SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR JANUARY 09, 2007

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000004 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PINS PGOV PHUM TU SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR JANUARY 09, 2007 This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for January 09, ¶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 ZAMAN / EVRENSEL: Democratic Peace Initiative will hold a panel called "Turkey is Searching Peace" on January 13 - 14 in Ankara. Kurdish issue, peace efforts and suggestions to resolve the issue will be raised and discussed during the panel. Fifty speakers from academic, political and media circles will participate in the event. Opening remarks will be made by two well-known literary figures of Turkey. President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Prime Minister Erdogan are reportedly also invited to the event. ZAMAN: DYP Leader Mehmet Agar will pay a visit to the Osmaniye province on January 13 to open the new DYP party building there and to hear about the problems of people at a local level. BOLGE / EKSPRES: A 60-year-old person showed his reaction to a group of people, who gathered at Inonu Park in Adana to protest the alleged isolation policies pursued in Turkish jails against inmates, by asking them "Why don't you protest against authorities not hanging terrorist leader Abdullah Ocalan who killed 40,000 innocent people?" EKSPRES / BOLGE: Ekspres daily points out that two discrepant announcements have been made by Kazim Barisik, Chairperson of Adana Chamber of Tradesmen and Artisan's, and, Mustafa Attaroglu, AKP Chairperson in Adana. While Mr.Barisik gave grave figures about 2006 and said that nearly 4000 tradesmen had to close their businesses last year in Adana , Mr. Attaroglu claimed businesses closed during former administrations, were being reopened during AKP rule. The dailies separately reported that farmers in the Adana and Cukurova region are not very hopeful about the new year, according to the Chairperson of Yuregir District Chairperson of Chamber of Agriculture. SECURITY ZAMAN: A 38-year-old person, Ercan Kaya, who was detained in Tunceli on November 2006 on allegations that he was a PKK bomber, has been arraigned and put in prison. According to the Tunceli Police, a bomb, which went off as that person was setting it up in Tunceli, wounded him and caused him to be apprehended back in November in Tunceli. Kaya is also announced as the perpetrator of three bomb incidents that took place in the southeastern region in 2006. ECONOMY HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): Beta, a sapling nursery company in Adana, sent a delegation to Spain to examine the Arbequina clone I-18 orchards where dwarf olive-oil trees were being cultivated. The delegation explored chances of cultivating dwarf olive-oil trees in Adana. The dwarf trees reportedly allow olive growers easier harvest with machinery. CRIME / LAW ENFORCEMENT: CUMHURIYET: Police seized 1300 cigarette packages that were smuggled to Van's Muradiye district. Two persons in the car where the cigarettes were found have been detained. CULTURE / SOCIETY / ENVIRONMENT ZAMAN: The first surgical operation in the history of Hakkari's Semdinli district has been conducted at the new operating room established at the Semdinli State Hospital. ZAMAN: A 78-million-year-old marine fossil was unearthed in the eastern city of Malatya. This fact, said a professor from the Inonu University in Malatya, proves that Malatya was covered with sea waters around 18 million years ago. CUMHURIYET: European Union allocated 40,000 euros of fund for a cultural project of Diyarbakir Municipality about Kurdish "dengbejs" (wandering minstrels) and "Dengbej tradition". HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): Eleven young persons from different European countries that came to English Language Department of ADANA 00000004 002 OF 002 the university as exchange students under European Commission's Erasmus Programme, performed a play in Turkish after attending a two-and-a-half-month Turkish language course at the university. CUMHURIYET: A ceremony has been held in Diyarbakir to remember 75 casualties of a January 8, 2003 plane crash in Diyarbakir. Abdurrahman Kurt, AKP Provincial Chairman of Diyarbakir, who lost his son and daughter-in-law in that accident, attended the memorial ceremony. CUMHURIYET: CYDD (Association for Supporting Contemporary Life) in Mersin has been actively working in Mersin to win back the girls of the disadvantaged families ?n the prov?nce to the educational life. GREEN