INDEPENDENT NEWS

Cablegate: Southeast Turkey Press Summary for July 16 and 17, 2007

Published: Wed 18 Jul 2007 11:12 AM
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SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR JULY 16 AND 17, 2007
1. This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for July 16
and 17, 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 / HURRIYET: Deniz Baykal, National Leader of CHP,
addressed people in Igdir and Erzurum, the provinces included in
his campaign program, and said that a new era will start after
July 22 elections. Meanwhile, Gaye Erbatur, Adana candidate
from CHP and current Adana deputy, promised the electorate that
they would clear the path of politics from corruption.
3. BOLGE: Dengir Mir Mehmet Firat, first ranking AKP
candidate running in Adana and deputy national chairperson of
AKP, opened more campaign offices in several quarters of Adana.
4. EVRENSEL: AKP Bismil district provincial party
organization canvassed people in villages they toured in
Diyarbakir and reportedly pledged to issue green cards as they
collected copies of the villagers' identity cards for the
required procedures. (Note: Green cards in Turkey are issued for
disadvantaged poor people in order to grant them access to
health services. End Note.) Reportedly, however, the copies of
the ID cards were later found in trash cans later.
5. EVRENSEL: Thousands of people reportedly attended the
election campaign meetings in several southeastern provinces of
Turkey: meetings are held by Emine Ayna, a female DTP-endorsed
candidate running in Mardin; Huseyin Yilmaz DTP-endorsed
candidate running in Agri's Patnos district; Vakkas Dalkilic,
DTP-endorsed candidate running in Gaziantep, and Selahattin
Demirtas, DTP-endorsed candidate running in Diyarbakir.
6. EVRENSEL: ADSIAD (Adana Industrialists and Businessmen
Association) held last round of its meetings with the candidates
who are running in the July 22 elections. The last candidates
the meeting hosted were the AKP candidates of Adana.
7. ZAMAN / BOLGE / EKSPRES: Adana Governor Ilhan Atis
gave a present, a laptop computer, to a student from Adana who
received one of the best scores in the National University
Entrance examination.
8. SABAH (GUNEY): The local supplement of Sabah daily
launched a campaign to extend support to and prevent closing
sown of the Mensa Textile Company of Adana which had been
suffering from financial hardship. Mensa Textile employs 2500
workers.
CRIME AND LAW ENFORCEMENT
9. HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): Police caught 11 illegal
immigrants of Pakistani origin in Van's Baskale district.
10. BOLGE: Jandarma teams conducting road checks in
Yuregir district of Adana opened fire when an oil tanker truck
did not obey a halt warning of the jandarma. The Jandarma later
found the truck one kilometer away from the original scene. The
truck has been transporting oil stolen from the Ceyhan-Kirikkale
pipeline. The driver was able to flee the scene. (This summary
is from June 16 edition)
11. HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): Diyarbakir police seized 80
kilograms of hashish and 160,000 packets of smuggled cigarettes
in two separate anti-drug and anti-smuggling operations.
Twenty-one people were detained and arraigned.
12. HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): Police broke up an illegal ring in
Mersin members of whom employed themselves in fraudu and
counterfeiting of documents. The members of the ring included
two police officers, one computer engineer and a public servant.
13. HURRIYET (CUKUROVA) / ZAMAN: Police in Van's Ercis
district seized 26 kilograms of heroin they found in the fuel
tank of a car they searched. The driver of the car was
apprehended.
CULTURE / SOCIETY / ENVIRONMENT
14. ZAMAN: A fire that broke out in Adana's Imamoglu
district burned 98 acres of a forest area. The firefighters were
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able to take the fire under control in seven hours.
15. HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): A 3.7-magnitude earthquake shook
Adana's Kozan district yesterday. No casualties were reported.
ECONOMY
16. HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): EPDK (Energy Market Regulatory
Authority) will be holding a tender to award natural gas
distribution license in the Cukurova region on July 20 (see
press summary for June 22). The Cukurova region is the biggest
natural gas distribution area of Turkey and the company which
will be awarded the contract will provide service to 3 million
users in the region.
17. SABAH (GUNEY) / HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): The recent
allegations that surfaced in Mersin about importing of 106,000
tons of lemon from Argentina angered Mersin's citrus fruit
producers.
GREEN
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