SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER 23, 2005

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000001

SIPDIS

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TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU ADANA
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER 23, 2005


This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for December 23,

2005. 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: In an interview with the Deutsche Welle, the
European Parliament Joint Parliamentary Commission Chairperson
Joost Lagendjik said that he believed that some circles within
the military had an interest in the continuation of clashes with
PKK. He has been quoted as saying "the Semdinli incident is not
a fantasy, and that the military is the true boss in the
Southeast is a fact. The Kurdish issues will not reach a
solution as long as it continues like this. I believe that the
government, as a civilian administration, has to go to that area
and seek a solution to the problem."

HURRIYET: During his visit to the Turkish Chief of General
Staff, the Israeli Chief of Staff Lt. General Dan Halutz
expressed that his country would supply Turkey with
high-technology surveillance equipment so that Turkey could
cover its problematic border with Iraq more effectively and
prevent PKK militants from infiltrating Turkish territory.

ULKEDE OZGUR GUNDEM: Following an autopsy conducted on seven PKK
militants killed in clashes with the GOT forces in Savur
district of Mardin in June 21, 1995, the militants' bodies had
been buried in a lime well because it was getting dark, the then
Dereici Jandarma Commander, Noncommissioned Officer T.K., told
the public prosecutor investigating the case. A village guard
involved in the incident said that they covered the lime well
after the burial so that it would not be recognized.

ULKEDE OZGUR GUNDEM: GOT forces, during an operation in Silvan
district of Diyarbakir, detained six Democratic Society party
members for unspecified reasons.

ULKEDE OZGUR GUNDEM: A weekly Turkish-Kurdish eight-page
newspaper is being published in Van under the name of "Yeni
Bakis" in Turkish and "Nerina Nu' in Kurdish. The newspaper's
owner, Adil Harmanci said that the paper would contain short
essays, proverbs, regional news, and articles in its Kurdish
version.

CUMHURIYET: The Van Public Prosecutor's Office is getting ready
to appeal the court's acquittal decision concerning the Van
Centennial University Rector Yucel Askin's antiquities smuggling
case. Charges had been brought against Rector Askin for
allegedly unregistered historical artifacts found during a July
14, 2005 search of his house. Rector Askin, who had been accused
of violating article 2863 on Protection of Nature and Cultural
Heritage, had been acquitted during a December 15, 2005 hearing.
Claiming that some procedural errors had taken place during the
hearing on December 15, the Van Public Prosecutor's Office
(VPPO) claimed that Rector Yucel should have been punished and
therefore the VPPO was getting ready to appeal the case to the
Supreme Court.

EKSPRES/BOLGE: At a press conference, the AK Party Adana
Provincial Chairman, Abdullah Dogru, announced that asking for
an early election was the same as betraying to the country.
Dogru said that Turkey's agenda was being determined by external
powers in the past, but today it was just the opposite, and
Turkey had gained a reputation among the world communities
thanks to the AK Party government. Mr. Dogru added that Turkey
had been sunk in a swamp of debt before AK Party came to power
and inflation dropped to 7 percent and interest rates to 1
percent under their governance.

EVRENSEL: Following the developments in the Semdinli, Yuksekova
and Hakkari incidents about 1.5 months ago, the Yuksekova
Brigade Commander, Brig. General Erdal Akpinar, pressed charges
against the Gazi Elementary School Folklore Team on charges of
wearing outfits resembling the PKK uniforms during a performance
on October 29, Republic Day. The Ministry of Culture also wrote
a letter to the Hakkari Provincial National Education
Directorate ordering that the students should not wear the local
outfit known as "sal-sepik" during performances. Esat Canan, the
CHP deputy from Hakkari, said that it was a mistake to associate
the local outfits with PKK and that the people in the region
just wanted peace, and that approaching everything with
skepticism was not right.

EVRENSEL: Talat Yorulmaz, who has been working as a temporary
village guard in Lice of Diyarbakir for six years, has been
selected "Village Guard of the Year" for 2005 by the Kulp
sub-governor's office. Yorulmaz has been awarded with a
two-storey house for the services he had rendered. The Kulp
Jandarma Commander, Cap. Erkan Sandikci, said Kulp residents and
village guards suffered most form terror, and commended Yorulmaz
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SBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER23, 2005
for his success.

EVRENSEL: It is reported that the files of only 350 persons have
been examined and 109 persons have received payments out of
22,300 people applying to the Sirnak Governor's Office to
benefit from the Compensation Law that allows payment for the
terror-related losses of the villagers. The nine-person
assessment committee is primarily focused on examining the files
from 2004.

EVRENSEL: The Mardin Governor, Temel Kocaklar, announced at a
ceremony organized in Omerli district that 16,000 villagers had
returned to 127 of 129 villages that had been evacuated because
of disturbances from terror. Governor Kocaklar added that 9,000
girls had been registered in schools under the "Lets Go to
School Girls" campaign in the past two years.
REID