Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05ANKARA5115
2005-09-01 14:08:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Ankara
Cable title:  

PKK FUNERAL CLASH INDICATES RISING TENSION IN

Tags:  PGOV PREL PHUM TU OSCE PKK 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 005115 

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/01/2015
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM TU OSCE PKK
SUBJECT: PKK FUNERAL CLASH INDICATES RISING TENSION IN
SOUTHEAST

REF: A. ANKARA 4842


B. ANKARA 5109

Classified by Polcouns Janice G. Weiner; reasons 1.4 b and d.

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 005115

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE

E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/01/2015
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM TU OSCE PKK
SUBJECT: PKK FUNERAL CLASH INDICATES RISING TENSION IN
SOUTHEAST

REF: A. ANKARA 4842


B. ANKARA 5109

Classified by Polcouns Janice G. Weiner; reasons 1.4 b and d.


1. (C) Summary: One demonstrator was found dead following an
August 28 clash in Batman between police and a group of PKK
sympathizers trying to claim the bodies of six PKK fighters
killed by Turkish military forces. Relatives of the victim
say he was shot to death by police; the Batman police chief
denies the charge. There have been similar violent incidents
in recent months during funerals for PKK militants, one of
many signs of rising tension in Turkey's southeast. End
Summary.


2. (U) The conflict began August 28 when approximately 1,000
demonstrators gathered outside a hospital in Batman and
attempted to claim the bodies of six PKK militants killed
during an August 25-27 operation by Turkish military forces
near the town of Besiri, Batman Province. Officers of the
Turkish National Police reportedly used water cannons and
tear gas against the protesters, who retaliated by hurling
Molotov cocktails and stones at the officers. Police fired
warning shots in the air, and there were allegations that
some demonstrators had also used firearms. According to
press reports, the demonstrators were affiliated with the
pro-Kurdish Democratic People's Party (DEHAP) and an
organization called Free Citizen Initiative. (Note: We are
not familiar with this group. End Note.)


3. (U) After the clash, 25-year-old Hasan Is was found dead
at the scene. Relatives claimed police shot and killed Is
during the altercation. However, Batman Police Chief Arif
Oksuz issued a statement claiming that Is was killed before
police opened fire, and that his body was placed at the scene
by demonstrators. An attorney for the Is family told
reporters that the autopsy had been manipulated to establish
a false time of death in order to exonerate police. The body
was later taken to the Diyarbakir Forensic Medicine Institute
at the family's request. Blood, urine, and tissue samples
will be sent to Istanbul for testing.


4. (C) Sabih Atac, a Batman attorney and businessman, told us
he blames both sides for provoking the clash -- the police,
who showed up at the demonstration with a military-style
armored vehicle, and the demonstrators, who arrived with
ready-made Molotov cocktails. Atac is highly skeptical of
Oksuz' claim that police did not shoot Is. He noted that the
Batman governor has promised an investigation of the
incident.


5. (U) Members of Free Citizen Initiative on August 29
reportedly carried Is's coffin, draped in the green, red, and
yellow colors of the PKK, while flashing photos of jailed PKK
leader Abdullah Ocalan and chanting pro-PKK slogans.
Mourners reportedly smashed the windows of the Batman branch
office of the ruling AK Party. Batman Mayor Huseyin Kalkan,
a DEHAP member, attended the funeral, as did other mayors
from the region. Diyarbakir Mayor Osman Baydemir, also of
DEHAP, traveled to Batman to offer condolences to Is's family.


6. (U) In recent months there have been several similar
incidents of clashes between demonstrators and security
forces during funeral services for PKK fighters. In June,
one demonstrator was killed and 19 injured in two separate
incidents in Van and Diyarbakir.

--------------
Comment: Rising Tensions in SE
--------------


7. (C) The funeral clashes are one of many signs of rising
PKK-related tensions in the southeast. As long as these
tensions persist, it will be difficult for PM Erdogan to
follow through on his inchoate initiative to address the
Kurdish issue (reftels). It will also be difficult to escape
from the shadow the PKK issue casts over U.S.-Turkey
relations.
MCELDOWNEY