US embassy cable - 04ADANA169

UNCLAS ADANA 000169 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PINS, PGOV, PHUM, TU, Press Summaries, ADANA 
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER 21, 2004 
 
This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for December 21, 
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 
 
TERCUMAN / SABAH / OZGU GUNDEM / EKSPRES / EVRENSEL / RADIKAL / 
CUMHURIYET / MILLIYET / ZAMAN / HURRIYET: Having discovered that 
one of the wolves that attacked and bit 15 people in Yuksekova, 
Hakkari, had rabies virus, all the people exposed were 
vaccinated against rabies. However, the vaccination has not been 
effective against severe bites on the head, which are very close 
to the brain. The lack of special medication for treatment in 
Turkey or its late arrival from abroad may cause mortality. 
 
 
ZAMAN / HURRIYET (CUKUROVA) / EKSPRES:   Nearly six hectares 
of forest burned in various parts of Osmaniye. It is suspected 
that the fire spread from an unextinguished picnic fire. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   Ezdin Batur is the father of Adnan Batur, who 
is an (alleged) member of HPG (People`s Protection Forces). 
Ezdin Batur said that Turkish Armed Forces killed Adnan Batur in 
the vicinity of Zivinge village and the body of his son is now 
missing. According to Ezdin Batur, his son was killed after 
being caught alive during an operation conducted on October 
24th. Ezdin Batur obtained this information from village guards. 
 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   Attorney Zulfu Dundar is still not acquitted 
in the second hearing of the lawsuit that was brought against 
him on the grounds that he exploited his capacity as an 
attorney. Attorney Zulfu Dundar brought a charge against police 
who allegedly degraded and paraded two children about the town 
after putting feces on their faces. The children were detained 
on April 23rd, 2003, as a result of allegedly making some 
remarks to their teacher. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM / EVRENSEL:         On December 19, 2000, an 
operation called "Return to Life" resulted in the death of some 
30 prisoners.  (Note:  The operation was initiated by security 
forces which occupied prisons in response to hunger strikes 
security forces claimed were enforced against prisoners' wills 
by radical organizations.  End note.)  This incident was 
remembered and denounced during demonstrations held in Adana and 
Van this week with banners saying "Perpetrators of the December 
19th Massacre should be found," and "We paid a price, and it is 
your turn to pay it." 
 
MILLI GAZETE / OZGUR GUNDEM:    "Upper and lower respiratory tract 
infections are on the increase during winter," says Mesut Colak, 
an internal diseases specialist at Mus State University. About 
two thirds of the patients treated in the polyclinics of Mus 
State University are suffering from common cold. 
 
CUMHURIYET:     Attorneys from the Bar Association of the UK are 
going to prepare reports about the Kiziltepe case.  Attorneys 
Roberta Harwey and Johanna Wood, who are conducting a "Kurdish 
Human Rights Project," are now obtaining information from the 
family of Ahmet Kaymaz and from the witnesses of the incident. 
 
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS 
 
1.      VAKIT / BOLGE / EKSPRES / TURKIYE:  AKP Provincial 
Chairpersons and AKP Chairpersons of Administrative Districts 
paid a visit to Fevzi Kilic, General Director of CUKOBIRLIK 
(Cooperative Organization for Agricultural Product Sales in 
Cukurova), to get information about the activities of 
CUKOBIRLIK, as well as to discuss and address the problems the 
group experienced.  Kilic said, "If local politicians and 
farmers support us and maintain the environment of cooperation, 
CUKOBIRLIK can easily solve every problem." 
 
2.      VAKIT / BOLGE / EKSPRES / TURKIYE / ZAMAN:      Fevzi 
Kilic, General Director of CUKOBIRLIK said "Our organization is 
growing and becoming powerful even as it is getting smaller 
(leaner) thanks to the process of gaining an autonomous status. 
For 30 years as a state-run organization, CUKOBIRLIK was a 
burden to the state. But that period ended when the Law on 
Cooperative Organizations for Agricultural Product Sales was 
enacted in the year 2000 (allowing CUKOBIRLIK more autonomy)." 
 
 
REID