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DE RUEHDA #0262/01 3531329
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 191329Z DEC 06
FM AMCONSUL ADANA
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INFO RUEUITH/AFOSI DET 521 ANKARA TU
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 0938
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 0810
RUEKJCS/OSD WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
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RUEHDA/AMCONSUL ADANA 0994
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000262
SIPDIS
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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PINS PGOV PHUM TU
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER 19, 2006
This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for December 19,
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
TOPLUMSAL DEMOKRASI / EVRENSEL / ZAMAN / RADIKAL: "A Walk
for Peace", comprised of a 20-car convoy and which was started
by nearly 1000 elected members of DTP three days ago in
Diyarbakir in order to extend support for the cease-fire
declared by the PKK, ended in Ankara yesterday (see press
summary for December 18). Evrensel and Toplumsal Demokrasi
dailies report Kurds' deep frustration about Parliament
Spokesperson Bulent Arinc who declined to meet DTP officials in
Ankara. The dailies, which reminded that elected Kurdish
deputies were dismissed from the parliament in 1994 and 2005,
further reported that the hands extended to find a counterpart
for a possible peace process "found no response again"
yesterday. DTP Chairperson Ahmet Turk commented that a
Parliament Spokesperson plainly gave no response to their
request for an appointment, and branded such attitude as a
stance taken against peace. Evrensel and Toplumsal Demokrasi
dailies also pointed out that Mr. Arinc met with Land Forces
Commander on the same day they requested an appointment from
Arinc. DTP members held a 10-minute sit-in protest in Ankara,
left their white scarves symbolizing peace on the trees, and
returned to their hometowns.
HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): Assembly members (from MHP) of the Adana
Municipality protested against the Municipality for not
completing the light rail metro system whose construction was
started back in 1997.
ECONOMY
SABAH (GUNEY): Many organizations, such as a cooperative in
Adana, Seyhan District's Chamber of Agriculture, and Mersin
Governor's Office launched efforts to encourage consumption of
citrus fruit and its juice. The cooperative for its part will
provide citrus fruit supplementing the regular dinner meals
provided to its staff members and will offer a citrus fruit as a
drink to their guests.
CRIME / LAW ENFORCEMENT
BOLGE / HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): Gaziantep police seized four
kilograms of hashish as a result of an anti-drug operation
conducted on a car carrying five persons in Gaziantep. The
people caught have been detained. Meanwhile, police, who found
17 kilograms of hashish in a passenger bus in Van's Muradiye
district during their regular searches, started investigating
the case.
HUMAN RIGHTS
TOPLUMSAL DEMOKRASI / EVRENSEL: Human Rights Association
(HRA) sent a delegation to the Pirinclik village of Diyarbakir
to probe the case of a 17-year-old young person who, according
to the military officials, died because of a heart attack he had
while he was under detention at a jandarma station there (see
press summary for December 18). (Note: Some papers report the
age of the boy as 16. End note.) HRA will generate a report
about its findings on the incident. Diyarbakir Prosecutor's
Office started an investigation against the soldiers, according
to the reporting of Toplumsal Demokrasi daily. Evrensel daily
points out that Diyarbakir Governor's Office did not find
satisfactory grounds for the Office to start an investigation
into the incident. Deputy Governor reportedly claimed that
jandarma only opened fire in the air and did not shoot anybody
during the event.
TOPLUMSAL DEMOKRASI: Prosecution process against 59 members
of the Sanliurfa Democracy Platform will start tomorrow in
Sanliurfa's Fifth First Instance Court. Charges were brought
against those 59 defendants because they allegedly violated the
Act on Holding Meetings and Demonstrations during a press
announcement held on February 15, 2005 in support of "global
peace as against global war."
TOPLUMSAL DEMOKRASI: Eight students of the Centennial
University were detained by police as they were walking in a
street in Van. The grounds for the students' detention were
reportedly not provided.
ADANA 00000262 002 OF 002
TOPLUMSAL DEMOKRASI / RADIKAL: In the face of honor
killings dominating the agenda of the Van province, and,
according to the Toplumsal Demokrasi daily: the municipality
"doing nothing to address the issue of honor killings", a female
attorney recently launched efforts for a project to build a
women's shelter in Van.
EVRENSEL: Chairperson of Tunceli Chapter of Human Rights
Association, who held a press announcement together with
political party representatives, attorneys, union
representatives and other people, claimed that The Law on
Compensating for the Losses Incurred Because Of Terrorism, and
Anti-Terror Measures proved itself unsatisfactory in
compensating for losses of the terrorism victims.
CULTURE / SOCIETY / ENVIRONMENT
EVRENSEL: The Rector's Office of Dokuz Eylul University in
Izmir did not grant authorization to students to open stands for
an aid campaign launched to help the victims of flooding
disasters that took place in the southeastern region. The
Rector's Office overturned the students' request on grounds that
the application was not conforming to the procedures and that
the campaign lacked an instructor who would properly lead the
initiative.
SABAH (GUNEY): Sanliurfa Governor Yusuf Yavascan announced
that cash aid amounting to 500 YTL (nearly 350 USD) would be
provided to each family out of a total of 116 families who have
been victims of flooding in the whole province. The Governor
also pledged that aid will be provided to those people whose
houses got destroyed during the disaster.
BOLGE / HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): Barabra Petzen, an American
citizen, who came to Adana's Incirlik district in 1983 to teach
English there, settled in Mersin's Kizkalesi district when she
retired. Petzen, who recently died in the U.S. as she was being
treated for leukemia, requested in her will for her ashes to be
brought and be thrown into the sea in Kizkalesi district, a
place she loved very much.
HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): An eight-year-old Turkish girl won the
first prize in her category at the International Chess
Championship held by the American Chess Federation in the U.S.
GREEN