SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR AUGUST 22, 2006

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000189 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PINS PGOV PHUM TU SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR AUGUST 22, 2006 This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for August 22, ¶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: PKK claimed responsibility for the explosion that took place on the natural gas pipeline of BOTAS (Turkish Pipeline Corporation) in Agri's Taslicay Township over the weekend (see press summaries for August 20, 21). HURRIYET ONLINE: Anti-terror teams in Istanbul caught three terrorists in Istanbul and found 9 kilograms of plastic explosives and six electrical fuses during the searches made at their houses. ZAMAN / HURRIYET (CUKUROVA) / OZGUR GUNDEM / YENI SAFAK: A clash reportedly broke out between Turkish soldiers and a 15-person group which attempted to cross the border illegally from Syria to Hatay. A 23-year-old Syrian national died during the clash. The other members of the group escaped to Syria. Police found 14 pitchers of fuel oil (800 liters),43 pistol bullets, five packs of cigarettes and two whiskey bottles. ZAMAN: The PKK terrorist, who was caught with a fake passport at the Ataturk Airport of Istanbul on August 18, has been arraigned and arrested. ZAMAN / HURRIYET (CUKUROVA) / SABAH (GUNEY) / BOLGE / EKSPRES / HURRIYET: A fire broke out in a village of Adana's Yuregir district yesterday at noon. The firefighters undertook great efforts until late in the evening to control the fire, and authorities had to evacuate one village, which was under risk. 247 acres of forest land were burned during the fire. Meanwhile, fire broke out in three locations in a district of the Kahramanmaras province because of a lightning strike. SABAH (GUNEY) / RADIKAL: The highest temperature of the year has reportedly been recorded in Sanliurfa as 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Radikal daily, however, reported that the temperature was 122 degrees Fahrenheit in the Antalya province. OZGUR GUNDEM: It is reported that soldiers allegedly burned 56 acres of forest land in Diyarbakir's Dicle district while the military operations were going on in that region. EVRENSEL / OZGUR GUNDEM: The increased military operations and the conflict situation in the southeastern region thwarted the Return to Villages Project in the east. Most of the people, who returned to villages, had to leave their villages again throughout June and July, reported the daily. EVRENSEL / OZGUR GUNDEM / CUMHURIYET: September 1 World Peace Day will be celebrated with a public meeting at Caglayan Square of Istanbul. The theme of the public event will reportedly be "Peace in Turkey and the Middle East, Peace for the Peoples." DTP Istanbul party organization has kicked off efforts to organize the event. DTP (Democratic Society Party), EMEP (Party of Labor),SDP (Socialist Democracy Party),ODP (Freedom and Solidarity Party),Goc-Der (Association for Imigrants' Solidarity and Culture),Democratic Alevi Initiative and women's organizations will take part in the event. EVRENSEL: Unidentified people attacked party building of DTP in Bursa with stones and Molotov cocktails late at night yesterday. OZGUR GUNDEM: The health condition of the mayor of Siirt's Kurtalan district (from DTP),who had an accident as he was traveling to Ankara, has been getting better. The mayor was seriously wounded and was under intensive care for a while (see press summary for August 20). OZGUR GUNDEM: Two female journalists of DIHA (Dicle News Agency) are reportedly still kept under arrest. The journalists were reportedly arrested on February 15 in Mersin as they were following several public events marking the anniversary of arrest of Abdullah Ocalan by Turkish forces. The journalists were arrested on grounds that "they were members of the terrorist organization and were engaging in terrorist activities" and "they kept possession of explosives." OZGUR GUNDEM: The people in Hakkari's Semdinli district ADANA 00000189 002 OF 002 complained that the Umut Bookstore, which was bombed on November 9 last year, has continued to stay closed during the two and a half month period in which the owner of the bookstore has been under arrest till today. OZGUR GUNDEM: The Association of Retired Non-Commissioned Officers made an announcement and reportedly said that holding talks with a U.S. coordinator on PKK issues would reportedly amount to mingling of the U.S. in the internal matters of the country. BOLGE: Thirty-seven Syrian nationals, who entered the country illegally, have been caught in Mersin's Silifke district. The Syrians were reportedly trying to go to Italy through Cyprus. RADIKAL / CUMHURIYET: Germany reportedly started deporting Syriacs in the country, who went from Turkey to Germany for different reasons and who sought asylum there in the past (see press summary for August 21). A seven-member family, who went to Germany 11 years ago, returned to the Uckoy township in Mardin's Midyat district. Three other families, who were also deported, returned to Istanbul. RADIKAL: Turkish National Police conducted a research on the honor killings that took place in the last six years in Turkey. According to the police's report, most of the honor killings took place in the western provinces of Turkey. However, a reported interesting finding was that the perpetrators were people whose hometowns are from the southeastern or eastern provinces. RADIKAL / CUMHURIYET: According to Iranian police, Iranian forces reportedly arrested nine people, four of whom were PKK terrorists, during a clash that took place between terrorists and Iranian forces at the border area with Turkey. REID