SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR APRIL 06, 2007

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000052 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PINS PGOV PHUM TU SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR APRIL 06, 2007 This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for April 06, ¶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 EVRENSEL: The support Cizre people are extending to Cizre Mayor Aydin Budak (from DTP),who was arrested recently, has reportedly been increasing and spreading (see press summary for April 5). Diyarbakir Democracy Platform organized a sit-in protest yesterday in front of the Diyarbakir Municipality and many employees of the municipality attended the protest as well. People chanted slogans and shouted, "Pressure will not discourage us" and "Cizre people are not alone." The protests in Cizre are still continuing as well. Despite the heavy rain, people gathered in front of the Cizre Municipality, wore black attire and black ribbons, and shouted slogans saying "Prosecutor, resign!", "Governor, resign!", "Aydin is the same with people, people are down here." CNNTURK ONLINE / HURRIYET ONLINE: Soon after the probe two inspectors started at the Diyarbakir Municipality was completed, the Ministry of Internal Affairs initiated three ensuing investigations against Diyarbakir Mayor Osman Baydemir concerning the greeting card Baydemir sent to the Hakkari Governor in Turkish and English during Ramadan, the Kurdish invitation sent to the same governor about a festival program, and the posters in Kurdish hung on the billboards of the Diyarbakir city about a cleaning campaign of the municipality. EVRENSEL: Sixty-six people detained as they attempted to visit the birth place of imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, namely Omerli village of Halfeti district in Sanliurfa to mark the birthday of Ocalan, are still being kept under detention in a jandarma station. Some Sanliurfa municipality assembly members, Ceylanpinar district municipality assembly members, and ten TUHAD-FED (Federation of Prisoners' Relatives Associations) members, who organized that activity, are also among the detainees. CNNTURK ONLINE: The website reports that fifteen people, including Salih Karaaslan, DTP Ankara chapter's provincial chairperson, and, Ismet Aras, the chairperson of Human Rights Association's Ankara chapter, were detained the previous day in Ankara on charges that they made propaganda for a terrorist organization during demonstrations held separately on February 15 and March 10. Thirteen of the detainees have been arraigned, and, the two chairpersons and other two detainees have been arrested after arraignment. (This summary is from an April 3 online news article.) BOLGE / EKSRPES: Local Adana papers are making positive news stories every day about Adana Governor Ilhan Atis's activities carried out in the town and quoting in big captions his remarks about the people and the potential of Adana. The papers display photos of events Atis attended everyday: Today, Atis attended the opening ceremony for the first international literature festival of Adana, and he paid a courtesy visit to the Cukurova Journalists Association. BOLGE / EKSPRES: April 10 marks the 162nd anniversary of foundation of the Turkish National Police, report the dailies. Governor Ilhan Atis praised the efforts of the police in an announcement he made and said, "police employed most reasonable common sense in the face of difficult times and provocations as they emerged, and approached the issues in a calm and even-tempered manner. The police have been very successful in maintaining peace and order while at the same time they never discriminated against people because of any racial, religious, or ethnic concerns while undertaking their duties." The dailies separately noted that Seyhan district security director paid a visit to Seyhan Mayor because of the April 10 anniversary. Meanwhile, people and police gathered for a ceremony at the cemetery for police to remember and honor the police officers who died in the line of duty. SECURITY BOLGE / EKSPRES / SABAH (GUNEY): Upon receiving a tip-off, Adana police carried out a joint operation with Istanbul police in Seyhan district of Adana. During a search in a house, police found four kilograms of plastic (Portuguese-make) explosives and (Austria-make) 10 electrical fuses. A person has been detained ADANA 00000052 002 OF 002 following the search operation. CRIME AND LAW ENFORCEMENT ZAMAN / EVRENSEL / SABAH: Jandarma teams searched an LPG tanker parked on the road between two districts of Van. To the surprise of the jandarma teams, 59 Pakistani refugees were found hiding in the tanker. The driver of the tanker was able to flee the scene. The refugees will be deported once required procedures are completed. It is reminded by the dailies that 7 refugees were found frozen to death in Van last week and 220 refugees who have crossed the border illegally were caught the previous day again in Van. (see press summary for April 5.) ZAMAN / RADIKAL: Security forces seized many arms and ammunition they found in a truck they stopped for search, in Mardin's Kiziltepe district. There were 7 Kalashnikovs, one PM 98 automatic gun, 9 cartridges, and several other firearm items in the vehicle. The firearms were reportedly brought to Mardin from northern Iraq through the Habur Border Gate in Sirnak. The daily separately notes in a small news article that foreign-made firearms are entering the country through border gates with Iraq and Syria. ECONOMY BOLGE / EKSPRES: General Manager of BOTAS International Limited announced that a total of 100 million barrels of crude oil were loaded onto vessels up until today from the Ceyhan terminal of the BTC (Baku-Tibilisi-Ceyhan Pipeline) in Adana. CULTURE / SOCIETY / ENVIRONMENT BOLGE / CUKUROVA MERHABA ONLINE: It is reported that the number of women officers employed in the (U.S.) Army increased because of the war situation in Iraq and Afghanistan, and consequently this caused an increase in sexual assault cases. According to the information given on HYPERLINK "http://www.incirlik.af.mil" www.incirlik.af.mil, a coordination office for "Sexual Assault Prevention" has been established at Incirlik Air Base for prevention and education efforts about the issue, report the dailies. Lt. Cheri Guikema, Sexual Assault Response Coordinator of the Base, said that sexual assaults were a challenge to the Base, to the nation, and to the military. SABAH: The suicide rates among women have been increasing in the southeastern region. The number of suicide incidents was formerly reported in newspapers as having already reached high levels in Batman, Diyarbakir, Van and Sanliurfa. Today, Sabah daily points out that this trend has recently been joined by Hakkari province where 41 young girls attempted to commit suicide last year. Four of them died. This number is reportedly 2 times higher than the figures of the previous year in Hakkari, a province where no honor killings are seen. The soaring number of suicide attempts among Hakkari women is reportedly raising the question of whether the girls and/or women are being forced into committing suicide by their families. GREEN