SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER 11, 2006

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000258 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PINS PGOV PHUM TU SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER 11, 2006 This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for December 11, ¶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 CUMHURIYET: Imprisoned PKK leader, Abdullah Ocalan, who used to criticize the DYP leader Mehmet Agar severely for his involvement in mysterious killing of Kurdish politicians and the Susurluk case, stated that he found Mr. Agar's recent phrases closer to his phrases, and the model that Mr. Agar would like to put into action is liberal democracy that the EU has realized. Ocalan added that what Mr. Agar has been suggesting should be given a chance and that the US and EU might be supporting Agar as well. Ocalan criticized DTP severely and accused its leaders of being insufficient in putting theories into practice and that they should develop themselves in that regard. He also warned the Kurdish citizens and people from Diyarbakir not to vote for the political parties exploiting sectarian schools because those votes turned to bombs and into a lynching culture against Kurds. EVRENSEL: Sahismail Bedirhanoglu, the President of Southeastern Industrialists and Businessmen Association -GUNSIAD- said that the businessmen were in favor of the continuation of the ceasefire and that the state's response to the ceasefire might be delayed because of the election process, and that the party that decided on the truce should be a little bit more patient. Bedirhanoglu said that no duration should be given for the truce and that, if needed, the armed groups should withdraw out of Turkey to avoid any provocations. GUNSIAD President said that he was anxious that breaking of the truce would strengthen the pro-violence groups and therefore emphasized that the truce should not be wasted. HUMAN RIGHTS EVRENSEL: An HPG guerilla, Abbas Armani, Iranian citizen, had been killed after he had been arrested alive during 24-27 August 2005 clashes in rural Besiri of Batman. Seven HPG guerillas had been killed in the clashes. After Armani's live pictures were published in Gundem newspaper, Armani's family and lawyers filed a petition with the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office (PPO) of Besiri. The Besiri PPO responded to lawyers on October 10, 2006 saying that there was no need to investigate the case any further. One of Armani's lawyers, Selahattin Demirtas, who is the HRA's Diyarbakir Chapter's President, objected to the decision, and his petition was sent to the heavy Criminal Court in Midyat of Mardin province. The court reverted the file to the PPO of Besiri and asked that the case be examined thoroughly and reminded the prosecutor that he was responsible for accumulating all the evidence about the case. CUMHURIYET/EVRENSEL: Non-governmental Organizations undertook various activities and released press statements in Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, and Diyarbakir on the occasion of the 58th anniversary of the acceptance of the Universal Human Rights Declaration. Attorney Selahattin Demirtas, the President of HRA Chapter in Diyarbakir, said that approximately 300 people had been killed and hundreds of others had been wounded because of the clashes in the region since December 10, 2005. The HRA, HRF, Bar Association, and Mazlumder participated in the activities in Diyarbakir. The report prepared by the Documentation Center of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey drew attention to the increase in violation of rights. The report said 318 persons applied to them with claims of torture during the eleven months of 2006 and that 62 persons had been killed between October 2005 and October 2006 as a consequence of security forces' extrajudicial killing, random firing, firing on demonstrators and individuals not yielding to "halt" warnings. The report said 17 persons had been killed because of explosion of land mines and live ordinance in the fields, and that 14 persons had been killed in prisons while two others had been killed while under detention. The report reminded that 112 writers, publishers and journalists had been tried for their articles in the first ten months of 2006. SECURITY ZAMAN: Notes from Abdullah Ocalan's lawyers' meeting with him on December 6, 2006 have been appearing in the web sites close to PKK. A quotation by Abdullah Ocalan saying "Kurds have time until Spring before them" is interpreted as instructions for PKK ADANA 00000258 002 OF 002 to intensify its attacks in the spring. YENI SAFAK: During an operation dubbed "Tulip" in Bitlis, security forces seized 30 kilos of heroin in a car traveling from Hakkari to Bitlis. F.S. and I.G. initialed individuals in the car, allegedly involved in drug trafficking, were taken before the prosecutor following conclusion of their arrest processes. ECONOMY RADIKAL: Asking the industrialists and businessmen to invest in Diyarbakir, the Agriculture Minister Mehdi Akar said Diyarbakir was more secure than Paris. Minister Akar said that the population of Paris was 11.5 million and that 4.5 million criminal acts occurred per year while only 20,000 criminal incidents happened in Diyarbakir, which has 1.5 million population. Minister Akar said that Diyarbakir was situated in the heart of a region that possessed important means and advantages. Minister Akar said any investment in Diyarbakir should envisage exporting to the region that imports 25 billion US dollars of food stuffs as well. The minister stated that in Diyarbakir neither meat nor dairy industries were at the desired level. He said that Diyarbakir's annual meat production was 15,000 tons and milk production was 250,000 tons but that Diyarbakir had only two facilities to process these products. GREEN