Cablegate: Southeast Turkey Press Summary for July 12, 2007

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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PINS PGOV PHUM TU
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR JULY 12, 2007

1. This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for July 12,
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:

2. BOLGE / EKSPRES / HURRIYET: CHP national leader Deniz
Baykal attended a ground-breaking ceremony of a waste water
management facility in Mersin. Baykal addressed a crowd of
people and said that a new Turkey would emerge namely after the
July 22 election. Meanwhile, the dailies report CHP's and DP's
Adana candidates as continuing their election campaigns in which
they opened new elections offices in districts and quarters of
the province.

3. BOLGE: DP party members were reportedly pleased that
20,000 people attended the political rally DP leader Mehmet Agar
held in Adana the previous day despite the high summer
temperatures.

4. EVRENSEL / GUNDEM / HURRIYET: Diyarbakir Mayor Osman
Baydemir criticized recent investigation started against his
remarks delivered in a program of pro-PKK Roj TV which branded
the PKK's activities as "armed Kurdish opposition." Baydemir,
who was not able to understand the grounds for the
investigation, said his remarks were not new and he had been
using such statements since 10 years.

5. GUNDEM: Soldiers are allegedly removing the posters
and banners an independent candidate has been hanging in the
streets in Bitlis's Tatvan district. DTP provincial chairman in
Tatvan said they filed a complaint with the authorities against
such acts.

6. ZAMAN / GUNDEM: Four people have been detained in
Sanliurfa's Viransehir district on charges of "praising
criminals and making propaganda for the PKK" during a funeral
ceremony of a PKK militant who died in a military conflict in
Tunceli. Police are still searching five other people against
whom same charges were brought.

7. EVRENSEL: To dismiss reported wrong speculations
surfacing recently about DTP's attitude concerning EMEP (Party
of Labor), a party which announced its support for independent
candidates previously, DTP national headquarters announced that
they had advised party grassroots to support EMEP in
constituencies where DTP did not endorse any independent
candidates.

SECURITY:

8. GUNDEM: PKK reportedly announced that 446 soldiers and
96 PKK militants have died in a total of 252 military operations
conducted against the PKK in the last six months. The intensity
of the conflicts reportedly increased in May and June, reports
the daily.

9. GUNDEM: The daily describes some recent newspaper
stories coming out about PKK members burning eight heavy
machinery vehicles at a mine run by a private company in a
village of Hatay as false allegations.

ECONOMY:

10. EKSPRES: EPDK (Regulatory Board for Energy
Market) granted a license to a joint-venture company of Turkish
Petrol Ofisi and Australian OMW to build an oil refinery in
Adana's Ceyhan district. Chairperson of Ceyhan's Chamber of
Commerce said the 4.5 billion dollar investment will create 1000
jobs.

11. HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): A Chinese commercial delegation
paid a visit to Mersin's Chamber of Commerce and Industry to
explore investment opportunities in the region.

CRIME AND LAW ENFORCEMENT:

12. HURRIYET (CUKUROVA) / ZAMAN: Hakkari and Yuksekova
district police conducted two separate anti-drug operations.
Police found a total of 70 kilograms of heroin in a house and on
a person they searched. Three people were detained. Meanwhile,
police in Hatay searched a car which entered Turkey from Syria
through a border gate and found 30 kilograms of smuggled gold

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hidden in the car.
GREEN

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