SE TURKEY SECURITY INCIDENTS: NOVEMBER 9-15, 2009

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ADANA 000073 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR DS/IP/EUR, DS/IP/ITA, INR AND EUR E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ASEC PTER PINR CASC TU SUBJECT: SE TURKEY SECURITY INCIDENTS: NOVEMBER 9-15, 2009 ¶1. The following security incidents for the period of November 9-15, 2009, were compiled by the security assistant at Consulate Adana from RSO sources, to include Turkish security contacts, government officials and media. The RSO uses the information to determine the security situation and trends of violence and crime throughout Turkey. The RSO shares the information with the country team and visas viper coordinator. ¶2. Military operations against the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) as reported by the Turkish General Staff: ¶A. Weapons, ammunition, and equipment seized: Sirnak - 11.14.09: 200 grams of hashish, 1360 kilograms of food. Sirnak - 11.13.09: 1,494 rounds of Kalashnikov ammunition. Van - 11.12.09: 9 rounds of RPG-7 ammunition. Sirnak - 11.12.09: 3 backpacks, 10 kilograms of food and logistical equipment. Mus - 11.11.09: A booby-trapped hand grenade found and destroyed. Sirnak - 11.11.09: 450 kilograms of food. 01.01.09 through 11.13.09: Security forces confiscated or safely detonated 179 kilograms of TNT; 98 kilograms of plastic explosive material; 2,375 kilograms of ammonium/potassium nitrate; 53 kilograms of unknown explosive material; 42 units of landmines; and 87 units of other types of explosives. During the same period PKK carried out 68 attacks using explosive material. ¶B. PKK members captured or surrendered: Erzurum - 11.13.09: Security forces caught 1 PKK member. Sirnak - 11.12.09: Security forces caught 3 PKK members. Sirnak - 11.11.09: 8 PKK members surrendered. Sirnak - 11.11.09: Security forces caught 1 PKK member. Sirnak - 11.10.09: 1 PKK member surrendered. 11.09.09 through 11.15.09: A total of 15 PKK members were captured: 6 alive and 9 surrendered. ¶C. PKK attacks: Sirnak - 11.13.09: A clash was reported; no casualties. Hakkari - 11.11.09: Military patrol team attacked by PKK members; no casualties reported. ¶3. Media reports related to PKK and pro-Kurdish organizations: ¶A. Anti-PKK operations: Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) anti-PKK operations in SE Turkey continue. Many armored vehicles, military personnel and ammunition were sent to the operation areas in Sirnak, Hakkari, Van, Mus and Siirt. �00A; Sirnak - 11.14.09: TAF artillery teams bombed the mountainous terrains of Semdinli District; no casualties reported. ¶N. Iraq - 11.13.09: TAF artillery teams bombed the Zagros District; no casualties reported. Sirnak - 11.13.09: TAF ended anti-PKK operations on the Mount Cudi; no casualties reported. ¶B. Arrests: Tunceli - 11.14.09: Security forces stormed the home of the chairman of the Education Union on the suspicion of terrorism. Hakkari - 11.14.09: Security forces detained 4 people on the suspicion of terrorism. Sanliurfa - 11.13.09: Security forces detained 3 people on the suspicion of terrorism. Hakkari - 11.12.09: Security forces detained 2 people on the suspicion of terrorism. ADANA 00000073 002 OF 003 Diyarbakir - 11.12.09: Security forces detained 1 person on the suspicion of terrorism. Batman - 11.12.09: 7 minors (ages 13-17) are on trial on the charge of "carrying out illegal action on behalf of the PKK." Adana - 11.12.09: 8 people, including 6 children (ages 14-17) were sentenced to a cumulative total of 39 years in prison on the charge of "carrying out illegal action on behalf of the PKK." ¶C. Other media stories about PKK: A total of 285 PKK members were neutralized in 2009: 58 dead, 96 alive and 131 surrendered. It was reported that most of them were captured in Sirnak, close to the border with Iraq. Mardin - 11.15.09: 2 PKK members who surrendered on October 19 at Silopi's Habur Border Gate have had several public speaking engagements. 11.15.09 - Turkey wide: Turkey paid 1. 