SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR JUNE 01, 2006

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000130

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SIPDIS

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SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR JUNE 01, 2006


This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for June 01, 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

HURRIYET ONLINE: The second hearing of the Semdinli case
started at Van's Third Heavy Penalty Court today at 11.30 am
(see press summary 05/31). The defendants have been brought to
the courtroom under intense security measures and in high
secrecy. Defendants Ali Kaya and Ozcan Ildeniz have been brought
from the Van Military Jail and PKK defector Veysel Ates has been
brought from Bitlis Jail. Mehmet Elkatmis, Turkish Parliament's
Human Rights Commission Chairperson; Mesut Deger, Van deputy
from CHP and deputy chairman of Turkish Parliament's Commission
for Probing Semdinli Case; Mehmet Kartal, Van deputy from CHP;
Chris Bradley, Political Affairs Officer at the British Embassy
in Ankara, came to Van to watch the trial.

CUMHURIYET / ZAMAN / RADIKAL / YENI SAFAK: Two soldiers and
three temporary village guards died in a clash between security
forces and terrorists in the area of the Kato Mountain in
Sirnak. Five village guards were wounded. Security forces
intensified their military operations in the area around the
Gabar and Cudi Mountains. Meanwhile, family of one of two
soldiers, who died in a clash in Sirnak (see press summay
05/31),sang Kurdish dirges during the funeral of their son in
Mersin.

OZGUR GUNDEM: HPG (People's Forces of Defense) (read PKK)
press center claimed that 17 soldiers have died and 10 soldiers
have been wounded in the last five days.

CUMHURIYET / OZGUR GUNDEM / YENI SAFAK: Another lawsuit has
been instituted against Diyarbakir Mayor Osman Baydemir (and
nine municipality employees) by the Diyarbakir Prosecutor's
Office for causing the municipality to incur a financial damage
worth 967,000 YTL during a public tender in which the cheapest
bid was overturned and contract was awarded to another company.

ZAMAN / BOLGE / EKSPRES / SABAH (GUNEY): General Assembly of
Turkish Union of Municipalities, presided over by Adana Mayor
Aytac Durak, was held in Ankara. Durak said that they resolved
disputes and reached an agreement with the Ankara Mayor Melih
Gokcek over the list of candidates that will run for membership
of the sub-committee.

OZGUR GUNDEM: The daily claimed that Ministry Of Interior
refused application of Osman Baydemir to the ministry to take
part in the delegation that will attend European Council's
Regional and Local Administrations Congress (see press summary
05/31). The Norwegian chairman of the congress reportedly said
that they did not find the grounds conveyed by the interior
ministry satisfactory about the regional representative from the
southeastern region. The congress administration will send two
raporteurs (one from Sweden, one from Switzerland) to get
first-hand information about local and regional democracy issues
in Turkey.

OZGUR GUNDEM: DTP (Democratic Society Party)
co-chairpersons, who are currently in northern Iraq (see press
summaries 05/30 and 31),met with Federal Kurdistan Regional
President Massoud Barzani and parliamentary spokesperson Adnan
Mufti. Barzani said the dialogue among the Kurds should be
fostered for resolving of the Kurdish issue.

OZGUR GUNDEM: The daily claims that interesting developments
have taken place concerning the case of Ferhat Tepe, a
journalist of daily Ozgur Gundem newspaper, whose reported
tortured dead body was found nearby a lake in Elazig allegedly
after he was taken onto custody in 1993 and whose case has been
filed with the European Court in 2000. A witness of the case,
who announced in 1993 to the public through a letter that Tepe
was heavily tortured at the anti-terror branch in August 1993,
recently announced that he now regretted being bribed by
Ministry of Interior officials in 2000 to lie to European Court
jurors that he did not witness any torturing back in 1993.

OZGUR GUNDEM: The indictment prepared by the Osmaniye
Security Directorate against people because of alleged illegal
concerns about this year's Newruz celebrations referred to
mythological Newruz figures "Brutal Dehaq" and "Ironsmith Kawa",
which included Kurdish letters, as "Brutal Dehap" and "Ironsmith
Kova" respectively. (Note: DEHAP is a Kurdish political party
which preceded DTP and which ws abolished last year. Kova means
"bucket" in Turkish which does not have any contextual
relationship with the mythological character. End Note.)


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CUMHURIYET / OZGUR GUNDEM: When the muftiluk installed
megaphones for calls for prayer in Kahramanmaras's Nurhak
district, which is mostly populated by Alevis, members of the
Alevi community reacted, and the megaphones were removed.
Currently, there is one mosque and two cemevi (Alevi worhip
centes) in the district, reported the papers.

CUMHURIYET / OZGUR GUNDEM: Syriacs, who left their villages
in Mardin's Midyat district and went abroad years ago, have
recently been returning to their villages.

HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): A school in a village of Mardin's
Kiziltepe district has been renovated by joint efforts of the
Mardin Governor's Office and 7th ARMY Corps Command.

OZGUR GUNDEM: Because of consanguinal and intra-community
marriages taking place in Diyarbakir's Dokmetas village, many
children have been suffering from thalassemia or mental
disorders.

ZAMAN / YENI SAFAK: A 23-year-old nurse of a private
hospital committed suicide in Batman, a city where suicidal
tendencies have been reported as increasing among women in most
of the newspapers nowadays.

SABAH (GUNEY): Hatay police seized 1350 grams of hashish, 418
bottles of smuggled whiskey, and 6370 packets of cigarettes in
Hatay and detained 4 people in connection with that smuggling
and organized crime.

OZGUR GUNDEM: Members of BTS (United Transportation Trade
Union) Adana chapter conducted a sit-in protest for "exiling" of
the Train Station Chief of Mersin to another post.

SABAH (GUNEY): Veli Serin, Mayor (CHP) of Yenice in Mersin,
who has attempted to punish Cag University by not collecting its
garbage when the university administration rejected hiring a
person as a cleaner at the request of Serin, reportedly
attempted this time to collect all copies of Sabah Guney
newspaper from shelves, for reporting on Serin's activities.

BOLGE: The daily reports that 55 people who have been loyal
to and worked for CHP to date in Adana decided to become a
member of MHP (Nationalist Movement Party) in Adana. Yilmaz
Tankut, MHP Adana chairperson, who talked at the ceremony held
for new recruits, criticized the government and said that AKP
has been acquiescent in the face of imperialists who turned the
country into a hell of minorities in order to exploit the
country.

CUMHURIYET: Parents reacted upon learning that a book on
interpretation of the Koran was sold to the students during the
religion class of a high school in Adana on the day that marks
the birth of the Prophet Mohammed. The school administration
and the provincial education directorate was not knowledgeable
about the selling of the book.

CUMHURIYET: A manuscript in the form of a eulogy, dating back to
1884, which was presented to Ottoman Sultan Abdulhamid II by a
clergy of a theological school for sultan's contributions for
the school's construction, has been found during the excavation
studies for the ongoing restoration project (of the Armenian
Christian church)on Van's Akdamar Island.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS

SABAH (GUNEY): A 20-person delegation from Mersin's Chamber
of Commerce and Industry returned from a business trip to
Kazakhstan.


2. SABAH (GUNEY): Chairperson of the Gaziantep Chamber of
Industry said that foreign businessmen, who will come to
Gaziantep to attend June 7-11 International Iraq Fair, will
benefit from exemption from visa fees when entering Turkey for a
period of fifteen days during the fair.
REID