Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
03ADANA149
2003-06-02 14:29:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Consulate Adana
Cable title:  

SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY,

Tags:  PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU IZ ADANA 
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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


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