US embassy cable - 05ADANA60

UNCLAS ADANA 000060 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PINS, PGOV, PHUM, TU, ADANA, Press Summaries 
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR MARCH 22, 2005 
 
This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for March 22, 
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 
 
BOLGE:  AKP (Justice and Development Party) Adana Provincial 
Chairperson and Adana MPs from AKP paid a visit to the chairmen 
of Chamber of Commerce (ACC), Chamber of Industry (ACI) and 
Commodity Exchange (ACE), who were all reelected after the 
chamber elections. During their visit in ACC, Adana MPs were 
asked questions about their lack of cooperative effort and not 
being in harmony. The MPs, rejecting these criticisms, could not 
agree on the economic well being of Turkey, when asked about 
their opinions on Turkey's economic prospects. 
 
CUMHURIYET:     Karin R|sjorgensen, an MP from the European 
Parliament, and Louise Feilberg, her assistant, paid a visit to 
Efkan Ala, Governor of Diyarbakir , and press was not allowed 
access to their meeting. R|sjorgensen stated that women's rights 
and honor killings were among the issues they discussed. 
 
CUMHURIYET / OZGUR GUNDEM: A gun attack in Hazro district of 
Diyarbakir killed a person. Mayor Hamit Ergin and his brother 
were wounded. The event, which sparked the incident, reportedly 
was the dismissal of a municipality employee. Police control was 
tightened in Hazro and press was not allowed into the district. 
 
EVRENSEL / CUMHURIYET / OZGUR GUNDEM:   Tens of thousands 
celebrated Newruz in Diyarbakir and Batman.  People chanted 
slogans in support of (Abdullah) Ocalan and the flags of the 
PKK/Kongra-gel were waved. Tuncer Bakirhan, DEHAP (Democatic 
People's Party) leader, criticized the government during his 
address to the crowd. Bakirhan said that extra-judicial killings 
increased in the region during the term of the AKP (Justice an 
Development Party) government and invited PM Erdogan to solve 
the problems of the (southeastern) region together with the 
Kurds and their representatives. Leyla Zana, during her speech, 
allegedly stated that Diyarbakir embraced the "democratic 
society project" of Ocalan. Zana added that the democratic 
republic that the Kurds envisage should not be construed as 
Kurds giving up their identities. Osman Baydemir, Diyarbakir 
Mayor, said, "The time of war and conflict has ended. Today is 
the time for resonstruction". 
 
ZAMAN:  The Turkish government denied claims that the 
government would amend the law to enable the retrial of 
terrorist leader Abdullah Ocalan. Faruk Celik, AKP (Justice and 
Development Party) Group Acting Chairperson, said that when he 
talked with PM Erdogan, Erdogan strongly denied such claims and 
did not understand why such claims were being made. In a 
separate article, Zaman paper claimed that the "democratic 
confederation" that the terrorist leader Ocalan reportedly 
proposed is aimed at creating a state within a state and urged 
the Kurds to disregard the laws of the countries, in which they 
live. However, the paper also quoted Ocalan as saying 
"'Democratic confederalism' is not a state system, it is a 
democratic system without a state." 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   Unidentified assailant(s) attacked DEHAP 
(Democratic People's Party) Gaziantep Provincial Headquarters. 
Vakkas Kilic, DEHAP Gaziantep Provincial Chairperson, said that 
they are being attacked each time an event concerning them 
raises public interest. Kilic further added that it was to no 
avail to bring the case to the Security Office, since the 
perpetrators have never been found in the past incidences. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
REID