SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR NOVEMBER 22, 2006

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000248 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PINS PGOV PHUM TU SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR NOVEMBER 22, 2006 This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for November 22, ¶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 TOPLUMSAL DEMOKRASI: Ozgur Gundem daily, which authorities banned a week ago, has appeared on the shelves back under the name "Toplumsal Demokrasi", which translates as "Societal Democracy." EVRENSEL: Civil society and political organizations in Tunceli, where recently one soldier and six PKK members died during the ongoing military operations, convened at the conference hall of the Tunceli Municipality to make a call to people to embrace the cease-fire decision taken three months ago. EVRENSEL: Central Executive Board of DTP announced the results of a meeting it held the previous day. DTP chairpersons will be holding a series of visits in the southeastern region and the chairpersons will later hold two public meetings in Diyarbakir and Istanbul about the cease-fire. EVRENSEL: Murat Karayalcin, National Chairperson of SHP (Social Democratic People's Party),came to Diyarbakir to start election preparations in that province. CUMHURIYET: Diyarbakir's Fifth Heavy Penalty Court continued to hear the case of the 56 mayors in the southeastern region who sent a letter to the Danish Prime Minister Anders Von Rasmussen to seek his support in order not to black out pro-PKK Roj TV. The undersecretary of Embassy of Denmark in Ankara came to Diyarbakir to attend the court hearing and observe the trial process. SECURITY ZAMAN: A bomb placed in the car of the former president of a Patriotic Forces' Solidarity Union in Hatay exploded yesterday night at 3 a.m. Police launched a large scale investigation following the incident. HUMAN RIGHTS EVRENSEL: Mersin Women's Platform sent postcards to the women in jails as a gesture to mark the November 25 International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. The Platform members also announced that a public meeting would be held in Mersin on November 26 to mark the day. Diyarbakir Women's Platform, Diyarbakir Chapter of the International Amnesty Organization and The Women's Assembly of the Local Agenda 21 announced the program of activities that would be held on 25th. 
 RADIKAL / SABAH: Doctors diagnosed that B.E., a 24-year-old girl in Van, who is a relative of the 15-year-old girl killed in the name of honor because of her pregnancy out of an extramarital affair, was also pregnant. The authorities put B.E. under state protection to avoid her being a victim of an "honor killing." The number of women who were put under state protection increased to five in Van. CRIME / LAW ENFORCEMENT HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): Police seized 64 kilograms of hashish during an anti-drug operation conducted in a house in Hatay's Samandag district. HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): Jandarma officials, who received a tip-off about fuel oil thievery from a pipeline of the NATO facilities in Malatya, caught the suspected person and found 900 liters of fuel oil in the van of that person. ZAMAN: Police caught the fourth suspect in connection with the killing of the Mayor (from AKP) and his brother in Adana's Karatas district on September 22. It is found out that four people allegedly devised the plan to kill the mayor because their unearned revenues from a beach area in the district were disrupted because of the recent designation of the district as a tourism area. ECONOMY ADANA 00000248 002 OF 002 BOLGE / ZAMAN: The speech delivered by a faculty member of Ankara-based Hacettepe University's Faculty of Engineering on "Information for Turkish SMEs in Compliance with EU's Environmental Acquis" at Adana Chamber of Industry did not receive much public attention. CULTURE / SOCIETY / ENVIRONMENT SABAH (GUNEY) / HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): November 16 marked the 16th anniversary of the death of Ege Bagatur, a former mayor of Adana, who was assassinated. People gathered at the theater hall of Adana Municipality to remember him. Adana Mayor Aytac Durak said during his address to the people that Bagatur was an honest politician. CUMHURIYET: As damage assessment studies have been continuing, the Diyarbakir Bar Association and Batman Bar Association decided that they would provide free legal services for people who became victims of the flooding that killed over 40 people in the southeastern region. SABAH / ZAMAN: Villagers and opinion leaders of a clan in Mus's Haskoy village held a meeting and condemned the killings perpetrated in the name of honor. SABAH: A crisis broke out between Diyarbakir's Kayaypinar Municipality and a union over a clause in the collective agreement stipulating that courses in Kurdish about labor law, health and work safety should be offered to the workers. GREEN