SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR APRIL 19, 2007

UNCLAS ADANA 000059 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PINS PGOV PHUM TU SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR APRIL 19, 2007 This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for April 19, ¶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 / EVRENSEL / SABAH / HURRIYET / RADIKAL: Three people were killed and two people were wounded in an attack carried out at a Bible publication house in Malatya yesterday afternoon. One of the victims was a German national. At the site of the incident, police detained four people they suspected. The publication house manager said that they were being threatened, but he said he cannot name any definite organization that targeted them. Malatya Governor Halil Ibrahim Dasoz, Security Director and the Chief Prosecutor visited the site of the incident. Ahmet Guvener, the priest of the Protestant Church in Diyarbakir, told Sabah daily that they themselves had received many threats on allegations that they were conducting Christian missionary activities, and, the local media in Mardin portrayed them (the Christians) in a manner that would spark hostile intentions among circles in the community (against Christians.) BOLGE / ZAMAN: Under leadership of the Cukurova Journalists' Association (CJA),a march was held in Adana by the members of the local press to protest the three assailants' attack carried out on two journalists during a TV program on Saturday (04/14) at the premise of the Akdeniz TV station. DYP and CHP provincial chairmen attended the march, as well. Adana Governor Ilhan Atis paid a visit to the CJA and said that that incident did great harm to the image of the province. The Governor and CJA chairperson paid a visit together to the journalist who was hospitalized. EVRENSEL: People protested the authorities in Agri's Patnos district for not reissuing green cards to them after their cards expired. The authorities reportedly set a precondition for green card holders to pay a certain municipal tax on environmental and cleaning services before they can be reissued green cards. (Note: Green cards are issued for people whose income level is lower than the minimum income level in Turkey and green cards provide free access to certain medical services. End Note.) EVRENSEL: DTP members in Gaziantep condemned the censure of the Gundem, Guncel and (Kurdish) Azadiya Welat newspapers and branded such censuring policies as antidemocratic. Political parties and some organizations in Adana and Sirnak's Silopi district protested the oppression extered on Kurdish media. ZAMAN / EVRENSEL / SABAH / RADIKAL: The court acquitted four police officers who were being prosecuted in a heavy penalty court in Eskisehir on charges of killing a father and his 12-year-old son, namely Ahmet and Ugur Kaymaz, in Mardin's Kiziltepe district in November 2004. The court regarded the killing as self-defense by the officers. The Kaymaz family members protested the verdict and said that they would take the case to the appellate court. RADIKAL: PM Erdogan lodged a complaint with the prosecutor's office against Gaye Erbatur, Adana deputy from CHP, on grounds that Erbatur allegedly sent e-mail messages to faculty members of Cukurova University in Adana which described Erdogan "as a yokel who is the enemy of secularism and Ataturk." SECURITY: ZAMAN / SABAH: A soldier from Third Commando Brigade Command died during a military operation that was going on in Sirnak's Guclukonak district against the terrorists. CULTURE / SOCIETY / ENVIRONMENT BOLGE: The daily reports that street dogs in the Cukurova University in Adana are posing a rabies threat. A university staff member was recently bitten by a dog with rabies and she was only saved from contracting the disease because the dog's fangs did not tear the victim's skin. The dog reportedly died because of the disease. The authorities in the university said the necessary precautions concerning stray dogs will be taken. GREEN