SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY,

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ADANA 0232 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU IZ ADANA SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY, SEPTEMBER 03, 2003 ¶1. This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for September 03, 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. Milliyet: The Interior Ministry alerted all the security directorates against possible attacks by PKK/KADEK organization which refused to benefit from the Reintegration Law. The Interior Ministry's decree stated that PKK/KADEK militants who had congregated in Iran had founded a new party called "Democratic Uprising Party (DUP)." There has been an increase in the number of attacks launched against security units in East and Southeast Turkey since the proclamation of the Reintegration Law. Mustafa Karasu, a member of KADEK's Presidential Committee, has been assigned as the person in charge of thirteen- person Executive Board of the new party. It is speculated that DUP will attack public employees and buildings in retaliation to security forces' operations. ¶3. Milliyet/Zaman/Tercuman/Hurriyet: PKK/KADEK announced that it lifted the so-called truce it had unilaterally declared in 1999. In response to BBC's questions, Mizgin Sen, ONE of the spokesman for the organization, claimed that the Turkish government did not give any affirmative answers to their suggestions for a solution. Sen said the government did not pass a general amnesty and reciprocated with increased operations to their calls. Sen claimed that no improvement was made in Abdullah Ocalan's HEALTH condition. On the other hand, Mustafa Karasu, a Presidential Committee member, announced on Med-TV that the truce would not work unilaterally. He added that the state should undertake steps for resolving the Kurdish issue as well. ¶4. Milliyet: Two female PKK/KADEK members who applied to benefit from the Reintegration Law were surrendered to the Turkish security officials at Esendere Border Gate, Hakkari province, by the Iranian security forces. Another militant surrendered to the security officials at Habur Border Gate in Sirnak province. The interrogation of the three militants is still continuing, the officials said. ¶5. Turkiye: As a result of operations since �0A;September 1, the security forces in Bingol arrested five persons allegedly harboring and providing shelter and logistic support for PKK/KADEK members. The suspects were put in prison by the court. ¶6. Turkiye/Milli Gazete: Based on a tip, the security teams in Sanliurfa seized sixteen kilos of heroin in a car in Sanliurfa. The security forces also found twenty-six pistols and assorted bullets and clips in the suspect's house. Four persons were arrested in connection with drug trafficking and smuggling of weapons. The security officials searching a car which was going to leave for Syria from Cilvegozu border gate, Hatay province, found 234 thousand Captagon tablets in the secret compartment of the car. The market value of the Captagon tablets is estimated to be around USD 2.150 million. ¶7. Turkiye: The security officials seized eleven Kalashnikov weapons and thirty assorted pistols in a minibus in Uludere, Sirnak province. The driver of the minibus was detained in connection with weapons. ¶8. Evrensel: A group of ONE hundred women from various political parties with leftist tendencies formed "The Labor, Peace and Democracy Block" in Adana. They flew balloons for peace under September 1 World Peace Day celebrations. The spokeswoman for the block, Nurten Coskun, said the imperialist system that has convicted the world to violence and war had to be interrogated once more. The group shouted Turkish and Kurdish slogans such as: "Long live peace, Life, Free Life. Murder US, get out of the Middle East. Long Live Peoples' Fraternity. Don't remain silent, cry out that peoples are brothers." ¶9. Evrensel: Based on a tip, jandarma arrested four persons in a cemetery in Cemisgezek, Tunceli province, on August 31 on the grounds that they had written "They died, but they were not defeated" on the grave stones of DHKP-C (Revolutionary Peoples Liberation Party-Front) militants killed in the clashes and buried there. They were imprisoned by the court on the charges of disseminating propaganda of an outlawed organization. ¶10. Evrensel: Around forty thousand people attended "Peace Will Win" Diyarbakir meeting held within the framework of September 1 World Peace Day. DEHAP's Chair, Tuncer Bakirhan, accused AK Party of spoiling the peace atmosphere and leaving the Kurdish issue unsolved. DEHAP's Chairman said AK Party pretended to be democratic but the ban on Kurdish language rights, and changing the Kurdish names of the villages still continued. ¶11. Evrensel: The Human Rights Association's Diyarbakir Chapter condemned the attack at the Security Directorate in Silvan. ONE policeman was killed and two others were wounded during the attack. In a written press announcement, HRA's Vice President for Diyarbakir Chapter Reyhan Yalcidag expressed that they, as HRA, condemned such attacks which aimed to drag people into clashes again, and found such attempts extremely dangerous. ¶12. Evrensel/Ekspres/Bolge: Kamu-Sen, Public Employees Union, members marched from their office to AK Party's Provincial headquarter in Adana yesterday. The union's representative for Adana, Ismail Koncuk, said their action was a warning to the government. ECONOMIC ¶13. Milliyet: The President of Chamber of Commerce of Adana, Saban Bas, said unemployment was the most important problem Turkey faced. He said the actual number of those unemployed was much greater than 2.5 million persons reported by the State Statistics Institute. Bas said the obstacles in front of investment and labor costs should be reduced in order to solve the unemployment problem in Turkey. Bas added that the current political and economic system would not carry Turkey to the 21st century. ¶14. Milliyet/Ekspres/Bolge: A business delegation from Adana's Chamber of Industry (ACI) will attend the International Industry and Trade Fair to be held in Greece between September 6-14. A delegation from ACI visited the Trade Fair in Thessalonika in April 2003. ACI members aim to increase their business connections with Greece and become permanent suppliers in the Greek market. HEALTH ¶15. Milli Gazete: As the HEALTH Ministry failed to send measles shots to Viransehir, Sanliurfa province, 30 measles cases were seen in villages of Viransehir. Kemberli village headman Mubarek Talay said they took their children who were suffering from measles to the hospitals and infirmaries in the area but they received no treatment due to lack of shots. Dr. Ilker Kat from the Provincial HEALTH Directorate of Sanliurfa stated that they did not get any measles shots from the ministry for one month but they received a shipment just recently, and would start inoculations immediately. Dr. Kat said they would start a measles shot campaign similar to "Infant Polio Campaign" in the past. REID