Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
04ADANA97
2004-07-20 11:30:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Consulate Adana
Cable title:
SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY JULY 20, 2004
how-toThis record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS ADANA 000097
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM IZ TU ADANA
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY JULY 20, 2004
This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for July 20, 2004.
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
Sabah: As a result of ensuing clashes between
PKK-Kongra Gel militants and GOT Forces in the rural Anadare
region of Tatvan, Bitlis province, two militants were killed.
The security forces launched a large scale operation in the area.
Sabah: Mus First Criminal Court pressed charges
against the defunct HADEP National Chairman Murat Bozlak for
playing a song by the famous Kurdish singer Sivan Perver during
his election activities in Mus in October 2001. The court ruled
that no other language, except Turkish, could be used in the
political parties' meetings, and therefore sentenced Bozlak to
six months of imprisonment. Bozlak appealed to the Supreme Court.
Yeni Safak: A research conducted by the Turkish
General Staff revealed that 4,821 of the 90,000 village guards,
who were employed since 1985 for combating the PKK in East and
Southeastern Turkey, have been involved in various crimes and
have been sentenced by courts. The report expressed that a
village guard received 325,350,000.- Turkish Liras
(Approximately $220)per month as of January 1, 2004, and the
total paid to 60,000 village guards on the payroll amounted to
$13 million a month. The report said 87,296 village guards were
employed nationwide, and 28,754 were employed on voluntary
basis. Currently, village guards are employed in 60 provinces.
Village guards are mostly employed in the following towns:
Hakkari (8,837),Diyarbakir (8,343),Van (8,340),Sirnak (7,870).
The most frequent types of crimes the village guards have been
involved in are "assisting and harboring the separatist
organization, "terrorist incidents, smuggling, and crimes
committed against individuals and property."
Zaman, Bolge, Ulkede Ozgur Gundem: It is reported that
the runways at Incirlik Air Base will undergo a ten-day
maintenance program.
Radikal: The Health Ministry built a health center in
Esendere village of Yuksekova, Hakkari province, thirty years
ago, appointing a nurse and a driver for the non-existing
ambulance. No doctors have been appointed to the town whose
population is roughly seven thousand. The patients from the town
go to Iran for medical treatment. The children in the area have
not received the required inoculations for the past three years.
Bolge: It is reported that, Gevri Arslan (70),the
headman of Catalcam village in Dargecit, Mardin province, was
killed by unidentified persons for unknown reasons.
Vakit: Based on a tip, the police from Anti-Organized
Crimes and Smuggling Department of Yuksekova Security
Directorate, Hakkari province, arrested five Iranians who had
illegally entered into Turkey with 16.5 kilos of opium and 3.210
kilos of morphine. The Iranians are being detained in the
Hakkari prison following their arraignment.
Zaman: The Tunceli Governorate announced that PKK-
Kongra Gel militants attacking the Yenibas Jandarma Station in
Hozat, Tunceli province, wounded a soldier. A large scale
operation has been launched in the region to apprehend the
militants.
Ulkede Ozgur Gundem: The Geology Engineer Tahir
Ongor claimed that a Canadian firm was producing gold in an 82
hectare area in Tunceli using cyanide. The President of Tunceli
Bar Association Attorney Huseyin Aygun said the Bar Association
would develop a civil disobedience activity aiming environmental
protection against the dams under construction in the region.
Ulkede Ozgur Gundem: Diyarbakir police arrested
38 demonstrators protesting the isolation detainment of Abdullah
Ocalan, protesting inability to meet with his attorneys. Many
demonstrators were beaten and dragged on the ground by police.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS
Hurriyet, Sabah (Guney Supplement),Turkiye: In a
meeting organized by CUGIAD, The Cukurova Young Businessmen
Association, discussed the future of the town with lawmakers,
businessmen, and NGOs from Adana. The CUGIAD President Tarkan
Kulak said Adana should be included in the government's
Incentive Program, certain crops should be subsidized, and
KOBIs, Small and Medium Sized Exploitations, should be granted
long term loans with low interest rates.
