SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR JULY 10, 2006

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000160 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR JULY 10, 2006 This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for July 10, 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 CUMHURIYET / HURRIYET / ZAMAN / EVRENSEL: Tunceli Mayor Songul Erol Abdil showed reaction to the girls wearing turbans as they danced folkloric dances in Tunceli in a 07/08 opening ceremony attended by parliament spokesperson Bulent Arinc. Abdil made clear that the costumes of folkloric dances in Tunceli never included the turban component and regarded inclusion of turban in the costumes as an insult to the Alevi community. According to Zaman, Arinc dismissed any supposed official connection or manipulation in the clothing of the dancers, and branded such allegations as speculation aiming to wear out official bodies and the parliament offices. Tunceli Governor Mustafa Erkal reportedly said that that folkloric group performed in the same clothes several times before. CUMHURIYET / HURRIYET: Hakkari Governor's Office announced that a clash took place between security members and PKK terrorists around the border area in Hakkari's Cukurca district. Three PKK members have reportedly been killed. OZGUR GUNDEM: During a joint military operation of Turkish and Iranian forces against PKK members in the border area around Hakkari's Semdinli district, the daily claims that four Iranian soldiers and one PKK member have been killed. One PKK member has been taken captive by the Turkish Armed Forces. SABAH (GUNEY): A ceremony has been held in a village of Sirnak's Idil district to commemorate 16 people killed by PKK terrorist on July 08, 1987. BOLGE: Three persons have been arrested in a district of Elazig on charges of providing logistic support for the PKK. ZAMAN / OZGUR GUNDEM: A group of PKK terrorists blocked the traffic flow on an intercity road 100 kilometers away from Bingol, extorted money from passengers, and made pro-PKK propaganda. Ozgur Gundem portrays the incident as a normal road check of the PKK members. OZGUR GUNDEM: A faculty member from the Sociology Department of Koc University in Istanbul said that escalation of clashes and military operations in the southeastern region have eliminated hopes of those people who were considering returning back to their villages from which they were evacuated because of the past state of emergency rule in the region. OZGUR GUNDEM: Fourteen students have reportedly been dismissed from the Education Faculty of Ataturk University in Agri allegedly as a result of an investigation opened on grounds that those students attended March 21 Newruz celebrations. OZGUR GUNDEM: A DTP delegation including party assembly member Tuncer Bakirhan, Diyarbakir's Kayapinar district mayor Zulkuf Karatekin and Van's Bostanici district mayor Gulcihan Simsek went to Italy and met with coalition and opposition party members in that country. During the contacts held with Italian politicians, Turkey-EU relations and Kurdish issue were discussed. EVRENSEL / OZGUR GUNDEM: Diyarbakir Municipality organized a summer camp for 4500 children at the facilities around Hazar Lake in Elazig. OZGUR GUNDEM: A villager in Van's Gurpinar district filed a complaint with the prosecutor on grounds that JITEM (Jandarma Intelligence) members threatened to kill him when the villager rejected their suggestion that he become an informant for them on July 6. OZGUR GUNDEM: Six out of seventeen people, who were arrested in Batman on charges of counterfeiting seals of health insurance cards the (Turkish) state provides for needy people having no social security, have been arraigned and imprisoned in Batman jail. SABAH (GUNEY): PM Erdogan will come to Malatya on July 12 to conduct local studies and attend a series of opening and ground-breaking ceremonies in the province. SABAH (GUNEY): ANAP (Motherland Party) Provincial Chairperson in Mardin criticized the government for canceling tenders concerning building of new schools and renovation of older school buildings in the province for the second time. The ADANA 00000160 002 OF 002 previous cancelation reportedly took place last year. EKSPRES: The daily reported that Ministry of Agriculture and Village Works has officially banned aircraft pesticide spraying because of the serious environmental damage that method had caused. Some aircraft pesticide spraying companies have been exerting pressure to withdraw the ban on such pesticide spraying method. HURRIYET / YENI SAFAK: S.D., a 30-year-old woman in Sirnak's Cizre district who divorced from her husband because of her alleged extra-marital affair, was hospitalized after being stabbed by the cousin of her former husband as she went back her former house to see her children. S.D. died after being treated for 20 days in the hospital and no one claimed possession of her dead body. BOLGE: Director of MIT intelligence center's Adana branch reportedly committed suicide last evening in Adana by shooting himself in the head at his home in Adana. REID