Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07ADANA80
2007-06-13 10:15:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Consulate Adana
Cable title:
SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR JUNE 12, 2007
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000080
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PINS PGOV PHUM TU
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR JUNE 12, 2007
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000080
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PINS PGOV PHUM TU
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR JUNE 12, 2007
1. This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for June 12,
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. SABAH (GUNEY): The local daily reports on its front
page that the family of a truck driver has not been able to hear
any news about the truck driver and his son who were reportedly
detained in the northern Iraq by the U.S. soldiers twenty days
ago on alleged grounds that they were aiding and abetting
insurgents.
3. BOLGE: Minister of Interior will come to Adana today
to attend the 23rd National Parliamentary Elections Regional
Security Meeting and to conduct some local studies.
4. BOLGE: CHP Adana provincial party organization will
hold a meeting today, in which party's district chairmen will
also take part, to assess the current situation in the run
towards the election. A second meeting will be held in the
afternoon to include CHP's candidates who will run for
parliamentary seats and a program concerning the election
campaign will be prepared.
5. GUNDEM: DTP's independent candidates gathered at a
meeting in Diyarbakir ahead of July 22 parliamentary elections.
The meeting reportedly aimed to discuss the work plan and
election strategies. At the end of the meeting, a declaration
about the election will be generated. (Note: DTP calls its
independent candidates as "Independent Candidates of A Thousand
Hopes." End Note.) (This summary is from June 10 edition.)
6. GUNDEM: Courts issued 30 months of prison sentence
against each of 15 DTP members, including DTP Sirnak provincial
chairman, for three different cases brought against them. The
defendants are convicted on charges of making three press
announcements: ONE that marked the anniversary of Abdullah
Ocalan's arrest, another that marked the anniversary of an
alleged massacre the daily refers to as "August 18 massacre."
The third case was brought on charges of making a press
announcement to draw attention to Ocalan's HEALTH condition in
prison.
7. GUNDEM: Adana Prosecutor's Office brought a lawsuit
against the Adana Newroz Committee which organized Newroz
celebrations in Adana on March 21 where people reportedly
carried posters of Abdullah Ocalan and flags of the PKK then.
8. CUMHURIYET: The daily claims that the U.S. started having
Kurds settle in areas bordering the Baku-Tibilisi-Ceyhan
pipeline in a region located between Russian Federation, Armenia
and Azarbaijan.
9. RADIKAL: There is a lot of activity going on at
Turkey's borders with Iran and Iraq, reports the daily. While
Iranians started evacuating the Kurdish villages near its
border, Iraqis started establishing 6 Kurdish military posts at
their border.
SECURITY
10. ZAMAN / GUNDEM / CUMHURIYET: A corporal was killed in a
conflict that erupted between security forces and terrorists
during a military operation going on in Erzincan's Kemah
district. A non-commissioned officer was reported as wounded.
Separately, Gundem daily claims that PKK terrorists attacked a
military vehicle that was carrying special team members on a
road between Erzincan and Erzurum, but the paper has no further
information on the number of casualties, if there is any.
Cumhuriyet daily reports that ONE private was killed in Sirnak
yesterday. Zaman daily reports that 3 terrorists were killed in
a conflict that erupted in a section of Diyarbakir province.
Separately, Gundem daily alleges that the death toll was
actually ten soldiers, not three as announced by the
authorities, during the attack PKK carried out on a military
vehicle in Sirnak's Guclukonak district on June 9 (see press
summary for June 11).
CRIME AND LAW ENFORCEMENT
11. ZAMAN: Local jandarma cracked down on a criminal ring
comprised of five members who stole 40 tons of crude oil from
ADANA 00000080 002 OF 002
Baku-Tibilisi-Ceyhan pipeline's Mustafabeyli section in Adana's
Ceyhan district.
ECONOMY
12. BOLGE / ZAMAN: Adana Chamber of Commerce and the U.S.
Consulate in Adana will hold a talk on non-immigrant visa issues
with an aim to give information and provide answers to questions
of local businessmen about visa procedures of the U.S. Roger
Rigaud, Vice-Consul in the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, will be
holding the talk.
13. ZAMAN: Truck drivers started expressing their
complaints about the long truck lines formed at the gate of the
port of Mersin because of the slow bureaucratic procedures that
make the drivers wait 3 to 4 hours.
CULTURE / SOCIETY / ENVIRONMENT
14. BOLGE: War veteran Murat Caner, who was disabled
during a military operation in northern Iraq on an unspecified
date in the past, and a few members of the Association for
Families of Martyrs and Disabled Veterans in Adana, held a
protest in front of the mayor's office against escalating
terrorism in the country. Caner said that Turkey should not
conduct a cross-border operation and should deal with the
problems within the country in the first place; otherwise the
number of people dying will increase even more, according to
Caner.
15. CUMHURIYET: Adana Governor made an announcement about the
measures and prohibited actions that the people should heed in
the province during the June 17 Nationwide University Entrance
Examination which is a very critically important test that all
high school graduates must take to be eligible for university
access in Turkey. The Governor made a call to people to be
careful about the noise level not to disturb the students taking
the exam in the province.
16. GUNDEM: Ten people in Erzurum were found out to
contract Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever. The doctors said that
the HEALTH conditions of the patients, who are under treatment,
are well.
17. GUNDEM: Despite the promises given by the prime
minister and agricultural minister to remedy the material losses
of the farmers in Diyarbakir's Cinar and Bismil districts
following the November 2006 flood disaster, no tangible steps
have been taken so far in line with the promises, reports the
daily.
