SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR JULY 15, 2006

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000170 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR JULY 15, 2006 This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for July 15, 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: The Iraqi President Celal Talabani and President of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region Mesut Barzani collectively disclosed in Selahattin that the new Iraqi Government did not honor the treaties undersigned between Turkey and Saddam in the past, which allowed Turkey and Iran to undertake incursions into northern Iraq for the fight against PKK. ZAMAN: A judicial control decision has been undertaken against the DTP Mayor of Cizre, Sirnak province. According to the decision, mayor Aydin Budak, who is accused of making propaganda of the outlawed PKK organization, will go to Akancay Police Station to give his signature until a public case has been opened against him. The office of the public prosecutor of Cizre had initiated an investigation against Mayor Budak for his statements praising the PKK during a cultural and art festival on June 16, 2006. Mayor Budak's attorney, Servet Yanar, said that such a decision was a very heavy punishment and that it was a disproportionate measure for an unverified claim. CUMHURIYET/U.O. GUNDEM: Famed Kurdish author, Mehmet Uzun, who lived and received medical treatment in Stockholm of Sweden, came to Diyarbakir yesterday to spend the rest of his life in his hometown. Uzun, who has been suffering from cancer, was received by the Diyarbakir Mayor Osman Baydemir, DTP officials, and an exuberant crowd. CUMHURIYET: When the "Common Vision Document" between the United States and Turkey was being disclosed, the Patriotic Front Against Imperialism announced that it would organize a march dubbed "U.S. get out. This country is ours." from Incirlik Air Base to Dolmabahce Palace in Istanbul between July 15 and September 1. The march is being organized by a retired military captain, Murat Pabuc, from the Military Initiative of the Patriotic Front. CUMHURIYET/SABAH: Jandarma units affiliated to the Sanliurfa Provincial Jandarma Command seized 7 million hemp roots, from which 140 tons of drugs could be produced, in Tofan hamlet of Aydincik village in the newly irrigated Harran district of Sanliurfa. A person with H.F. initials has been arrested in connection with hemp plantations. Officials disclosed that 60 percent of the hemp seized in Turkey in the past decade had been cultivated in Sanliurfa province. ULKEDE OZGUR GUNDEM: The Sub-governor of Cermik township of Diyarbakir announced that an epidemic oftyphoid virus had been found in the water supply of the town about twenty days ago, and that approximately one thousand people complaining about upset stomach, diarrhea, and weakness had been admitted to hospital. Sub-governor Murat Erkan said that sewage had mixed with well waters and two wells, which people considered curative, had been sealed. The Cermik Mayor Mehmet Akdag denied the allegations, and claimed that people had become sick not because of contaminated water but because of washing perishables improperly. ULKEDE OZGUR GUNDEM/YENI SAFAK/RADIKAL/EVRENSEL: Five soldiers were killed and four others were wounded as an armored military vehicle hit a mine near Icgecit village of Bitlis the previous night. The wounded soldiers were taken to the military hospital in Tatvan for treatment while the dead bodies of the killed soldiers were dispatched to their hometowns for burial. In addition, an explosion occurred in Daggul Quarter of Hakkari yesterday morning when a military vehicle carrying provisions passed by. According to initial assessments, on person has been wounded, and the area has been blockaded. ULKEDE OZGUR GUNDEM: As a result of constent military operations throughout the region, clashes between the GOT forces and PKK militants have escalated. The GOT forces clashing with PKK militants in Erzurum set fire on the crops near Lebu Dagi and Kosk villages of Karacoban district and detained the DTP district chairman Fetullah Dadas and his nephew Esin Dadas on no grounds. YENI SAFAK/EVRENSEL: Investigations of two Chief Inspectors assigned by the Interior Ministry to probe the allegations about "excessive and disproportionate use of force and torture" during the events that broke out in Diyarbakir following burial ceremonies of four PKK militants on March 28, 2006 still continue. Inspectors started interviewing 72 children listed in the report prepared by the Diyarbakir Bar Association and sent by the Interior Ministry. Inspectors are also investigating the ADANA 00000170 002 OF 002 claims about attorney Cafer Koluman that he had been beaten by security forces during the events. 26 policemen will give depositions to the Public Prosecutor in connection with allegations cited in the report. YENI SAFAK: Representatives of all non-governmental organizations, political parties, and some private citizens in Elazig released a press statement supporting Palestine and expressing reaction to Israel. The press announcement read by Kamu-Sen's -Public Employees' Union- representative said "Israel, in order to accomplish its Zionist goals, has been turning the region into a pool of blood by getting the support of the western forces" and added that the United Nations did not fulfill its obligations in this matter. BOLGE: The Mersin Voluntary Organizations Union, consisting of 35 NGOs, including labor unions and associations, staged an anti-Israeli protest in Mersin. The term-spokesperson of the organization, Ali Bal, said that Israel did not honor the UN decisions and claimed that it occupied Palestine and continued to kill people. Bal claimed that the United States and the European Union also supported Israel and added that the atrocities committed by Israel did not start with the abduction of soldiers but that Israel had been slaughtering Palestinians for the past 80 years. Bal advised that the Turkish Red Crescent should dispatch health teams to treat Palestinians inflicted of wounds and withdrawing the Turkish ambassador to Israel. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS: RADIKAL: The President of Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) of Ceyhan township of Adana, Ali Duru, said that in addition to Petrol Ofisi and Calik Group, a foreign company had also applied to erect a refinery in Ceyhan which has become an oil port because of the BTC Crude Oil Pipe Line. The Ceyhan CCI President Duru said that the refinery considered for Ceyhan would be labor-intensive and that between 300 to 500 people would be employed during the initial phase of the plant. Duru added that he believed more than officially announced 3000 people were unemployed in Ceyhan. BOLGE/HURRIYET-CUKUROVA: The President of Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) of Tarsus, Ali Ergezer, said that the yield in grapes would be less this year compared to the previous years. Ergezer said that different types of grapes were being cultivated in an area of 50,000 acres in Tarsus and that most of the production was export-oriented. Ergezer said that 50,000 tons of table grapes had already been exported to Germany and Russia and that the farmers expected to export 100,000 tons to these countries by the end of the harvesting season. REID