SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR JULY 11, 2005

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ADANA 000134

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU ADANA
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR JULY 11, 2005

This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for July 11, 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

RADIKAL/BOLGE/ZAMAN: A scientific study on stingrays has been
started by Harran University in Yumurtalik distict of Adana to
monitor and collect data about the level of stingray hunting in
Yumurtalik and Iskenderun bays. (This article is from the 07/09
and 07/10 editions.)

RADIKAL/ZAMAN: A bus driver, who was carrying 22 passengers,
notified Hakkari Jandarma Command upon noticing a mine ambush
that was laid nearby Semdinli-Yukseova crossroad. Jandarma had
safely defused the mine. The Zaman daily, in contrast, notes
that Jandarma that was patrolling the area noticed the mine on
the road. (This article is from the 07/09 editions.)

HURRIYET/BOLGE/SABAH(GUNEY)/EKSPRES: Yalcin Akyol, former
mayor of Seyhan district in Adana, announced his candidacy,
before the Sunday election (June 10),for the new Seyhan
district chairperson of CHP (Republican People's Party) in
Adana. Akyol asked for the support of party members while firing
sharp criticisms at CHP Provincial Chairperson, Serdar Seyhan.
Votes by the party members to nominate CHP's Yuregir district
chairperson were cast on the same day. The results announced on
Monday turned out that the intra party opposition group's
candidate for the Seyhan contest, Yalcin Akyol, was defeated,
and his rival, Resit Karakus, was reelected. In Yuregir, the
sole candidate, Mekin Sahin, was reelected as the chairperson of
the district. (This article is from the 07/09 and 07/11
editions.)

BOLGE/ZAMAN: Abdullah Torun, Adana deputy from AKP,
dismissed the comments made about him, claiming that "Like
(Aytac) Durak, the Adana Mayor, Torun has also became a
supporter of (Abdullah) Dogru," who is the AKP Adana Provincial
Chairperson. Torun said that he has never supported individuals,
but only his party apparatus. (This article is from the 07/09
and 07/10 editions.)

HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): Macit Ozcan, the Mersin Mayor from CHP,
complained that the government was not backing his projects and
that he was being deliberately ignored by the ruling party to
doom his mayoral term in Mersin to failure. (This article is
from the 07/09 edition.)

HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): Sofulu Environmental Initiative
Spokesperson Zeki Durak showed a video of the Sofulu Garbage
Disposal Area in Adana to Osman Pepe, Minister of Environment
and Forests, to draw the Minister's attention to the pressing
problems of the garbage site. Pepe reportedly pledged to
rehabilitate the garbage site afterwards. (This article is from
the 07/09 edition.)

BOLGE: Abdullah Dogru, AKP (Justice and Development Party)
Provincial Chairperson, addressed the audience at AKP's 13th
Provincial Advisory Assembly gathering in Adana. Dogru said that
there was not much time to lose with vain discussions about
whether to hold earlier national elections, especially at a time
when Turkey has achieved stability. According to Dogru, AKP has
managed to have the economy, which was struck by successive
crises, back on track in 2.5 years. (This article is from the
07/10 edition.)

ZAMAN/OZGUR GUNDEM: Forty-seven members of Diyarbakir's DTH
(Democratic Society Movement) Founding Board were announced.
Diyarbakir has the second-most numerous board, after Istanbul.
DTH Founding Board elections in Van will be conducted on July

17. Zaman notes that former DEP (Democracy Party) deputies
drafted the outline of the Democratic Society Party's party
charter, which envisages that the language of education in some
of the regions will be Kurdish (This article is from the 07/09
and 07/10 editions.)

OZGUR GUNDEM: The paper reports that security officials
allegedly set fire to the forests of the Gabar Mountain in
Sirnak on July 6 after completing a military operation.
Reportedly, the officials are neither attempting to extinguish
the fire, which has approached the borders of Akdizgin village,
nor have they let anyone to take action against it. (This
article is from the 07/10 edition.)

HURRIYET/OZGUR GUNDEM/ZAMAN/RADIKAL: Three soldiers in a
military vehicle died when a remote control bomb allegedly laid
on the road by the PKK terrorists exploded in the Semdinli
district of Hakkari. 15 soldiers were wounded as a result of the
blast. Separately, the paper reports that a large-scale military
operation was launched in the rural section of the Kurtalan
district in Siirt and 150 military vehicles have recently been
deployed there. (This article is from the 07/10 editions.)

