US embassy cable - 04ADANA175

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000175 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PINS, PGOV, PHUM, TU, ADANA, Press Summaries 
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER 27, 2004 
 
 
This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for December 27, 
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 / YENI SAFAK / RADIKAL / HURRIYET / SABAH: A group with 
1000 members, comprising of Turkish soldiers and NGOs, 
commemorated the 90th anniversary of a tragic event of 1914 when 
90,000 Turkish soldiers died due to freezing weather conditions, 
as they were fighting the Battle of Sarikamis against Russia at 
Sarikamis, Kars. The group  Allahuekber Mountains to visit the 
scene of the battle. 
 
CUMHURIYET / OZGUR GUNDEM:      2000 people demonstrated against 
the killing of Ugur Kaymaz in Kiziltepe, Mardin and people 
carried slippers in their hands in symbolic of the slippers that 
Ugur Kaymaz and Ahmet Kaymaz were wearing when they were killed. 
The protesters demanded that Abdulkadir Aksu, Minister of 
Internal Affairs, resign from his office. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   'The Turkish troops that were tied to Bolu 
Commando Brigade -known as Brigade of Horror among people- 
(allegedly) carried out a massacre and extra judicial killings 
that killed 7 civilians in Yolcati township of Lice, Diyarbakir 
in May 15, 1994' said Suleyman Yildirim, a witness of the 
alleged massacre, in a statement given to Lice Prosecutor. 
Yildirim survived because he was separated from those killed, 
because the soldiers (allegedly) ordered the killing of people 
less than 65 years of age. In February 17, 2004, the European 
Court of Human Rights penalized Turkey to pay 71,530 euros to 
compensate for the material and immaterial losses of the 
victims. 
MILLIYET:       Kabatas High School and Kabatas Education Foundation 
has renovated a village school in Omerli, Mardin, which was 
demolished by PKK. The foundation has also donated educational 
tools to the school and provided for the material and goods that 
the students are in need of personally. Contemporary school 
standards have now been attained by the efforts undertaken. 
 
YENI SAFAK:     The existence of a high-voltage transmission line on 
two electric towers in a primary school named Sanliurfa Kanuni 
Sultan Suleyman Primary School at Sanliurfa poses great threat 
to the lives of 5300 students being educated there. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   On the birthday of Jesus, December 25, 
Suryanis held a meeting called 'Dialogue and Tolerance Between 
Religons' in Diyarbakir. Christians and Muslims together 
delivered messages on peace at the meetings. During the 
religious ceremonies, people prayed for accession of Turkey to 
the EU. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   7 people set up a 'Peace Tent' on September 1 
World Peace Day in Semdinli, Hakkari. Three months later, 
Semdinli Prosecutor decided to conduct an investigation against 
the 'Peace Tent' activists because of the speeches and slogans 
uttered during the event. 
 
EVRENSEL:       Due to insufficient electricity infrastructure, 
people in Diyarbakir are seriously suffering from power failure 
and and low voltage problems. Tarik Ozden, Chairperson of 
Diyarbakir Branch of the Chamber of Electrical Engineers, says, 
because TEDAS (Turkish Electricity Joint Stock Company) is 
neglecting the renewal of electricity infrastructure and scarce 
budget is allocated for the projects, and since people are using 
electricity for heating their houses, Diyarbakir is experiencing 
such electricity problems. 
 
 
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS 
 
1.      OZGUR GUNDEM:   According to the report of the Turkish 
Agriculturalists Association, despite the fact that East 
Anatolia has been a center for cattle breeding because of the 
favorable ecological conditions of the region, implementation of 
wrong state policies has seriously hampered the development of 
cattle breeding since 1980. 
 
2.      TURKIYE:        Hilmi Guler, Minister of Energy and Natural 
Resources, said that six billion dollars have been spent for the 
dams in the scope of GAP project until today. GAP project 
comprises of Firat and Dicle basins. On Firat basin, a total of 
fourteen dams, eleven of which are hydroelectric power plants, 
will generate 2098 GWh energy annually. A total of eight 
hydroelectric power plants on Dicle basin however will generate 
7247 GWh energy annually. 
 
3.      BOLGE:   According to the joint press announcement of 
Nejat Kocer, Executive Board President of the Gaziantep Chamber 
of Industry, and Mehmet Aslan, Executive Board President of the 
Gaziantep Chamber of Commerce, their visit with President 
Erdogan to Syria and interviews made with Syrian government will 
bring beneficial outcomes for the economy of Gaziantep and the 
decisions made there will render Gaziantep a center for trade. 
 
4.      BOLGE / VAKIT:  Because of the high amount of harvests, 
the prices of vegetables and fruits have decreased on the 
markets in Adana. 
 
5.      YENI SAFAK:     A 400 kV power plant that costs ten trillion 
TL (7,2 million US dollars) is installed to provide for the 
energy needs of the region between Batman, Mardin and Kiziltepe. 
 
 
 
REID