VIOLENCE IN SOUTHEAST CONTINUES, WHILE SEMDINLI SETTLES INTO

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000235 SIPDIS SENSITIVE NOT FOR INTERNET DISRIBUTION E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM TU ADANA PKK SUBJECT: VIOLENCE IN SOUTHEAST CONTINUES, WHILE SEMDINLI SETTLES INTO JUDICAL CHANNELS REF: ADANA 207, ADANA 216, ADANA 222 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: As PKK-related violence continues on a broad scale throughout Turkey's southeast region, developments in the Semdinli case have settled into relatively peaceful investigative and judicial activities (see reftels). Over the past ten days, there have been investigative visits by NGOs and other groups to the region. An attorney who recently visited Semdinli believes that the judiciary in Turkey is neither sufficiently equipped nor strong enough to fully investigate the Semdinli case, and that politicians had to demonstrate greater will in order to resolve the case. He added that Semdinli residents believed that these incidents will never end unless the Kurdish issue is resolved by allowing greater Kurdish cultural expression. End Summary. Regional Violence Continues -------------- ¶2. (SBU) PKK-related violent activities continue apace throughout the region. Since December 5, the press and local police channels reported 23 PKK-related, violent incidents throughout the region, including in Batman, Sirnak, Van, Elazig, Gaziantep, Bingol, Sanliurfa, Tunceli, Erzurum, Diyarbakir and Mardin. Most recently, on December 9, the press reported that four security forces officers died in a PKK attack on a military unit in Sirnak's Guclukonak district. On the same date, the press reported two bombing attempts in Tokat province; one included a bomb placed in front of the Turhal Subgovernor's office in Tokat, while a second bomb was placed in the back entrance to the Tokat Governor's office building. Both bombs failed to detonate. The Tokat governor just recently rotated into his position from the governor's seat in Hakkari. Investigative Groups Visit the Region -------------- ¶3. (SBU) The confluence of the one-month anniversary of the November 9 Semdinli bombing incident and December 10 World Human Rights Day sparked a flurry of recent visits to Semdinli. Newspapers reported that a delegation composed of DTP, SHP (Social Democratic Populist Party) municipal assembly members, KESK (Confederation of Public Employee's Unions) members, Human Rights Association representatives and Chambers of Tradesmen and Artisans visited the area and held a press event to draw attention to their commitment to follow developments on the case. The press further reported that an Istanbul-based "Delegation of Citizens" made a study tour of the region and announced on their return to Istanbul that people in the region wanted to make their voices heard. ¶4. (SBU) Finally, the press reported that CHP (Republican People's Party) National Leader Deniz Baykal visited Semdinli and Yuksekova on December 8, paid calls on local authorities and bombing victims, and told a "1000-person crowd" that "This country belongs to all of us. There is no separation of 'you' and 'us.'" Baykal also told a crowd in Yuksekova that he came to the region to make sure that the incident is exposed. Kurdish community papers indicated that Hakkari residents criticized CHP and Baykal for not coming to the southeast until a month after the incident, discounting his visit as a political gesture rather than an indication of sincere engagement. Attorney: Government Action Must Strengthen the Judiciary -------------- -------------- -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Diyarbakir Bar Association Vice President Tahir Elci, who visited Semdinli December 2-4 with Diyarbakir attorney Sezgin Tanrikulu and a delegation of Kurdish and Turkish intelligentsia from across Turkey, told us that even though the two security forces officers implicated in the bombing had been arrested, an indictment had not yet been prepared. Elci thinks that the judiciary in Turkey is neither sufficiently equipped nor strong enough to fully investigate the Semdinli incident or similar cases, and that politicians had to demonstrate their will in order to resolve such complicated cases. He said that recent announcements by the government regarding the issue were both promising and occasionally conflicting, but that the government had to project a position that would implicitly strengthen the judiciary. ¶6. (SBU) Elci said that the people they interviewed in Semdinli and other places knew what they wanted. They expressed explicitly that they were respectful of the rule of law, and that they therefore gave all evidence to the judiciary; they were fed up with bombings and violence, and wanted peace; and they believe that these incidents will never end unless the Kurdish issue is resolved by allowing education in Kurdish, expression of the Kurdish culture, Kurdish language broadcasting, and a declaration by the GOT of a general amnesty for the PKK. Comment -------------- ¶7. (SBU) While the GOT continues to take steps to place the Semdinli incident into judicial and administrative channels, regional opinions on GOT sincerity in pursuing a full-fledged judicial inquiry remain skeptical. There are no signs that GOT efforts to shed light on the case have eased tensions in the southeast. Civil unrest typical of that found in Adana and Mersin over the past two weeks has ceased; but violence in the southeast continues. The continuing violence may be due partially to milder than normal weather in southeast Turkey, but the main reason is failure by all sides to take steps to resolve underlying Turkish-Kurdish political tensions. REID