VZCZCXRO1992
RR RUEHDA
DE RUEHDA #0170/01 1991210
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 181210Z JUL 06
FM AMCONSUL ADANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4239
INFO RUEHDA/AMCONSUL ADANA 0840
RUEUITH/AFOSI DET 521 ANKARA TU
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 0787
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 0684
RUEKJCS/OSD WASHINGTON DC
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000170
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR JULY 15, 2006
This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for July 15, 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: The Iraqi President Celal Talabani and President of
the Iraqi Kurdistan Region Mesut Barzani collectively disclosed
in Selahattin that the new Iraqi Government did not honor the
treaties undersigned between Turkey and Saddam in the past,
which allowed Turkey and Iran to undertake incursions into
northern Iraq for the fight against PKK.
ZAMAN: A judicial control decision has been undertaken against
the DTP Mayor of Cizre, Sirnak province. According to the
decision, mayor Aydin Budak, who is accused of making propaganda
of the outlawed PKK organization, will go to Akancay Police
Station to give his signature until a public case has been
opened against him. The office of the public prosecutor of Cizre
had initiated an investigation against Mayor Budak for his
statements praising the PKK during a cultural and art festival
on June 16, 2006. Mayor Budak's attorney, Servet Yanar, said
that such a decision was a very heavy punishment and that it was
a disproportionate measure for an unverified claim.
CUMHURIYET/U.O. GUNDEM: Famed Kurdish author, Mehmet Uzun, who
lived and received medical treatment in Stockholm of Sweden,
came to Diyarbakir yesterday to spend the rest of his life in
his hometown. Uzun, who has been suffering from cancer, was
received by the Diyarbakir Mayor Osman Baydemir, DTP officials,
and an exuberant crowd.
CUMHURIYET: When the "Common Vision Document" between the United
States and Turkey was being disclosed, the Patriotic Front
Against Imperialism announced that it would organize a march
dubbed "U.S. get out. This country is ours." from Incirlik Air
Base to Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul between July 15 and
September 1. The march is being organized by a retired military
captain, Murat Pabuc, from the Military Initiative of the
Patriotic Front.
CUMHURIYET/SABAH: Jandarma units affiliated to the Sanliurfa
Provincial Jandarma Command seized 7 million hemp roots, from
which 140 tons of drugs could be produced, in Tofan hamlet of
Aydincik village in the newly irrigated Harran district of
Sanliurfa. A person with H.F. initials has been arrested in
connection with hemp plantations. Officials disclosed that 60
percent of the hemp seized in Turkey in the past decade had been
cultivated in Sanliurfa province.
ULKEDE OZGUR GUNDEM: The Sub-governor of Cermik township of
Diyarbakir announced that an epidemic oftyphoid virus had been
found in the water supply of the town about twenty days ago, and
that approximately one thousand people complaining about upset
stomach, diarrhea, and weakness had been admitted to hospital.
Sub-governor Murat Erkan said that sewage had mixed with well
waters and two wells, which people considered curative, had been
sealed. The Cermik Mayor Mehmet Akdag denied the allegations,
and claimed that people had become sick not because of
contaminated water but because of washing perishables improperly.
ULKEDE OZGUR GUNDEM/YENI SAFAK/RADIKAL/EVRENSEL: Five soldiers
were killed and four others were wounded as an armored military
vehicle hit a mine near Icgecit village of Bitlis the previous
night. The wounded soldiers were taken to the military hospital
in Tatvan for treatment while the dead bodies of the killed
soldiers were dispatched to their hometowns for burial. In
addition, an explosion occurred in Daggul Quarter of Hakkari
yesterday morning when a military vehicle carrying provisions
passed by. According to initial assessments, on person has been
wounded, and the area has been blockaded.
ULKEDE OZGUR GUNDEM: As a result of constent military operations
throughout the region, clashes between the GOT forces and PKK
militants have escalated. The GOT forces clashing with PKK
militants in Erzurum set fire on the crops near Lebu Dagi and
Kosk villages of Karacoban district and detained the DTP
district chairman Fetullah Dadas and his nephew Esin Dadas on no
grounds.
YENI SAFAK/EVRENSEL: Investigations of two Chief Inspectors
assigned by the Interior Ministry to probe the allegations about
"excessive and disproportionate use of force and torture" during
the events that broke out in Diyarbakir following burial
ceremonies of four PKK militants on March 28, 2006 still
continue. Inspectors started interviewing 72 children listed in
the report prepared by the Diyarbakir Bar Association and sent
by the Interior Ministry. Inspectors are also investigating the
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claims about attorney Cafer Koluman that he had been beaten by
security forces during the events. 26 policemen will give
depositions to the Public Prosecutor in connection with
allegations cited in the report.
YENI SAFAK: Representatives of all non-governmental
organizations, political parties, and some private citizens in
Elazig released a press statement supporting Palestine and
expressing reaction to Israel. The press announcement read by
Kamu-Sen's -Public Employees' Union- representative said
"Israel, in order to accomplish its Zionist goals, has been
turning the region into a pool of blood by getting the support
of the western forces" and added that the United Nations did not
fulfill its obligations in this matter.
BOLGE: The Mersin Voluntary Organizations Union, consisting of
35 NGOs, including labor unions and associations, staged an
anti-Israeli protest in Mersin. The term-spokesperson of the
organization, Ali Bal, said that Israel did not honor the UN
decisions and claimed that it occupied Palestine and continued
to kill people. Bal claimed that the United States and the
European Union also supported Israel and added that the
atrocities committed by Israel did not start with the abduction
of soldiers but that Israel had been slaughtering Palestinians
for the past 80 years. Bal advised that the Turkish Red Crescent
should dispatch health teams to treat Palestinians inflicted of
wounds and withdrawing the Turkish ambassador to Israel.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS:
RADIKAL: The President of Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI)
of Ceyhan township of Adana, Ali Duru, said that in addition to
Petrol Ofisi and Calik Group, a foreign company had also applied
to erect a refinery in Ceyhan which has become an oil port
because of the BTC Crude Oil Pipe Line. The Ceyhan CCI President
Duru said that the refinery considered for Ceyhan would be
labor-intensive and that between 300 to 500 people would be
employed during the initial phase of the plant. Duru added that
he believed more than officially announced 3000 people were
unemployed in Ceyhan.
BOLGE/HURRIYET-CUKUROVA: The President of Chamber of Commerce
and Industry (CCI) of Tarsus, Ali Ergezer, said that the yield
in grapes would be less this year compared to the previous
years. Ergezer said that different types of grapes were being
cultivated in an area of 50,000 acres in Tarsus and that most of
the production was export-oriented. Ergezer said that 50,000
tons of table grapes had already been exported to Germany and
Russia and that the farmers expected to export 100,000 tons to
these countries by the end of the harvesting season.
REID