HURRIYET/OZGUR GUNDEM: The number of people in Bingol who have
contracted anthrax increased to 42. The health officials report
that some people are still not heeding officials' warnings and
continuing to eat contaminated meat. Meanwhile, as the prices of
meat fell sharply, butchers of Bingol delivered 80 kilograms of
meat for free to the people ensuring that the meat was from
healthy sources. (This article is from the 07/10 and 07/11
editions.)
CUMHURIYET/OZGUR GUNDEM: A ferryboat arriving at Van
accidentally hit the wall of the wharf as it was maneuvering to
get closer to land. Thirty-two people were wounded in the
accident. (This article is from the 07/10 editions.)

OZGUR GUNDEM: DEHAP Central Executive Board member Alican
Onlu filed a complaint alleging that the police officers had
conducted a search in his house in Onlu's absence four days ago
in Tunceli. The police reportedly conducted a raid on a house
belonging to other DEHAP members as well and detained DEHAP
Provincial Chairperson Murat Polat and a DEHAP member. (This
article is from the 07/10 edition.)

ZAMAN/HURRIYET: A brucellosis epidemic is currently affecting
the Pinarli hamlet in Adiyaman province. Twenty-one people were
reported as contracting the disease. The hamlet is under
quarantine now and health officials are taking precautions to
treat the affected people and stop the epidemic from spreading.
(This article is from the 07/09 and 07/10 editions.)

EKSPRES/BOLGE: Adana's Chamber of Agricultural Engineers
warned farmers against purchasing fake agricultural pesticides
currently circulating in the market.

BOLGE/HURRIYET (CUKUROVA)/EKSPRES: The cultural section of the
Turkish Embassy in Damascus organized a historical and cultural
trip for thirty-five journalists from Syria, Jordan and Lebanon.
The journalists paid their first visit to Adana. The group will
be visiting Mersin, Nevsehir and Konya provinces as well.

HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): A boulevard in Gaziantep was named after
Syria's city of Aleppo to mark the improving relationships
between Syria and Turkey. The Gaziantep Mayor and Aleppo Mayor
attended the opening ceremony of the boulevard.

HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): Adana Rotary Club President Bulent
Paksoy said that the construction of the ARTEM (Community
Education and Training Center) will be completed in October and
will begin to operate to alleviate the social, economic and
cultural problems in Adana.

OZGUR GUNDEM: Feleknas Uca, member of the European
Parliament, is currently attending the 4th Culture, Arts and
Tourism Festival in the Dogubeyazit district in Van. Uca noted
here that the EU had started to discuss issues on how to resolve
the Kurdish issue. Uca further said that the intensifying
conflict in the southeastern Turkey was starting to concern
European parliamentarians, and members of the Parliament would
be conducting studies in the region in the coming days to
generate a report.

YENI SAFAK/RADIKAL/OZGUR GUNDEM/EVRENSEL: A bomb and gun attack
by alleged terrorists on a police position in front of the
subgovernor's office at midnight wounded 3 police officers in
the Hozat district of Tunceli. In a separate incident in Sirnak,
a truck hit an explosive on the road and 7 people were wounded
as a result of that.

OZGUR GUNDEM: A total of 40,000 signatures have been
collected during a campaign that was organized by the Mardin
DEHAP provincial party organization to voice the people's demand
for education in their native language.

CUMHURIYET/OZGUR GUNDEM/EVRENSEL/YENI SAFAK: An explosion
caused by an unknown reason occurred at the house of a village
guard in a hamlet of Hizan district in the Bitlis province.
(Note: Only Cumhuriyet and Yeni Safak papers in contrast note
that the explosion was caused by a bottled gas used
conventionally for cooking in Turkey. End Note.) Fifteen members
of the family were wounded and nine of them were in serious
condition. Jandarma started to investigate the matter.

YENI SAFAK: Ambassadors from various European Union countries,
such as Estonia and Belgium, as well as officers of the British
and Austrian Embassies, attended the 7th Tatvan Crater Lake
festival and joined in the local folkloric dances of the local
people.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS:


1. ZAMAN: A 60-person group of Syrian businessmen and
senior members of Syrian chambers of commerce came to Iskenderun
district of Hatay and visited "Istex 2005 Industry and Commerce
Fair." The group showed interest in the industrial products
section. The group also visited the stand of Aleppo's Chamber of
Commerce and Industry in the fair. (This article is from the
07/09 edition.)





REID