SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR AUGUST 27, 2007

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000106 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PINS PGOV PHUM TU SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR AUGUST 27, 2007 ¶1. This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for August 27, 2007. 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: ¶2. HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): All MPs from Gaziantep had a dinner together, reportedly without regard to party origins. Akif Ekici, CHP, hosted the event. Deputies expressed a committment to act together to solve the pressing problems of the province. ¶3. EKSPRES: Emphasizing the importance to Adana to have one of its deputies as a cabinet minister, a local columnist points to recent efforts by Prof. Vahit Kirisci, AKP Adana deputy, to win the seat of the Ministry of Agriculture. The columnist further wonders whether Dengir Mir Mehmet Firat, AKP Adana MP, will support Prof. Kirisci, who ranked lower than Firat on the local party ticket in Adana, or former agriculture minister Mehdi Eker, with whom Firat has been best friends for years? ¶4. GUNDEM / EVRENSEL: During a visit to DTP offices in north-western Sakarya province, Akin Birdal, DTP Diyarbakir MP, said that during the rounds of the presidential elections DTP was expecting Abdullah Gul to address their expectations about issues of interest. Birdal said DTP did not support Gul's presidency in the first round because they did not hear him make such statements. Meanwhile, DTP Diyarbakir deputies started investigating the problems of seasonal agricultural workers in Sakarya province. ¶5. GUNDEM: The daily claims that the Turkish companies investing in northern Iraq are employing Turkish intelligence agents and covering the costs of their intelligence duties. ¶6. YENI SAFAK: A group of DTP administrators proposed Diyarbakir Mayor Osman Baydemir to fill the party chairmanship seat vacated by Ahmet Turk when he was elected to parliament in the July 22 elections. DTP will elect its leader at its October 28 extra-ordinary convention. SECURITY ¶7. RADIKAL / BOLGE / HURRIYET / SABAH / ZAMAN: Funerals of two commissioned officers, who were killed in a confrontation between security forces and terrorists in Sirnak's Uludere district on August 24, were held separately in Mersin and Gaziantep provinces. Meanwhile, Bolge and Zaman dailies separately report that American made M-16s were found with the bodies of the 10 terrorists killed in Sirnak yesterday. ¶8. SABAH: Sabah reports that, during the anti-terrorism operations in Diyarbakir, an improvised explosive device planted by the PKK in Diyarbakir's Lice district was found and safely detonated. ¶9. GUNDEM: A group of nearly 100 people of Sirnak's Uludere district led by DTP Uludere district chairperson claimed the coffins of ten terrorrists killed in Uludere yesterday. The daily separately alleges that a total of 16 soldiers were recently killed in conflicts between security forces and the PKK which erupted in rural sections of Sirnak and Diyarbakir provinces. CRIME AND LAW ENFORCEMENT ¶10. HURRIYET (CUKUROVA) / SABAH (GUNEY): Police caught six illegal migrants, one Palestinian and five Iraqi nationals, hiding in a cotton field in Hatay's Reyhanli district. Separately, police caught in Hatay's Yayadag district 17 illegal migrants from different countries, including Afghanistan, Erythres, Sri Lanka, Somalia and Palestine. Sabah's Guney supplement reports in its August 26 edition that a total of 681 Iraqi nationals attempted to enter Turkey illegally in the last three months by crossing the river at the border. ECONOMY ¶11. EKSPRES / BOLGE: Credit Guarantee Fund, an entity which sponsors SMEs and which enables favorable bank loans for their investments, opened a branch under the umbrella of Adana Chamber of Industry. ADANA 00000106 002 OF 002 ¶12. SABAH (GUNEY) / EVRENSEL: Gaziantep Chapter of Chamber of Agricultural Engineers indicated that this year's total pistacchio yield in Gaziantep was 30 to 35 per cent of last year's yield. The decrease was due to the trees' genetic structure, which causes the harvest to be heavier in alternate years. CULTURE / SOCIETY / ENVIRONMENT ¶13. EKSPRE / BOLGE: Philip McDaniel, the Commander of the Incirlik Airbase, called on base personnel to be responsible regarding alcohol consumption. Mr. McDaniel pointed out that there has been an upward trend in general alcohol related incidents in the base. ¶14. SABAH / GUNDEM / ZAMAN / EVRENSEL / RADIKAL: A 5.4-magnitude earthquake that shook Bingol's Karliova district yesterday night caused no casualties or material damage but panicked local people. Separately, the flood that hit Van's Ozalp and Baskale districts three days ago caused suffering among the victims who need urgent help from authorities. ¶15. HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): Hatay Governor Ahmet Kayhan said that they were planning to complete the airport construction project in Hatay in September. (This summary is from August 26 edition.) GREEN