SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER 11, 2006

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000258

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

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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

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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