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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000237
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PINS PGOV PHUM TU
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR OCTOBER 31, 2006
This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for October 31,
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
OZGUR GUNDEM: DTP offices in the western part of Turkey and
in the southeastern region held meetings in Izmir, Van and
Diyarbakir to discuss the cease-fire process. Separately, DTP
National Chairperson Ahmet Turk said that the ultimate goal
should be to achieve disarmament and to create a serious medium
to discuss the issue, until May. Turk reiterated that the
cease-fire process was indefinite.
4. ZAMAN: According to the daily, DTP has intensified
its efforts to solve the Kurdish issue through democratic means:
DTP officials decided to discuss the issue with the political
parties including CHP and MHP. DTP will also talk with civil
society organizations such as TUSIAD (Turkish Association for
Industrialists and Businessmen) and TOBB (Turkish Union of
Chambers and Commodity Exchanges).
OZGUR GUNDEM: (Reported on Sunday) The daily reports that the
villagers in a village of Sirnak's Uludere district caught three
JITEM (Jandarma Intelligence) members in civilian clothes who,
according to the villagers, were surveying the area around the
village for nearly three weeks. As the villagers alleged that
they saw three Kalashnikov guns, hand grenades, munitions and
some documents in the trunk of the car, the daily reported that
the villagers were concerned that the JITEM members were in the
area to perpetrate mysterious bombings, similar to the bombing
that took place on November 9, 2005 in Semdinli. The online
version of the daily alleges that the jandarma blockaded the
village as they came to take away the JITEM members and put
pressure on the villagers to give back a document that
disappeared from the car of the JITEM members. (This summary is
from 10/29 edition.)
HURIYET: (Reported on Sunday) The daily reports the tension
that erupted between jandarma intelligence members and villagers
in Uludere. The villagers reportedly stopped the car of three
officers who told the villagers that they were members of
jandarma intelligence unit. As the tension escalated, the
Jandarma Commander, whom the officers called, came to the scene
and sent the officers away. Sirnak Governor announced that
tension broke out as the officers were gathering information
about smuggling in the area. No fighting or beatings took place
during the event. (This summary is from 10/29 edition.)
5. EVRENSEL: Following the tension that broke out between
alleged JITEM members and villagers in Sirnak's Uludere district
over the weekend, the villagers claimed that a commander was
putting pressure on the villagers in the district by voicing his
plans to evacuate the villages located along the border.
SECURITY
6. OZGUR GUNDEM: PKK made an announcement about death of
three PKK members during the clash in Batman on October 23.
According to the PKK, three soldiers also died during that
clash.
7. OZGUR GUNDEM: A thermos detected as left unattended
in front of a shop in a quarter of Diyarbakir caused panic among
people who feared that it might be a bomb. Police safely
detonated it and found out that it was not a bomb.
8. EVRENSEL / OZGUR GUNDEM / ZAMAN: The daily reports that
the news about an alleged attack on a jandarma station in Van's
Gurpinar district circulating in the media has been falsified by
the subgovernor of the district. The soldier that was said to
have been wounded in that attack actually wounded himself as a
result of an accident.
CRIME / LAW ENFORCEMENT
CUMHRIYET / EKSPRES / BOLGE / EVRENSEL / OZGUR GUNDEM:
Unidentified person(s) opened fire and killed a teacher who was
standing on his balcony to see who rang the bell at the door of
his house in Adana's Ceyhan district. The teacher was a member
of Egitim-Sen (Teacher's Union).
ECONOMY
ADANA 00000237 002 OF 002
HURRIYET: Abdullah Keskin, Head of the Agricultural
Directorate in Adana, said that the climatic conditions in the
Cukurova region were very suitable to cultivate pomegranate.
Keskin anticipates that pomegranate cultivation will be more
popular in the coming years.
CULTURE / SOCIETY
11. HURRIYET / OZGUR GUNDEM: Forty people, trapped in a
blizzard in a highland area, were saved by rescue teams of the
municipality of Hakkari.
GREEN