US embassy cable - 03ADANA276

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 0276 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PINS, PGOV, PHUM, TU, IZ, ADANA, Press Summaries 
SUBJECT:  SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY 
OCTOBER 24, 2003 
 
 
1. This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary 
for October 24, 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. CUMHURIYET/YENI SAFAK/MILLI GAZETE/TURKIYE: 
PKK/KADEK has prepared a three-point "Road Map" 
for solving the Kurdish issue which consists of 
the following: 1) a bilateral cease-fire, 2) a 
constitutional guarantee for the Kurdish 
identity and 3) a general amnesty which would 
allow Abdullah Ocalan and other high ranking 
KADEK members to join active political life. 
KADEK is planning to stage demonstrations.  The 
TNP General Directorate warned all the 
provincial security directorates against likely 
retaliation against security forces during such 
actions. 
 
 
3. CUMHURIYET: The Yenisehir District Municipality 
of Diyarbakir applied to the government 
employment office to employ Kurdish-speaking 
psychologists in its recently opened Education 
and Psychological Consulting Center (EPCC). 
Mayor Remzi Azizoglu said Kurdish women 
suffering from depression due to their eviction 
from their villages could be treated best by 
Kurdish-speaking psychologists. 
 
 
4. SABAH (Guney Supplement): Adana AK Party will 
set up a tent in which they will serve free 
food to 1,500 people during the Ramadan. 
Traditional Ramadan festivities will also be 
staged. ZAMAN and BOLGE newspapers report that 
the municipalities of Adana and Seyhan district 
will also feed around 90,000 needy people 
during the month of Ramadan. 
 
 
5. TURKIYE: Two siblings playing with a grenade 
they had found in an unspecified place were 
wounded in Bingol yesterday. The police started 
an investigation. 
 
 
6. OZGUR GUNDEM: There were sizeable pro-Ocalan 
demonstrations, including display of KADEK's 
flags and Abdullah Ocalan's photos in Cizre, 
Antalya, Izmir, Van, Gaziantep, Siirt, and 
Hakkari provinces. 
 
 
7. OZGUR ULKE: It is alleged that the security 
forces have been confiscating food items during 
the road checks which have intensified in Lice, 
Diyarbakir. It is also reported that more JITEM 
(Jandarma Intelligence Center) members dressed 
in guerrilla uniforms are seen in the villages. 
 
 
8. OZGUR GUNDEM: Deputy Mayor of Siirt, Abdullah 
Gok, and DEHAP member Burhan Askara were 
arrested on October 20 for an alleged arson 
attack at a market. DEHAP announced the 
charges. 
 
 
9. TURKIYE: Batman's former DEHAP mayor, Abdullah 
Akin, was detained in Ankara and put in jail 
for violating article 312/1 of the Turkish 
Criminal Law in a speech he had delivered in 
Dogubeyazit on September 1, 2003. 
REID