SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR JUNE 19, 2006

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SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR JUNE 19, 2006

This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for June 19, 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

EVRENSEL: The fourth hearing of the Semdinli case will be held
today at Van's Third Heavy Penalty Court (see press summary
06/14). One of the defendants, Non-commissioned officer Ali
Kaya, will not be able to attend the hearing due to a reported
pulmonary disease, for which he is being treated in Ankara. Kaya
did not attend the previous hearing as well. This recent
development is an omen for prolonging the case and delaying the
verdict, according to some circles.

HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): The efforts put forth by the rector of
the Cukurova University in Adana to found an engineering faculty
in Osmaniye have reportedly produced results. Council of
Ministers have recently approved the decision and submitted it
for the approval of President Ahmet Necdet Sezer.

OZGUR GUNDEM: Pro-Islamist newspaper Vakit has reportedly
been leading a campaign encouraging hostility among people
against Cukurova University and its rector (see press summary
06/14) by claiming that posters of terrorist leader Abdullah
Ocalan were hung at a stand at the university during the Spring
Festival held in May.

OZGUR GUNDEM / EVRENSEL: Each day, these dailies have been
reporting separate stories of people who have been forced to
migrate, or on conditions or problems of cities that had to
absorb those migrants, in order to mark the Migration Week (June
14-21) (see press summary 06/15). One of the dailies reported
that Diyarbakir's Kayapinar district has been among those spots
that received huge migration in the recent decades (see press
summary 06/15). In another article, Goc-Der (Immigrants
Association for Cooperation and Culture) reportedly claimed that
the migration issue itself was a Kurdish issue.

EVRENSEL / OZGUR GUNDEM: A group of people in Ankara held
some activities to commemorate the killing of 17 Maoist and
Communist MKP-HKO terrorists in Tunceli's Ovacik district on
June 17, 2005.

BOLGE / EKSPRES: Twenty-six Syrians and Georgians, who entered
the country illegally to go to Cyprus, have been caught in
Adana's Karatas district.

EVRENSEL / OZGUR GUNDEM: The dailies point out that many
schools in the southeastern region are situated side-by-side
with military quarters. Parents of the students in a high
school in Diyarbakir's Hani district are reportedly disturbed
because of the garrison command located next door to the high
school. There have reportedly been several cases in which
female students were harassed by the soldiers who use the
schoolyard to get into the command.

OZGUR GUNDEM: Turkish Military has reportedly been
continuing to deploy more soldiers and weaponry in Tunceli
allegedly following the attack carried out by PKK members last
week on a military vehicle in the Geyiksu township (see press
summary 06/12).

ZAMAN / RADIKAL / OZGUR GUNDEM / CUMHURIYET: A remote
controlled bomb placed on a railroad in Mus exploded and damaged
eight cars of a cargo train and a twenty-meter section along the
railroad. Zaman daily separately reported that three PKK
members have been killed in a clash in Tunceli.

OZGUR GUNDEM: DTP (Democratic Society Party) will issue
clear messages about its social peace project during it's
first-ever congress to be held on June 25 in Ankara. Meanwhile,
Salih Yildiz, Yuksekova Mayor (from DTP) said that they did not
care about the lawsuit brought against the mayors of the region
for the December 2005 letter sent to Denmark's Prime Minister
Adders Fogh Rasmussen in support of pro-PKK Roj TV. Yildiz said
that Rasmussen called them to say how sorry he was about the
situation.

EVRENSEL: According to the daily, Ministry Of Justice sent a
circular to all notaries in Turkey and required them not to use
or translate the term "Kuzey Irak" (Northern Iraq) in any of the
official documents they may generate.

EVRENSEL: 15,000 people reportedly took part in an event held
by the Federation of Alawi Unions in Germany on June 17 in
Cologne. Chairperson of the federation said that Alawis have
been oppressed by various authorities in power for hundreds of

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years.

RADIKAL: A municipality in Istanbul's Umraniye district for
the first time granted the title deed of a 2000-square-meter
plot of land in Umraniye, which was already allocated as land
for building a Cemevi (Alawi worshipping place) in the zoning
plans of the municipality, to a cultural Alawi association in
order to build a Cemevi. Alawis will hold a celebration to mark
this development on July 8.

BOLGE / EKSPRES: A new course introduced at the Lifelong
Learning Center of Adana's Cukurova University will teach how to
grow Spirulina algae and will reportedly create new job
opportunities for people.
REID