Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07ADANA77
2007-06-07 12:27:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Consulate Adana
Cable title:
SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR JUNE 06., 2007
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000077
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PINS PGOV PHUM TU
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR JUNE 06., 2007
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000077
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PINS PGOV PHUM TU
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR JUNE 06., 2007
1. This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for June 06,
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. BOLGE / HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): The dailies report the
intra-party controversies that followed final nomination lists
submitted to elections boards. Journalists asked State Minister
Kursat Tuzmen why the province where Tuzmen would run for the
parliamentary elections was shifted from Gaziantep to Mersin.
Tuzmen said that the decision was taken with regard to which
provinces would most probably cast more votes for his party
(AKP). Tuzmen further said, since he was a diver, he wanted to
return back to a place where there is sea. Provincial
Chairperson of AKP in Mersin said that they were aiming to win 6
seats with lawmakers from Mersin. Hurriyet's Cukurova
supplement reports that AKP's nomination lists in Gaziantep
startled everybody when it was found out that Tuzmen would run
in Mersin. CHP in Mersin had already listed two names from the
Tarsus district in its pre-elections for nomination lists.
However, national headquarters nominated two other candidates,
who had also run in the pre-elections and ranked 14th and 11th,
as the first and third ranking nominees in CHP's Mersin list.
Meanwhile, Alevi organizations showed reaction because no Alevi
candidates were listed in CHP's ticket.
3. SABAH / EVRENSEL / BOLGE: Following the ceremony,
which was held in Elazig for seven privates who were killed by
PKK terrorists in Tunceli's Pulumur district (see press summary
for June 5),the coffins of the privates were sent to their
hometowns today. The dailies all report the grief of the
families of soldiers who died in the attack.
SECURITY
4. GUNDEM: The PKK announced that the PKK attack on a
jandarma station in Tunceli's Pulumur district which killed 8
soldiers and wounded 6 other, was only a warning issued against
Turkish Army Forces (see press summary for June 5). According
to the daily, Turkish forces blockaded the village located near
the jandarma station the PKK attacked and detained 4 villagers.
A jeep was reportedly used during the attack and the owner of
the jeep from the village gave his statement to the military
officials and said that his car was seized by the PKK members an
hour before the incident. The daily further claims that the
death toll is actually higher than what is officially announced.
5. GUNDEM / SABAH: Gundem daily claimed that the PKK hit
two Cobra helicopters with anti-aircraft guns in Hakkari's
Cukurca district. Sabah daily reports that General Chief of
Staff refuted such allegations and said that one helicopter
safely landed in an area in Cukurca to see whether it was hit
with light-weaponry. Personnel, upon seeing that there was no
hit, took off and continued its mission.
6. EVRENSEL: Unidentified people attacked the DTP party
building in Eskisehir and threw Molotov cocktail in the building
the previous night. There were no casualties since it was not
the working hours, but, all of the property within the building
was burned.
7. GUNDEM: The daily reports that four of the six people,
who were detained on alleged grounds that they participated the
previous night in a funeral of a PKK member killed in a conflict
in Siirt on an unspecified date, have been arrested on charges
that "they aided and abetted the terrorist organization". A
Dicle News Agency reporter, who was also detained as he
participated in the same funeral as a reporter, claimed that he
was tortured under detention.
CRIME AND LAW ENFORCEMENT
8. SABAH (GUNEY): One of the 77 illegal migrants, who were
caught on May 25 in Adana's Ceyhan district, fled from the
gymnasium hall in Adana where they were being kept temporarily
by the police because of the ongoing bureaucratic processes.
Police are now searching for the Afghan national who fled.
9. HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): Upon receiving a tip-off Jandarma
teams raided a house in Van's Baskale district and found 50
kilograms of heroin. One person was detained.
ADANA 00000077 002 OF 002
ECONOMY
10. SABAH (GUNEY) / BOLGE / EKSPRES: It is reported that
BOTAS (Petroleum Pipeline Corporation) lost 1,097,347 USD
because of the leakage from the Ceyhan-Kirikkale pipeline caused
accidentally by a highway construction activity in Pozanti
district of Adana in late in April (see press summary for May
1). 2433 tons of oil was wasted. The official from BOTAS also
noted that they cleaned the river where the oil leaked and
therefore the spill did not affect the Seyhan reservoir.
CULTURE / SOCIETY / ENVIRONMENT
11. SABAH (GUNEY) / BOLGE: The daily reports that Yusuf
Halacoglu, the head of the Turkish History Institute, gave a
conference on the Armenian issue in Adana. The conference, which
was called "How the Western World Sees the Armenian Issue", was
organized by Adana Chamber of Commerce and Association for
Businessmen Supporting Information Technology. Mr. Halacoglu
reportedly based his arguments on documents derived from the
archives. During the conference Halacoglu said "We can of
course maintain our relationship with the EU, but we do not
necessarily have to enter the EU." Halacoglu said that the
Armenian genocide claims could be refuted by the documents
available at the historical archives. The Adana Mayor and the
Governor attended the conference, as well.
12. EKSPRES / BOLGE: It is reported that (Turkish) actors and
actresses flooded into the city of Adana for the Fourteenth
Adana Altinkoza Film Festival which is being sponsored by the
Adana Municipality and which runs between June 4 and 11.
13. BOLGE: A team from French national TV station TF1
came to Karatas district of Adana to shoot a documentary on
children working in the cotton fields. The team was interested
in the social project undertaken by the International Labor
Organization and the Turkish Ministry of Education that aims to
win those children in the fields back to education system in a
bid to struggle with child labor.
