Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05ADANA202
2005-11-14 06:59:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Consulate Adana
Cable title:
SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR NOVEMBER 07, 2005
how-toThis record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000202
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU ADANA
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR NOVEMBER 07, 2005
This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for November 07,
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
SABAH / RADIKAL / ZAMAN / OZGUR GUNDEM: On Saturday night,
Suleyman Bolunmez, an independent deputy from Mardin, quarreled
with Mehmet Tutas, son of the former Mardin mayor, in front of a
cinema in Ankara. During the argument, Tutas opened fire and
wounded Bolunmez. Reportedly the incident was part of ongoing
hostility between Bolunmez's and the Tutas's families.
Allegedly, Bolunmez did not support Tutas's father in last
year's local elections in Mardin. Tutas was arraigned and
arrested yesterday.
RADIKAL: A CHP delegation, which conducted studies at a
girls' residence in Sanliurfa regarding allegations of girls
suffering from violence and abuse (see press summary 10/31 and
11/01),said that the delegation found no indication of sexual
abuse in the residence, but found evidence of beating and bad
management.
RADIKAL: An 11,884,000 Euro project will be launched in
Turkey to eradicate rabies disease. The EU will fund 9,103,000
Euros of the total project.
BOLGE: Nejat Kocabay, Program Coordinator of the ILO
(International Labor Organization),said that a project launched
by joint initiatives of ILO, Ministry of Education, GAP
(Southeastern Anatolia Project) aims to draw children from work
in the agricultural fields to schools where they could be
trained for vocations.
BOLGE / ZAMAN: Recai Kutan, deputy national leader of SP
(Happiness Party),who attended the provincial congress of his
party in Mersin, sharply criticized (Turkish) government's
domestic and foreign policies, and the policies the U.S. and EU
pursued in the Middle East. According to Kutan, after Syria and
Iran, the next target of the U.S. in the Middle East will be
Turkey.
OZGUR GUNDEM: A 3.8 magnitude minor earthquake shook
Bingol's Hizan district yesterday.
HURRIYET (CUKUROVA) / BOLGE / EKSPRES: Two girls staying at a
children's shelter in Adana attempted to commit suicide
allegedly because their families did not come to see them during
the Ramadan holiday. The girls were hospitalized, and are in
healthy condition now.
BOLGE / OZGUR GUNDEM: During the 24th anniversary of YOK's
(Higher Education Board) foundation, ESP (Oppressed People's
Socialist Party) staged protests in Istanbul, Izmir, Hatay and
Adana against YOK, which has long been criticized for being an
anti-democratic establishment since its foundation after the
1980 military coup.
OZGUR GUNDEM: Despite the schools' opening two months ago,
many children, who are working in the cotton fields on Hatay's
Amik plain, are reportedly looking forward to the end of the
cotton harvest to be able to attend school.
OZGUR GUNDEM: Amnesty International prepared a report about
Iranian-origin Kurds' conditions in Turkey following its
meetings with 25 representatives of Kurdish refugees in Van,
members of UNHCR's office in Van, officers from Van's Security
Directorate, members of Van Bar Association and Van Human Rights
Association. According to the report the conditions of
Iranian-origin Kurds were dire and needed to be addressed by
Turkey.
OZGUR GUNDEM: Brother of Edip Solmaz, the former Batman
Mayor, who was killed in 1979, was brutally killed. His dead
body was found yesterday at his house at around 8 p.m. in
Batman.
OZGUR GUNDEM: An explosion that occurred in Hakkari's
Semdinli district killed a 23-year-old shepherd. Reportedly, an
explosive went off when the shepherd grabbed it.
OZGUR GUNDEM: PKK reportedly announced that it killed two
JITEM (Jandarma Intelligence Center) members who were involved
in the killing of Ugur and Ahmet Kaymaz in November 2004 in
Mardin's Kiziltepe district.
SABAH: Mugdat Ozturk, an athlete from Van who won the 2005
European Junior Championship, earned a scholarship from Iowa
State University in the U.S.
HURRIYET / OZGUR GUNDEM: The bomb, which exploded in a car
near the Jandarma Command in Hakkari's Semdinli district on
November 1 (see press summary 11/02),a day which marked the end
of fasting, was minimum 100 kilograms, according to officials in
the Security Directorate. The updated figures about the
casualties are 23 people. Sixty-seven businesses were
demolished as a result of the blast. The tradesmen in Semdinli
are reportedly blaming the PKK for the incident --without
directly referring to the name of the PKK-- because of the
proximity of the spot to the Jandarma Command. However, Ozgur
Gundem daily reported that the authorities, who have not started
damage assessment studies, caused the goods in the shops to
deteriorate due to rain. Explosions in the last two months in
the Yuksekova and Hakkari districts have reportedly caused panic
among people.
HURRIYET: The representative of Iraqi Turkmen Front in Turkey
sent a letter to President Ahmet Necdet Sezer to draw attention
to article 22 in Iraq's new Constitution, which would grant PKK
members the right to take refuge in Iraq. Article 22 reportedly
renders it difficult the process of returning PKK militants
caught in Iraq to the country they flee from. (This summary is
from 11/06 edition.)
