SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER 19, 2006

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000262 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PINS PGOV PHUM TU SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER 19, 2006 This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for December 19, ¶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 / EVRENSEL / ZAMAN / RADIKAL: "A Walk for Peace", comprised of a 20-car convoy and which was started by nearly 1000 elected members of DTP three days ago in Diyarbakir in order to extend support for the cease-fire declared by the PKK, ended in Ankara yesterday (see press summary for December 18). Evrensel and Toplumsal Demokrasi dailies report Kurds' deep frustration about Parliament Spokesperson Bulent Arinc who declined to meet DTP officials in Ankara. The dailies, which reminded that elected Kurdish deputies were dismissed from the parliament in 1994 and 2005, further reported that the hands extended to find a counterpart for a possible peace process "found no response again" yesterday. DTP Chairperson Ahmet Turk commented that a Parliament Spokesperson plainly gave no response to their request for an appointment, and branded such attitude as a stance taken against peace. Evrensel and Toplumsal Demokrasi dailies also pointed out that Mr. Arinc met with Land Forces Commander on the same day they requested an appointment from Arinc. DTP members held a 10-minute sit-in protest in Ankara, left their white scarves symbolizing peace on the trees, and returned to their hometowns. HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): Assembly members (from MHP) of the Adana Municipality protested against the Municipality for not completing the light rail metro system whose construction was started back in 1997. ECONOMY SABAH (GUNEY): Many organizations, such as a cooperative in Adana, Seyhan District's Chamber of Agriculture, and Mersin Governor's Office launched efforts to encourage consumption of citrus fruit and its juice. The cooperative for its part will provide citrus fruit supplementing the regular dinner meals provided to its staff members and will offer a citrus fruit as a drink to their guests. CRIME / LAW ENFORCEMENT BOLGE / HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): Gaziantep police seized four kilograms of hashish as a result of an anti-drug operation conducted on a car carrying five persons in Gaziantep. The people caught have been detained. Meanwhile, police, who found 17 kilograms of hashish in a passenger bus in Van's Muradiye district during their regular searches, started investigating the case. HUMAN RIGHTS TOPLUMSAL DEMOKRASI / EVRENSEL: Human Rights Association (HRA) sent a delegation to the Pirinclik village of Diyarbakir to probe the case of a 17-year-old young person who, according to the military officials, died because of a heart attack he had while he was under detention at a jandarma station there (see press summary for December 18). (Note: Some papers report the age of the boy as 16. End note.) HRA will generate a report about its findings on the incident. Diyarbakir Prosecutor's Office started an investigation against the soldiers, according to the reporting of Toplumsal Demokrasi daily. Evrensel daily points out that Diyarbakir Governor's Office did not find satisfactory grounds for the Office to start an investigation into the incident. Deputy Governor reportedly claimed that jandarma only opened fire in the air and did not shoot anybody during the event. TOPLUMSAL DEMOKRASI: Prosecution process against 59 members of the Sanliurfa Democracy Platform will start tomorrow in Sanliurfa's Fifth First Instance Court. Charges were brought against those 59 defendants because they allegedly violated the Act on Holding Meetings and Demonstrations during a press announcement held on February 15, 2005 in support of "global peace as against global war." TOPLUMSAL DEMOKRASI: Eight students of the Centennial University were detained by police as they were walking in a street in Van. The grounds for the students' detention were reportedly not provided. ADANA 00000262 002 OF 002 TOPLUMSAL DEMOKRASI / RADIKAL: In the face of honor killings dominating the agenda of the Van province, and, according to the Toplumsal Demokrasi daily: the municipality "doing nothing to address the issue of honor killings", a female attorney recently launched efforts for a project to build a women's shelter in Van. EVRENSEL: Chairperson of Tunceli Chapter of Human Rights Association, who held a press announcement together with political party representatives, attorneys, union representatives and other people, claimed that The Law on Compensating for the Losses Incurred Because Of Terrorism, and Anti-Terror Measures proved itself unsatisfactory in compensating for losses of the terrorism victims. CULTURE / SOCIETY / ENVIRONMENT EVRENSEL: The Rector's Office of Dokuz Eylul University in Izmir did not grant authorization to students to open stands for an aid campaign launched to help the victims of flooding disasters that took place in the southeastern region. The Rector's Office overturned the students' request on grounds that the application was not conforming to the procedures and that the campaign lacked an instructor who would properly lead the initiative. SABAH (GUNEY): Sanliurfa Governor Yusuf Yavascan announced that cash aid amounting to 500 YTL (nearly 350 USD) would be provided to each family out of a total of 116 families who have been victims of flooding in the whole province. The Governor also pledged that aid will be provided to those people whose houses got destroyed during the disaster. BOLGE / HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): Barabra Petzen, an American citizen, who came to Adana's Incirlik district in 1983 to teach English there, settled in Mersin's Kizkalesi district when she retired. Petzen, who recently died in the U.S. as she was being treated for leukemia, requested in her will for her ashes to be brought and be thrown into the sea in Kizkalesi district, a place she loved very much. HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): An eight-year-old Turkish girl won the first prize in her category at the International Chess Championship held by the American Chess Federation in the U.S. GREEN