GREEN
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PINS PGOV PHUM TU
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR JUNE 12, 2007
1. This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for June 12,
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. SABAH (GUNEY): The local daily reports on its front
page that the family of a truck driver has not been able to hear
any news about the truck driver and his son who were reportedly
detained in the northern Iraq by the U.S. soldiers twenty days
ago on alleged grounds that they were aiding and abetting
insurgents.
3. BOLGE: Minister of Interior will come to Adana today
to attend the 23rd National Parliamentary Elections Regional
Security Meeting and to conduct some local studies.
4. BOLGE: CHP Adana provincial party organization will
hold a meeting today, in which party's district chairmen will
also take part, to assess the current situation in the run
towards the election. A second meeting will be held in the
afternoon to include CHP's candidates who will run for
parliamentary seats and a program concerning the election
campaign will be prepared.
5. GUNDEM: DTP's independent candidates gathered at a
meeting in Diyarbakir ahead of July 22 parliamentary elections.
The meeting reportedly aimed to discuss the work plan and
election strategies. At the end of the meeting, a declaration
about the election will be generated. (Note: DTP calls its
independent candidates as "Independent Candidates of A Thousand
Hopes." End Note.) (This summary is from June 10 edition.)
6. GUNDEM: Courts issued 30 months of prison sentence
against each of 15 DTP members, including DTP Sirnak provincial
chairman, for three different cases brought against them. The
defendants are convicted on charges of making three press
announcements: ONE that marked the anniversary of Abdullah
Ocalan's arrest, another that marked the anniversary of an
alleged massacre the daily refers to as "August 18 massacre."
The third case was brought on charges of making a press
announcement to draw attention to Ocalan's HEALTH condition in
prison.
7. GUNDEM: Adana Prosecutor's Office brought a lawsuit
against the Adana Newroz Committee which organized Newroz
celebrations in Adana on March 21 where people reportedly
carried posters of Abdullah Ocalan and flags of the PKK then.
8. CUMHURIYET: The daily claims that the U.S. started having
Kurds settle in areas bordering the Baku-Tibilisi-Ceyhan
pipeline in a region located between Russian Federation, Armenia
and Azarbaijan.
9. RADIKAL: There is a lot of activity going on at
Turkey's borders with Iran and Iraq, reports the daily. While
Iranians started evacuating the Kurdish villages near its
border, Iraqis started establishing 6 Kurdish military posts at
their border.
SECURITY
10. ZAMAN / GUNDEM / CUMHURIYET: A corporal was killed in a
conflict that erupted between security forces and terrorists
during a military operation going on in Erzincan's Kemah
district. A non-commissioned officer was reported as wounded.
Separately, Gundem daily claims that PKK terrorists attacked a
military vehicle that was carrying special team members on a
road between Erzincan and Erzurum, but the paper has no further
information on the number of casualties, if there is any.
Cumhuriyet daily reports that ONE private was killed in Sirnak
yesterday. Zaman daily reports that 3 terrorists were killed in
a conflict that erupted in a section of Diyarbakir province.
Separately, Gundem daily alleges that the death toll was
actually ten soldiers, not three as announced by the
authorities, during the attack PKK carried out on a military
vehicle in Sirnak's Guclukonak district on June 9 (see press
summary for June 11).
CRIME AND LAW ENFORCEMENT
11. ZAMAN: Local jandarma cracked down on a criminal ring
comprised of five members who stole 40 tons of crude oil from
ADANA 00000080 002 OF 002
Baku-Tibilisi-Ceyhan pipeline's Mustafabeyli section in Adana's
Ceyhan district.
ECONOMY
12. BOLGE / ZAMAN: Adana Chamber of Commerce and the U.S.
Consulate in Adana will hold a talk on non-immigrant visa issues
with an aim to give information and provide answers to questions
of local businessmen about visa procedures of the U.S. Roger
Rigaud, Vice-Consul in the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, will be
holding the talk.
13. ZAMAN: Truck drivers started expressing their
complaints about the long truck lines formed at the gate of the
port of Mersin because of the slow bureaucratic procedures that
make the drivers wait 3 to 4 hours.
CULTURE / SOCIETY / ENVIRONMENT
14. BOLGE: War veteran Murat Caner, who was disabled
during a military operation in northern Iraq on an unspecified
date in the past, and a few members of the Association for
Families of Martyrs and Disabled Veterans in Adana, held a
protest in front of the mayor's office against escalating
terrorism in the country. Caner said that Turkey should not
conduct a cross-border operation and should deal with the
problems within the country in the first place; otherwise the
number of people dying will increase even more, according to
Caner.
15. CUMHURIYET: Adana Governor made an announcement about the
measures and prohibited actions that the people should heed in
the province during the June 17 Nationwide University Entrance
Examination which is a very critically important test that all
high school graduates must take to be eligible for university
access in Turkey. The Governor made a call to people to be
careful about the noise level not to disturb the students taking
the exam in the province.
16. GUNDEM: Ten people in Erzurum were found out to
contract Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever. The doctors said that
the HEALTH conditions of the patients, who are under treatment,
are well.
17. GUNDEM: Despite the promises given by the prime
minister and agricultural minister to remedy the material losses
of the farmers in Diyarbakir's Cinar and Bismil districts
following the November 2006 flood disaster, no tangible steps
have been taken so far in line with the promises, reports the
daily.
GREEN