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