SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY,

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 0152

SIPDIS


E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU IZ ADANA
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY,
JUNE 05, 2003



1. This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary
for June 05, 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: A political party, under the name
of "Democratic Republic Party," will be founded
to substitute DEHAP. The chief prosecutor of the
Supreme Court had sued DEHAP and demanded its
permanent closure some time ago. The case is
still pending. Taking into account the likely
closure of DEHAP prior to local elections in
2004, former HADEP members had made preparations
for founding a new party under Ahmet Turan
Demir's leadership. Demir was one of HADEP's
former chairs. The petition for founding the new
party will be submitted to the Interior Ministry
tomorrow. Demir said the new party would follow a
democratic socialist line.



3. Sabah: A Republican Peoples Party (CHP)
parliamentarian from Diyarbakir, Muhsin Kocyigit,
in a resolution to the Grand National Assembly,
asked the Interior Minister if beating and
placing human excrement on the faces of two
students in Hani (Diyarbakir) was true or not. It
is alleged that the police detained, beat, and
placed human excrement on the faces of two
students for making insinuating remarks in
Kurdish to their female teacher at Children's Day
celebrations on April 23.



4. Evrensel/Milliyet: The Diyarbakir governorate
investigating the (above) case decided that there
was no solid evidence that the policemen in Hani
had beaten, toured and placed excrement on the
faces of students. The governorate dropped
bringing the policemen to trial, and denied all
the students' allegations. Based upon the
governorate's decision, the office of the Chief
Public Prosecutor in Hani also announced that
there was no evidence that required bringing
public charges against the policemen. At a court
hearing in Hani, the teacher, who had sued the
students, withdrew her complaint. The court
adjourned the case to an unspecified date to
listen to the students' account of the event. The
students attorney, Zulfu Dundar, sued the
policemen, Hasan Sezgin and Ergun Sahin.



5. Evrensel: At a press meeting in Human Rights
Association's Chapter in Sanliurfa, the Urfa
Democracy Platform, announced that the "repent
law" proposed for the Kurdish issue; the
personnel law damaging reconciliation at job
sites; the law opening the path for depriving
laborers of unions; the local administration law;
and the isolation applied in F-type prisons; had
increased tension in society. The spokeswoman for
the platform, Gulay Koca, proposed declaring a
general amnesty for installing peace and order in
lieu of the repent law under consideration.
DEHAP's provincial office in Diyarbakir launched
a three-day signature campaign demanding a
general amnesty. DEHAP's Provincial Chairman,
Firat Anli, asked all segments of society to be
sensitive about resolving the Kurdish issue, and
to participate in the signature campaign.

6. Hurriyet/Milliyet: Sergeant Matthias Arnt,
24, was stabbed to death at Incirlik AFB on May

27. It is suspected that his wife, Latasha Arnt,
had killed the sergeant. Latasha was taken to
the US for trial in California. The Military
Police are taking care of the crime. In the
meantime, FBI detectives began an investigation.
Sergeant Arnt's body was taken to Germany for an
autopsy.



7. Turkiye: The Provincial National Education
Director of Hakkari, Durmus Ozdemir, said he
needed 706 teachers in the province in order to
fill in the gap. The national Education Ministry
announced it would hire twenty thousand teachers
nationwide. Ozdemir said around four hundred of
one thousand four hundred sixty teachers
currently employed in Hakkari would be
transferred elsewhere. He added that he needed at
least 650 or 700 teachers in assorted branches,
and 150 or 200 classroom teachers.


ECONOMIC AND AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENTS



8. Dunya: The General Director of the Iron and
Steel Plant in Iskenderun (Isdemir),Atamer
Giyici, said they took the first step for
modernization and transformation at the plant.
Giyici said they would invest USD 300 million for
bringing fine casting technology, and formally
invited companies interested in the projects
through the Financial Times and the Official
Gazette on May 16 to bid, and would receive bids
until the first week of June. Giyici said USD 700
million was required in order to eliminate the
disorder in long and flat iron production in
Turkey. The plant would double production after
the investment, and added that Isdemir had made a
profit of USD 2 million during the first quarter
of 2003, and aimed to increase its annual
capacity to 2.1 million tons.
HOLTZ