SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY

UNCLAS ADANA 0281 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU IZ ADANA SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY NOVEMBER 14, 2003 ¶1. This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for November 14, 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. HURRIYET: As of today, the US is going to get "Bio-Matrix" data from all worldwide visa applicants. The US Consul at the US Embassy in Ankara, Laura F. Dogu, gave information about the new application. ¶3. CUMHURIYET: Thirteen students from Siirt's Educational Faculty, which is affiliated to Dicle University of Diyarbakir, were expelled from the state-owned dormitory on the grounds of attending the Siirt former mayor's son's wedding ceremony two years ago. The students sought assistance from Siirt's HRA chapter. ¶4. EVRENSEL/OZGUR GUNDEM: Non-governmental organizations in the twenty-three Southeast Turkey provincescalled the government to take some steps for solving the Kurdish issue at a press announcement dubbed "Democratization and Peace Declaration." Approximately seven hundred people, including DEHAP mayors in the region, attended the meeting held at the Diyarbakir municipality's meeting hall. ¶5. EVRENSEL/OZGUR GUNDEM: DEHAP's Diyarbakir Provincial Office is getting ready for a meeting in Diyarbakir on November 16, 2003. DEHAP'S Provincial Chairman for Diyarbakir, Firat Anli, said he was expecting hundreds of thousands of people demanding democracy and freedom to attend the meeting. ¶6. OZGUR GUNDEM: HRA's Bingol Chapter is going to organize a composition contest in Kurdish and Turkish on "peace" issue on the occasion of World Human Rights Day,December 10-17. ¶7. OZGUR GUNDEM: Villagers from Ilicak of Sirnak applied to the Diyarbakir Chapter of the Human Rights Association claiming that the Jandarma from the Regiment Command in Beytussebab, Sirnak, forced them to evacuate their village and live in tents on the grounds that they were helping KADEK. The villagers also claimed that the soldiers were firing weapons, anti-aircraft missiles, and mortars around the village at night. AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT ¶8. HURRIYET (Cukurova Supplement): Corn replaced cotton plantations in the Cukurova Plain, Adana. Because of the high production cost of cotton, farmers in Adana area have started growing corn. The farmers are happy with the yield in machine-harvested corn. The farmers are getting 738 kilos of corn per 1000 square meters. Forty-five percent of Turkey's total corn production was produced from the Cukurova Plain last year. REID