SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR NOVEMBER 20, 2006

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000245 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PINS PGOV PHUM TU SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR NOVEMBER 20, 2006 This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for November 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 / YENI SAFAK: An investigation under Article 301 of the Penal Code has been started against Ayhan Bilgen, Chairperson of Association for Human Rights and Solidarity for Oppressed People (Mazlum-Der),for Bilgen allegedly insulted Turkishness by stating that dismissal of former Van Prosecutor from profession constituted an intervention in the exercising of the law. EVRENSEL / BOLGE / RADIKAL: Devlet Bahceli, national chairperson of MHP (Nationalist Movement Party),criticized Mehmet Agar, DYP leader, without necessarily mentioning Agar's name during his address at the eight MHP congress held in Ankara. Bahceli said that when time matures (Turkish) people would give the best answer to those who were "attempting to draw the terrorists from the (Qandil) mountain to the plains of Ankara in the so-called name of peace and tranquility." According to Bahceli, AKP was showing great weakness in the face of terrorism and heeding the political scenarios that were actually being created by the PKK. CUMHURIYET / EVRENSEL: A program called "Authors in Diyarbakir are Discussing Their Problems", which was being shot at Gun TV station in Diyarbakir to mark Diyarbakir's Fourth Literature Days, was cancelled when police, with its authorization obtained from the Governor's Office, attempted to film the shooting of the program. The speaker and 20 authors participating in the program said that the move was against press freedom and the principles related with the profession, and that the administrators of the TV station decided they would discontinue shooting of the program under those circumstances. EVRENSEL: The people living in tents in areas that were badly affected by flooding in Batman are demanding from PM Erdogan that the premier's pledge for providing housing for the flooding victims should not require the victims to pay back the costs of the housing. Victims are reportedly frustrated that the premier did not declare the area as a disaster zone during his recent visit to the province, which came 17 days after the flooding incident. SECURITY ZAMAN: Mines placed allegedly by PKK members in Tunceli and Sirnak provinces reportedly wounded seven soldiers. HUMAN RIGHTS RADIKAL / EVRENSEL / ZAMAN / CUMHURIYET / YENI SAFAK: A doctor in Van's Baskale district, who diagnosed that a 21 year-old girl was 3 months old pregnant because of a extra-marital affair, assessed that the girl might be victim of an honor killing. The doctor then informed the subgovernor to put the girl under state protection. CRIME / LAW ENFORCEMENT EKSPRES / BOLGE: Jandarma caught 30 people in Mersin's Silifke district who entered the country illegally. Twenty-four of the people were from Syria, two of them were from Iran, and four of them are from Georgia. Jandarma officials were startled that snakeads were able to squeeze 30 people in a 14 seated small passenger bus. ECONOMY ZAMAN: Ministry of Finance has still not determined a date for a new tender for the mine-cleaning task in an area in Mardin at the border with Syria. The first tender, which was held on February 2006, was cancelled because the three companies that offered bids have not provided all of the required documents. However, the Ministry has still not announced nine months after the first tender opening of a new one. Recently, Mardin deputy from AKP said that the Ministry launched new efforts an was assessing the case, and would announce their new decision about the case in two months. BOLGE / EKSPRES / SABAH (GUNEY): The recent rainfall, which ADANA 00000245 002 OF 002 caused damage to cotton fields in the fertile Cukurova plain in the eastern Mediterranean region, caused the price of the cotton to dive by 50 percent, said the chairperson of the Chamber of agricultural engineers. The quality of the cotton reportedly decreased a great deal. Meanwhile, a farmer in Gaziantep held a protest and burned all his cotton produce, because he was not able to sell it at a profitable price in the market. CULTURE / SOCIETY / ENVIRONMENT ZAMAN: Thirty old manuscripts belonging to the library of Sheikh Maruf that were damaged in the flooding which took place in Batman will be repaired and restored in a library of manuscripts in Kayseri, a central Anatolian province. EVRENSEL: Cilo Nature Association in Hakkari presented a project to the Eastern Anatolian Development Progam to promote the upcountry tourism potential of the lakes located in the Mountain Cilo. The association held a meeting in Hakkari to promote the project whose organizers claimed the project would utilize the natural richness of Hakkari to stimulate the socioeconomic development in the province. EVRENSEL: Snowfall in the southeastern region and reduced visibility due to fog adversely affects the flow of the traffic and safe driving. Especially, people without tire chains had great difficulty in traveling with their cars on the road between Hakkari and Van. Meanwhile, the first snow in the Agri province fell, reports the daily. GREEN