SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 0276 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU IZ ADANA SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY OCTOBER 24, 2003 ¶1. This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for October 24, 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/YENI SAFAK/MILLI GAZETE/TURKIYE: PKK/KADEK has prepared a three-point "Road Map" for solving the Kurdish issue which consists of the following: 1) a bilateral cease-fire, 2) a constitutional guarantee for the Kurdish identity and 3) a general amnesty which would allow Abdullah Ocalan and other high ranking KADEK members to join active political life. KADEK is planning to stage demonstrations. The TNP General Directorate warned all the provincial security directorates against likely retaliation against security forces during such actions. ¶3. CUMHURIYET: The Yenisehir District Municipality of Diyarbakir applied to the government employment office to employ Kurdish-speaking psychologists in its recently opened Education and Psychological Consulting Center (EPCC). Mayor Remzi Azizoglu said Kurdish women suffering from depression due to their eviction from their villages could be treated best by Kurdish-speaking psychologists. ¶4. SABAH (Guney Supplement): Adana AK Party will set up a tent in which they will serve free food to 1,500 people during the Ramadan. Traditional Ramadan festivities will also be staged. ZAMAN and BOLGE newspapers report that the municipalities of Adana and Seyhan district will also feed around 90,000 needy people during the month of Ramadan. ¶5. TURKIYE: Two siblings playing with a grenade they had found in an unspecified place were wounded in Bingol yesterday. The police started an investigation. ¶6. OZGUR GUNDEM: There were sizeable pro-Ocalan demonstrations, including display of KADEK's flags and Abdullah Ocalan's photos in Cizre, Antalya, Izmir, Van, Gaziantep, Siirt, and Hakkari provinces. ¶7. OZGUR ULKE: It is alleged that the security forces have been confiscating food items during the road checks which have intensified in Lice, Diyarbakir. It is also reported that more JITEM (Jandarma Intelligence Center) members dressed in guerrilla uniforms are seen in the villages. ¶8. OZGUR GUNDEM: Deputy Mayor of Siirt, Abdullah Gok, and DEHAP member Burhan Askara were arrested on October 20 for an alleged arson attack at a market. DEHAP announced the charges. ¶9. TURKIYE: Batman's former DEHAP mayor, Abdullah Akin, was detained in Ankara and put in jail for violating article 312/1 of the Turkish Criminal Law in a speech he had delivered in Dogubeyazit on September 1, 2003. REID