SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY,

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 0084 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU IZ ADANA SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY, MARCH 25, 2003 ¶1. This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for March 25, 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. ¶2. Tercuman: After granting overflight rights to U.S. and British aircraft, Turkey restricted civilian flights in East and Southeast Turkey. Private flights other than scheduled THY flights are subjected to special permission. Eight provinces have been entirely closed to air traffic, and THY cancelled its regular flights to Mardin, Sanliurfa and Gaziantep. ¶3. Cumhuriyet: As the Americans keep withdrawing from the bases in Mardin province, they halted their activities at Iskenderun port. The Turkish workers at the port said they had been told the operations were halted temporarily. Military equipment dispatched from Nusaybin started arriving at the Iskenderun port. Because of a monetary dispute between the Delta Shipping Company and truckers, some truckers refused carrying military equipment from Nusaybin to Iskenderun. In response, the shipping company made a deal with other truckers for the deliveries. The US troops are getting ready to leave Kiziltepe (Mardin),too. Fifteen trucks are reportedly waiting in front of the industrial zone there in order to transport equipment. Operations that were being conducted with heavy construction machinery have stopped. ¶4. Cumhuriyet: The Americans are seeking to get back some of the cash they had paid for leasing the shops at Nusaybin's Industrial Zone. The U.S. had paid one month's rent, a total of USD 248,000, for the 154 shops at the industrial zone. Now, the U.S. has been demanding reimbursement, prorating the rent. On the other hand, it is claimed that some shopkeepers who provided some services to the U.S. are trying to collect unpaid debts. ¶5. Bolge: The US military experts visiting the scene of the bomb fallen near Ozveren village of Birecik township in Sanliurfa province were the targets of protests by villagers shouting "No to war". The U.S. military delegation removed the bomb fragment and took it back to Incirlik Air Force Base, and apologized to the villagers for the mistake, assuring them that such mistakes would not happen again. ¶6. Turkiye: The Turkish Armed Forces continue increasing measures against a possible migration across the border. Some 150 soldiers from assorted units were dispatched in a military convoy of 30 vehicles from Mardin to Silopi. ¶7. Turkiye: The head of the Turkish General Staff, Hilmi Ozkok, will inspect Second Army Units on the border region today and tomorrow. It is reported by the TGS that General Ozkok will make a press announcement at the 7th Corps Command Headquarters in Diyarbakir tomorrow. ¶8. Turkiye: Based on a tip, police from the Tarsus (Mersin) Security Directorate arrested six alleged PKK members who were involved in hanging banners, blocking roads, burning tires, and shouting pro-PKK slogans. The detainees, who were brought before the court after their interrogations at the police station, were ordered held in custody. ¶9. Evrensel: 36 students were arrested and brought before the court by jandarma at the Centennial University of Van while trying to hold Newroz festivities in the university campus on March 20. Some 11 of the detainees were ordered held, but were later released. ¶10. Evrensel: DEHAP's Hazro (Diyarbakir) District Chairman, Hamit Ergin, who had hung a DEHAP flag from the window of his house and forgot to take it down, was given six months of imprisonment on the charges of "violating the Election Law". ¶11. Turkiye: The President of the Southeastern Businessmen and Industrialists Association, Bedrettin Karaboga, announced that the businessmen in the Southeast were the ones mostly affected by the war. Karaboga urged that the region should be declared a "Disaster Region," and the merchants' and businessmen's Social Security and Income Tax debts should be postponed. He also claimed many workers had been laid off, business had closed, and production had stopped due to the war. HOLTZ