US embassy cable - 04ADANA176

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000176 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PINS, PGOV, PHUM, TU, ADANA, Press Summaries 
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER 22, 2004 
 
1.      This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for December 
22, 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.      OZGUR GUNDEM:   Experts say special medication for the 
treatment of rabies for the patients with severe bites on their 
heads is not available in Turkey and will be brought from Iran. 
Six-year-old Burhan Ates is allegedly still waiting for the 
arrival of the medication. According to Sevket Can, Director of 
the Environmental Research Center at Yuzuncu Yil University, it 
is abnormal for wolves to approach human settlements and attack 
people. Ozgur Gundem claims that 40 villages were evacuated 
between 1990-1996 in Yuksekova and Semdinli area. Since then, 
the instances of wolves approaching settlements have increased. 
 
3.      MILLIYET / ZAMAN / HURRIYET / MILLI GAZETE / VAKIT / 
ZAMAN:  Burhan Ates, who was attacked by wolves in 
Yuksekova, Hakkari, received special medication against rabies. 
Rustem Zeydan, Deputy Undersecretary of the Ministry of Health, 
brought over 8 bottles of medication to health officials. Zeydan 
said that the news about lack of medication in Turkey is false. 
 
4.      TURKIYE /MILLIYET / ZAMAN / HURRIYET / MILLI GAZETE / 
VAKIT / ZAMAN:  Yesterday evening 7 wolves were seen on the 
campus of Sivas Cumhuriyet University in Sivas. One of the 
wolves was killed by a Kangal dog, which was released in the 
campus to guard against wolves. (Note. The Kangal dog is a 
famous breed from the Kangal District of Turkey and is generally 
used for shepherding flocks. End Note.) 
 
5.      OZGUR GUNDEM:   Abdurrezzak Gok cannot get an identity 
card because he is recorded as being dead in the records of the 
state. As a result of a conflict in Siirt on September 21, 1989, 
nine guerillas died. After that incident, the police in Siirt 
forced the father of Gok to sign a statement saying that his son 
died during the conflict. Gok was recorded as dead in the state 
records then. One month after the conflict, Gok was (allegedly) 
taken into custody, tried at Diyarbakir State Security Court, 
and sentenced to life in prison for being a member of and 
participating in the activities of the PKK. After serving 15 
years of that sentence, Gok was released on October 14, 2004. 
However, he is not able to get an identity card since the state 
records say that he died on September 21, 1989. 
 
6.      MILLIYET:       Alicia Allison, Vice Consul at the U.S. 
Consulate in Adana, visited Gundogdu Private School and wished a 
happy new year to the students. The kids sang songs together 
with Ms. Allison. Then, Ms. Allison read an English story and 
she gave some candycanes to the children. 
 
7.      YENI SAFAK:     The air pollution in Diyarbakir is at levels 
beyond acceptable limits and the current situation has very 
serious and hazardous health consequences. Diyarbakir ranks 
first in Turkey with its high air pollution levels. 
 
8.      YENI SAFAK:     Villages that were without water in Gaziantep 
were provided water as a result of the efforts undertaken by the 
Provincial Directorate of Village Services in Gaziantep. Six 
litres of potable water per second is obtained from the artesian 
wells that were dug and this water is transferred via a 24 km 
water pipeline that extends to 3 villages. 
 
9.      OZGUR GUNDEM / EVRENSEL:        Diyarbakir Municipality 
inspected the standard of coal in various places and seized 8 
tons of sub-standard coal at the end of the inspections. 
 
10.     EVRENSEL:       The case of the (alleged) extra judicial 
killing of Siar Perincek in Adana by the anti-terror branch in 
May 28, 2004, has been postponed to February 8, 2005 despite the 
intervening attorneys pointing out that there are (allegedly) 
efforts to conceal the evidences. 
 
 
 
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS 
 
1.      BOLGE / EKSPRES / HURRIYET / TURKIYE / MILLIYET: The Adana 
Provincial Directorate of Agriculture delivered olive seedlings 
to people. Cahit Kirac, Adana Governor, pointed out there is an 
increase on the world`s production and consumption of olive and 
olive oil. Therefore, olive production should be increased in 
Cukurova. 
 
2.      EKSPRES:        Despite the ongoing war in Iraq, the 
businessmen of Turkey are not afraid to conduct business with 
Iraq. The exports volume to Iraq has increased substantially. 
Due to the lack of sound banking services in the region, money 
is transferred via bags and suitcases. 
 
3.      HURRIYET (CUKUROVA):    Abdulkadir Konukoglu, President of 
the Assembly of the Gaziantep Chamber of Commerce, Nejat Kocer, 
Executive Board President of the Gaziantep Chamber of Commerce 
and Mehmet Aslan, President of the Gaziantep Chamber of 
Industry, as well as some businessmen will accompany President 
Erdogan on his visit to Syria. 
 
4.      HURRIYET / TURKIYE / SABAH (GUNEY): Abdelkbir Zahoud, 
Morroco's Minister of Water and Irrigation, is visiting Turkey 
to make observations of the GAP region. The visit of the 
Minister and his delegation started at Gaziantep. 
 
5.      MILLI GAZETE:   The volume of trade in free trade zones 
all over Turkey has increased by 37% in the last 11 months (as 
compared to the previous year) and reached 19.8 billion of 
dollars.