SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR 29 MARCH, 2006

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000063 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR 29 MARCH, 2006 This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for March 29, ¶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, SECURITY, HUMAN RIGHTS RADIKAL: A crisis was reportedly sparked at the end of a theater play Tourism Minister Atilla Koc watched in Adana following the opening of 8th International Theater Festival. The lines of the play included an offensive statement that PM Erdogan uttered to a farmer in Mersin early in February (see press summary 02/13). The controversial lines of the play would reportedly not be included in the other performances. OZGUR GUNDEM: Turkish Miltary Forces reportedly launched a military operation in a rural area of Siirt's Eruh district. 20,000 soldiers and village guards have reportedly been deployed in the area. RADIKAL / HURRIYET / BOLGE / EKSPRES / ZAMAN: During the funeral held in Diyarbakir for four of the fourteen PKK members killed in a military operation last Friday (see press summary 03/27) in Mus, tension developed and the city center turned into chaos. Upon calls made from pro-PKK Roj TV, most of the tradesmen in the region closed their businesses during the day because of the funerals that would take place in the city. Pro-PKK demonstrators allegedly hurled stones and Molotov cocktails at nearly 70 businesses that stayed open during the day. Zaman daily claimed that people of Diyarbakir have not yielded to PKK threats oppressing tradesmen in the province to close their businesses during the day of the funerals. The ATMs of the banks, who stayed open, have been badly damaged allegedly by the protestors. Hurriyet daily blames Denmark for tension developing in the region because Denmark-based Roj TV has reportedly incited people. Nearly 5000 people gathered for the funeral and people carried the coffins to the cemetery. The crowd dispersed at the end of the funerals; however, a 1000-person group marched along a street that led to a police station and chanted pro-PKK and pro-Ocalan slogans. Anti-riot teams blocked the way and stopped the crowd. People reportedly threw stones at the police and hurled a Molotov cocktail at an armored police vehicle which started burning. Another armored vehicle extinguished the fire in the armored vehicle. Police used gas bombs to disperse the crowd. However, people gathered again and continued to clash with the police. The clash got more widespread and 22 people have been wounded. Special team members arrived at the city then, and Jandarma deployed more forces in the city. 23 people have been detained. Meanwhile, tension also developed in Adana during the funeral of another terrorist. 3000 people attending the funeral reportedly waved PKK flags, shouted pro-Ocalan slogans, and hurled stones at the police. Police detained 3 people during the clash including Kucukdikili mayor Leyla Guven from DTP. In Batman, 5000 people attended the funeral of another terrorist. People carried banners reading, "We will go up the mountains and will have those liable people pay for this." Another terrorist's funeral was held in Siirt and 5000 people attended it. People marched to the city center then and a 500-person group hurled stones at the police. Military forces intervened and unidentified one person and a 16-year-old person has been wounded during the incident. Tension resumed towards evening in Diyarbakir, but security forces dispersed people. Jandarma Commando Teams have been deployed in the yard of the Governor's Office. EVRENSEL / OZGUR GUNDEM: Daily Ozgur Gundem claims that Turkish military used chemical weapons during the military operation last Friday (03/25) that killed 14 terrorists. According to the paper, 20,000 people attended four funerals held in Diyarbakir. People reportedly clashed with security officers for three hours following the end of the funerals. The administration of security in the city center has been transferred to the Jandarma and special teams for the first time after 15 years. Former DEP deputy Hatip Dicle, DTP Diyarbakir provincial chairperson Ahmet Cengiz, TUHAD-FED (Federation Initiative for Solidarity with Inmate Families) national chairperson Nursel Aydogan, and Mehdi Zana (Husband of Leyla Zana) were among the people that participated in the funeral. The dailies also reported that many F-16 military planes flew over the funeral place. Police in Siirt allegedly shot Muhlis Ete, a 16-year-old demonstrator, who attempted to raise flag of democratic confederalism around 4 p.m on a hill viewing the funeral area. The young person was seriously wounded and hospitalized. The dailies reported as 10,000 people attending the funeral in Siirt. Meanwhile, a 100-car convoy brought the coffin of another terrorist to Adiyaman. 