Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
03ADANA92
2003-04-01 11:57:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Consulate Adana
Cable title:  

SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY,

Tags:  PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU IZ ADANA 
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 0092 

SIPDIS


E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU IZ ADANA
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY,
APRIL 1, 2003


UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 0092

SIPDIS


E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU IZ ADANA
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY,
APRIL 1, 2003



1. This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary
for April 1, 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. Radikal/Cumhuriyet: In northern Iraq, where
1,200 US soldiers are already deployed, intensive
bombing took place around oil centers such as
Mosul and Kirkuk, and the Iraqi forces withdrew
further south. KDP and PUK affiliated peshmergas
also intensified their attacks against Iraqi
forces stationed west of the Zab River. Iraqi
forces have been withdrawing to defend the
cities. KDP's spokesman, Hasyar Zebari, announced
that they were expecting thousands of US soldiers
in northern Iraq in a very short time. The US
envoy to Iraq, Zalmay Halilzad, told the New York
Times that the US had not yet reached an
agreement with Turkey about the establishment of
a "Coordination Cell" to be set up in Silopi. He
added that there was a real lack of confidence
between Turks and Kurds.



3. Milliyet/Sabah: Turkey and the US agreed on
Turkey's not penetrating into northern Iraq in
the absence of solid reasons. The US guaranteed
that the Kurds in the region under would act
under its control and not enter Kirkuk. Zalmay
Halilzad said Turkey's penetration into northern
Iraq should not be an objective for Turkey and
the US would do its best to allay Turkey's
concerns.



4. Bolge/Tercuman: Six young men protesting the
war on Iraq chained themselves to the US
Embassy's fence in Ankara yesterday morning. The
protesters unfurled a banner reading "End the US
Murders in the Middle East." Drivers on Ataturk
Boulevard who honked as they drove by supported
their action. Police cut the chains and the
demonstrators were taken to the police station
for interrogation.



5. Cumhuriyet: After US experts from Incirlik AB
went to a village of Sanliurfa to fetch the
fragments of a Tomahawk missile were pelted
stones and eggs, US military officials asked
Turkish officials to provide security for the
shipment of US military equipment and vehicles
from Kiziltepe to Iskenderun. In the meantime,
it is reported that the US extended its lease
concerning Iskenderun Port until April 18.



6. Radikal/Hurriyet: On the grounds of having
publicly said the phrase "KADEK Chairman, Mr.
Abdullah Ocalan" at DEHAP's convention in Tarsus,
DEHAP's Tarsus District Chairman, Alattin Bilgi,
was interrogated by police and ordered held by
the court on charges of "instigation aiming at
disintegration of the indivisible Turkish
Republic." Bilgi will be tried at the State
Security Court of Adana.



7. Evrensel: A case alleging 175 persons damaged
a police APC during the 2002 Newroz festivities
in Mersin has come to court. Some 46 defendants
and their lawyers attended the hearing, during
which they denied the allegations. The lawyers
asked for submission of experts' report. The
hearing was adjourned to an unspecified date to
complete the statements of others involved in the
incident.



8. Evrensel: Four of the eight people detained
during jandarma raids at houses in Kurtalan
(Siirt) were ordered held on the charges of
"assisting and harboring KADEK." The detainees
were put in Siirt prison.



9. Evrensel: In Karakocan of Elazig, seven
persons accused of playing Kurdish tunes at the
"Solidarity Evening with the People of Karakocan"
were sentenced to five months of imprisonment for
violating two articles of the Political Parties
Law. The sentence was converted to a fine of USD
650 per person.



10. Evrensel: The trial of 72 security officials
involved in the 1996 Diyarbakir F-Type Prison
incident -- which resulted in the death of 10
inmates and injury to 23 others -- started in
Diyarbakir. None of the security officials
involved in the case attended; only attorneys and
families of the victims were present. The court
said that the duty rosters obtained from the
Provincial Jandarma Command and from the Security
Directorate of the persons on duty when the
incident broke out differed, and asked for a new
duty roster and adjourned the hearing to a later
date.
HOLTZ