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
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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
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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
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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