SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR APRIL 28, 2006

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000096 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR APRIL 28, 2006 This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for April 28, ¶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 CNNTURK ONLINE / MILLIYET ONLINE / NTVMSNBC ONLINE: Three hundred and thirty attorneys from various bar associations applied to take part as intervening attorneys on behalf of bookstore owner Seferi Yilmaz in the first court hearing of November 9 Semdinli bombing incident which will start on May 4. CNNTURK ONLINE: Diyarbakir Prosecutor's Office (DPO) has been continuing its efforts to prepare indictments against people taking part in the unauthorized demonstrations at the end of March ?n Diyarbakir. DPO completed indictments concerning the cases of another block of people comprised of 175 persons. CUMHURIYET: PM Erdogan will go to Diyarbakir and Siirt on May 7 to attend provincial congresses of local AKP headquarters. Erdogan would originally travel to those provinces on June 3; however, he decided to conduct those visits earlier allegedly amidst rumors circulating about early polls. YENI SAFAK / RADIKAL / HURRIYET / OZGUR GUNDEM / CUMHURIYET: Terrorists attacked a Jandarma station in Tunceli threw a hand grenade when a private shouted a halt warning. Two soldiers have been killed and one non-commissioned officer has been wounded. CUMHURIYET: Two U.S. Navy vessels, an aircraft carrier and a warship, are allegedly anchored in international waters between Iskenderun Bay and Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. Commander of a vessel and senior officers were reportedly refused permission for their crew to go ashore at Iskenderun bay by the Turkish Navy Command at the bay on April 14. Both of the vessels will reportedly take part in a drill that would take place during Iranian President Ahmedinejad's visit to Turkey between May 24 and 26. HURRIYET / YENI SAFAK: Yeni Safak daily reported that Massoud Barzani, Kurdistan Democratic Party Leader, said that Turkish Army did not penetrate into Iraqi territory. Separately, U.S. Ambassador to Ankara, Ross Wilson, upon journalists' questions about Turkish Army's cross-border operations in the northern Iraq, said that the U.S. supported measures against terrorist infiltrations into the country. OZGUR GUNDEM: A unionist, against whom an investigation has been started on grounds that he attended a funeral of a guerilla last month, has reportedly been detained in Diyarbakir. Meanwhile, a person in Hakkari has been detained reportedly on grounds that he violated Law on Demonstrations and Gatherings during his attendance in March 21 Newruz celebrations. Separately, Mehmet Sahin, DTP Hakkari provincial executive board member, has been arraigned, and then released to stand trial later. Action has been brought against Sahin reportedly on grounds that he incited truck drivers not to drive their vehicles in order to protest the violent incidents that took place in Diyarbakir at the end of March. OZGUR GUNDEM: Pursuant to an explosion that took place at the peace tent in Hakkari's Semdinli district on September 1, which wounded 14 people, people in Semdinli had held demonstrations to protest the explosion. Reportedly instead of an investigation into the explosion incident, action has recently been brought against committee members who set up the tent to hold an event called "Peace Tent." OZGUR GUNDEM: Kurdish activist Leyla Zana has continued to hold contacts in northern Iraq. Zana met with Kurdish Parliament's Spokesperson Adnan Mufti and Kurdish Region's President Necirvan Barzani the previous day. Kurdistan Democracy Party said that the meeting was requested by Zana. Zana attended a meeting of Arbil's Kurdish Parliament yesterday and met with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani. OZGUR GUNDEM: According to the daily, JITEM (Jandarma Intelligence Center) has been monitoring and gathering intelligence about civil society members, especially the mayors from DTP, in the region. The U.S. airman George Lopez, against whom charges were brought on grounds that he allegedly broke Abidin Inanc Ulkebay's jaw, and that he allegedly punched Hakan Ozduran in Incirlik district because of a U.S. girl, has been released in the first hearing of the court. YENI SAFAK / RADIKAL / EKSPRES: During a talk held at Cukurova ADANA 00000096 002 OF 002 University Prof. Jeff Mc Whirter (from Arizona University's Psychology and Consultancy Department) on violence at schools, the professor reportedly related his concerns that assaults with knives and pocket-knives can lead to attacks with guns targeting students and teachers in time, a situation which was reportedly experienced in the U.S. RADIKAL / YENI SAFAK: A survey of Ministry of Education conducted in schools of Diyarbakir revealed that 528 violent incidents took place at schools in the last two months and a total of 3338 students had involved themselves in them. ZAMAN / CUMHURIYET / RADIKAL / An 11th-grade girl student shot another male student dead in classroom in Adana's Kozan district. The girl reportedly asked permission from the Biology teacher to enter the class, drew a shotgun from her bag, and fired at the 17-year-old Tugral Ulger. CUMHURIYET: Military circles reportedly reacted to the sixth item of the new Anti-Terror Law that reportedly may pave the way for issuing an amnesty for the terrorist leader Abdullah Ocalan. YENI SAFAK: Twelve kilograms of A-4 plastic explosives have been seized during operations carried out against PKK terrorist organization in Istanbul. YENI SAFAK: Turkish Army reportedly gained full control of the border area along Iran and Iraq. REID