: A group of PKK terrorists blocked the
traffic flow on an intercity road 100 kilometers away from
Bingol, extorted money from passengers, and made pro-PKK
propaganda. Ozgur Gundem portrays the incident as a normal road
check of the PKK members.

OZGUR GUNDEM: A faculty member from the Sociology Department
of Koc University in Istanbul said that escalation of clashes
and military operations in the southeastern region have
eliminated hopes of those people who were considering returning
back to their villages from which they were evacuated because of
the past state of emergency rule in the region.

OZGUR GUNDEM: Fourteen students have reportedly been
dismissed from the Education Faculty of Ataturk University in
Agri allegedly as a result of an investigation opened on grounds
that those students attended March 21 Newruz celebrations.

OZGUR GUNDEM: A DTP delegation including party assembly
member Tuncer Bakirhan, Diyarbakir's Kayapinar district mayor
Zulkuf Karatekin and Van's Bostanici district mayor Gulcihan
Simsek went to Italy and met with coalition and opposition party
members in that country. During the contacts held with Italian
politicians, Turkey-EU relations and Kurdish issue were
discussed.

EVRENSEL / OZGUR GUNDEM: Diyarbakir Municipality organized
a summer camp for 4500 children at the facilities around Hazar
Lake in Elazig.

OZGUR GUNDEM: A villager in Van's Gurpinar district filed a
complaint with the prosecutor on grounds that JITEM (Jandarma
Intelligence) members threatened to kill him when the villager
rejected their suggestion that he become an informant for them
on July 6.

OZGUR GUNDEM: Six out of seventeen people, who were arrested
in Batman on charges of counterfeiting seals of health insurance
cards the (Turkish) state provides for needy people having no
social security, have been arraigned and imprisoned in Batman
jail.

SABAH (GUNEY): PM Erdogan will come to Malatya on July 12 to
conduct local studies and attend a series of opening and
ground-breaking ceremonies in the province.

SABAH (GUNEY): ANAP (Motherland Party) Provincial Chairperson
in Mardin criticized the government for canceling tenders
concerning building of new schools and renovation of older
school buildings in the province for the second time. The

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previous cancelation reportedly took place last year.

EKSPRES: The daily reported that Ministry of Agriculture and
Village Works has officially banned aircraft pesticide spraying
because of the serious environmental damage that method had
caused. Some aircraft pesticide spraying companies have been
exerting pressure to withdraw the ban on such pesticide spraying
method.

HURRIYET / YENI SAFAK: S.D., a 30-year-old woman in Sirnak's
Cizre district who divorced from her husband because of her
alleged extra-marital affair, was hospitalized after being
stabbed by the cousin of her former husband as she went back her
former house to see her children. S.D. died after being treated
for 20 days in the hospital and no one claimed possession of her
dead body.

BOLGE: Director of MIT intelligence center's Adana branch
reportedly committed suicide last evening in Adana by shooting
himself in the head at his home in Adana.
REID

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