SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR APRIL 17, 2007

UNCLAS ADANA 000055 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PINS PGOV PHUM TU SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR APRIL 17, 2007 This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for April 17, ¶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. SECURITY: BOLGE / HURRIYET: Nearly 10,000 soldiers took part in military operations that were started in a section of Tunceli yesterday night against the terrorists. Thirteen terrorists were reportedly killed and a soldier reportedly died. The operations will continue until an estimated 350 PKK militants located in Tunceli are eradicated. CRIME / LAW ENFORCEMENT: HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): Diyarbakir and Van Police undertook a joint operation and found 61 kilograms of heroin in a car. The car had set off from Van and was stopped in Diyarbakir by the police. EKSPRES / BOLGE: Thirteen people, who reportedly conducted an unauthorized demonstration and chanted illegal slogans as they visited a graveyard of a person at a cemetery in Adana, have been detained. The people were members of a group that branded itself HOC (Rights and Liberties Front.) EKSPRES / BOLGE: Three people, who carried out an assault on a journalist as he was talking during an interview that was being held at a local TV station in Adana on Saturday (04/14), surrendered themselves to police today. CULTURE / SOCIETY / ENVIRONMENT BOLGE: Adana Mayor Aytac Durak extended condolences to the host of the talk show aired on Akdeniz TV and his guest, a journalist from a local daily, who was being interviewed when three persons raided the TV station and carried out an assault targeting the interviewee on Saturday night in Adana. Mayor Durak noted that the cause of the assault was reported ambiguously in the media. Durak further said that the assault came as the interviewee was talking about (controversial) tenders held in district municipalities of Adana, and the talk had no connection with any tenders conducted by Durak's office. HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): Atilla Koc, Minister of Culture and Tourism, came to Hatay to mark Tourism Week which will be celebrated through activities between April 15 and 22. EVRENSEL: Snowfall that started in eastern Turkey startled people who were expecting that the weather would get warmer. Students in Ardahan's Cildir district were given one day off from school because of the weather conditions. Snow, which reached a depth of 13 centimeters in Ardahan and 9 centimeters in Kars, adversely affected daily life in Van Province. Snow will continue to fall throughout the week, says the weather forecasts. EVRENSEL: Assembly members of Diyarbakir's Sur district municipality, Diyarbakir Clergymen's Association and sixteen muhtars (headmen) of the Surici quarter made a press announcement and called for a fight against moral corruption in society. The announcement, which envisaged a committed struggle to be launched against gambling and drug abuse in the community, was made in both Turkish and Kurdish. GREEN