TURKEY: PM ERDOGAN'S VISIT TO THE SOUTHEAST PROVOKES

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000043 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL PTER TU SUBJECT: TURKEY: PM ERDOGAN'S VISIT TO THE SOUTHEAST PROVOKES WEEKEND PROTESTS AND VIOLENCE ADANA 00000043 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. (U) Summary: Thousands of Kurds turned out to oppose Prime Minister Erdogan's visit to the southeastern cities of Van and Hakkari and to protest AKP's lack of movement forward on the Kurdish issue. Suspension of municipal services such as garbage collection and public transportation accompanied violent clashes between rock- and Molotov-throwing demonstrators and law enforcement wielding tear gas and water cannons. A DTP-organized sit-in in Diyarbakir drew over 15,000 activists in two days. With local elections in March, the DTP will likely continue staging protests to provoke harsh reactions and "us-against-them" emotions between Turks and Kurds. End summary. Van Halts Municipal Services, Shops Remain Shuttered, and Mass Protests Greet the PM -------------- -------------- -------------- -------------- ¶2. (U) Television images of Erdogan's November 1 visit to Van showed angry throngs of protesters throwing stones and Molotov cocktails at what appeared to be outnumbered riot police in Kurdish-majority neighborhoods of the city. Police responded with tear gas and water cannons, and by shooting into the air to disperse the crowds. Protesters set fire to cars and broke glass windows in area shops. Pro-Kurdish local dailies report five civilians were wounded in the clashes, one seriously, along with eight police officers. Our contact at the Van Human Rights Association reports 51 have been detained by police, and many protesters who sustained injuries on Saturday are too frightened to seek medical attention at hospitals for fear of being arrested. In DTP-held sectors of the city, municipal services such as garbage collection and mass transit were halted, according to news sources. Alleged Percussion Bomb Rocks AKP's Hakkari Province Headquarters on Eve of PM Visit -------------- -------------- -------------- -------------- ¶3. (U) Local media report a percussion blast hit AKP party headquarters the night before PM Erdogan's November 2 visit to Hakarri province, injuring two passers-by. In advance of his arrival in Yuksekova district, Jandarma teams reportedly foiled what nationalist media are calling an "assassination attempt" on Erdogan's life by seizing over 20 kilograms of explosive materials, hand grenades, and guns from a suspected PKK hideout. Security forces took no chances with Erdogan's movement in the city, creating a perimeter of 200 special-forces troops and moving him in a Sikorsky helicopter. As in Van, press reports that over 3,000 pro-Kurdish protesters clashed with police using rocks and Molotov cocktails. Throngs of protesters chanted "Murderer Erdogan" in front of shops that were closed in protest; municipal services were also halted in Hakkari by the DTP mayor, forcing the governor's office to collect garbage along the route that Erdogan was to travel. In remarks to the crowd, Erdogan dismissed allegations of Ocalan's mistreatment in Imrali prison as "lies" and accused the DTP of manipulating Kurds for political gain. He also announced that if people didn't like the country they were living in or the government, they should get up and leave. Thousands Support DTP's Two-Day Sit-In Protest in Diyarbakir -------------- -------------- -------------- ¶4. (U) On Monday morning DTP parliamentarians, provincial ADANA 00000043 002.2 OF 002 council members, mayors, as well as 32 NGOs concluded a 48-hour sit-in organized to call attention to the urgent need for a solution to the Kurdish issue. The demonstration occurred without clashes or violent incidents, according to a local contact. Media reports protesters carried banners in Kurdish and Turkish reading "Enough is Enough!", "We demand a democratic solution for the Kurdish issue," and, "The solution does not lie in [military] operations, but rather in dialogue." Women wearing traditional Kurdish garb carried flags bearing the Kurdish colors red, yellow and green; protesters chanted pro-Ocalan slogans and demanded improved prison conditions for their leader. This attempt to use civil disobedience may be a way for the DTP to seek a (flimsy) political cover for the violence they are encouraging elsewhere. Comment -------------- ¶5. (SBU) One Diyarbakir contact told us the tensions in the southeast are at their highest level since Ocalan's capture in ¶1999. The DTP feels threatened by the AKP's electoral success in the region and in the lead-up to the March local elections is ramping up the protests to provoke harsh reactions by the security forces thereby feeding social ruptures between Turks and Kurds. The AKP has been careful in the past to avoid sowing ethnic divisions, but Erdogan's "love-it-or-leave-it" statement - while aimed at PKK terrorists - is liable to turn off many Kurds, who will undoubtedly point out that Kurds were living in what is now southeast Turkey for centuries before the Turks arrived. GREEN