2 billion Turkish Liras as terror compensation to Kurdish people in East and SE Turkey. Adana - 11.15.09: Governor's Office of Adana has banned the carrying of knives following the recent death of a police officer who was stabbed by a protester during a demonstration. Bingol - 11.15.09: 14 students were detained when nationalist students attacked a pro-Kurdish group last week. Sirnak - 11.15.09: Demonstrators, including pro-Kurdish unions and DTP officials, held a press statement to protest a hydroelectric plant which will be constructed in the city. 11.14.09 - PKK is re-organizing its drug smuggling operations after UNODC and EUROPOL listed PKK members on the most wanted lists of international drug smugglers. Hakkari - 11.13.09: A member of the pro-Kurdish YDG-M (Patriotic Democratic Youth-Movement) has applied to the Human Rights Union with the complaint of police harassment. Adana - 11.12.09: DTP provincial administrators are under investigation on the charge of "making propaganda for the PKK." 11.12.09: 8 PKK terrorists based in Iraq have surrendered, becoming the second such group since the government's pledge in July to end Turkey's decades-old Kurdish problem. The surrendering terrorists told authorities that "a large number" of other PKK members want to return to Turkey. 11.12.09: The European Human Rights Court has asked Turkey to provide information about Lokman and Zana Ugurlu, brothers who were kidnapped and killed by members of the JITEM in 1993 in Diyarbakir. Mardin - 11.09.09: Pro-PKK news agency ANF reported that Turkish counter-guerillas are collecting money from the public under the false pretense of financing the PKK. The news agency reported that a group of 6 people may have ties to the local gendarme. Hakkari - 11.09.09: DTP Yuksekova organization held a march on the anniversary of the Semdinli book shop bombing to protest racist assaults against Kurdish people. ¶4. Media reports on significant crime or security incidents: Siirt - 11.14.09: Unidentified assailants attacked police residences with a Molotov cocktail; no injuries reported. Adana - 11.13.09: Security forces detained 9 people in an anti-organized crime operation. Adana - 11.12.09: A PTT (Turkish Post and Telephone Service) district branch was robbed by an unidentified person. Hakkari - 11.09.09: Stores in the Semdinli district of Hakkari pulled down their shutters to commemorate the Semdinli bookstore attack. Four years ago, one person died and five were wounded in an attack on the Umut Bookstore by two noncommissioned officers and a former PKK member working for the gendarme. Van - 11.09.09: Four people were killed and five injured by village guards in an armed dispute at a wedding. Murders by village guards in similar cases have brought the village guard system into the national spotlight. In May, a vicious massacre took place at a wedding ceremony in Mardin's Bilge village, ADANA 00000073 003 OF 003 where 44 people were killed in an interfamily dispute over whom the bride should marry. Batman - 11.09.09: 6 people wounded in a fight over a pasture disagreement. Security forces detained 5 people. Bitlis - 11.09.09: Security forces confiscated 2 long range infantry rifles, 1 unregistered pistol, 63 rounds of Kalashnikov ammunition, 1 magazine and 8 rounds of pistol ammunition. 1 person was detained in the operation. Hakkari - 11.09.09: Unidentified people stoned a police patrol vehicle, wounding a police officer. 11.09.09: The "Revolutionary Headquarters" organization infiltrated the staff of Istanbul's Sabiha Gokcen Airport with the intent of conducting terror activities, but its three members were caught by police. The organization is trying to take up the cause of the DHKP-C (Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front) and also the fanatic leftist "DEV-SOL" organizations. Gaziantep - 11.09.09: Security forces confiscated 5 unregistered pistols, 5 magazines, 7 rounds of bullet, and 90 grams of hashish. 2 people were arrested in the operations. ¶5. Illegal immigrant arrests: None reported. ¶6. Counter-narcotic operations: Diyarbakir-Istanbul: Security forces confiscated 230 kilograms of hashish brought from Diyarbakir. 1 person was arrested. Adana - 11.13.09: Security forces confiscated 8 kilograms of hashish, 465 pills, and 1,800 cannabis seeds. 5 people were arrested. Van - 11.13.09: Security forces seized 77 kilograms of hashish and arrested 1 person. Elazig - 11.09.09: Security forces seized 12 kilograms of hashish and detained 2 people. Diyarbakir - 11.09.09: Security forces seized 2 tons of hashish and 1 million cannabis seeds belonging to PKK. 19 people detained. Hatay - 11.09.09: Security forces seized 4,500 pills and detained 1 person. Bitlis - 11.09.09: Security forces seized 22 kilograms of hashish and arrested 1 person. DARNELL