SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR APRIL 09, 2007

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000054 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PINS PGOV PHUM TU SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR APRIL 09, 2007 This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for April 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 EKSPRES / BOLGE: Anavatan (Motherland Party) Leader Erkan Mumcu held a public meeting in Adana. During his address to the people, Mumcu reacted harshly to the statements of Massoud Barzani, president of Iraqi regional authority, which said that if Turkey conducted a cross border operation in northern Iraq, then they would conduct an operation in Diyarbakir. Mumcu suggested that, if Turkey closed the Habur Border Gate in Sirnak for three days, then people would perceive the reality that Turkey was not a small country that they would easily play with. EKSPRES: MHP Provincial Chairperson Yilmaz Tankut issued a statement to mark the 162nd anniversary of the foundation of Turkish National Police. Tankut, who said that the police organization was the pride of the country, pointed out that regulations imposed on Turkey by the EU and the government's alleged yielding attitude towards the illegal circles, were weakening the position of the police. ZAMAN / EVRENSEL: An office of the Council of State recently overturned the appeal of the Diyarbakir Mayor Osman Baydemir who objected to the investigation started by the Ministry of Internal Affairs on November 28, 2006 on the grounds that Baydemir violated a law on the use of the Turkish alphabet and sent an invitation for a festival in Diyarbakir to the Diyarbakir Prosecutor in both Kurdish and Turkish on an unspecified date in the past. EVRENSEL: DTP Diyarbakir provincial chairperson Hilmi Aydogudu, who was arrested in late February because of his press statement that reportedly claimed that they would regard an attack targeting Kirkuk as an attack on Diyarbakir, was released early in April, but will stand trial for his statements. Today, Evrensel daily publishes an interview with Aydogdu, who complained that some of his statements were deliberately pulled out of context by the media and were portrayed as if his remarks carried hostile intentions. Aydogdu, who stayed in prison for 41 days, blamed the authorities for pursuing aggressive policies towards them. SECURITY EVRENSEL: Two soldiers and a village guard died during separate military operations the Turkish Armed Forces carried out in Bitlis and Sirnak provinces. One of the soldiers died when he stepped on a land mine in Bitlis's Celtikli district. HURRIYET: Hurriyet daily reports that four PKK members were killed during a military operation carried out in Tunceli's Cemiskezek and Hozat districts yesterday. EKSPRES / BOLGE / HURRIYET (CUKUROVA) / HURRIYET: Three people have been arrested in Adana as they were allegedly making preparations to carry out a bomb attack in the province. The police reported that the people caught were members of a radical DHKP/C terrorist organization and they were reportedly targeting judges, prosecutors and the military personnel. The police found material used in devising a bomb, 11 kilograms of explosives, three alarm clocks, and varius other material in the car and the at house of the arrestees. ZAMAN / EKSPRES / BOLGE / HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): A bomb attack hit a police station in Adana's Daglioglu quarter at 00.10 am Sunday morning. A police car was damaged badly and the impact caused a hole in the wall of the police station. The bomb was left in a trash can in front of the station. Witnesses said that an unanonynmous person(s) opened fire with an RPG from a white-color car towards the station immediately after the bomb attack, and fled the scene. No casualties were reported. The Adana Governor visited the site of the incident. CRIME / LAW ENFORCEMENT: EVRENSEL: Twenty-one Kurdish refugees who set off from Mosul on April 3 to enter Turkey illegally to settle in Istanbul in order to find employment have been caught by jandarma in a rural area of Mardin's Kiziltepe district. The refugees were starving ADANA 00000054 002 OF 002 when the jandarma found them. The refugees were cheated out of their money by a truck driver who falsely promised to take them to Istanbul. CULTURE / SOCIETY / ENVIRONMENT EKSPRES / BOLGE: The funeral of a commissioned officer who was killed in a conflict between the security forces and terrorists in Sirnak's Besteler area (on an unspecified date) will be held in Saimbeyli district of Adana today. ZAMAN: Heavy rain flooded some quarters and settlements in the Adana province and left many families in hardship as they worked to save their furniture and property from muddy waters the rain brought in to their houses. EKSPRES / BOLGE / HURRIYET (CUKUROVA) / ZAMAN: Mayor Aytac Durak donated wheel-chairs to 45 handicapped people living in Adana. GREEN