DEMONSTRATORS CLASH WITH POLICE IN SIIRT

UNCLAS ADANA 000030

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PTER PHUM ASEC PREL TU ADANA
SUBJECT: DEMONSTRATORS CLASH WITH POLICE IN SIIRT

REF: ADANA 0018


1. (U) Per reftel (SE Turkey Press Summary 1/25/05),as many
as 1000 demonstrators reportedly clashed with security officials
in Siirt on January 23, 2005. Reportedly throwing stones and
breaking windows, they protested what they claimed was a
decision by government and municipal officials to block the
burial in Siirt township of alleged PKK militants Nergis Ozer
and Sibal Saltik, who allegedly were killed by security forces
in Sirnak last weekend. (Note: In March 2004, the AK Party won
the mayoralty of Siirt, previously held by the pro-Kurdish DEHAP
party. The current AKP Mayor of Siirt originally was elected to
Parliament but vacated his seat to allow current Prime Minister
Erdogan to run in a by-election and formally, therefore, join
the Parliament and be chosen as Prime Minister. End note.)


2. (U) Family members who reportedly had recovered the bodies
in nearby Sirnak province were transporting the deceased to
Siirt for burial, but were stopped from entering the town by as
yet unidentified GoT forces. The two bodies were reportedly
seized by Jandarma and transported to nearby Eruh, where they
were buried against the families' wishes. In the resulting
protests, press reports indicate that up to 10 police were
injured, and that police launched tear gas canisters to disperse
the crowd.


3. (SBU) A human rights activist in Siirt reports that
tensions there remained high through mid-week as detentions
related to the incident continued, but that by January 27 the
mood in the town was considerably calmer. On January 28 a
Diyarbakir-based lawyer told poloff that a Human Rights
Association (HRA) delegation had traveled to Sirnak on January
25 to investigate the circumstances under which the two alleged
militants and three others were killed. Their report also
addresses the families' complaints about government handling of
their family members' burial. (Note: The two alleged PKK
militants, whose burials sparked the demonstrations in Siirt,
were both female and reportedly aged 23 and 16. According to
HRA, among others killed in the same clash/incident were two
individuals aged 21, and one other, aged 13. End note.)


4. (SBU) Comment: Amcon Adana has not been able to determine
definitively some of the key facts in this case; poloff will
travel to Siirt in the coming week to follow up on the case. As
an aside, the incident casts light on continuing grassroots
sympathy for PKK/KG in parts of southeast Turkey, especially in
rural areas, and sheds further light on the participation of
women and youth in reported PKK/KG units. End comment.


5. (U) BAGHDAD MINIMIZE CONSIDERED.


REID