US embassy cable - 04ADANA99

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000099 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PINS, PGOV, PHUM, IZ, TU, ADANA, Press Summaries 
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY JULY 23, 2004 
 
 
1.      This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for July 23, 
2004.  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: 400,000 square meters of the 767,734 square 
meter Iskenderun airport has been turned over to Mustafa Kemal 
University in Hatay. (Note: the airport was built for military 
purposes 60 years ago and was briefly used for civil 
transportation, as well. End note). The Iskenderun Sub-governor, 
Unal Erdogan, said the Engineering, Architecture and Aqua 
Products Faculties would be opened on the campus' newly acquired 
property. 
 
3.      Hurriyet: PKK member Murat Karayilan wrote a letter to the 
anti-Ocalan "Nasname" internet site, claiming the recent bomb 
attack against Van Governor Hikmet Tan was undertaken by a 
Hizbullah faction that had joined the PKK. The letter claimed 
that a former politician had given 4 trillion Turkish Liras 
(approximately $3.5 million) to PKK-Kongra Gel to fund the 
attack. In reference to the issue, Governor Tan said he doubted 
the information, but that the GOT would look into it. 
 
4.      Evrensel: The Mardin Governor, Temel Kocaklar, announced 
that GOT forces detonated a land mine on an unspecified road 
used by hundreds of vehicles daily. He claimed that the mine was 
planted by PKK-Kongra Gel militants. 
 
5.      Evrensel: GOT forces launched an infantry operation in the 
rural Dicle, Diyarbakir province, against PKK-Kongra Gel members. 
 
6.      Evrensel: The Fifth Munzur Cultural and Nature Festival of 
Tunceli will be held on July 31, 2004. The festival will last 
for four days. The motto of the festival will be "The Munzur 
Will Not Flow Into Dams, But to Peace." The festival will 
feature plays, exhibitions, folk dances, concerts and film 
shows. In addition, questions such as dam construction in the 
Munzur Valley, Kurdish issues, and the Greater Middle East 
Initiative will be discussed during the event. 
 
7.      Evrensel: The Batman Mayor, Huseyin Kalkan, announced that 
the second Batman-Hasankeyf Cultural and Art Festival would be 
held between September 26 and October 2, 2004. Kalkan said the 
Cuban President Fidel Castro and the Former South African 
President, Nelson Mandela, have been invited to the festival. 
The Eurovision Contest Winner, Ruslana, will give a concert for 
the opening of the festival. 
 
8.      Turkiye: A Turkish national who crossed the 
Turkish-Iranian border illegally, for smuggling purposes, in 
Gelenler village of Baskale, Van province, was killed by Iranian 
soldiers. 
 
9.      Turkiye: Explosives were thrown at a bar in Mazgirt 
township of Tunceli last night. No casualties have been 
reported. During the investigation at the scene, the police 
found a piece of cloth on which TIKKO (The Turkish Workers 
Villagers Communist Army) was written. 
 
10.     Radikal: 2000 villagers from Ordekli village in Hakkari 
province had been compelled to evacuate their village ten years 
ago due to violence in the region. Recently, the Hakkari 
Governorate permitted some of the villagers to return to 
Ordekli, 40 kilometers away from Hakkari. The villagers found 
their houses in a devastated state, and 30 families who returned 
have been living in tents without any potable water, 
electricity, or schools. The state provided only $200 worth 
construction material to each family for building their houses. 
The villagers are trying to survive with the money they make 
from cutting grass for livestock. 
 
11.     Ulkede Gundem: Village guards in  Diyarbakir province 
claim that the Dover Jandarma Station Commader in Dicle, 
Diyarbakir, has been arbitrarily deducting approximately $7 from 
the salaries of 223 village guards. One of the guards, Abdulaziz 
Bildirici, filed charges with the Dicle Public Prosecutor 
against the Jandarma Commander after refusing to pay the 
deduction and subsequently being "insulted." 
 
12.     Ulkede Ozgur Gundem: GOT forces arrested seven persons in 
Cizre, Sirnak province, on July 18. Three of the arrestees are 
being accused of alleged membership in the Peoples' Defense 
Forces (HPG), while the others are being accused of assisting 
and harboring members of the illegal organization. 
 
13.     Ulkede Ozgur Gundem: The Elazig Criminal Court of Peace 
fined four DEHAP Elazig Provincial Administrators approximately 
$1,400 for possessing illegal publications in the office. The 
Elazig police had raided DEHAP office on February 26, 2003, 
seizing 21 books and magazines as illegal publications. 
14.     Ulkede Ozgur Gundem: The Bingol Public Prosecutor filed 
charges against the Bingol Human Rights Association Chapter 
President, Ridvan Kizgin, for a statement he made during the 
HRA's convention on October 25, 2003 (at that meeting, he said: 
"Bingol is kept under unique status. Special administrators and 
security officers are assigned to Bingol." )   The HRA 
Provincial Secretary, Habibe Feray Salman, is also accused of 
insulting government officials.  The first hearing for both is 
scheduled for September 9, 2004.