REID
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU ADANA
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR NOVEMBER 07, 2005
This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for November 07,
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
SABAH / RADIKAL / ZAMAN / OZGUR GUNDEM: On Saturday night,
Suleyman Bolunmez, an independent deputy from Mardin, quarreled
with Mehmet Tutas, son of the former Mardin mayor, in front of a
cinema in Ankara. During the argument, Tutas opened fire and
wounded Bolunmez. Reportedly the incident was part of ongoing
hostility between Bolunmez's and the Tutas's families.
Allegedly, Bolunmez did not support Tutas's father in last
year's local elections in Mardin. Tutas was arraigned and
arrested yesterday.
RADIKAL: A CHP delegation, which conducted studies at a
girls' residence in Sanliurfa regarding allegations of girls
suffering from violence and abuse (see press summary 10/31 and
11/01),said that the delegation found no indication of sexual
abuse in the residence, but found evidence of beating and bad
management.
RADIKAL: An 11,884,000 Euro project will be launched in
Turkey to eradicate rabies disease. The EU will fund 9,103,000
Euros of the total project.
BOLGE: Nejat Kocabay, Program Coordinator of the ILO
(International Labor Organization),said that a project launched
by joint initiatives of ILO, Ministry of Education, GAP
(Southeastern Anatolia Project) aims to draw children from work
in the agricultural fields to schools where they could be
trained for vocations.
BOLGE / ZAMAN: Recai Kutan, deputy national leader of SP
(Happiness Party),who attended the provincial congress of his
party in Mersin, sharply criticized (Turkish) government's
domestic and foreign policies, and the policies the U.S. and EU
pursued in the Middle East. According to Kutan, after Syria and
Iran, the next target of the U.S. in the Middle East will be
Turkey.
OZGUR GUNDEM: A 3.8 magnitude minor earthquake shook
Bingol's Hizan district yesterday.
HURRIYET (CUKUROVA) / BOLGE / EKSPRES: Two girls staying at a
children's shelter in Adana attempted to commit suicide
allegedly because their families did not come to see them during
the Ramadan holiday. The girls were hospitalized, and are in
healthy condition now.
BOLGE / OZGUR GUNDEM: During the 24th anniversary of YOK's
(Higher Education Board) foundation, ESP (Oppressed People's
Socialist Party) staged protests in Istanbul, Izmir, Hatay and
Adana against YOK, which has long been criticized for being an
anti-democratic establishment since its foundation after the
1980 military coup.
OZGUR GUNDEM: Despite the schools' opening two months ago,
many children, who are working in the cotton fields on Hatay's
Amik plain, are reportedly looking forward to the end of the
cotton harvest to be able to attend school.
OZGUR GUNDEM: Amnesty International prepared a report about
Iranian-origin Kurds' conditions in Turkey following its
meetings with 25 representatives of Kurdish refugees in Van,
members of UNHCR's office in Van, officers from Van's Security
Directorate, members of Van Bar Association and Van Human Rights
Association. According to the report the conditions of
Iranian-origin Kurds were dire and needed to be addressed by
Turkey.
OZGUR GUNDEM: Brother of Edip Solmaz, the former Batman
Mayor, who was killed in 1979, was brutally killed. His dead
body was found yesterday at his house at around 8 p.m. in
Batman.
OZGUR GUNDEM: An explosion that occurred in Hakkari's
Semdinli district killed a 23-year-old shepherd. Reportedly, an
explosive went off when the shepherd grabbed it.
OZGUR GUNDEM: PKK reportedly announced that it killed two
JITEM (Jandarma Intelligence Center) members who were involved
in the killing of Ugur and Ahmet Kaymaz in November 2004 in
Mardin's Kiziltepe district.
SABAH: Mugdat Ozturk, an athlete from Van who won the 2005
European Junior Championship, earned a scholarship from Iowa
State University in the U.S.
HURRIYET / OZGUR GUNDEM: The bomb, which exploded in a car
near the Jandarma Command in Hakkari's Semdinli district on
November 1 (see press summary 11/02),a day which marked the end
of fasting, was minimum 100 kilograms, according to officials in
the Security Directorate. The updated figures about the
casualties are 23 people. Sixty-seven businesses were
demolished as a result of the blast. The tradesmen in Semdinli
are reportedly blaming the PKK for the incident --without
directly referring to the name of the PKK-- because of the
proximity of the spot to the Jandarma Command. However, Ozgur
Gundem daily reported that the authorities, who have not started
damage assessment studies, caused the goods in the shops to
deteriorate due to rain. Explosions in the last two months in
the Yuksekova and Hakkari districts have reportedly caused panic
among people.
HURRIYET: The representative of Iraqi Turkmen Front in Turkey
sent a letter to President Ahmet Necdet Sezer to draw attention
to article 22 in Iraq's new Constitution, which would grant PKK
members the right to take refuge in Iraq. Article 22 reportedly
renders it difficult the process of returning PKK militants
caught in Iraq to the country they flee from. (This summary is
from 11/06 edition.)
REID