US embassy cable - 05ADANA30

UNCLAS ADANA 000030 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PTER, PHUM, ASEC, PREL, TU, ADANA 
SUBJECT: DEMONSTRATORS CLASH WITH POLICE IN SIIRT 
 
REF: ADANA 0018 
 
1.  (U)  Per reftel (SE Turkey Press Summary 1/25/05), as many 
as 1000 demonstrators reportedly clashed with security officials 
in Siirt on January 23, 2005.  Reportedly throwing stones and 
breaking windows, they protested what they claimed was a 
decision by government and municipal officials to block the 
burial in Siirt township of alleged PKK militants Nergis Ozer 
and Sibal Saltik, who allegedly were killed by security forces 
in Sirnak last weekend.  (Note:  In March 2004, the AK Party won 
the mayoralty of Siirt, previously held by the pro-Kurdish DEHAP 
party.  The current AKP Mayor of Siirt originally was elected to 
Parliament but vacated his seat to allow current Prime Minister 
Erdogan to run in a by-election and formally, therefore, join 
the Parliament and be chosen as Prime Minister.  End note.) 
 
2.  (U)  Family members who reportedly had recovered the bodies 
in nearby Sirnak province were transporting the deceased to 
Siirt for burial, but were stopped from entering the town by as 
yet unidentified GoT forces.  The two bodies were reportedly 
seized by Jandarma and transported to nearby Eruh, where they 
were buried against the families' wishes. In the resulting 
protests, press reports indicate that up to 10 police were 
injured, and that police launched tear gas canisters to disperse 
the crowd. 
 
3.  (SBU)  A human rights activist in Siirt reports that 
tensions there remained high through mid-week as detentions 
related to the incident continued, but that by January 27 the 
mood in the town was considerably calmer.  On January 28 a 
Diyarbakir-based lawyer told poloff that a Human Rights 
Association (HRA) delegation had traveled to Sirnak on January 
25 to investigate the circumstances under which the two alleged 
militants and three others were killed.  Their report also 
addresses the families' complaints about government handling of 
their family members' burial.  (Note:  The two alleged PKK 
militants, whose burials sparked the demonstrations in Siirt, 
were both female and reportedly aged 23 and 16.  According to 
HRA, among others killed in the same clash/incident were two 
individuals aged 21, and one other, aged 13. End note.) 
 
4.  (SBU)  Comment:  Amcon Adana has not been able to determine 
definitively some of the key facts in this case; poloff will 
travel to Siirt in the coming week to follow up on the case.  As 
an aside, the incident casts light on continuing grassroots 
sympathy for PKK/KG in parts of southeast Turkey, especially in 
rural areas, and sheds further light on the participation of 
women and youth in reported PKK/KG units.  End comment. 
 
5.  (U)  BAGHDAD MINIMIZE CONSIDERED. 
 
 
REID