SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR SEPTEMBER 19, 2006

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000205 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PINS PGOV PHUM TU SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR SEPTEMBER 19, 2006 This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for September 19, ¶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 CNNTURK ONLINE / HURRIYET: Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, who is currently meeting with official contacts in New York, stated in a speech at the American-Turkish Association, that if civil war were to break out in Iraq Turkey, which had to date been maintaining stability in that extremely volatile region, would protect the Kurds. Gul observed that this had been Turkey's role throughout recent history. CNNTURK ONLINE / HURRIYET: It is claimed on the website of the Iraqi Kurdistan Democratic Party (IKDP) that the Iraqi Government gave concrete instructions to authorities to close down all PKK offices and to halt all activities of the PKK in Iraq. The announcement pointed out that the decision came when some countries blacklisted the PKK among the terrorist organizations; the Iraqi Constitution does not allow any terrorist organization to find shelter in Iraq's territory. This decision reportedly followed retired General Ralston's recent visit to Iraq. SABAH / HURRIYET: Allegations that terrorist leader Abdullah Ocalan had died, which were posted on unspecified websites yesterday, have been dismissed by the Prosecutor's Office in Bursa. Bursa's Deputy Prosecutor told the press that regular health checks of Ocalan have indicated that he does not suffer from any health problems. HURRIYET: During a search conducted in a small bus on a road in Tunceli's Ovacik district by Government anti-terror units, an improvised bomb device made out of a battery and a car alarm system and designed to be remotely detonated, was discovered. Security officers noted that this was the first time that PKK members had been caught with a bomb designed to function using a car alarm system. CNNTURK ONLINE / OZGUR GUNDEM: The first hearing of the lawsuit brought against Seferi Yilmaz, the owner of the bookstore that was bombed on November 9, 2006 in Hakkari's Semdinli district, was held yesterday at Van's 4th Heavy Penalty (Felony) Court. Charges were brought against Yilmaz for allegedly being a member of the PKK terrorist organization. The court adjourned the hearing to November 15. Meanwhile, the 4th Heavy Penalty (Felony) Court in Van held the first hearing for Metin Tekce, mayor of Hakkari, against whom accusation was placed for telling the Parliamentary Commission probing the Semdinli Case that the PKK was not a terrorist organization. The court linked Tekce's case to a former lawsuit brought against him in 2003 for "being a member of a terrorist organization." OZGUR GUNDEM: Protests continued in Sirnak's Cizre district, in Istanbul, and in Adana against last week's bombing in Diyarbakir. The mayor of Cizre, Silopi's DTP Provincial Chairperson, the DTP Provincial Chairperson for Cizre, the Union of Municipality Workers, and members of KESK (Confederation of Public Employees' Unions) in Sirnak, joined protesters in attending the press announcement made (in Kurdish) in front of Cizre's DTP party headquarters. A group of young people waved PKK flags and demonstrated in the Sakirpasa quarter of Adana. The group briefly blockaded a road, chanted pro-PKK slogans and hurled Molotov cocktails at the police, but dispersed when police intervened. OZGUR GUNDEM: The army is reportedly escalating the fight against the PKK and is launching a series of measures, to include establishing new military units and special teams made up of sergeants, non-commissioned officers and officers. The army will also take over jurisdiction of some formerly police-controlled special teams. OZGUR GUNDEM: The family members of a PKK terrorist who was killed with five others in a village in Van's Ercis district (see press summary for September 17),have claimed his corpse from the Ercis Hospital and brought it to Batman for his funeral. Meanwhile, the authorities buried the unidentified bodies of the other terrorists in a "hole" in an Ercis village. HURRIYET (CUKUROVA) / OZGUR GUNDEM: Fire broke out in a mined ADANA 00000205 002 OF 002 area located around the border with Syria in Sirnak's Cizre district. Since firefighters were not able to take immediate action because of the explosion risk, the fire spread to both countries' watch towers located on either side of the border where guards regularly stand duty. The fire lasted ten hours and affected 24.7 acres of land on Turkish territory. HURRIYET (CUKUROVA) / OZGUR GUNDEM: The police detained a seventy-eight year old woman on grounds that she was carrying a bag with 6.5 kilograms of hashish in a passenger car in Diyarbakir's Lice district. The woman told the police that the bag was given to her by her grandsons and that she was not familiar with its contents. Police conducting searches of a passenger car destined for Mersin in Mardin also found 14 kilograms of heroin in a car. BOLGE: Mersin Police conducted a countersmuggling operation in the port of Mersin, and found 3000 cigarette packets in a container shipped from China. EVERNSEL / OZGUR GUNDEM: The deputy governor of Diyarbakir's Kulp district allegedly required that men of the village of Uzunova enroll as village guards in response to demands made by villagers to the subgovernor's office about drilling wells to find potable water. OZGUR GUNDEM: Specialists from the Education Foundation, and from the Diyarbakir Municipality, offered a seminar covering topics such as decision-making and providing social services. Diyarbakir Mayor Osman Baydemir, who noted that economically disadvantaged people expected their pressing social demands be addressed soon, believed that volunteers attending those seminars will contribute a great deal in efforts to meet those demands. HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): Eight English instructors and one administrator from the Center for Teaching Foreign Languages at the Cukurova University returned from a trip to Dundee University in Scotland. The group went to Scotland under the auspices of the European Union's Leonardo Da Vinci Program for Vocational Training. EVRENSEL: During the opening ceremony for the new academic year at Gaziantep University Erhan Ekinci, rector of the university, complained about the shortage of administrative staff at the university hospital. HURRIYET / OZGUR GUNDEM: The Diyarbakir Chamber of Commerce and Industry will be holding the Fifth International Middle East Industry Fair between September 20 and 24. The offices of the Diyarbakir Governor and the Mayor, and the Rector's Office of the Dicle University, are among the institutions sponsoring the event. A 1000-person commercial delegation, including 100 protocol members from government officials, will reportedly come to Diyarbakir from northern Iraq on September 19 to participate. SABAH (GUNEY): Two men accused of kidnapping an Istanbul businessmen a week ago and bringing the businessman to Adana, have reportedly been identified as former members of the intelligence offices of the Adana police. SABAH (GUNEY): Azim Ozturk, mayor of Adana's Seyhan district, will attend a 19-22 September mayors' workshop in Rotterdam, Holland, together with the mayor of Gaziantep's Sehitkamil district and the mayor of Ankara's Altindag district. SABAH (GUNEY) / BOLGE: Azim Ozturk announced that the Seyhan Municipality will support Adanaspor, one of Adana's soccer clubs, by making a 40,000 YTL monthly contribution for a period of ten months. SABAH (GUNEY): Aytac Durak, mayor of Adana and the Honorary Chairperson of Adana Demirspor, will host a luncheon for the Adanaspor's players at Adana Demirspor. Durak and Ozturk showed their support for Adanaspor by attending one of its games this past Saturday. GREEN