SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR OCTOBER 11, 2006

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000218 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PINS PGOV PHUM TU SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR OCTOBER 11, 2006 This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for October 11, ¶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 HURRIYET: Following an interview program NTV Television made with the Diyarbakir Mayor Osman Baydemir, this time the program hosted Edip Baser, Turkey's Special Envoy for Countering the PKK. Baser, when asked whether he would request anything from Baydemir or the elected representatives in the southeastern region, gave the message that nobody should try the patience of the Turkish people, which also included the Kurdish citizens. ¶3. OZGUR GUNDEM: A panel was held in a DTP building in Mardin's Nusaybin district to mark October 9, 1998, when eight years ago PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan was reportedly forced out of Syria as a result of an alleged plot contrived by international elements. Selim Sadak, former DEP (Democratic Peoples Party) deputy, said that Europe betrayed the Kurdish people and surrendered Ocalan to the Turkish authorities. Hatice Korkut, an attorney, reminded the audience that PKK declared cease-fire four times in the past. ¶4. OZGUR GUNDEM: Ingmar Karlsson, Swedish Consul General in Istanbul, attended a seminar of Van's Bostanici Municipality, which is called "Local Democracy and Leadership in Local Democratic Organizations", in Van. Karlsson said that Turkey should take action regarding the cease-fire. ¶5. ANF NEWS AGENCY ONLINE: Paavo Lipponen, Speaker of the Finnish Parliament, and an accompanying ten-person delegation, paid a visit to the national headquarters of DTP in Ankara, and met with DTP leaders Ahmet Turk and Aysel Tugluk. ¶6. OZGUR GUNDEM: The daily claims that PKK's cease-fire process had its repercussions in the political sphere. While AKP seems to be in a tendency to seize the opportunity the process may serve, DYP leader, who launched a tour in the southeastern region to meet with non-governmental organizations, brought the issue of declaring a general amnesty to the agenda. Agar made a call to the government, and told that he was ready to hold liability for the consequences of whatever the government would embark upon to resolve the issue. ¶7. OZGUR GUNDEM: Safiye Alagas, who is one of the members of DTP in Siirt, was arrested after being detained and arraigned yesterday morning on grounds that she was a member of the terrorist organization. ¶8. OZGUR GUNDEM: DTP demanded in a letter it sent to the Turkish Parliament and representatives of the political parties that the election threshold be removed. ¶9. BOLGE / EVRENSEL / EKSPRES / SABAH (GUNEY): Municipality Assembly of Adana voted yesterday in favor of founding in Adana a monument to mark the "Algerian Genocide", if, in case, the French Parliament ratifies the law on criminalizing denial of "Armenian Genocide." (This summary is from October 10 edition.) October 11 edition of Bolge daily reports that some political parties, chambers and associations expressed strong discontent about such a law that could be passed today in the French parliament. Executive members of the Adana Arts Council sent a letter of warning to the French Ambassador in Ankara about the law envisaged. Chamber of Industry in Gaziantep also called for a boycott on French goods should the law takes effect. Meanwhile, Evrensel daily, equally blames Armenians in France and the Turkish authorities, for the political uproar on genocide claims, and characterized the latest developments in Turkey as "schizophrenic internal strife to achieve political ends". ¶10. SABAH (GUNEY): Erkan Mumcu, National Leader of the Motherland Party, told the journalists during the opening ceremony of the new party building in Adana's Yuregir district that it was a great shame for the government to be in a position as if Turkey was dependent on the U.S. in matters such as Armenian issue and terror issues. ¶11. ZAMAN / SABAH (GUNEY) / EKSPRES: Prosecutor's Office dismissed the complaint Adana Mayor Aytac Durak filed against two local chambers for 'being responsible for the irregular construction activities and ugly urban landscape that had been ADANA 00000218 002 OF 002 created in the province to date. HUMAN RIGHTS ¶12. EVRENSEL / OZGUR GUNDEM: The daily reported that soldiers were oppressing the villagers in a village of Hakkari's Yuksekova district allegedly for not hanging the (Turkish) flag on a mast. Separately, the daily reports a YTL664 fine which is reportedly imposed on a driver of a passenger car in Gaziantep, about whom a commissioned officer filed a complaint against with the authorities allegedly for playing pro-PKK Kurdish songs in his car. ¶13. RADIKAL: Court of First Instance in Adana found guilty the Adana chapter of Haci Bektashi Veli Association, a cultural center for Alevis, for its negligence in maintenin one of its vehicles, which had an accident where all 39 of its passengers died, in Adana four years ago during cultural festivities. CRIME/LAW ENFORCEMENT ¶14. HURRIYET (CUKUROVA) / NTVMSNBC ONLINE: Diyarbakir police, monitoring the activities of illegal drug trading rings, conducted six separate operations in the province and seized a total of 135 kilogram of hashish and unlicensed 7 guns. In one of those operations, police stopped a car traveling from Hakkari to Diyarbakir and found 43 kilograms of hashish in hidden sections of the car. Fifteen of the 22 people detained in the operations have been arraigned and arrested. ¶15. BOLGE: Hatay police seized seven kilograms of hashish in an anti-drug operation in Hatay. CULTURE / SOCIETY ¶16. OZGUR GUNDEM: The daily complains that the doors of the Cultural Center of Mersin are closed to the activities of diverse cultures. ¶17. SABAH (GUNEY): Prof.Suha Aydin has been elected as the rector of the Mersin University. Aydin replaced the former rector Prof. Ugur Oral. ¶18. BOLGE: A big earthenware jar, which dates back to around A.D. 300, has been discovered in Adana's Karatas district. GREEN