SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY,

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 0059

SIPDIS


E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU IZ ADANA
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY,
FEBRUARY 28, 2003


1. This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary
for February 28, 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.


POLITICS, SECURITY, HUMAN RIGHTS
--------------



2. PREPARATION FOR POSSIBLE WAR CONTINUES
(Milli Gazete / Sabah / Dunya / Milliyet)
Patriots, the air defense systems to be used to
strengthen Turkish air defense, arrived by sea to
Iskenderun port from Holland and were dispatched
to their locations yesterday evening. During the
dispatch, 210 Dutch personnel accompanied the
convoy. The patriots are to be located in Batman
and Diyarbakir. 360 Dutch personnel will be
working together with American Soldiers.
Unloading of military equipment from the vessel
"Capello", docked at Iskenderun port since
February 26, is continuing. American soldiers
are constantly patroling within the port, and
maintaining military equipment and vehicles that
are going to be sent to Batman, Silopi or Habur
border within the next few days.
The mayor of Iskenderun, Mete Aslan, stated that
America originally was going to modernize the
Turkish ports, but instead was only using them.



3. DUTY CALL FOR DOCTORS
(Milliyet) Municipalities in 7 provinces in
Southeast Turkey have sent letters to doctors,
notifying them that in case they are called for
duty under a human aid campaign, they will need
to be ready to go within 12 hours of notice. The
letter also mentioned to bring personal items to
last for 7 days.



4. SIX ARRESTED IN YUKSEKOVA
(Evrensel) Six people have been arrested in
Yuksekova province of Hakkari for allegedly being
members of PKK/KADEK. An operation was carried
out by the police following an incident on
February 19, when a Molotov cocktail was thrown
at a transformer station belonging to TEDAS,
Turkish Electric Company.



5. TWO JOURNALISTS ARRESTED
(Evrensel) Hamza Ozkan working for "Azadiya
Welat" newspaper in Van, and Derman Iscimen
working for "Voice of Free Women" were arrested
on charges of aiding PKK/KADEP.
In Diyarbakir, Cevat Dusun working for "Free
People? magazine claimed he was kidnapped by
people who introduced themselves as police and
was thrown off a cliff. In his statement, Dusun
said that he was forced into a car and that
during the ride, he said he was constantly being
accused of throwing a molotov cocktail at a
police car and acting within the framework of
supporting Abdullah Ocalan, leader of PKK/KADEP.
He added that a gun was pointed to his head to
make him admit to the mentioned offenses. Dusun
said he would notify the public prosecutor.




ECONOMIC AND AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENTS
--------------

6. AMERICA RENTS WAREHOUSE IN NUSAYBIN
(Dunya) An American delegation that came to
Southeast Turkey prior to the outbreak of a
possible war rented many places in Nusaybin. The
delegation came to Nusaybin, which is located
near the Syrian border of Mardin, to investigate
the region. They investigated
Cukobirlik;(Cukurova Integrated Textile Plant)
yesterday morning and rented 16 warehouses for
USD 30.000, and 154 shops in the industrial zone.
The delegation later went to a village near Bagok
Mountain to continue investigations; it is
reported that they wanted to rent the village
where missile batteries would be deployed.
HOLTZ