US embassy cable - 03ADANA281

UNCLAS ADANA 0281 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PINS, PGOV, PHUM, TU, IZ, ADANA, Press Summaries 
SUBJECT:  SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY 
NOVEMBER 14, 2003 
 
 
1. This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary 
for November 14, 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. HURRIYET: As of today, the US is going to get 
"Bio-Matrix" data from all worldwide visa 
applicants. The US Consul at the US Embassy in 
Ankara, Laura F. Dogu, gave information about 
the new application. 
 
 
3. CUMHURIYET:  Thirteen students from Siirt's 
Educational Faculty, which is affiliated to 
Dicle University of Diyarbakir, were expelled 
from the state-owned dormitory on the grounds 
of attending the Siirt former mayor's son's 
wedding ceremony two years ago. The students 
sought assistance from Siirt's HRA chapter. 
 
 
4. EVRENSEL/OZGUR GUNDEM: Non-governmental 
organizations in the twenty-three Southeast 
Turkey provincescalled the government to take 
some steps for solving the Kurdish issue at a 
press announcement dubbed "Democratization and 
Peace Declaration." Approximately seven hundred 
people, including DEHAP mayors in the region, 
attended the meeting held at the Diyarbakir 
municipality's meeting hall. 
 
 
5. EVRENSEL/OZGUR GUNDEM: DEHAP's Diyarbakir 
Provincial Office is getting ready for a 
meeting in Diyarbakir on November 16, 2003. 
DEHAP'S Provincial Chairman for Diyarbakir, 
Firat Anli, said he was expecting hundreds of 
thousands of people demanding democracy and 
freedom to attend the meeting. 
 
 
6. OZGUR GUNDEM: HRA's Bingol Chapter is going to 
organize a composition contest in Kurdish and 
Turkish on "peace" issue on the occasion of 
World Human Rights Day,December 10-17. 
 
 
7. OZGUR GUNDEM: Villagers from Ilicak of Sirnak 
applied to the Diyarbakir Chapter of the Human 
Rights Association claiming that the Jandarma 
from the Regiment Command in Beytussebab, 
Sirnak, forced them to evacuate their village 
and live in tents on the grounds that they were 
helping KADEK. The villagers also claimed that 
the soldiers were firing weapons, anti-aircraft 
missiles, and mortars around the village at 
night. 
 
 
AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT 
 
 
8. HURRIYET (Cukurova Supplement): Corn replaced 
cotton plantations in the Cukurova Plain, 
Adana. Because of the high production cost of 
cotton, farmers in Adana area have started 
growing corn. The farmers are happy with the 
yield in machine-harvested corn. The farmers 
are getting 738 kilos of corn per 1000 square 
meters. Forty-five percent of Turkey's total 
corn production was produced from the Cukurova 
Plain last year. 
REID