SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR APRIL 10, 2007

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000053 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PINS PGOV PHUM TU SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR APRIL 10, 2007 This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for April 10, ¶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 / RADIKAL: Diyarbakir Mayor Osman Baydemir, who attended the opening ceremony of an artist's exhibition in an art gallery of Diyarbakir, talked with journalists when he was asked about his views about ten security personnel who lost their lives in the last two days in the operations. Baydemir reportedly said that every life lost was taking away something from the future of the peoples and diminishing the human values. Baydemir reportedly refused to respond questions regarding recent statements of Massoud Barzani, president of the regional authority in Iraq, about Diyarbakir and Turkey. ZAMAN / EVRENSEL / RADIKAL: One day after the expiration of the due date (on April 6) of the one-month-ban imposed on March 6 by the 13th Heavy Penalty Court on the publication and distribution of the pro-Kurdish Ozgur Gundem daily, this time 11th Heavy Penalty Court issued a 15-day-ban on the daily's publication because of the announcements that appeared on the daily concerning an event that would be held to mark terrorist leader's birthday at the birth place of Abdullah Ocalan. Evrensel daily notes that people protested 'silencing of the Ozgur Gundem daily' in front of the DTP provincial headquarters in Diyarbakir. Baglar district mayor (from DTP) and Sur district mayor (from DTP) and some assembly members from the municipality attended the protest activity. EVRENSEL: Nineteen people, including the provincial chairperson of the DTP in Bursa province, were detained on grounds that they chanted slogans and held banners in support for Abdullah Ocalan during a public meeting held during March 21 Newroz celebrations in Bursa. Meanwhile, Human Rights Association (HRA) condemned the recent detention of Ankara chapter of HRA and DTP Ankara provincial chairperson (see press summary for April 6) in Ankara. EKSPRES / BOLGE: Kemal Sag, Adana deputy from CHP, paid a visit to the Daglioglu Police Station in Adana, where a bomb incident took place the previous day (see press summary for April 9). Kemal Sag claimed that the AKP administration, with its decisions taken and implementations carried out regarding �00A;terrorism, was creating vulnerabilities during the counter-terrorism efforts undertaken. CRIME / LAW ENFORCEMENT: HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): Police, who stopped a car on the road between Van and Bitlis, found 29 kilograms of heroin after a police dog searched the car. SECURITY: ZAMAN / BOLGE: More soldiers and two Cobra helicopters were reportedly dispatched to the area when security forces detected 30 PKK members in rural sections of the Tunceli, Bingol and Sirnak provinces. A total of ten terrorists were killed as security forces intensified their military efforts in those areas. One member of the DHKP/C was reportedly caught alive. ZAMAN: Three DHKP/C members who were caught in Adana the previous day as they were allegedly making preparations to carry out a bomb attack in the province (see press summary for April 09),have been arraigned and arrested. ECONOMY SABAH (GUNEY): Dipal Varua, Vice-President of a bank called Grameen Bank, which provides micro-credit loans to women, came to Diyarbakir and paid a visit to a group of women in the city together with a Diyarbakir deputy from AKP. Varua said that a total of nearly 6 million YTL credits were offered to women in Diyarbakir to date. SABAH (GUNEY): Nejat Kocer, President of Gaziantep's Chamber of Industry, said that Second International Iraqi Fair, which will be held between May 23 and 27 in Gaziantep, will contribute a great deal to the Turkish economy. CULTURE / SOCIETY / ENVIRONMENT ADANA 00000053 002 OF 002 EKSPRES: Eric Green, U.S. Consul to Adana, and Nuri Sabuncu, Honorary Consul of Tunusia and Finland, paid a visit to a school in Adana that offered training in various fields of employment to women of different ages, who have no access to regular national education system. The students at the school ran a fashion show for the visitors and they displayed the handcrafted apparel they designed and created according to the cultural motifs, patterns and embroidery used in traditional Turkish clothes. ZAMAN / HURRIYET (CUKUROVA) / EKSPRES / BOLGE: The heavy rain that affected Adana province for three hours the previous day caused the garden and the base floor of the Culture and Arts Center (Former Girls' High School) to flood with rain water. Many of the office tools and documents of a well-known festival company of Adana, namely Altin Koza, were destroyed after the flooding. The rain also badly affected many settlement areas whose infrastructures were built weakly. In some areas where people were stuck and not able to get out of their houses, armored police vehicles saved people. BOLGE / EKSPRES: Adana Mayor Aytac Durak, who made a press statement to mark the anniversary of the foundation of Turkish National Police, said that the employee rights of police officers should be expanded. EKSPRES: Third Theater Festival organized by joint undertaking of the Cukurova University and Adana Municipality started yesterday. SABAH (GUNEY): Under a project called "Peace Houses" thirty students who are from Salzburg city of Austria came to Hatay province and planted trees in a campus of a rehabilitation center for the handicapped people. SABAH (GUNEY): Mardin Governor Mehmet Kiliclar attended a religious ceremony held by Syriacs celebrating the Easter in a 1400-year-old church in Mardin. GREEN