Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06ADANA23
2006-02-02 06:36:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Consulate Adana
Cable title:
SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR JANUARY 31, 2006
how-toThis record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000023
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU ADANA
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR JANUARY 31, 2006
This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for January 31,
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 / EVRENSEL: Bird Flu National Coordination Council
reportedly confirmed that avian influenza outbreak affected a
total of 31 provinces in Turkey, with recent additions of three
more provinces on the list, and a total of 1,596,000 birds have
been culled to date. Meanwhile, Iraqi Health Minister announced
that a 17-year-old girl died because of bird flu disease on
January 17. Two people in Sivas's Kangal district got sick
after eating meat of a bird which was about to die and were
hospitalized in Sivas. Moreover, bird flu was suspected in four
people in Batman. These people were reportedly hospitalized.
HURRIYET / ZAMAN: An F-16 military airplane crashed in an area
five kilometers away from the Diyarbakir province. The pilot
survived as he was able to get out of the plane and use his
parachute.
EKSPRES / BOLGE / YENI SAFAK / ZAMAN: A bomb exploded in the
Turkish American Association in Adana at 3.15 p.m. yesterday and
four people incurred minor wounds during the blast. The bomb
exploded in the lobby of the association's building where
English courses were being offered. 50 students were in the
building when the explosion took place. A small fire reportedly
broke out following the blast.
BOLGE / ZAMAN: Jandarma teams in the Seyhan district found
three Kalashnikov rifles, four hand grenades, seven cartridges,
and many bullets in one of the waste water canals in Adana.
YENI SAFAK / ZAMAN / EVRENSEL / CUMHURIYET / RADIKAL / OZGUR
GUNDEM: The inspectors of the Interior Ministry determined
that the new year card Diyarbakir Mayor Osman Baydemir sent to
the Turkish Parliament, which also included a Kurdish "Happy New
Year" statement in it, was unconstitutional, and the inspectors
demanded in their recent report that action be brought against
Baydemir. Interior Ministry sent the report to the Diyarbakir
Prosecutor's Office. According to the inspectors, said daily
Ozgur Gundem, Baydemir openly breached the following clause of
the constitution: Turkish state and its nation are marked by
unity, the two are inseparable, and the language of the state is
Turkish. The inspectors demanded further action against Osman
Baydemir and 55 mayors of the southeastern provinces for sending
a letter to the prime minister of Denmark to prevent the
black-out of the pro-PKK Roj TV in Diyarbakir. (This summary is
from 01/28 editions.)
EVRENSEL / YENI SAFAK / OZGUR GUNDEM: Osman Baydemir
criticized the investigations started against him for sending a
Kurdish new year's card to the parliament and writing a letter
to the Danish Prime Minister not to ban the broadcasts of Roj
TV. Baydemir said that it was a funny attempt to prosecute a
person writing in Kurdish which was a language spoken by a
significant number of people in the country. Baydemir said that
whatever the court decided about the postcard in Kurdish, he
would still continue to speak Kurdish.
EVRENSEL: 182 villages in Mus have been without electricity
due to the problems caused by adverse weather conditions.
Separately, an avalanche blocked the road to Hakkari's Cukurca
district and local authorities have been undertaking tasks for
five days to clear the way.
YENI SAFAK: Gaye Erbatur, Vice-Chairperson of the Turkish
Parliamentary Commission for Probing Honor Killings, said that
the violence women suffered from was no worse than horror film
scenarios. According to Erbatur, in order to evade a stain on a
family's honor, girls and women are being locked-in their
houses, they are being forced to commit suicide, and their noses
or ears are being cut off.
YENI SAFAK: One of the actions brought against the Van
Centennial University rector Yucel Askin on charges of aiding
and abetting the PKK terrorist organization was dropped.
