US embassy cable - 05ADANA62

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000062 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PINS, PGOV, PHUM, TU, Press Summaries, ADANA 
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR MARCH 23, 2005 
 
This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for March 23, 
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 / CUMHURIYET / EKSPRES:   Adana MPs from AKP (Justice and 
Development Party) who held different opinions regarding the 
current economic status of Turkey during their visit to Adana 
Chambers yesterday, were not pleased to hear Abdullah Caliskan, 
one of the MPs, claiming, "The (Turkish) economy can be compared 
to a puffed-up balloon: a touch of a needle can collapse it at 
any time, the current economic picture in Turkey forebodes a 
crisis that may be more severe than the one in 2001." Abdullah 
Dogru, Adana Provincial Chairperson, criticized Caliskan for 
being a doomsayer and added that Turkish economy is stable and 
credible. 
 
ZAMAN / SABAH (GUNEY) / EKSPRES / BOLGE / MILLIYET:     Cukurova 
Journalists' Association and Adana Branch of the Turkish Union 
of Journalists began their march to Ankara to demand changes in 
the penal code, which is to take effect on April 1. The 
journalists, blaming the penal code for restricting freedom, 
stated that the new code not only punishes journalists, but also 
local media owners. 
 
MILLIYET / RADIKAL / HURRIYET / YENI SAFAK / SABAH CUMHURIYET / 
ZAMAN / EKSPRES / SABAH (GUNEY):        Tuncer Bakirhan, DEHAP 
(Democratic People's Party) leader condemned the attempt to burn 
the Turkish flag in Mersin as a provocation and stated that the 
Turkish flag is at the same time the flag of Kurds. The Mersin 
Journalists Association denounced the beating of journalists 
during Mersin's Newruz celebrations. A crowded group of people 
(reportedly 15,000 people) with nationalist tendencies marched 
in Mersin. A commotion started due to an unspecified reason and 
people began throwing stones at the students in a schoolyard, 
receiving (unspecified) retaliatory actions. A journalist was 
wounded and the agitated protestors tried to assault some people 
who were saved later by police. All the institutions and 
organizations covered their buildings with Turkish flags in 
Mersin. The police officer, who saved the flag from being 
trodden on and burned, was awarded with twenty-four salary 
installments. Mersin Security Director said that they have 
identified the provokers that attempted to burn the Turkish flag. 
 
CUMHURIYET / OZGUR GUNDEM:      Sinan Yerlikaya, Tunceli MP from 
CHP (Republican People's Party), brought to the agenda of the 
Turkish parliament the issue of whether the resources that were 
to be spent for facilitating the return of the people to their 
villages in southeastern Turkey were being spent properly or 
not. Abdulkadir Aksu, Minister of Interior, is to answer the 
question put forth by Yerlikaya. 
 
RADIKAL / OZGUR GUNDEM: Norwegian Ambassador Hans Wilhem Longva 
denied CNN Turk channel's allegation that his wife chanted 
slogans at the Newruz celebrations. Ambassador (Longva) said 
that his wife was in Norway and no other delegation from Norway 
participated in the celebrations. Longva visited the Mayor of 
Diyarbakir and expressed that he felt honored to see people's 
enthusiasm during Newruz in Diyarbakir. Longva praised the 
professional treatment of Turkish police to people during Newruz 
in Diyarbakir as well. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   A 41-year-old village guard was found dead in 
Dilektasi village of Yuksekova district in Hakkari. The district 
Jandarma Command initiated an investigation into case. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   Tension persists in Hazro district of 
Diyarbakir, where a gun attack that (allegedly) was sparked by 
Dolan family, killed a person and wounded Mayor Hamit Ergin and 
his brother. Although people are not allowed to go outside in 
the district, it is reported that the female members of Dolan 
family allegedly burned down the eleven houses, which belong to 
the relatives of Mayor Hamit Ergin.  The male members of the 
Dolan family reportedly have already been taken into custody. 
 
 
CUMHURIYET:     Cumhuriyet criticized Huseyin Celik's (Minister of 
Education) remarks during the opening ceremony of a private 
school construction in Adana, which emphasized that the 
government's policy backs three hundred percent private schools 
openings. According to Cumhuriyet, the government is trying to 
further the causes of the Fethullah Gulen school network. 
 
CUMHURIYET:     During an interview Die Welt conducted with Selim 
Sadak, former DEP (Democracy Party MP), Sadak said that the 
reforms in Turkey remained paper reforms and were not seriously 
implemented. When asked whether the "Democratic People's 
Movement" had originally emanated from the ideas of the jailed 
PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, Sadak said that the origins of the 
idea did not matter. According to Sadak, "The important thing is 
that a mass party should be established to answer the broader 
needs of the people. The people that the PKK addresses are the 
same people we address." 
 
HURRIYET (CUKUROVA):    Jvrg Metger, German Federal Republic's 
FRG Deputy Chief of Mission, paid a visit to the Gaziantep 
Chamber of Commerce and he obtained information about the 
economic development of the city. Metger praised the industrial 
and economic development of Gaziantep and said that the FRG is 
supporting the full EU membership of Turkey. 
 
 
 
REID