SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR NOVEMBER 26, 2006

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000247 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PINS PGOV PHUM TU SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR NOVEMBER 26, 2006 This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for November 26, ¶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 (CUKUROVA): Hatay Governor Ahmet Kayhan paid a courtesy visit to the Governor of Lazkiye province in Syria. One of the topics the governors discussed was about two border gates between the two countries. BOLGE: President of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus came to Gaziantep to attend a series of openings and to take part in a November 25 dated conference in the Gaziantep University. HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): Gaziantep Mayor Asim Guzelbey announced that last stage of construction has begun on the monument that described the story of what had happened during the French occupation in Gaziantep in the early decades of the 20th century. ZAMAN: Despite the fact that the EU listed the PKK among terrorist organizations, France, which discontinued Turkish language broadcasts on its International French Radio, has remained acquiescent to the pro-PKK broadcasts on a radio station France allocated to several associations in France. A radio program held yesterday invited Kurdish people in France to join the events that would be held to celebrate the 28th anniversary of the PKK. TOPLUMSAL DEMOKRASI: Youth Assembly of the DTP in Mardin's Nusaybin district held an event to mark both International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women (November 25) and the 28th anniversary of the foundation of the PKK (November 27). Meanwhile, the DTP district party organization in Mardin's Mazidagi district held a public meeting to discuss the cease-fire PKK announced. ZAMAN: Despite remarks of Iraqi President Massoud Barzani that they would not allow the PKK to take shelter in the Iraqi territory, a senior PKK official recently announced that the fifty villages in northern Iraq were under the control of the PKK. HUMAN RIGHTS TOPLUMSAL DEMOKRASI / CUMHURIYET / RADIKAL: Diyarbakir Women's Platform and International Amnesty Organization members held a joint press announcement in Diyarbakir to mark International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Meanwhile, police in Mazidagi district banned the brochures DTP Women's Assembly prepared to mark the Day, on grounds that the brochures included illegal propaganda materiel. Cumhuriyet and Radikal dailies further noted women's activities held by several political parties and civil society organizations in Hatay, Sanliurfa, Adana, Antalya and Ankara provinces. SECURITY ZAMAN / CUMHURIYET / HURRIYET / RADIKAL: The funeral of an infantry commando sergeant, who died in a clash in the Kupeli Mountains in Sirnak the previous day, was held in Izmir. Agean Army Commander, several senior officers, the governor of Izmir and many people attended the funeral. TOPLUMSAL DEMOKRASI: Three PKK members, who were killed during the military operations of the Turkish Armed Forces started in rural sections of Tunceli, Elazig and Bingol ten days ago, have been buried with three funerals held in the hometowns of the PKK members, namely Tunceli, Adiyaman and Mus provinces. Relatives of one of the PKK members are reportedly suspecting that chemical weapons caused the burns on the dead body of the PKK member. Meanwhile, one of the eight PKK members killed on November 16 during the military operations in Tunceli and Bingol, was recently identified and announced by the PKK headquarters. CRIME / LAW ENFORCEMENT TOPLUMSAL DEMOKRASI: When people of a township in Diyarbakir's Hani district objected to the burial of a village guard, who was killed by unidentified person(s) some days ago in ADANA 00000247 002 OF 002 the township, the family of the village guard had to bury their dead in another district. CUMHURIYET / ZAMAN / RADIKAL: Van police announced that a total of 1,217 kilograms of heroin, 8,982,000 Indian hemps, and 854 kilograms of hashish was seized in the province to date in 2006 in Van. ZAMAN: Jandarma teams in Adana's Ceyhan district searched a passenger bus and found 12 kilograms of hashish on two passengers. ECONOMY ZAMAN / TOPLUMSAL DEMOKRASI / HURRIYET / CUMHURIYET / RADIKAL: The biggest live animal market of Turkey has been opened in Diyarbakir. Music by Kamkars, Iran's Kurdish Family Ensemble, and Pink Floyd were played during the opening ceremony, and Diyarbakir Mayor Osman Baydemir and DTP Chairperson Ahmet Turk delivered speeches. Banners included Turkish, Kurdish and English versions of the word "Welcome." Turk said during his speech that Turkey cannot enter the EU as long as it continued to deny the presence of the Kurds. The market was built on 30.6 acres of land and 10 million YTL has been spent to build it. CUMHURIYET / BOLGE / HURRIYET (CUKUROVA) / ZAMAN: Two hundred citrus fruit farmers held a protest on the day when Mersin Governor's Office and Erdemli district's citrus fruit union jointly held an event called "Lemon Harvest Day." Farmers, who reportedly had complaints about authorities neglecting problems of citrus fruit farmers, chanted slogans. Jandarma, as they forcibly quelled the commotion, detained the district chairperson of the Erdemli district (from CHP) and two farmers. Farmers angered by the detentions, briefly blockaded the flow of traffic on the road between Mersin and Antalya. BOLGE: Chairperson of the Adana Chapter of Agricultural Engineers complained that middlemen, who were paying 0.13 cents per kilogram to farmers to buy citrus fruit, were selling the produce at a five times more expensive price in the market. HURRIYET / RADIKAL: State Minister Kursat Tuzmen announced signing of a protocol with Iraqis at a joint economic commission to hold the International Baghdad Festival for the second time again in Gaziantep in 2007. TOPLUMSAL DEMOKRASI: Mehdi Eker, Minister of Agriculture and Village Works, announced in a speech he delivered at Diyarbakir's Commodity Exchange that the first of the Middle Eastern Agricultural Fair will be held in Diyarbakir between May 23 and 27. CULTURE / SOCIETY / ENVIRONMENT BOLGE: People in Hatay extended their thanks to the Pope Benedict XVI for the 10,000-Euro aid the pope sent to the victims of the flooding that took place in Hatay at the onset of November. Bishop Luigi Padovese, Representative of Papacy in Anatolia and Chairperson of Catholic Bishops Council, conveyed a part of the aid to the Iskenderun District Subgovernor in Iskenderun district of Hatay. HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): A project called "Raising Awareness about Cleaning", which was created by Yerel Gundem 21 (Local Agenda 21 Project) in Diyarbakir with the support of Jarfella Municipality of Sweden, has been promoted in the province. Diyarbakir Mayor Osman Baydemir delivered a speech during the event and said that one of the distinctive qualities of a society was the attention paid to cleanliness. HURRIYET: An unidentified person participating in a wedding opened fire in the air and accidentally killed a 60-year-old woman watching the wedding from the balcony of her house. (Note: Opening fire in the air is a practice observed in weddings in some parts of Turkey. End Note.) GREEN