500 hundred people reportedly attended funeral ceremony there. Ali Ekber, DTP Adiyaman provincial chairperson, delivered a speech and said that they still wanted peace despite all the developments taking ADANA 00000063 002 OF 002 place. OZGUR GUNDEM: Democratic Union Party, which was established by Kurds in Syria, made a call on the Kurdish community in Syria to voice protests against killing of 14 terrorists in Turkey's Mus province. Meanwhile, hundreds of people held a march in a village of Suleymaniyah district of Northern Iraq to protest the killing of guerillas. Separately, some students at Van Centennial University hung a giant banner on a wall of the university that read, "Revenge of 14 HPG guerillas killed will be taken." The banner was removed by the soldiers deployed in a police station located at the university. Meanwhile, nearly 1,000 people marched in Mardin's Kiziltepe district to protest the killings in March 25 military operations in Mus. RADIKAL / ZAMAN / CUMHURIYET / EVRENSEL: The nine-person delegation of the Turkish parliamentary commission probing the Semdinli case went to Hakkari yesterday (see press summary 03/28). Meetings of the commission will reportedly be held at the Hakkari Governor's Office. Delegation members met the Hakkari Governor at his office. Apart from the people related with the Semdinli incident, commission members also will hold talks with the owner of a car in which a July 2005 blast killed two officers in Hakkari, and the brother of AKP deputy Fehmi Oztunc, in whose garden a bomb attack was carried out in September 2005. Chairperson of the parliamentary commission, Sivacioglu, dismissed allegations that the commission was interwoven with politics and that the commission formerly disclosed information to the Van prosecutor as he was preparing the Semdinli indictment. Meanwhile, yesterday's papers noted that Prosecutor Ferhat Sarikaya's announcement that he would not be holding a meeting with the commission members during their trip. OZGUR GUNDEM: HPG reportedly denied any connection with the death of 31-year-old Serdar Donmez who stepped on a mine in a village in Tunceli (see press summary 03/28). The Tunceli Governor's Office had claimed that the mine was planted by the PKK. EVRENSEL: Speeches of former and current U.S. ambassadors to Turkey delivered at the Turkish-American Business Council's conference reportedly implied warnings to Turkey regarding its relationship with Iran. Marc Grossman, former U.S. Ambassador to Turkey, reportedly said that the Iranian issue might either create a very positive effect on the Turkish-American relationship, or the relationship might get stagnant. The daily further reported that the U.S. has finally won "the war" over the quotas Turkey imposed on its rice imports after filing a complaint against Turkey with the WTO. OZGUR GUNDEM: A bomb reportedly exploded in one of the main streets of Mardin's Midyat district yesterday morning. No injuries or deaths were reported following the event. The police evacuated and sealed off the area. OZGUR GUNDEM: Security forces allegedly opened fire and killed a reported Iranian origin fuel-oil smuggler in Van's Baskale district. The man was reportedly shot at close range. CUMHURIYET / RADIKAL / OZGUR GUNDEM: Ministry of Justice inspectors completed their investigation report concerning the controversial Semdinli indictment prepared by Van Prosecutor Ferhat Sarikaya; and the Ministry of Justice demanded that a disciplinary action be brought against Sarikaya for referring to concerns in the Semdinli indictment that need not be involved in it. The report also demands disciplinary action against Sarikaya for sending a written document (of unspecified content) to the Hakkari Provincial Jandarma Command. RADIKAL / CUMHURIYET / ZAMAN: Amid heated controversy over fraud allegations in public tenders in Hatay, AKP Group Deputy Chairperson, upon instructions given by PM Erdogan, appointed two AKP deputies to probe the allegations claiming that companies with links to AKP deputies in Hatay have won 271 of the 273 public tenders in the province in the last three years. REID