SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR MAY 07, 2007

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000067 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PINS PGOV PHUM TU SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR MAY 07, 2007 ¶1. This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for May 07, ¶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: ¶2. GUNDEM: The daily claims that, after AKP called for early elections, AKP began to press for a constitutional amendment package at the parliament to which CHP reportedly also extends support: Those amendments, if passed, will reportedly hinder DTP from winning seats in the parliament through independent candidates. This move by the AKP is because of its fear that it could lose many votes to DTP in the southeastern region. (Note: DTP's strategy for the next elections was formerly announced in the same newspaper: to win seats through independent candidates. End Note.) ¶3. CUMHURIYET / GUNDEM / YENI SAFAK / EVRENSEL: DTP national chairperson, its central executive board, party assembly members and mayors from DTP will hold a 2-day meeting on May 8 and 9 in Diyarbakir with the election agenda. Candidates to be nominated, independent candidates, alliances and strategies of the party will be among the topics of the discussions. The party is aiming to have 24 deputies in the parliament through independent candidates to be able to form a parliamentary group later. Cumhuriyet daily reports that there are a lot of intra-party disputes going on regarding naming the nominees. It is almost definite that Ahmet Turk (Chairman of DTP),Aysel Tugluk and Osman Ozcelik (Vice-Chairmen of DTP),and Hilmi Aydogdu (DTP Diyarbakir Provincial Chairperson) will be nominated. Ahead of the 2-day meeting, DTP Diyarbakir party organization held a meeting yesterday. Meanwhile, caucuses are being held in other provinces, such as in Elazig, to elect a new board for the local party organization, after the former chairperson resigned from office. ¶4. GUNDEM: After examining data obtained from the last national census in 2000, the Higher Election Board determined that Diyarbakir province's quota for parliamentarians in the next elections should increase from 8 to 10. In the November 2002 elections, 6 AKP nominees and 2 CHP nominees from Diyarbakir were able to win seats in the parliament. ¶5. YENI SAFAK / GUNDEM / EVRENSEL: Mahmut Alinak, DTP Kars Provincial Chairperson, has been sentenced to 10 months in prison under Article 301 for uttering the following remarks, which allegedly downgraded The Turkish Parliament and the Turkish Chief of Staff, during the opening ceremony of the DTP Ardahan party building (on an unspecified date): "Semdinli (bookstore) was bombed by the hitmen of 'the counter-guerilla republic.' It is therefore natural for the current regime to protect those hitmen." Alinak will apply to a higher court to appeal the court verdict. SECURITY: ¶6. YENI SAFAK / GUNDEM / CUMHURIYET / BOLGE: Two jandarma commandos were killed in a conflict between security forces and PKK members in a section of Sirnak. Gundem daily separately claims that a PKK member was allegedly 'executed' in a military operation going on in Hatay's Hassa district, since the PKK member allegedly carried no arms. Cumhuriyet daily claims two PKK members were killed in Hassa district and those PKK members had one M-16 and one Kalshnikov rifle, and four grenades with them. Bolge and Yeni Safak dailies report 5 PKK members killed in Hassa. Cumhuriyet daily reports three people detained on grounds that they were PKK members in two separate operations in Van. Meanwhile, a private was reported as wounded by a land mine in Bingol's Genc district. Gundem daily also claims that Land Forces Command decided to clad the senior officers in the army with the same uniform that the privates are wearing during operations because of the increasing number of deaths among the senior officers. ¶7. CUMHURIYET / GUNDEM: A hand-made bomb exploded at 11.30 p.m. in front of a police station in Gaziantep. A person was reported as wounded as a result of the explosion. Two people wearing helmets were reported as leaving the bomb device there, and they reportedly fled the scene on a motorcycle. ECONOMY ¶8. GUNDEM: Ferda Cemiloglu, a Turkish businesswomen from ADANA 00000067 002 OF 002 GUNSIAD (Southeastern Industrialists and Businessmen Association),reportedly said that the political instability caused by the announcements of the Turkish Chief of Staff about a possible cross-border operation into northern Iraq has decreased exports from Turkey to Iraq by 8 per cent. Cemiloglu also said that Turkey's attempt to decrease the revenues the northern Iraqi region is obtaining through the Habur Border Gate in Sirnak through establishing two new borders at the Syrian border would do no good to Turkey's economy. CRIME AND LAW ENFORCEMENT ¶9. HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): Jandarma found 137 kilograms of hashish and 5 kilograms of heroin in hidden sections of a car during routine road checks in Van's Muradiye district. Four people in the car were detained. CULTURE / SOCIETY / ENVIRONMENT ¶10. BOLGE / EKSPRES: Adana Municipality sponsored a Spring Festival in Karaisali district of Adana which is held annually. Karaisali Mayor thanked Mayor Durak for services the Adana Municipality rendered for the district. ¶11. BOLGE / EKSPRES: A 60-person youth group, whose members are university students, paid a visit to provincial party organization of MHP in Adana to get to know more about MHP. Provincial Chairperson Tankut conversed with the youth. ¶12. GUNDEM: The "silent march" TUHAD-FED (Solidarity Association for Families of the Inmates) members were planning to hold in Diyarbakir to draw attention to the health condition of Abdullah Ocalan and to the "poor living conditions in jails" was reportedly prevented by the Diyarbakir police who took intense security measures with armored police vehicles at the site of the march. The daily separately notes that 6000 signatures were gathered at the Maxmur Camp in northern Iraq during a three-day campaign that was started by Feleknas Uca, a European Parliamentarian, to draw attention to Ocalan's health condition. ¶13. GUNDEM: A festivity DTP was planning to hold yesterday on the banks of the Euphrate River, in an area which is close to the birth place of Abdullah Ocalan, on a week that is close to Mother's Day (May 13),was banned by the Sanliurfa Governor's Office on alleged grounds that people may attempt to visit the graveyard of Abdullah Ocalan's mother there. ¶14. EVRENSEL: GABB (Union of Southeastern Turkey's Municipalities) sent food aid to 450 families in Sirnak's Cizre district who were affected by the flooding that hit the area on April 29 (see press summary for May 1). GREEN