US embassy cable - 03ADANA226

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 0226 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PINS, PGOV, PHUM, TU, IZ, Press Summaries, ADANA 
SUBJECT:  SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY, 
          AUGUST 27, 2003 
 
 
1. This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary 
for August 27, 2003.  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, SECURITY, HUMAN RIGHTS 
 
 
2. Milliyet / General Oktar Ataman, who 
started his position in Elazig recently, 
stated that the "integration" law has not 
been very successful.  During his visit to 
the Elazig Governor, Ataman announced that 
there were 279 applications for amnesty, 
but only two of them are from the rural 
areas  (Editor's Note: Most of the other 
applicants are currently in prison). 
 
 
3. Milliyet, Bolge / In Adana, in the last few 
days, police warned a group shouting 
slogans praising PKK/KADEK and Ocalan.  The 
group threw stones at the police and the 
police opened fire. As a result, five 
children were injured. Kerem Ugur, Adana 
Democratic People's Party (DEHAP) leader, 
stated that it was a circumcision ceremony 
and they were dancing when the police came 
and opened fire on the people without 
warning.  A man with the initials R.A, who 
witnessed the incident, stated that there 
wasn't a circumcision party or a wedding as 
stated in the papers. According to R.A, 
DEHAP organized the party to announce the 
September 1 Peace Day meeting. 
 
 
4. Evrensel / In Adana, during a circumcision 
ceremony, a car opened fire on people. 
About 10 people, including four children, 
were injured.  People claimed that it was a 
police car in disguise. A group of people 
gathered in a park the day after the 
incident and shouted slogans praising 
DEHAP.  The Adana DEHAP leader criticized 
the police and the government for their 
anti-democratic policies. 
 
 
5. Milli Gazete / In Adana police fired 
warning shots in the air after warning a 
group of 300 people who were allegedly 
praising terrorist groups.  The people 
threw stones at the police before the 
warning shots.  Four people were injured 
during the incident.  The group had 
gathered to announce the DEHAP meeting on 
August 31 (Editor's Note: Items 4, 5, and 6 
are believed to be different reports of the 
same incident.  We reported initially on 
this in August 26, 2003 Southeast Turkey 
Press Summary.  These are the additional 
reports of today's newspapers). 
 
 
6. Hurriyet, Turkiye / Adana health 
authorities announced that they are going 
to immunize about 321 thousand children 
against measles between September 29 and 
October 17. 
 
 
7. Evrensel / An Urfa province police officer, 
who was allegedly in disguise, beat a 
minibus driver who was listening to Kurdish 
music in his minibus. 
 
 
8. Evrensel / In Igdir province, Murat Akkus 
applied for the approval of the start of a 
television station broadcasting in Kurdish, 
Turkish and Azeri. 
9. Zaman / The National Independence Army 
Association in Adana announced that it 
supports a decision to send Turkish troops 
to Iraq (Editor's Note: The Association is 
composed of war veterans). 
 
 
ECONOMIC 
 
 
10. Turkiye / Mersin Free Zone reported a trade 
of 1,376,000,000 USD in trade in the first 
seven months of 2003. 
11. Expres / In front of the Adana governor's 
office, the State Employees' Union 
Confederation (KESK) held a meeting to 
protest the degree of increase in their 
salaries.  A woman with seven children 
looking for a job criticized the state 
workers for not being satisfied with what 
they have. 
 
 
CULTURE and TOURISM 
 
 
12. Cumhuriyet / Osman Aydin, Governor of 
Elazig, announced that he had made initial 
contacts to plan the 11th International 
Hazar Poetry Reading Evenings, which would 
be held for the first time in Azerbaijan. 
The festival has been organized in Elazig 
for the past 10 years. 
REID