SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER 04, 2006

UNCLAS ADANA 000253 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PINS PGOV PHUM TU SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER 04, 2006 This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for December 04, ¶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 / ZAMAN / SABAH / CUMHURIYET: A group of soldiers who were being transferred to Agri's Dogubeyazit district from the Sixth Armored Brigade in Bitlis's Tatvan district in a small bus had an accident and collided with a truck which reportedly unlawfully left his lane of travel. Three soldiers died and eight of them were wounded. HURRIYET / ZAMAN / SABAH: A first instance court in Sanliurfa's Viransehir district issued a fine to a defendant on charges that he engaged in activities illegal under the Election Law. The defendant submitted two petitions, one in Turkish and one in Kurdish, to appeal the court's decision. The Eight Supreme Court overturned the petition in Kurdish and processed the Turkish one stating the grounds that the medium of language of the Turkish State was Turkish. ZAMAN / CUMHURIYET: Mersin-based CETKODER (Association for Protecting the Environment and Consumer Rights) launched a campaign and gathered two million signatures for the parliament to pass amendments regarding the Political Parties Act. CETKODER is objecting to clauses in the act which regulate the funding provided by the Treasury for the political parties. BOLGE / EKSPRES / ZAMAN: Adana Mayor Aytac Durak, who attended one of the regular monthly meetings of Chamber of Commerce in Adana as a guest, said during his speech that some circles in Adana, for political gains, worked hard to reverse the planned course of action in the light rail metro system project, and in a sense "derailed" the project whose construction had to halt because of those efforts. SABAH: The PKK allegedly executed a former senior member who was reportedly formerly the head of broke away from the organization on May 2005, with another senior member. Heftaro was reportedly killed in Aleppo on November 28, 2006. SECURITY SABAH: A funeral was held for two brothers, aged 12 and 14, who died because of an explosion that took place as they were playing with the bullets of a propeller gun they found in the ground in a village of Sirnak's Uludere district. ECONOMY SABAH (GUNEY): A Project Coordination Unit, which is being established by the Gaziantep Governor's Office, was opened by State Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullatif Sener in Gaziantep's Chamber of Commerce. Sener announced that the Interregional Cooperation Program between Turkey and Syria would allocate 20 million dollars of funding for the projects that will be carried out in Gaziantep and Kilis. CULTURE / SOCIETY / ENVIRONMENT HURIYET / EVRENSEL: Snowfall in a section of Erzincan coated a road with sheet of ice causing a passenger bus to slide off and roll over. Thirty-one out of forty-three passengers were wounded. HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): Two hundred handicapped people held a march to mark the World Disability Day in Adana. Seyhan and Yuregir Municipalities organized separate activities to celebrate the day in Adana. World Disability Day celebrations were also held in Diyarbakir. Some news footage showed Diyarbakir Mayor Osman Baydemir as joining in the folk dances performance of the disabled persons. GREEN