SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER 27, 2005

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000002 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU ADANA SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER 27, 2005 This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for December 27, ¶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 HURRIYET (CUKUROVA) / EVRENSEL: Ceremonies were held in Gaziantep to celebrate the 84th anniversary of the city's liberation won through driving French troops out of Gaziantep during the Turkish War for Independence. Bulent Arinc, Chairperson of the Turkish Parliament, and Kursat Tuzmen, State Minister, attended the ceremonies. OZGUR GUNDEM: Members of the EMEP (Labor Party) provincial party administration laid a wreath on the monument of liberation in Gaziantep. Provincial Chairperson of EMEP said that Turkish and Kurdish people fought together against the enemy 84 years ago in many parts of the country. However, Turks and Kurds have been made enemies today because of the policy of denial, oppression and intolerance pursued by those circles holding power. HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): Adana city governor Aytac Durak, blaming the government for disregarding the large amount of migration Adana has been getting from the southeastern provinces since 1980s, criticized the government for allocating much less money for Adana than the money allocated for Istanbul. BOLGE / EKSPRES / OZGUR GUNDEM: The nephew of the terrorist leader Abdullah Ocalan has been detained, arraigned and arrested in the Ceyhan district of Adana on charges of recruiting new members for the PKK/Kongra-Gel. Meanwhile, a person connected to Ocalan's nephew has been arrested in Van province reportedly as he was attempting to go abroad. BOLGE / EKSPRES: After the police started following a suspected person carrying a bag and wandering around the Adana Court Hall, the suspect escaped as he noticed the police, and threw his bag onto a street. Bomb squad teams from Adana's Security Directorate safely detonated the explosives in the bag with a remote control device. According to the police, there were approximately 2 kilograms of explosives in the bag, most probably A-4 or C-4, and the explosives were placed in a book. EVRENSEL: Mehmet Corten, Intelligence Service Chairperson and Brigadier Commander of the National Jandarma Command, who was supervisor of the non-commissioned officers arrested for their alleged involvement in the Semdinli case, reportedly secretly paid a visit last week to the Chairperson of the Turkish Parliament's Commission for Probing the Semdinli Case and submitted a report. The other members of the commission were not informed about this visit. EVRENSEL: The daily criticized the decision of the Privatization Authority to close down Malatya Cigarette Factory and claimed that through pursuing a policy of negligence over the years the state had deliberately rendered the factory unproductive. OZGUR GUNDEM / EVRENSEL: Reportedly, people of Semdinli are worried that the Semdinli incidents will suffer the fate of the Susurluk scandal and will be covered up and soon forgotten. OZGUR GUNDEM: Eleven people, who are members of a group called Rights and Liberties Front (RLF) and who were detained on December 24 as they were protesting in Adana the "Return to Life Operation" launched against inmates in 20 prisons nationwide in December 2000 (see press summary 12/19),have been arraigned. Other RLF activists protested the arraignment and demanded release of their friends. DTP (Democratic Society Party) members extended support to the RLF activists. OZGUR GUNDEM: A military operation has reportedly been launched in Siirt's Eruh district. OZGUR GUNDEM: The relatives of a PKK militant, who was killed during a PKK attack on a Jandarma station in Sirnak on December 9, said that they have not been able to get back the body of the deceased for seventeen days despite the fact that they have applied to the Cizre Chief Prosecutor for the return of the militant's body. OZGUR GUNDEM: Doctors, journalists, employers and non-governmental organizations will found a European Union Association in Mersin. The association aims to prepare Mersin at local level for the process of integration with the EU. ZAMAN: Five persons, who were allegedly making arrangements to assassinate Van Governor Niyazi Tanilir, were caught and detained. The police reportedly seized handguns, bullets, handcuffs and some explosives found in connection with the detainees. ZAMAN: Reportedly, the number of children contracting lethal SSPE disease has reached seventeen in Sanliurfa province. A pediatric neurologist from Harran University said that early diagnosis in diseases associated with measles was very critical in fighting against SSPE, a disease caused by a virus that multiplies itself in the brain of a child who had measles. The doctor advised that families should have their children get three vaccinations at designated separate times. Sanliurfa's Health Drectorate launched a project and detected 900 children, who contracted measles in the last two years in Sanliurfa. These children will go through a health check in the Hacettepe Medical School of Ankara. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): During a meeting held upon the arrival of Aleppo Chamber of Commerce's Businesswomen's Delegation to Gaziantep, Chairperson of the Gaziantep Chamber of Commerce pointed out that cooperation between Syria and Turkey, and similarly that between Gaziantep and Aleppo had been increasing every day. REID