SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR APRIL 04, 2007

UNCLAS ADANA 000049 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PINS PGOV PHUM TU SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR APRIL 04, 2007 This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for April 04, ¶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 BOLGE: Despite the court verdict which issued that the term of office of the mayor of Karatas district in Adana should be discontinued on grounds that his assembly membership was already dropped before he took up office in the days that followed the murder of the Karatas mayor last September, Karatas mayor refuses to leave his seat and still continues to hold office. CHP Adana provincial party organization will file a petition with the Adana Governor's Office today to demand enforcement of the court verdict. EVRENSEL: Thousands of people protested the arrest of Cizre Mayor Aydin Budak (from DTP) in front of the mayor's office in Sirnak's Cizre district. Budak was recently arrested reportedly on grounds that he made a speech that drew attention to the health condition of Abdullah Ocalan during Newroz celebrations in Cizre on March 21. People also held a sit-in protest on the main road nearby the mayor's office. Many of the people in town did not open their businesses throughout the day. The daily also reports that four municipality assembly members, including the deputy district mayor, were detained later, as well. RADIKAL / EVRENSEL / ZAMAN: Diyarbakir Prosecutor's Office called for 15 years prison sentence against 53 of 56 mayors in the southeastern region because of the letter Diyarbakir Mayor Osman Baydemir sent on behalf of the other mayors to Denmark's Prime Minister Rasmussen in December 2005 in support of the broadcasts of pro-PKK Roj TV in Denmark. (Note: Radikal daily noted that the court called for a 10 year prison sentence.) SECURITY HURRIYET: As a result of a joint operation carried out by Turkish and Syrian security forces within the territory of Syria before PM Erdogan's trip to Damascus, six terrorists and the leader of the PKK located in Syria, were captured and arrested. CRIME AND LAW ENFORCEMENT HURRIYET (CUKUROVA) / RADIKAL: A total of 227 foreign nationals, who have illegally entered the country on foot through Turkey's border with Iran, were caught and arrested by jandarma teams in Van's Baskale district. Forty of them are Afghanis, 144 of them are Pakistanis, 42 of them are Bangladeshis and one of them is from Iraq. GREEN