SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY,

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 0102 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU IZ ADANA SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY, APRIL 10, 2003 ¶1. This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for April 10, 2003. Please note that Turkish press reports often contain errors or exaggerations; AmConsulate Adana does not vouch for the accuracy of the reports summarized here. ¶2. Hurriyet/Bolge: It is claimed that 150 mayors nationwide, including Yildiray Arikan of Seyhan district of Adana, will transfer to CHP. Mayor Arikan is still a member of YTP. It is reported that CHP's Central Executive Committee has approved the transfers. Mayor Arikan verified that he would transfer to CHP, and that the developments regarding the issue would become more definite in coming weeks. ¶3. Hurriyet: The State Security Court of Erzurum gave 15 months of imprisonment to three persons for referring to Abdullah Ocalan as the "PKK/KADEK Chairman" during a "No To War" meeting held in front of DEHAP offices in Dogubeyazit (Igdir). The inmates are charged with propagandizing for a terrorist organization. Meanwhile, a court in Tarsus (Mersin) asked 5 years of imprisonment for each of 9 persons who referred to Ocalan with the customary honorific form of address "Sayin" ("Honorable" or "Esteemed") during DEHAP's district convention. ¶4. Milliyet/Radikal/Evrensel: A US delegation headed by a Capt. Todd Plotner turned over to Turkish officials from Ankara the airport at Gaziantep. US troops had been sent there under the "modernization program" accord. ¶5. Bolge: The ban on US soldiers at Incirlik AFB going off base, which had been in effect since March 18, was lifted as of yesterday. The soldiers are now permitted to go off the base between 09:00-19:00 hours. ¶6. Milliyet/Tercuman: 14 villagers from Sanliurfa's Buyuk Murdesi hamlet, where a US missile had fallen erroneously, asked for legal assistance from the Bar Association. They are being arraigned at a court in Sanliurfa for throwing stones and eggs at the US delegation that came to the village to recover fragments of the errant missile. ¶7. Evrensel: It is claimed that two villagers, Haci Olmez (37) and Mevlut Olmez (30) from the village of Andac (Sirnak),who had left their village the previous evening to look for their lost sheep, were fired upon by soldiers affiliated to Andac Jandarma Battalion. It is further alleged that Haci Olmez was killed in the incident and that his body was taken to the Turkish-Iraqi border by soldiers. ¶8. Evrensel: In response to a lawsuit brought against soldiers by villagers who back in October 2002 had gone hunting near Baldan village of Tunceli and were then wounded there by soldiers' gunfire, the Tunceli Governor did not give permission to for an investigation to be conducted. He stated that "the security forces had not abused their authority, and therefore no crime had been constituted." The villagers' attorney said they would appeal the Governor's decision. ¶9. Cumhuriyet: The President of the Chamber of Doctors of Istanbul, Prof. Dr. Gencay Gursoy, announced at a press conference that physicians dispatched from Istanbul to Cukurca (Hakkari) by Health Ministry due to war on Iraq, were unable to reach their destinations. Roads were still closed, and the physicians have been staying at a military facility in Van at their own expense. The physicians dispatched to Silopi (Sirnak) have also been staying at military facilities and the hospital they would work in has not been set up yet. HOLTZ