Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05ADANA76
2005-04-08 13:23:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Consulate Adana
Cable title:  

SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR APRIL 7, 2005

Tags:  PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU ADANA 
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000076

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU ADANA
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR APRIL 7, 2005

This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for April 7, 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 (GUNEY) / EVRENSEL / BOLGE / EKSPRES: Public finance
officers, after going on a two-day strike of withdrawing from
their work, gathered at a rally in front of the two Tax Office
Branches and marched towards the AKP (Justice and Development
Party) Provincial Headquarters in Adana. Public office workers'
unions organized the rally to try to force the withdrawal of the
new Income Administration Draft Law prepared by the Turkish
Parliament. The new law reportedly envisages poor solutions to
problems of income administration.

OZGUR GUNDEM: During a meeting with DEHAP (Democratic
People's Party) Provincial Chairmen, Tuncer Bakirhan, DEHAP
National Chairman, pointed out that a nationalist tide has been
at work Turkey after the Newruz celebrations. According to
Bakirhan, this nationalist tide was not only against the Kurds,
but also against the EU supporters and the liberal circles in
Turkey. Moreover, Bakirhan criticized the Turkish governors for
remaining silent when an official of the state expressed last
week that the noted writer Orhan Pamuk's books should be burnt.


OZGUR GUNDEM: The paper shows a photo of three children in
Koprubasi hamlet of Dicle district in Diyarbakir, crossing the
Dicle River on a very small and simple boat. The lack of a
viable road (note: and presumably, bridge) requires the children
of Koprubasi to cross the river on a feeble boat to reach their
schools. It is reported that the neighboring villagers do not
welcome the idea of a road construction, since any road to be
built would have to cross over their fields.

EVRENSEL / OZGUR GUNDEM: While the "human shields" were
being arrested, military operations in the Cudi and Gabar
Mountains reportedly intensified and the extent of the
operations widened. Among the security forces increasingly
deployed in the region were military personnel allegedly
disguised in "guerilla" clothes. It is also noted that the Bolu
Commando Brigade, which allegedly was responsible for the
disappearance of a detained group of villagers during the

operations conducted in 1993-1994, was reportedly deployed at
Cukurca in Hakkari province.

ZAMAN: Zaman reports that the military operations conducted
in Sirnak and Hakkari (Cudi and Gabar Mountains) covered the
border area with Iraq as well. The warplanes and helicopters
were being used to uncover the terrorists' shelters. Osman
Gunes, Sirnak Governor, said that no information was shared with
him about the details of the operations.

BOLGE / EKSPRES: Another moderate earthquake with a magnitude
of 3.2 on the Richter scale shook Adana yesterday at 8.59 a.m.
The Chamber of Geophysical Engineers Adana Chairperson said that
people felt the shake more strongly because the epicenters of
the recent earthquakes were deep under the ground. However, it
was not known whether these quakes were predecessors of a bigger
one.

EKSPRES / BOLGE: Mitsuhiro Toyama, Cultural Attachi of the
Japanese Embassy, paid a visit to Cahit Kirac, Adana Governor.
Toyama will be visiting Aytac Durak, Adana Mayor, and Chambers
of Commerce and Industry, as well.

EVRENSEL: Yuksekova District Jandarma Command held a meeting
on April 2 with the relatives of the "guerillas" (note: read
PKK),who engage in conflicts with the Turkish military in the
mountains. Sixty people reportedly attended the meeting. A
Jandarma Command official reportedly said that nobody wanted any
more shedding of blood and solicited help from the families to
convince their children to stop fighting. Reportedly, all the
families rejected this request and demanded that a general
amnesty be granted to the people.

EKSPRES / BOLGE: The IP (Labour Party) launched a campaign in
Adana's Inonu Park to call for the end to the U.S. presence in
Incirlik Airbase. Sedat Memili, the Provincial Chairperson of
IP, said that the Turkish Military should exercise full control
of the Incirlik Base and that the U.S. should be prevented from
using Incirlik Airbase in military operations against both the
countries in the (middle eastern) region and Turkey.

HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): Mehmet Aslan, Gaziantep Chamber of
Commerce, praised Hulusi Kilic, Turkey's Consul to Aleppo, as
being one of the "heroes" of the strengthening relationship
between Gaziantep (in Turkey) and Aleppo (in Syria).

YENI SAFAK / RADIKAL / EVRENSEL: The November 21 killing of
12-year-old Ugur and his father Ahmet Kaymaz in Kiziltepe
district of Mardin was (see press summary 11/30) featured in
article in The Independent, a British newspaper, entitled
"Bullet-riddled body of child casts shadow over Turkey's EU
aspirations".

RADIKAL / ZAMAN: It was reportedly discovered that twenty tons
of plane fuel was stolen from the NATO oil pipeline in Osmaniye.
Two people allegedly dug a tunnel to the pipeline from the
basement of the house they rented twenty days ago. When the
authorities noticed that pressure in the pipeline decreased,
they conducted a raid to a house they suspected and discovered a
tanker truck full of plane fuel parked outside.


REID