SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR JANUARY 12, 2005

UNCLAS ADANA 000013 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU ADANA SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR JANUARY 12, 2005 This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for January 12, ¶2005. 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 CUMHURIYET / SABAH / TERCUMAN / RADIKAL / MILLIYET / HURRIYET / MILLI GAZETE / ZAMAN / YENI SAFAK / EVRENSEL / TURKIYE / OZGUR GUNDEM: Trilateral talks were held between Iraq, Turkey and US yesterday. U.S. Iraq Commander General John Abizaid expressed the U.S. side's desire to continue to use the Incirlik Airbase (in Adana). On the other hand, the Turkish side insisted that the existence of PKK in northern Iraq should be removed with a cooperative effort. CUMHURIYET / OZGUR GUNDEM / ZAMAN: Five ministers, headed by State Minister Guldal Aksit, are launching a new project to help Turkey's street children and to prevent crime. Aksit said, "The project will be initiated in Istanbul, later to include other big cities such as Ankara, Diyarbakir, Adana, Mersin, Bursa, Antalya and Izmir." Aksit said that centers will be established to offer the children medical and psychological help. CUMHURIYET: The safest and the most insecure cities of Turkey are listed in a recent survey called "Big Cities and Security" conducted by Mustafa Sonmez, a researcher and an author. According to the results of the survey, the most insecure cities are Istanbul, Antalya, Gaziantep and Mersin and the safest ones are Trabzon, Sanliurfa, Kahramanmaras and Konya. OZGUR GUNDEM: The private School for Kurdish Language Teaching started its first day of classes in Kiziltepe, Mardin. The students expressed their wishes that Kurdish be taught in the state schools as well. CUMHURIYET / OZGUR GUNDEM: Hacer Kocak, who has been working as a teacher in the state schools for the last fifteen years, is removed from office on the grounds that she has participated in a press announcement in July 2004 to protest the operation "Return to Life", which was conducted in December 2000 in jails of Turkey. OZGUR GUNDEM: A military operation has been started in the Gabar Mountain of Sirnak. The village guards are also providing support to the operation and the troops are being dispatched to the region. ZAMAN / VAKIT / MILLI GAZETE: A veteran, whose lower part of the body was paralyzed due to a mine explosion during a military operation of Turkey against terrorists in northern Iraq, is granting one third of his salary every month to the poor people coming from southeastern region of Turkey to Adana. SABAH: Four families, which were among people who had migrated to northern Iraq because of the ongoing terror after 1990 in the (southeast) region, arrived at Habur border gate to return to their villages in Turkey. These people gained the right to demand compensation for the damages and losses they have incurred because of the terror and anti-terror activities. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS ¶1. MILLI GAZETE / EKSPRES / BOLGE / TURKIYE: Adana is going to establish its infrastructure for the inaugration of natural gas use within the city. The EPDK (Energy Market Regulatory Authority) announced yesterday that Adana is included in the list of cities that will benefit from the natural gas delivery. REID