Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05ADANA62
2005-03-25 11:43:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Consulate Adana
Cable title:  

SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR MARCH 23, 2005

Tags:  PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU ADANA 
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000062 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU ADANA
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR MARCH 23, 2005

This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for March 23,

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

BOLGE / CUMHURIYET / EKSPRES: Adana MPs from AKP (Justice and
Development Party) who held different opinions regarding the
current economic status of Turkey during their visit to Adana
Chambers yesterday, were not pleased to hear Abdullah Caliskan,
one of the MPs, claiming, "The (Turkish) economy can be compared
to a puffed-up balloon: a touch of a needle can collapse it at
any time, the current economic picture in Turkey forebodes a
crisis that may be more severe than the one in 2001." Abdullah
Dogru, Adana Provincial Chairperson, criticized Caliskan for
being a doomsayer and added that Turkish economy is stable and
credible.

ZAMAN / SABAH (GUNEY) / EKSPRES / BOLGE / MILLIYET: Cukurova
Journalists' Association and Adana Branch of the Turkish Union
of Journalists began their march to Ankara to demand changes in
the penal code, which is to take effect on April
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000062

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU ADANA
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR MARCH 23, 2005

This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for March 23,

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

BOLGE / CUMHURIYET / EKSPRES: Adana MPs from AKP (Justice and
Development Party) who held different opinions regarding the
current economic status of Turkey during their visit to Adana
Chambers yesterday, were not pleased to hear Abdullah Caliskan,
one of the MPs, claiming, "The (Turkish) economy can be compared
to a puffed-up balloon: a touch of a needle can collapse it at
any time, the current economic picture in Turkey forebodes a
crisis that may be more severe than the one in 2001." Abdullah
Dogru, Adana Provincial Chairperson, criticized Caliskan for
being a doomsayer and added that Turkish economy is stable and
credible.

ZAMAN / SABAH (GUNEY) / EKSPRES / BOLGE / MILLIYET: Cukurova
Journalists' Association and Adana Branch of the Turkish Union
of Journalists began their march to Ankara to demand changes in
the penal code, which is to take effect on April 1. The
journalists, blaming the penal code for restricting freedom,
stated that the new code not only punishes journalists, but also
local media owners.

MILLIYET / RADIKAL / HURRIYET / YENI SAFAK / SABAH CUMHURIYET /
ZAMAN / EKSPRES / SABAH (GUNEY): Tuncer Bakirhan, DEHAP
(Democratic People's Party) leader condemned the attempt to burn
the Turkish flag in Mersin as a provocation and stated that the
Turkish flag is at the same time the flag of Kurds. The Mersin
Journalists Association denounced the beating of journalists
during Mersin's Newruz celebrations. A crowded group of people
(reportedly 15,000 people) with nationalist tendencies marched
in Mersin. A commotion started due to an unspecified reason and
people began throwing stones at the students in a schoolyard,
receiving (unspecified) retaliatory actions. A journalist was
wounded and the agitated protestors tried to assault some people
who were saved later by police. All the institutions and
organizations covered their buildings with Turkish flags in
Mersin. The police officer, who saved the flag from being
trodden on and burned, was awarded with twenty-four salary

installments. Mersin Security Director said that they have
identified the provokers that attempted to burn the Turkish flag.

CUMHURIYET / OZGUR GUNDEM: Sinan Yerlikaya, Tunceli MP from
CHP (Republican People's Party),brought to the agenda of the
Turkish parliament the issue of whether the resources that were
to be spent for facilitating the return of the people to their
villages in southeastern Turkey were being spent properly or
not. Abdulkadir Aksu, Minister of Interior, is to answer the
question put forth by Yerlikaya.

RADIKAL / OZGUR GUNDEM: Norwegian Ambassador Hans Wilhem Longva
denied CNN Turk channel's allegation that his wife chanted
slogans at the Newruz celebrations. Ambassador (Longva) said
that his wife was in Norway and no other delegation from Norway
participated in the celebrations. Longva visited the Mayor of
Diyarbakir and expressed that he felt honored to see people's
enthusiasm during Newruz in Diyarbakir. Longva praised the
professional treatment of Turkish police to people during Newruz
in Diyarbakir as well.

OZGUR GUNDEM: A 41-year-old village guard was found dead in
Dilektasi village of Yuksekova district in Hakkari. The district
Jandarma Command initiated an investigation into case.

OZGUR GUNDEM: Tension persists in Hazro district of
Diyarbakir, where a gun attack that (allegedly) was sparked by
Dolan family, killed a person and wounded Mayor Hamit Ergin and
his brother. Although people are not allowed to go outside in
the district, it is reported that the female members of Dolan
family allegedly burned down the eleven houses, which belong to
the relatives of Mayor Hamit Ergin. The male members of the
Dolan family reportedly have already been taken into custody.


CUMHURIYET: Cumhuriyet criticized Huseyin Celik's (Minister of
Education) remarks during the opening ceremony of a private
school construction in Adana, which emphasized that the
government's policy backs three hundred percent private schools
openings. According to Cumhuriyet, the government is trying to
further the causes of the Fethullah Gulen school network.

CUMHURIYET: During an interview Die Welt conducted with Selim
Sadak, former DEP (Democracy Party MP),Sadak said that the
reforms in Turkey remained paper reforms and were not seriously
implemented. When asked whether the "Democratic People's
Movement" had originally emanated from the ideas of the jailed
PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, Sadak said that the origins of the
idea did not matter. According to Sadak, "The important thing is
that a mass party should be established to answer the broader
needs of the people. The people that the PKK addresses are the
same people we address."

HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): Jvrg Metger, German Federal Republic's
FRG Deputy Chief of Mission, paid a visit to the Gaziantep
Chamber of Commerce and he obtained information about the
economic development of the city. Metger praised the industrial
and economic development of Gaziantep and said that the FRG is
supporting the full EU membership of Turkey.



REID