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Cablegate: Southeast Turkey Press Summary for April 09, 2007

Published: Wed 11 Apr 2007 05:46 AM
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SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR APRIL 09, 2007
This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for April 09,
2007. 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
EKSPRES / BOLGE: Anavatan (Motherland Party) Leader Erkan Mumcu
held a public meeting in Adana. During his address to the
people, Mumcu reacted harshly to the statements of Massoud
Barzani, president of Iraqi regional authority, which said that
if Turkey conducted a cross border operation in northern Iraq,
then they would conduct an operation in Diyarbakir. Mumcu
suggested that, if Turkey closed the Habur Border Gate in Sirnak
for three days, then people would perceive the reality that
Turkey was not a small country that they would easily play with.
EKSPRES: MHP Provincial Chairperson Yilmaz Tankut issued a
statement to mark the 162nd anniversary of the foundation of
Turkish National Police. Tankut, who said that the police
organization was the pride of the country, pointed out that
regulations imposed on Turkey by the EU and the government's
alleged yielding attitude towards the illegal circles, were
weakening the position of the police.
ZAMAN / EVRENSEL: An office of the Council of State recently
overturned the appeal of the Diyarbakir Mayor Osman Baydemir who
objected to the investigation started by the Ministry of
Internal Affairs on November 28, 2006 on the grounds that
Baydemir violated a law on the use of the Turkish alphabet and
sent an invitation for a festival in Diyarbakir to the
Diyarbakir Prosecutor in both Kurdish and Turkish on an
unspecified date in the past.
EVRENSEL: DTP Diyarbakir provincial chairperson Hilmi
Aydogudu, who was arrested in late February because of his press
statement that reportedly claimed that they would regard an
attack targeting Kirkuk as an attack on Diyarbakir, was released
early in April, but will stand trial for his statements. Today,
Evrensel daily publishes an interview with Aydogdu, who
complained that some of his statements were deliberately pulled
out of context by the media and were portrayed as if his remarks
carried hostile intentions. Aydogdu, who stayed in prison for
41 days, blamed the authorities for pursuing aggressive policies
towards them.
SECURITY
EVRENSEL: Two soldiers and a village guard died during
separate military operations the Turkish Armed Forces carried
out in Bitlis and Sirnak provinces. One of the soldiers died
when he stepped on a land mine in Bitlis's Celtikli district.
HURRIYET: Hurriyet daily reports that four PKK members were
killed during a military operation carried out in Tunceli's
Cemiskezek and Hozat districts yesterday.
EKSPRES / BOLGE / HURRIYET (CUKUROVA) / HURRIYET: Three
people have been arrested in Adana as they were allegedly making
preparations to carry out a bomb attack in the province. The
police reported that the people caught were members of a radical
DHKP/C terrorist organization and they were reportedly targeting
judges, prosecutors and the military personnel. The police
found material used in devising a bomb, 11 kilograms of
explosives, three alarm clocks, and varius other material in the
car and the at house of the arrestees.
ZAMAN / EKSPRES / BOLGE / HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): A bomb attack
hit a police station in Adana's Daglioglu quarter at 00.10 am
Sunday morning. A police car was damaged badly and the impact
caused a hole in the wall of the police station. The bomb was
left in a trash can in front of the station. Witnesses said
that an unanonynmous person(s) opened fire with an RPG from a
white-color car towards the station immediately after the bomb
attack, and fled the scene. No casualties were reported. The
Adana Governor visited the site of the incident.
CRIME / LAW ENFORCEMENT:
EVRENSEL: Twenty-one Kurdish refugees who set off from Mosul
on April 3 to enter Turkey illegally to settle in Istanbul in
order to find employment have been caught by jandarma in a rural
area of Mardin's Kiziltepe district. The refugees were starving
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when the jandarma found them. The refugees were cheated out of
their money by a truck driver who falsely promised to take them
to Istanbul.
CULTURE / SOCIETY / ENVIRONMENT
EKSPRES / BOLGE: The funeral of a commissioned officer who was
killed in a conflict between the security forces and terrorists
in Sirnak's Besteler area (on an unspecified date) will be held
in Saimbeyli district of Adana today.
ZAMAN: Heavy rain flooded some quarters and settlements in
the Adana province and left many families in hardship as they
worked to save their furniture and property from muddy waters
the rain brought in to their houses.
EKSPRES / BOLGE / HURRIYET (CUKUROVA) / ZAMAN: Mayor Aytac
Durak donated wheel-chairs to 45 handicapped people living in
Adana.
GREEN
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