SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR SEPTEMBER 23-24-25, 2006

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000208 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PINS PGOV PHUM TU SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR SEPTEMBER 23-24-25, 2006 This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for September 23-24-25, 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 HURRIYET / OZGUR GUNDEM: A bomb, which Hurriyet daily reports as placed by PKK in a truck that was parked outside a police residence in Igdir province, was detonated with a remote controlled device on Saturday (09/23) at around 6.30 p.m. Seventeen people, five of whom were policemen, were wounded by the blast. Health conditions of three among the wounded are serious. Separately, a bomb, which was detonated on a railroad between Bitlis's Tatvan district and the Elazig province at 1 a.m. on Sunday (09/24),derailed seven cars and damaged eight cars of the train. No casualties were reported. (This summary is from September 24 editions.) ¶3. RADIKAL: 09/25 edition of the daily reports that the bomb in Igdir was detonated when people, who gathered for a regular 6 p.m. cinema event at the garden of the police residence, were watching a movie there. The daily reports that the damage the bomb caused became apparent when the day cast its lights on the scene. Windows of hundreds of businesses were broken. ¶4. OZGUR GUNDEM: An explosion took place in Siirt's Eruh district for unknown reasons. One person was killed in the blast. ¶5. HURRIYET (CUKUROVA) / SABAH (GUNEY): The local supplements covered today the killing of 35 year-old Yusuf Erenkara, the mayor of Adana's Karatas district, and his brother on September 22 at around 24.00 by unidentified person(s) with a gun attack. Cukurova supplement reminds that a district mayor in Mersin's Silifke district was killed in May 2005 with a bomb attack, and, a former deputy from Gaziantep and former Kilis mayor was killed with a gun attack (on an unspecified date.) The police is suspecting that a 40 year-old person, who was not awarded a contract by the municipality, might have killed the mayor. ¶6. SABAH / RADIKAL / OZGUR GUNDEM: A 22-year-old girl, who was reportedly being forced into marrying a person thirty years older than her, committed suicide in Batman. Friends of the girl, eight high school girls, protested the authorities in Batman for remaining indifferent to the women's issues. Reportedly, fifteen women committed suicide in Batman in the last nine months. Meanwhile, women activists in Hakkari pointed out the fact that three women in Hakkari committed suicide in the last six months in the province. ¶7. SABAH / HURRIYET / RADIKAL / OZGUR GUNDEM: Five hundred soldiers and military personnel at Hakkari's Commando Brigade held an activity and collected garbage in the province to protest the Hakkari Municipality which allegedly pursued goals "to divide the country" instead of doing its essential duties. Hakkari Mayor Metin Tekce branded the development as a "provocation." ¶8. OZGUR GUNDEM: Greek Orthodox Church in Hatay hung a banner on the gate of the church which extended greetings for Muslims who started observing Ramadan. ¶9. OZGUR GUNDEM: Andrew Wilson, U.S. Consul in Adana, and Jeffrey S. Collins, after holding some contacts in Van, paid a visit to the Yuksekova Mayor in Hakkari. Wilson asked the Mayor questions about migration issues and issues about returning to villages. (This summary is from September 23 edition.) ¶10. OZGUR GUNDEM: Military operations of the Turkish Armed Forces have been continuing in the southeastern region. Turkish Army reportedly launched operations in a section of Bingol's Sancak district and Diyarbakir's Lice district the previous day. Allegedly, soldiers who started operations on September 20 in Bingol's Kigi district, set some wooded areas on fire. Turkish Army also launched operations in rural sections of Van's Baskale district. (This summary is from September 23 edition.) ¶11. OZGUR GUNDEM: The daily claimed on its 09/25 edition that clashes took place in Diyarbakir's Dicle district and Bingol's Yedisu district, and, allegedly seven Turkish soldiers died in the clashes. ADANA 00000208 002 OF 002 ¶12. OZGUR GUNDEM: National Leader of ODP (Freedom and Solidarity Party) paid a visit to the Diyarbakir Mayor Osman Baydemir to extend condolences for the September 12 bombing in Diyarbakir. (This summary is from September 23 edition.) ¶13. RADIKAL: The policemen in Van chased a suspected truck and found it later deserted with 63 people who were being smuggled. The people, who reportedly entered the country illegally from Iran, will be deported soon. (This summary is from September 23 edition.) ¶14. HURRIYET: Diyarbakir Security Directorate filed complaints about DTP Chairperson Ahmet Turk and Diyarbakir Mayor Osman Baydemir for allegedly breaching the law on holding public demonstrations and meetings, during the demonstration held in days following the September 12 bomb attack in Diyarbakir. People allegedly chanted illegal slogans and showed resisted to the policemen despite the police issued warnings about the results of the people's actions during that demonstration. The prosecutor's office shall decide whether a lawsuit will be brought against Turk and Baydemir or not. Meanwhile, two of the seven people, who were detained for hurling stones at policemen during that demonstration, were arraigned and arrested. (This summary is from September 24 edition.) ¶15. HURRIYET: Bulent Arinc, spokesperson of the Turkish Parliament, sent a letter about the PKK to the spokesperson of the Iraqi National Assembly. Arinc reportedly stated Turkish Government's appreciation of the measures that the Iraqi Government started to take agianst the activities of the PKK in Iraq. Arinc also expressed a strong desire for those measures to get implemented unequivocally country-wide. (This summary is from September 24 edition.) ¶16. HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): The rector of Hatay's Mustafa Kemal University announced that State Planning Authority will allocate 11.5 million YTL funding for construction of Engineering and Architecture Faculty which will be located at the university's other campus in the Iskenderun district. ¶17. HURRIYET / SABAH: One of the two brothers, a 10-year-old boy, who found as he was playing with his brother an explosive device on a road in Siirt, died when the device exploded. ¶18. BOLGE / EKSPRES: A delegation from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Germany's Essen province will visit Adana on September 27, said Umit Ozgumus, Chairperson of Adana's Chamber of Industry. ¶19. BOLGE / EKSPRES: Chairperson of Federation of Eastern Mediterranean Industrialists' and Businessmen's Associations (DASIFED) said that they were following closely the developments taking place at the BTC (Baku-Tibilisi-Ceyhan) project in Adana's Ceyhan district. A 35-member delegation paid a visit to the General Manager of BOTAS (Petroleum Pipeline Corporation) at BTC. ¶20. HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): School of fish found dead on the surface of the Seyhan River in Adana alarmed authorities. Some fish hunters by the lake alleged that there were people who were pouring agricultural pesticides in water to paralyze fish in order to catch them easily. (This summary is from September 23 edition.) GREEN