ZAMAN / OZGUR GUNDEM: The daily cited a survey reported
yesterday on Ozgur Gundem daily. Whereas Ozgur Gundem's report
emphasized the guerillas' preferences in music, literature,
cinema, religion and sports, Zaman daily only drew attention to
the religion aspect of the survey and cited that the most
popular leaders for the militants were Zoroaster and Jesus
Christ. Ozgur Gundem said in yesterday's report that most of
the militants liked Jenifer Lopez, Kurdish-origin singer Ahmet
Kaya, Loreena McKennit, among singers. Most of them read Orhan
Pamuk, Murray Bookchin and Amin Maalof. Moreover, the survey
results showed that most of the guerillas were a fan of the
Galatasaray soccer club in Turkey.
ZAMAN: PKK was reportedly readying to launch terrorist
activities, especially in Mersin on February 15, a day which
marked the capturing of the terrorist leader Abdullah Ocalan in
Kenyan capital Nairobi seven years ago.
ZAMAN: Subgovernor of Osmaniye's Kadirli district said that
the attempt to burn a Turkish flag in yesterday's incident in
Kadirli did not have a political character (see press summary
01/30). According to the subgovernor, the flag was probably
burned by unknown person(s) seeking a source of heat.
OZGUR GUNDEM: According to the daily, legal amendments
adopted in 2003 in Turkey have been preventing many former
political prisoners in Turkey, who have served their prison
sentences, from engaging in political life. Basing its move on
these legal amendments, Prosecutor's Office of the Supreme Court
sent a January 24-dated letter to the DTP (Democratic Society
Party) demanding that they drop the membership of its 74
founding members.
OZGUR GUNDEM / EVRENSEL: The refugees in the Mahmur camp
conveyed their demands in a report submitted to the UN
delegation that is currently visiting the camp. Reportedly, the
refugees would only return to Turkey if Turkey freed Abdullah
Ocalan, granted the right to mother tongue education, abolished
the village guard system, issued a general amnesty for militants
in the mountains and jailed political prisoners, paid
compensation for the damages incurred by the refugees'
displacement.
OZGUR GUNDEM: Derik Municipality in Mardin named a park
after Ugur Kaymaz, a 13-year-old child, who was killed with his
father by security forces in Mardin's Kiziltepe district in
November 2004.
REID
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU ADANA
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR JANUARY 31, 2006
This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for January 31,
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 / EVRENSEL: Bird Flu National Coordination Council
reportedly confirmed that avian influenza outbreak affected a
total of 31 provinces in Turkey, with recent additions of three
more provinces on the list, and a total of 1,596,000 birds have
been culled to date. Meanwhile, Iraqi Health Minister announced
that a 17-year-old girl died because of bird flu disease on
January 17. Two people in Sivas's Kangal district got sick
after eating meat of a bird which was about to die and were
hospitalized in Sivas. Moreover, bird flu was suspected in four
people in Batman. These people were reportedly hospitalized.
HURRIYET / ZAMAN: An F-16 military airplane crashed in an area
five kilometers away from the Diyarbakir province. The pilot
survived as he was able to get out of the plane and use his
parachute.
EKSPRES / BOLGE / YENI SAFAK / ZAMAN: A bomb exploded in the
Turkish American Association in Adana at 3.15 p.m. yesterday and
four people incurred minor wounds during the blast. The bomb
exploded in the lobby of the association's building where
English courses were being offered. 50 students were in the
building when the explosion took place. A small fire reportedly
broke out following the blast.
BOLGE / ZAMAN: Jandarma teams in the Seyhan district found
three Kalashnikov rifles, four hand grenades, seven cartridges,
and many bullets in one of the waste water canals in Adana.
YENI SAFAK / ZAMAN / EVRENSEL / CUMHURIYET / RADIKAL / OZGUR
GUNDEM: The inspectors of the Interior Ministry determined
that the new year card Diyarbakir Mayor Osman Baydemir sent to
the Turkish Parliament, which also included a Kurdish "Happy New
Year" statement in it, was unconstitutional, and the inspectors
demanded in their recent report that action be brought against
Baydemir. Interior Ministry sent the report to the Diyarbakir
Prosecutor's Office. According to the inspectors, said daily
Ozgur Gundem, Baydemir openly breached the following clause of
the constitution: Turkish state and its nation are marked by
unity, the two are inseparable, and the language of the state is
Turkish. The inspectors demanded further action against Osman
Baydemir and 55 mayors of the southeastern provinces for sending
a letter to the prime minister of Denmark to prevent the
black-out of the pro-PKK Roj TV in Diyarbakir. (This summary is
from 01/28 editions.)
