US embassy cable - 04ADANA166

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000166 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PINS, PGOV, PHUM, TU, ADANA, Press Summaries 
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER 8, 2004 
 
 
This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for December 8, 
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 
 
ZAMAN/TURKIYE:  Five children that had been (allegedly) 
kidnapped in Diyarbakir and forced to commit crimes such as 
pickpocketing and robbery, were rescued during a police 
operation yesterday at Haydarpasa Train Station in Istanbul. The 
police detained one person accused of bringing the children from 
Diyarbakir to Istanbul to join an intercity crime network. 
(Note: Turkiye newspaper reports the number of children 
kidnapped as 6. End note.) 
 
CUMHURIYET/YENI SAFAK:  Ibrahim Parlak, who had been sentenced 
on charges of shooting two Turkish soldiers at the 
Turkish-Syrian border (note:  in a 1988 incident) and who is 
(allegedly) tied to the terrorist organization PKK, now faces 
deportation from the U.S.  He was found to have provided false 
answers on his U.S. green card application. 
 
YENI SAFAK:  Prof. Ibrahim Kaboglu, head of the Advisory Board 
of Human Rights, called upon Alevis to put pressure on the state 
authorities regarding the building of mosques in Alevi villages. 
Kaboglu (reportedly) said, "If mosques are being built in Alevi 
towns, you should press for your rights and try to exert 
influence even by taking the matter to European Court of Human 
Rights."  Kaboglu further stated (reportedly) that Alevis are 
scarcely mentioned in the EU Progress Report, however since the 
Kurds are the 'weak spot' of the EU, the EU always attaches 
priority to Kurdish issues and undermines people of other ethnic 
origins in Anatolia. 
 
RADIKAL/CUMHURIYET/YENI SAFAK/SABAH:  At the request of the 
Department of Justice, the Board of Ministers of the Netherlands 
government decided to add PKK to its official list of terrorist 
organizations. The Dutch Cabinet agreed to outlaw and seize the 
assets of all terrorist organizations listed by the European 
Union. The banned organizations will not be allowed to operate 
under different names. 
 
RADIKAL/CUMHURIYET/OZGUR GUNDEM/SABAH : Upon the demand of the 
Prosecutor Pinar Akkoc Haktanir, the Kiziltepe Court of Peace 
decided to classify the investigation into the deaths of Ahmet 
and Ugur Kaymaz as secret, in order to maintain a "fair and 
objective judicial proceeding and investigation."  Pursuant to 
the decision, the request of the lawyer for the Kaymaz family, 
Huseyin Cangir, to examine the case file was also rejected. 
Huseyin Cangir stated his wish that every phase of the judicial 
process be open to public. According to Sabah newspaper, 
contrary to the claims of security forces, the MPs of the 
Justice and Welfare Party stated that "there were no evidence of 
clashes."  Sabah reported that MPs said the people of the region 
were pleased with the Prime Minister's comment that "a 
12-year-old child cannot be called a terrorist." 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:    Tunceli Bar Association attorneys held a 
demonstration to protest violations of law in the region. Bulent 
Tas, head of the Tunceli Bar Association, said, "especially in 
Tunceli, the recent resuming of methods used in 1994 worries us 
greatly."  Many members of NGOs supported the demonstration as 
well. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   Hakkari FM is on the air again. The one-month 
penalty imposed by the Turkish Higher Board of Radio and 
Television temporarily banning the broadcast of Hakkari FM has 
expired. The ban was imposed upon the grounds that "the 
broadcast of the radio was promoting separatism." 
 
CUMHURIYET:  Prof. Ahmet Ercan, the Head of the Geophysics Board 
in Turkey, said fuel leaking from the fuel storage facilities 
into the soil is poisoning the people in Batman.  Ercan carried 
out research in Batman, where (allegedly) an underground methane 
gas accumulation led to a blast on May 3 which killed 3 people 
and wounded 25.  He said that in the course of 35 years, 64,000 
tons of fuel leaked from the fuel storage facilities as well as 
from TUPRAS (Turkish Petroleum Refineries Corporation), causing 
diseases related to increased levels of water, air and soil 
contamination. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   Van's Jandarma Command detected one Syrian, 
seven Lebanese, and 19 Afghan nationals as they were trying to 
cross the border illegally from Gulderen and Uzunyol townships 
in Van. 
 
SABAH:  In the 1990s, the population of Diyarbakir (reportedly) 
increased from 300,000 to 1,000,000.  Thousands of children that 
have nothing else in which to engage are drawn to committing 
crimes. Sometimes these children are kidnapped and placed into 
crime networks; this situation therefore affects other cities as 
well.  The families of some of the children recently kidnapped 
in Diyarbakir and forced to commit crimes were (allegedly) paid 
money in exchange for "allowing" their children to be taken to 
Istanbul.  Regarding the problem of children committing crimes 
in cities, Efkan Ala, the Governor of Diyarbakir, says it's 
because of deprivation and poverty, and welcomed every effort 
and suggestion about how to deal with the issue.  Ala stated, 
"Diyarbakir's problem is not solely the problem of Southeast 
Turkey. This problem should be of interest to everybody in the 
country." 
 
 
REID