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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PINS PGOV PHUM TU
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR OCTOBER 16, 2006
Corrected Copy: Cable originally sent as press summary for 10/17
This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for October 16,
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
BOLGE / EKSPRES: Mustafa Attaroglu, Chairperson of AKP in
Adana, said that French Parliament, by adopting the law making
it a crime to deny "Armenian genocide", has been "tainted."
3. BOLGE: Recai Kutan, National Chairperson of Saadet
Party (Happiness Party), will pay a visit to Adana today.
4. BOLGE / EKSPRES: Eric Green, U.S. Consul in Adana, paid
a visit to the Eastern Mediterranean Olive Union and learned
about olive production in Turkey.
5. BOLGE: A suspected bag left nearby Inonu Park located
in the city center of Adana alarmed the police. The police
safely detonated the bag and found out that it was not a bomb.
6. OZGUR GUNDEM: Prosecutor's Office in Sanliurfa started an
investigation against September 16 dated "Silent Demonstration"
which was held in Sanliurfa to protest the September 12 bombing
in Diyarbakir that killed ten people. The daily accuses the
prosecutors who were not able to find the perpetrator(s) of the
bombing to date.
7. SABAH (GUNEY): This week will reportedly decide whether
the new mayor of Karatas district in Adana, who resigned from
CHP and enrolled in the ranks of AKP recently, will be able to
keep his seat or not.
SECURITY
8. OZGUR GUNDEM: The daily remonstrated with those members of
intelligentsia, who extended support for the PKK's cease-fire,
for remaining silent against the government which has not taken
steps about the issue so far. The daily also complains that
the Turkish military conducted 15 military operations in the
last fifteen days since the declaration of the cease-fire.
Four PKK members, five soldiers and a village guard were killed
in the operations in the last 15 days.
9. OZGUR GUNDEM: The daily reports that Turkish Armed Forces
have been periodically shelling two areas called Sate and Etrus
in Hakkari's Cukurca district.
10. HURRIYET: Sirnak Governor's Office announced that security
forces, who were patrolling an area in Sirnak's Uludere district
on September 14, ran into a terrorist group, which reportedly
responded to a halt warning with gunfire. One PKK terrorist was
killed.
HUMAN RIGHTS
11. OZGUR GUNDEM: Diyarbakir Procesutor's Office initiated a
lawsuit against 11 DTP members, including the provincial
chairperson of DTP in Siirt, who went on a hunger strike in the
party building of DTP in Siirt on an unspecified date to protest
the confinement of Abdullah Ocalan in his prison cell.
CULTURE / SOCIETY
12. HURRIYET (CUKUROVA) / OZGUR GUNDEM: Relatives of a
four-year-old child attempted to lynch a 14-year-old boy, who
allegedly attempted to harass the four-year-old sexually in
Sanliurfa's Viransehir district.
13. SABAH (GUNEY): Heavy rain showers affected life adversely
in Adana and Mersin provinces. A boat in Mersin sank and one
person was drowned in the sea.
GREEN