SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR OCTOBER 20, 2006

UNCLAS ADANA 000230 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PINS PGOV PHUM TU SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR OCTOBER 20, 2006 This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for October 20, ¶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 ZAMAN: DTP, which the paper portrays as attempting to legalize the PKK, will announce today in Ankara the results of the campaign it has been running to gather signatures from PKK sympathizers in support of the statement: "I,as a member of Kurdistan, accept Abdullah Ocalan as my political will." ¶3. OZGUR GUNDEM: DTP will make public today the results of the campaign that recognizes Ocalan as people's political will. The campaign started in July 14, 2005 and it ended on March 21, 2006. ¶4. ZAMAN / CUMHURIYET / HURRIYET: CHP leader Deniz Baykal criticized the remarks Diyarbakir Mayor Osman Baydemir made at the European Parliament, without mentioning Baydemir's name. For the first time in the history a mayor said in Europe that petroleum and hydro-energy resources in Batman should be administered by the local administrations of Batman, according to Baykal. Baykal said that the terrorists in the mountains and the politicians in the city are working for the success of the same project. ¶5. OZGUR GUNDEM / YENI SAFAK: DTP sent a statement to more than 3000 civil society organizations in Turkey making a call for people to unite their forces and draw a roadmap in order to work out a way to achieve permanent peace during the cease-fire process. Meanwhile, Tuncer Bakirhan, DTP Deputy Chairperson, who held contacts in many EU countries, said that the EU should take the initiative to define a clear policy in resolving the Kurdish issue. ¶6. EVRENSEL / OZGUR GUNDEM: The people living in Sirnak's Uludere district are complaining about the increased military checkpoints on the road between Uludere and Sirnak's Beytussebap districts and a telephone outage affecting eight villages which is allegedly caused by soldiers. DTP Uludere district chairperson cautioned the authorities that migration from the area might start. CRIME / LAW ENFORCEMENT ¶7. HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): Thirty-four aliens, who entered the country illegally, have been caught in Gaziantep. They are Afghan and Iraqi nationals, told the police. ¶8. HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): Van police searching a house in a village of Van found 350 kilograms of hashish hidden under manure piles. CULTURE / SOCIETY ¶9. RADIKAL / CUMHURIYET: A collective agreement covering 98 municipality workers was signed between a union and Diyarbakir's Kayapinar Municipality. The agreement stipulated also that the workers should learn Kurdish to better communicate with the people they would bring services to. ¶10. HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): Sixth peanut festival will be held in Osmaniye between 26 and 27 October. ¶11. OZGUR GUNDEM: A 3.7-magnitude earthquake shook Van. No casualties were reported. ¶12. YENI SAFAK: A 16-year-old girl in Adana smothered her sister with a cloth as they were quarreling on why the girl's sister was going out with a lot of men. GREEN