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM IZ TU ADANA
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY JULY 20, 2004
This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for July 20, 2004.
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
Sabah: As a result of ensuing clashes between
PKK-Kongra Gel militants and GOT Forces in the rural Anadare
region of Tatvan, Bitlis province, two militants were killed.
The security forces launched a large scale operation in the area.
Sabah: Mus First Criminal Court pressed charges
against the defunct HADEP National Chairman Murat Bozlak for
playing a song by the famous Kurdish singer Sivan Perver during
his election activities in Mus in October 2001. The court ruled
that no other language, except Turkish, could be used in the
political parties' meetings, and therefore sentenced Bozlak to
six months of imprisonment. Bozlak appealed to the Supreme Court.
Yeni Safak: A research conducted by the Turkish
General Staff revealed that 4,821 of the 90,000 village guards,
who were employed since 1985 for combating the PKK in East and
Southeastern Turkey, have been involved in various crimes and
have been sentenced by courts. The report expressed that a
village guard received 325,350,000.- Turkish Liras
(Approximately $220)per month as of January 1, 2004, and the
total paid to 60,000 village guards on the payroll amounted to
$13 million a month. The report said 87,296 village guards were
employed nationwide, and 28,754 were employed on voluntary
basis. Currently, village guards are employed in 60 provinces.
Village guards are mostly employed in the following towns:
Hakkari (8,837),Diyarbakir (8,343),Van (8,340),Sirnak (7,870).
The most frequent types of crimes the village guards have been
involved in are "assisting and harboring the separatist
organization, "terrorist incidents, smuggling, and crimes
committed against individuals and property."
Zaman, Bolge, Ulkede Ozgur Gundem: It is reported that
the runways at Incirlik Air Base will undergo a ten-day
maintenance program.
Radikal: The Health Ministry built a health center in
Esendere village of Yuksekova, Hakkari province, thirty years
ago, appointing a nurse and a driver for the non-existing
ambulance. No doctors have been appointed to the town whose
population is roughly seven thousand. The patients from the town
go to Iran for medical treatment. The children in the area have
not received the required inoculations for the past three years.
Bolge: It is reported that, Gevri Arslan (70),the
headman of Catalcam village in Dargecit, Mardin province, was
killed by unidentified persons for unknown reasons.
Vakit: Based on a tip, the police from Anti-Organized
Crimes and Smuggling Department of Yuksekova Security
Directorate, Hakkari province, arrested five Iranians who had
illegally entered into Turkey with 16.5 kilos of opium and 3.210
kilos of morphine. The Iranians are being detained in the
Hakkari prison following their arraignment.
Zaman: The Tunceli Governorate announced that PKK-
Kongra Gel militants attacking the Yenibas Jandarma Station in
Hozat, Tunceli province, wounded a soldier. A large scale
operation has been launched in the region to apprehend the
militants.
Ulkede Ozgur Gundem: The Geology Engineer Tahir
Ongor claimed that a Canadian firm was producing gold in an 82
hectare area in Tunceli using cyanide. The President of Tunceli
Bar Association Attorney Huseyin Aygun said the Bar Association
would develop a civil disobedience activity aiming environmental
protection against the dams under construction in the region.
Ulkede Ozgur Gundem: Diyarbakir police arrested
38 demonstrators protesting the isolation detainment of Abdullah
Ocalan, protesting inability to meet with his attorneys. Many
demonstrators were beaten and dragged on the ground by police.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS
Hurriyet, Sabah (Guney Supplement),Turkiye: In a
meeting organized by CUGIAD, The Cukurova Young Businessmen
Association, discussed the future of the town with lawmakers,
businessmen, and NGOs from Adana. The CUGIAD President Tarkan
Kulak said Adana should be included in the government's
Incentive Program, certain crops should be subsidized, and
KOBIs, Small and Medium Sized Exploitations, should be granted
long term loans with low interest rates.