US embassy cable - 05ADANA42

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000042 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PINS, PGOV, PHUM, TU, ADANA, Press Summaries 
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR FEBRUARY 25, 2005 
 
 
This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for February 25, 
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 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   SHP (Social Democratic People's Party) mayors 
in Batman province, municipal assembly members and village 
headmen made a joint press announcement at the Batman Fortress 
to remind PM Erdogan of his pledge to save Hasankeyf, the site 
of an ancient settlement, from being submerged by the pending 
Ilisu Dam Project.  The group pointed out that if the Ilisu Dam 
Project is undertaken in its current form, short-term interests 
of the energy sector will be met, but Hasankeyf -- which had 
been a cradle for the world civilizations for ages -- will be 
lost forever. 
 
RADIKAL / CUMHURIYET:   Guldal Okuducu, Chairperson of the CHP 
(Republican People's Party) Women's Branch, announced the 
party's Hakkari earthquake report findings today and urged the 
(Turkish) government to declare Hakkari a "disaster site." The 
report drew attention to the miserable condition of Hakkari 
after the earthquake, suggested ways to solve the current 
problems and called on the government to take urgent action. 
 
ZAMAN / SABAH (GUNEY) / EKSPRES:        Oktay Ekinci, National 
Chairperson of the Chamber of Architects, announced in Adana 
today that Adana and Antakya will host a congress on 
architecture entitled "Multi-Cultural Cities and Architecture." 
Ekinci said that the event will precede a larger International 
Congress of Architecture, which will be held in June in 
Istanbul. Ekinci requested that the Turkish government wait to 
pass any bill regarding city planning, since decisions to be 
taken at the Istanbul Congress will surely contribute 
significantly to urban-planning policies. 
 
RADIKAL:        According to environmental specialists, life in Van 
Lake will come to an end in 25 years time, unless measures 
against pollution are taken. The Van Municipality brought out 
3,000 tons of garbage from the Lake in nine months and cleaned 
7,000 tons of garbage that the rivers carried into the lake?. A 
20-person team works to clean the lake on a daily basis, and a 
one trillion-lira budget is needed annually to carry out 
cleaning tasks, according to Van Mayor Burhan Yenigun.  (Note: 
The article did not specify whether or not the TL 1 trillion was 
referring to new or "old" Turkish Lira.  End note.) 
 
 
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS 
 
1.      SABAH (GUNEY):  Chambers of Commerce, Chambers of 
Industry and Commodity Exchanges will hold Assembly elections 
around Turkey between March 1 and 3. Locally, the Gaziantep 
Chamber of Commerce and Chamber of Industry election will be 
March 3, and the Gaziantep Commodity Exchange election March 1. 
A total of 147 people will be elected for the three assemblies 
in Gaziantep. 
 
2.      TURKIYE:        James Brexton from the UK's Sheffield Chamber 
of Commerce, Baris Topal from Adana Chamber of Commerce and 
Fulya Melissa Aybars from Mersin Chamber of Commerce and 
Industry announced the formation of the Mersin Foreign Trade 
Club in a meeting yesterday in Mersin.  Kadri Saman, Chairperson 
of the Mersin Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that SMEs' 
level of development has been hindered to date because of the 
late establishment of the Organized Industrial Zone and a 
delayed recognition of the value of the foreign relations. 
 
 
3.      HURRIYET (CUKUROVA):            AKIB (Mediterranean 
Exporters' Union) participated in the Fruit Logistica 2005 
International Fruit and Vegetables Marketing Fair in Berlin and 
exhibited Turkish produce with 27 booths. In this important 
trade event, the participating Turkish companies exceeded their 
expectations and were able to consolidate ties with existing 
contacts. 
 
4.      HURRIYET (CUKUROVA):    Citrus fruit producers in Adana 
started to cut down young fruit trees to replace them with 
better, profit-yielding produce. Erol Kolbasi, one of the 
producers in Solakli district lamentably cut down 700 trees, 
which were 7 years old. 
 
5.      BOLGE:  The due date for submitting bids in response 
to the BOTAS (Turkish Petroleum Pipeline Corporation) tender, 
which will transfer natural gas imports to the private sector, 
was extended from February 25 to April 25. 
 
6.      OZGUR GUNDEM / VAKIT:   A bill was passed to support the 
animal husbandry/livestock-breeding sector by providing 
incentives during the period 2005-2010.  The bill went into 
effect in January 2005 and has been published in the Official 
Gazette. It is anticipated that the (Turkish) government will 
allocate 622 million new Turkish liras ($480 million) for the 
incentives. 
7.      OZGUR / CUMHURIYET / EVRENSEL:  Protestors angry at 
the privatization process of TEKEL (Cigarette Industry 
Enterprise) were reportedly treated roughly by police when they 
obstructed the road that PM Erdogan was to travel over in Adana 
province by laying down in the street. Eighty-two people were 
(allegedly) wounded during the incident. Today, workers of TEKEL 
in Adana announced that they will continue their protests, and 
Southeastern Region Branch Chairperson of the Tek-Gida Is 
(Turkish Union Of Tobacco, Alcoholic Beverage, Food And Related 
Industry Workers) called for a general strike. 
 
 
 
 
REID