SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR AUGUST 22, 2005

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000154 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU ADANA SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR AUGUST 22, 2005 This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for August 22, ¶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 / BOLGE / OZGUR GUNDEM: A group of women protestors, calling themselves Working Women's Association staged a demonstration in Adana and demanded that the U.S. withdraw from the Middle East and the Incirlik Airbase. The group demanded that a women's shelter house be built instead of the airbase. BOLGE: A group of people calling themselves Peoples and Liberties Front staged a demonstration in Adana, and demanded that Incirlik Airbase be shut down. The group announced that people would be marching to Adana from various cities to gather in front of the Airbase on August 28 for a protest action. (This article is from 08/21 edition.) CUMHURIYET / BOLGE / EKSPRES: Sedat Memili, provincial chairperson of IP (Labor Party) in Adana, made a press statement at the party building declaring, "The U.S. has been occupying our country and the government has been serving to that end." BOLGE: A quarantine, which was imposed on a highland area in Mersin's Bozyazi distict, where a woman and her goats suddenly died, was removed when no trace of anthrax disease was found. (This article is from 08/21 and 08/22 editions.) HURRIYET / SCUMHURIYET: Deniz Baykal, leader of CHP (Republican People's Party),criticized PM Erdogan for creating vulnerabilities in (Turkey's) struggle against terrorism and for politicizing the ethnicity issue (in Turkey) through the statements he made about the Kurdish issue (in Diyarbakir). Baykal labeled the PKK's declaration of ceasefire as a move directly taking orders from Abdullah Ocalan.) CUMHURIYET: MHP (Nationalist Movement Party) Leader Devlet Bahceli, in his address to party members in Eskisehir, sharply criticized PM Erdogan for statements Erdogan made about the Kurdish issue. For Bahceli, Erdogan's statements endangered the unitary state structure of Turkey. OZGUR GUNDEM: Veterinaries, complaining about insufficient vaccination practices, said that the figures provided by the Ministry of Agriculture on the number of animal diseases in Turkey were misleading. Contradicting data from the Ministry, animal diseases such as anthrax, brucellosis, etc., have been reportedly on the increase in the first half of 2005 compared to the previous years. HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): Preparations are under way in the Hatay province for a 25-30 September event named "Meeting of Civilizations." The governor of Hatay said that the Pope Benedictus XVI and many other religious figures were invited to attend the event. OZGUR GUNDEM: Rains causing flooding in many hamlets of Van's Baskale district, damaged crops and killed many farm animals. CUMHURIYET / OZGUR GUNDEM / HURRIYET: DTH (Democratic Society Movement),which reportedly decided to form a political party in September, embarked upon efforts to end an ongoing blood feud among members of four families in Kars's Digor and Susuz districts. Separately, the paper reported that DTH was considering unification with a political figure, Celal Dogan, former mayor of Gaziantep province, and his accompanying delegation. OZGUR GUNDEM: Terrorist organization PKK/Kongra-Gel announced an unconditional ceasefire for a period of one month (August 20-September 20). (This article is from 08/20 edition.) OZGUR GUNDEM / CUMHURIYET / HURRIYET: On the first day of the terrorist organization PKK's cessation of terrorist activities for one month, the governor of Tunceli announced that two PKK members were killed during a military operation in Tunceli's Pulumur district. Hurriyet reported that the terrorists opened fire when the security official's called them to surrender. OZGUR GUNDEM: A 100-person group gathered in front of the Gaziantep's Court of Justice to give support to PKK's decision to cease its activities for one month. The group, which chanted slogans in favor of the terrorist leader Abdullah Ocalan, called on the government to end the military operations. OZGUR GUNDEM: Murat Karayalcin, Chairperson of SHP (Social Democratic People's Party),said that [the government's] recognition of the Kurdish reality would, by itself, not be satisfactory. According to Karayalcin, the Kurds on their part, should acknowledge the unitary state structure of Turkey, as well. OZGUR GUNDEM: Villagers in Van's Ozalp district protested the soldiers' alleged killing of a 17-year-old boy, Ersin Ozince, in a village of Ozalp district by leaving their identity cards at the spot where the boy's body had lain. (see press summary 08/18). (This article is from 08/20 edition.) OZGUR GUNDEM: A 13-year-old child, grazing his flock in Sirnak's Guclukonak district, died when the explosive he found on the ground exploded. It was claimed that the explosive was military ammunition. (This article is from 08/20 edition.) HURRIYET: National Security Directorate warned all the security offices in Turkey against the threat of a suicide bomber; a 22-year-old woman called Fatma Gocer. The Directorate distributed the human bomb's photographs to the security offices in all of Turkey's provinces. SABAH / HURRIYET / CUMHURIYET: PM Erdogan said that the Kurdish issue and the PKK terrorism were two separate matters that should not be mixed with each other. SABAH / HURRIYET / CUMHURIYET: Selim Sadak, member of the DHT Coordination Council, who attended the ground-breaking ceremony for a facility in Mardin's Nusaybin district, congratulated PM Erdogan for acknowledging the Kurdish issue. Sadak further said, "Abdullah Ocalan is a sensitive issue for the Kurdish people...Ocalan should be regarded as a counterpart in the Kurdish issue and his isolation (in prison) should be ended." ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS ¶1. BOLGE: The daily reports that the purpose of U.S. Embassy Charge d'Affaires Nancy McEldowney's visit last week to Turkey's Agricultural Ministry was to pressure Turkey on its recent decision to restrict rice imports from the U.S. in order to prevent material injury to Turkish rice producers. The U.S. sees the restriction as a violation of the World Trade Organization's codes. (This article is from 08/20 edition.) ¶2. BOLGE / HURRIYET (CUKUROVA) / SABAH (GUNEY) / EKSPRES: The government has reportedly become a target of criticism at "TOBB's (Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges) Mediterranean Regional Meeting" (see press summary 08/18) in Adana. Rifat Hisarciklioglu, chairperson of TOBB, said that if an economic crisis struck the (Turkish) economy, everyone would suffer from its aftereffects. Hisarciklioglu further said, "firstly the agricultural issues and secondly the closing down of some of the industrial premises were the most pressing problems of the Mediterranean region." Umit Ozgumus, chairperson of Adana Chamber of Industry, reportdly depicted gloomy economic prospects for Adana's and Turkey's economies. (This article is from 08/20 editons.) ¶3. SABAH (GUNEY): Edvar Mum, general director of the Mersin Free Trade Zone's (FTZ) operating company, said that, compared to the previous year, the trade volume of the FTZ has decreased by 30 percent in the first seven months of 2005 following the termination of tax exemption practice for the companies in the FTZ. ¶4. SABAH (GUNEY): Ali Kavak, chairperson of the Mediterranean Vegetable and Fruit Exporters' Union, said that, because of negligence on the part of some farmers who did not spray their products in a timely manner, exporters were now hesitant to buy citrus fruit products from the farmers due to a possible Mediterranean fruit fly infestation. This fruit pest caused a crisis at the end of May between Russia and Turkey, and Russia had decided to stop buying fruit from Turkey then. (This article is from 08/21 editon.) ¶5. OZGUR GUNDEM: The paper reported that applications from Eastern Turkey's municipalities to benefit from EU funds under the "Eastern Anatolia Development Project" were rejected by the project coordinating office in Van on the grounds that these municipalities were indebted. MANSON