US embassy cable - 05ADANA39

UNCLAS ADANA 000039 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PINS, PGOV, PHUM, TU, ADANA, Press Summaries 
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR FEBRUARY 24, 2005 
 
 
This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for February 24, 
2005.  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 
 
EVRENSEL / CUMHURIYET:  Regarding the incident of the M/V Ulla, 
the ship which sank in Iskenderun Bay in September 2004, 
Iskenderun Environment Association filed a complaint against 19 
public officials including two prime ministers, two ministers, 
three governors, three port chairmen, and two customs directors 
with the Iskenderun Prosecutor. The Supreme Court of Appeals has 
sent the petitions to the Ministry of Internal Affairs to 
conduct a preliminary investigation about the three governors. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   Following the CHP (Republican People's Party) 
leader's visit to earthquake-hit Hakkari at the onset of 
February and yesterday's distribution of the aid raised in the 
CHP-initiated-campaign for the victims of the earthquake, a 
group of CHP deputies is going to announce tomorrow the Hakkari 
earthquake report they have been working on for a while. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   TUHAD-DER (Solidarity for Inmates' Relatives 
Association) distributed shoes, which were donated by a 
businessman, to 65 poor children in Diyarbakir. The authorities 
of the association requested that the businessmen contribute 
more donations. 
 
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS 
 
1.      HURRIYET (CUKUROVA):    Ali Ihsan Mutlu, Director of the 
Gaziantep's Authority for Developing and Supporting SMEs, 
announced that the Authority granted 1 million new Turkish lira 
($770,000) to SMEs in 2004 to facilitate their harmonization 
with EU regulations through increasing productivity and quality; 
two conditions necessary to increase the export capability of 
the enterprises as well, said Mutlu. 
2.      BOLGE / EVRENSEL:       Halil Delibas, Deputy General Secretary 
 
of the Mersin Chamber of Marine Commerce, announced in a written 
report that the magnitude of the port traffic in 2004 was the 
largest in the last six years. According to the report, 3,968 
ships visited the port for operations and 16,522,000 tons of 
goods were handled. 
 
 
 
REID