US embassy cable - 05ADANA64

UNCLAS ADANA 000064 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PINS, PGOV, PHUM, TU, ADANA, Press Summaries 
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR MARCH 28, 2005 
 
This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for March 28, 
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 / EKSPRES:        Serdar Seyhan, CHP Adana Provincial Chairman, 
has come under fire because he kept his seat though the rest of 
the party's provincial administration was dismissed by party's 
central administrative board. The party's provincial 
administration members reportedly strongly supported CHP leader 
Deniz Baykal during CHP's heated leadership race (January 30), 
and they are angry that they are being dismissed now. An 
unspecified CHP party member said that a campaign would be 
launched to save the CHP in Adana from "the monopoly of the 
Seyhan family." 
 
EKSPRES / HURRIYET (CUKUROVA) / BOLGE:  Atilla Koc, Minister 
of Tourism and Culture, visited Adana to conduct a series of 
studies in the city. Koc stated that he wanted to see what could 
be done to benefit from the tourism potential of Karatas beaches 
and the Yumurtalik lagoon in Adana on a more local level. 
 
HURRIYET (CUKUROVA):    Cukurova University plans to use a 
former NATO radar base in the Yumurtalik district of Adana as a 
recreational facility. The place will offer the possibility for 
students to engage in various outdoor activities such as 
camping, tracking, paragliding, etc. 
 
BOLGE / CUMHURIYET / OZGUR GUNDEM:      Volunteers, including four 
German students from Hamburg University, are going to visit the 
sites of military operations in southeastern Turkey as human 
shields, with the goal of "stopping the war" and conflict in the 
region. A 25-person group from Istanbul will be arriving at 
Batman in Sirnak today. A group of people from Adana and Hatay 
pursuing the same aim set off for Sirnak, as well. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   The female inmates in the Diyarbakir E Type 
prison were banned from seeing their visitors for one month. The 
inmates were punished because they celebrated Newruz by setting 
their old clothes on fire, jumping over the fire and chanting. 
According to the Disciplinary Board of the Prison, the inmates 
"have disrupted the peaceful and disciplined environment of the 
prison and set a bad example for the other prisoners." 
 
ZAMAN / EVRENSEL:       A village guard and three people were arrested 
and charged with the killing of Selahattin Gunbey, 13-year-old 
shepherd who was shot dead in Nusaybin district of Mardin on 
March 19.  According to Ali Candan, Mardin Deputy Governor, 
local shepherds reportedly could not agree with nomadic 
shepherds in the area upon the land that their respective flocks 
of sheep should graze, causing the dispute that resulted in the 
killing of Gunbey by a volunteer village guard. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   Ozgur Gundem draws attention to a visit that 
the U.S. Embassy's James R. Sopp paid to the MHP (Nationalist 
Action Party) prior to flag-incident in Mersin. The article 
alleges that the dismissal of the national chairperson of 
ultra-nationalist youth centers affiliated with the MHP (ulku 
ocaklari) was reportedly a sign of division within the party 
instigated by the visit of the U.S. diplomat. Concerning the 
heated debate within the party about its relationship with the 
U.S., some members of MHP reportedly caution against and refrain 
from taking an anti-American stance. Ozgur Gundem implies in the 
article that to cover this split of opinion and to show a solid 
and unified MHP, the flag-incident was "provoked" by the party. 
 
 
 
 
REID