EVRENSEL / YENI SAFAK / OZGUR GUNDEM: Osman Baydemir
criticized the investigations started against him for sending a
Kurdish new year's card to the parliament and writing a letter
to the Danish Prime Minister not to ban the broadcasts of Roj
TV. Baydemir said that it was a funny attempt to prosecute a
person writing in Kurdish which was a language spoken by a
significant number of people in the country. Baydemir said that
whatever the court decided about the postcard in Kurdish, he
would still continue to speak Kurdish.
EVRENSEL: 182 villages in Mus have been without electricity
due to the problems caused by adverse weather conditions.
Separately, an avalanche blocked the road to Hakkari's Cukurca
district and local authorities have been undertaking tasks for
five days to clear the way.
YENI SAFAK: Gaye Erbatur, Vice-Chairperson of the Turkish
Parliamentary Commission for Probing Honor Killings, said that
the violence women suffered from was no worse than horror film
scenarios. According to Erbatur, in order to evade a stain on a
family's honor, girls and women are being locked-in their
houses, they are being forced to commit suicide, and their noses
or ears are being cut off.
YENI SAFAK: One of the actions brought against the Van
Centennial University rector Yucel Askin on charges of aiding
and abetting the PKK terrorist organization was dropped.
ZAMAN / OZGUR GUNDEM: The daily cited a survey reported
yesterday on Ozgur Gundem daily. Whereas Ozgur Gundem's report
emphasized the guerillas' preferences in music, literature,
cinema, religion and sports, Zaman daily only drew attention to
the religion aspect of the survey and cited that the most
popular leaders for the militants were Zoroaster and Jesus
Christ. Ozgur Gundem said in yesterday's report that most of
the militants liked Jenifer Lopez, Kurdish-origin singer Ahmet
Kaya, Loreena McKennit, among singers. Most of them read Orhan
Pamuk, Murray Bookchin and Amin Maalof. Moreover, the survey
results showed that most of the guerillas were a fan of the
Galatasaray soccer club in Turkey.
ZAMAN: PKK was reportedly readying to launch terrorist
activities, especially in Mersin on February 15, a day which
marked the capturing of the terrorist leader Abdullah Ocalan in
Kenyan capital Nairobi seven years ago.
ZAMAN: Subgovernor of Osmaniye's Kadirli district said that
the attempt to burn a Turkish flag in yesterday's incident in
Kadirli did not have a political character (see press summary
01/30). According to the subgovernor, the flag was probably
burned by unknown person(s) seeking a source of heat.
OZGUR GUNDEM: According to the daily, legal amendments
adopted in 2003 in Turkey have been preventing many former
political prisoners in Turkey, who have served their prison
sentences, from engaging in political life. Basing its move on
these legal amendments, Prosecutor's Office of the Supreme Court
sent a January 24-dated letter to the DTP (Democratic Society
Party) demanding that they drop the membership of its 74
founding members.
OZGUR GUNDEM / EVRENSEL: The refugees in the Mahmur camp
conveyed their demands in a report submitted to the UN
delegation that is currently visiting the camp. Reportedly, the
refugees would only return to Turkey if Turkey freed Abdullah
Ocalan, granted the right to mother tongue education, abolished
the village guard system, issued a general amnesty for militants
in the mountains and jailed political prisoners, paid
compensation for the damages incurred by the refugees'
displacement.
OZGUR GUNDEM: Derik Municipality in Mardin named a park
after Ugur Kaymaz, a 13-year-old child, who was killed with his
father by security forces in Mardin's Kiziltepe district in
November 2004.
REID