SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR MAY 26, 2006

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000127 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR MAY 26, 2006 DThis is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for May 26, 2006. 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 YENI SAFAK / OZGUR GUNDEM: U.S. Ambassador Ross Wilson, who met with Kurdish politicians and human rights association administrators in Ankara, will come to Diyarbakir with an accompanying delegation to hold meetings with Diyarbakir Mayor Osman Baydemir, Diyarbakir Bar Association Chairperson Sezgin Tanrikulu, and Southeastern Industrialists and Businessmen Association Chairperson Sahismail Bedirhanoglu. Wilson will go to Mardin and Sanliurfa later. Yeni Safak daily pointed out that Wilson's not meeting with DTP representatives in Ankara was interpreted as the U.S. imposing an embargo on the DTP. HURRIYET / CUMHURIYET / RADIKAL: A list of EU criticisms now includes the Semdinli incident, according to the Hurriyet daily. EU-Turkey Association Council will also discuss Semdinli concerns during the meeting that will be held in Luxemburg on June 12 and 14. The judicial process for the Semdinli case should continue within the boundaries of rule of law and judicial criteria, says the EU. SABAH: BTC (Baku-Tibilisi-Ceyhan Pipeline) security team found a valve 11 kilometers away from the Ceyhan district in Adana, which was installed by thieves aiming to steal petroleum from the pipeline. This recent development will delay the ceremonies marking the arrival of petroleum to Ceyhan which was envisaged as May 27. EVRENSEL: The daily reported that The Washington Times, a newspaper in the U.S. reportedly close to fundamentalists in the U.S., reported it as good news that there were hundreds of Christian missionaries in the Arbil province of Iraq. The U.S. evangelists have reportedly been striving to proselytize the Kurds in the Autonomous Kurdish Region in Iraq. EVRENSEL: First general assembly of DTP, which will be held next month, will reportedly determine the structural character of legal Kurdish politics. That assembly will reportedly shed light on which route the DTP will choose to follow next. There are debates going on within party ranks whether to annul the co-chairmanship model and introduce a single national leadership in response to Turkish Supreme Court objections to the co-chairmanship model. Another issue on the agenda of the party is whether to form alliances with other leftist political parties in the next elections or to take part in the elections with independent candidates. OZGUR GUNDEM: DTP Hakkari provincial chairperson said that people in Hakkari have been feeling uneasy about the explosions which have resumed in the province. The chairperson reminded the people that the last explosion took place (see press summary 05/22) in front of the apartment building where Sabahattin Suvagci, former DEHAP (Democratic People's Party) provincial chairperson, was living in Hakkari. OZGUR GUNDEM: DTP Kars provincial party organization will protest the reported attempt to ban the speaking of Kurdish in jails. DTP party members in Kars will speak no other language than Kurdish for one week in Kars. BOLGE / EVRENSEL / EKSPRES / HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): Rector, vice-rectors, faculty members, students, members of Adana Chamber of Doctors, Association for University Faculty Members, Egitim-Sen Adana Branch members participated in a march held on the Cukurova University campus in Adana (see press summary 05/25) to protest the May-17 gun attack on the Council of State in Ankara. RADIKAL: Mayor (from AKP) of Izgin Township in Kahramanmaras's Elbistan district has been detained when historical artifacts dated to Roman-Byzantium and Ottoman times were found in his car. An undocumented Glock-brand gun has also been found in the car. OZGUR GUNDEM: Forty-six Pakistani people, who have entered the country illegally, were caught in Agri's Dogubeyazit district. BOLGE: Gaziantep police found sixty-five kilograms of heroin hidden in secret sections of a truck on a road between Gaziantep and Osmaniye. BOLGE / EKSPRES / ZAMAN: Delegates of parliamentary commission for investigating causes of problems on production ADANA 00000127 002 OF 002 and exports of fresh vegetables and fruits and citrus fruits have arrived in Adana and held a meeting to discuss the problems with Adana farmers. During the meeting, people reportedly fired criticisms at Vahit Kirisci, Adana deputy from AKP, who told the farmers in Adana to remove the citrus fruit trees and cultivate canola. RADIKAL: For the first time in Hakkari, a woman muhtar (headman) candidate will run in the muhtar elections in Hakkari's Merzan quarter. SABAH (GUNEY): The capers cultivated in Marsin's Savur district will be processed in a factory built at the same area and will be marketed in domestic markets and Europe. RADIKAL / EVRENSEL / OZGUR GUNDEMZ: Fuel tank of a car, which was converted to LPG system, exploded when the car crashed into another car in Mus. Three people were killed in the accident and six people have been wounded. OZGUR GUNDEM: Two soldiers have reportedly been wounded during the clash that took place between soldiers and PKK members in Sirnak's Silopi district. Separately, the daily claimed that six village guards in Van's Saray district refused to take part in a military operation and gave their arms back to district jandarma command. SABAH (GUNEY): During the assembly meeting of Union of Turkish Municipalities in Ankara, Ankara Mayor Melih Gokcek and 20 other mayors demanded that Adana Mayor Aytac Durak resign from chairmanship of the union. REID