14. GUNDEM: A 34-year-old women, mother of four kids,
hanged herself and committed suicide at the base floor of her
house in Bingol.
GREEN
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PINS PGOV PHUM TU
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR JUNE 06., 2007
1. This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for June 06,
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. BOLGE / HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): The dailies report the
intra-party controversies that followed final nomination lists
submitted to elections boards. Journalists asked State Minister
Kursat Tuzmen why the province where Tuzmen would run for the
parliamentary elections was shifted from Gaziantep to Mersin.
Tuzmen said that the decision was taken with regard to which
provinces would most probably cast more votes for his party
(AKP). Tuzmen further said, since he was a diver, he wanted to
return back to a place where there is sea. Provincial
Chairperson of AKP in Mersin said that they were aiming to win 6
seats with lawmakers from Mersin. Hurriyet's Cukurova
supplement reports that AKP's nomination lists in Gaziantep
startled everybody when it was found out that Tuzmen would run
in Mersin. CHP in Mersin had already listed two names from the
Tarsus district in its pre-elections for nomination lists.
However, national headquarters nominated two other candidates,
who had also run in the pre-elections and ranked 14th and 11th,
as the first and third ranking nominees in CHP's Mersin list.
Meanwhile, Alevi organizations showed reaction because no Alevi
candidates were listed in CHP's ticket.
3. SABAH / EVRENSEL / BOLGE: Following the ceremony,
which was held in Elazig for seven privates who were killed by
PKK terrorists in Tunceli's Pulumur district (see press summary
for June 5),the coffins of the privates were sent to their
hometowns today. The dailies all report the grief of the
families of soldiers who died in the attack.
SECURITY
4. GUNDEM: The PKK announced that the PKK attack on a
jandarma station in Tunceli's Pulumur district which killed 8
soldiers and wounded 6 other, was only a warning issued against
Turkish Army Forces (see press summary for June 5). According
to the daily, Turkish forces blockaded the village located near
the jandarma station the PKK attacked and detained 4 villagers.
A jeep was reportedly used during the attack and the owner of
the jeep from the village gave his statement to the military
officials and said that his car was seized by the PKK members an
hour before the incident. The daily further claims that the
death toll is actually higher than what is officially announced.
5. GUNDEM / SABAH: Gundem daily claimed that the PKK hit
two Cobra helicopters with anti-aircraft guns in Hakkari's
Cukurca district. Sabah daily reports that General Chief of
Staff refuted such allegations and said that one helicopter
safely landed in an area in Cukurca to see whether it was hit
with light-weaponry. Personnel, upon seeing that there was no
hit, took off and continued its mission.
6. EVRENSEL: Unidentified people attacked the DTP party
building in Eskisehir and threw Molotov cocktail in the building
the previous night. There were no casualties since it was not
the working hours, but, all of the property within the building
was burned.
7. GUNDEM: The daily reports that four of the six people,
who were detained on alleged grounds that they participated the
previous night in a funeral of a PKK member killed in a conflict
in Siirt on an unspecified date, have been arrested on charges
that "they aided and abetted the terrorist organization". A
Dicle News Agency reporter, who was also detained as he
participated in the same funeral as a reporter, claimed that he
was tortured under detention.
CRIME AND LAW ENFORCEMENT
8. SABAH (GUNEY): One of the 77 illegal migrants, who were
caught on May 25 in Adana's Ceyhan district, fled from the
gymnasium hall in Adana where they were being kept temporarily
by the police because of the ongoing bureaucratic processes.
Police are now searching for the Afghan national who fled.
9. HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): Upon receiving a tip-off Jandarma
teams raided a house in Van's Baskale district and found 50
kilograms of heroin. One person was detained.
ADANA 00000077 002 OF 002
ECONOMY
10. SABAH (GUNEY) / BOLGE / EKSPRES: It is reported that
BOTAS (Petroleum Pipeline Corporation) lost 1,097,347 USD
because of the leakage from the Ceyhan-Kirikkale pipeline caused
accidentally by a highway construction activity in Pozanti
district of Adana in late in April (see press summary for May
1). 2433 tons of oil was wasted. The official from BOTAS also
noted that they cleaned the river where the oil leaked and
therefore the spill did not affect the Seyhan reservoir.
CULTURE / SOCIETY / ENVIRONMENT
11. SABAH (GUNEY) / BOLGE: The daily reports that Yusuf
Halacoglu, the head of the Turkish History Institute, gave a
conference on the Armenian issue in Adana. The conference, which
was called "How the Western World Sees the Armenian Issue", was
organized by Adana Chamber of Commerce and Association for
Businessmen Supporting Information Technology. Mr. Halacoglu
reportedly based his arguments on documents derived from the
archives. During the conference Halacoglu said "We can of
course maintain our relationship with the EU, but we do not
necessarily have to enter the EU." Halacoglu said that the
Armenian genocide claims could be refuted by the documents
available at the historical archives. The Adana Mayor and the
Governor attended the conference, as well.
12. EKSPRES / BOLGE: It is reported that (Turkish) actors and
actresses flooded into the city of Adana for the Fourteenth
Adana Altinkoza Film Festival which is being sponsored by the
Adana Municipality and which runs between June 4 and 11.
13. BOLGE: A team from French national TV station TF1
came to Karatas district of Adana to shoot a documentary on
children working in the cotton fields. The team was interested
in the social project undertaken by the International Labor
Organization and the Turkish Ministry of Education that aims to
win those children in the fields back to education system in a
bid to struggle with child labor.
14. GUNDEM: A 34-year-old women, mother of four kids,
hanged herself and committed suicide at the base floor of her
house in Bingol.
GREEN