SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY,

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 0149 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU IZ ADANA SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY, JUNE 02, 2003 ¶1. This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for June 02, 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. POLITICAL, SECURITY, HUMAN RIGHTS ¶2. Cumhuriyet/Turkiye/Evrensel: Tension rose between a group of soldiers on leave in downtown Tunceli and private citizens yesterday. Around two thousand people gathered in the city's main square and shouted, "peace could not be disrupted; Dersim (Tunceli) would became a grave to fascism; [and] Damn Jitem (jandarma Intelligence Center." When the quarrel between the soldiers and locals turned into a fight, one of the soldiers fetched a long-barreled weapon from the Jandarma Central Command and started shooting at random. He broke the some windows of buildings and damaged some cars; his colleagues finally stopped him. The police did not intervene in the incident in order not to magnify the event. In the meantime, Tunceli Governor Ali Cafer Akyuz announced from municipal loudspeakers that an unwanted incident had burst out in town. The governor added that action was taken against the perpetrators, and called upon everybody to be calm. The crowd dispersed after the governor's announcement. Regional Jandarma Commander Sakir Altinbas claimed one soldier was beaten in the course of the quarrel, and added that legal and administrative actions were initiated against the soldier who had opened fire in the air. ¶3. Turkiye: Two brothers, Yunus (14) and Idris Uzun (17),were killed when they tried to open a mortar found near Bingol at their home. Their younger brother, Onur Uzun, was also wounded. Onur was taken to Firat University Hospital in Elazig. ¶4. Evrensel: The police arrested two students in the Hani township of Diyarbakir on the grounds of making insinuating remarks in Kurdish to their female teacher during Children's Day celebrations on April 23. Based upon the teacher's complaint, two policemen from the Hani Security Directorate detained the students. It is claimed the police beat the students in a cell in the basement of the security directorate and placed human excrement to the faces of the two students. According to reports, the police then toured the students in town and exhibited them to the public. The students' attorney, Mehmet Zulfu Dundar, described the incident as "shameful." Dundar said they would sue the policemen in coming days. Because of the petition filed by the teacher, the students are charged with molestation. The next hearing has been adjourned for June 4. Regarding the issue, the teacher and the two policemen said they could not make any announcement because they were public employees. ECONOMIC AND AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENTS ¶5. Turkiye: The basic price announced for wheat by TMO (Soil Products Office) received negative reaction from the farmers in the Cukurova plain. TMO announced the price for a kilo of wheat is approximately 0.22 USD. The merchants are buying wheat from the market at 0.24 USD per kilo. The farmers' expectation of the basic price was 0.27 or 0.28 USD per kilo. Regarding the issue, the Adana Farmers' Union President, Cumali Dogru, said the government left the farmers to their own destiny. Dogru added that the wheat from Cukurova plain deserved a basic price of not less than 0.25 US dollar per kilo. HOLTZ