US embassy cable - 05ADANA75

UNCLAS ADANA 000075 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PINS, PGOV, PHUM, TU, ADANA, Press Summaries 
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR APRIL 8, 2005 
 
This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for April 8, 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:   Walter Scott Reid, the U.S. Adana Consul, paid 
a courtesy visit to DEHAP's (Demcoratic People's Party) 
Provincial Headquarters in Mersin. During his visit, the issues 
discussed were the flag-incident in Mersin and recent political 
and economic issues. 
 
BOLGE:  Environmentalists have planted citrus fruit 
seedlings outside the coal-fired Sugozu power plant in 
Yumurtalik district of Adana. The twenty-person-group comprised 
representatives of environmentalist organizations from "around 
the world" as well as students from the Cukurova, Erciyes and 
ODTU universities in Turkey. 
 
BOLGE:  Bolge newspaper draws attention to complaints 
against Yuregir Municipality's bureaucrats' in Adana, including 
Yuregir's Deputy Mayor Yuregir Mehmet Abaci, who was allegedly 
assigned to his position thanks to his business partner, Yuregir 
Mayor Omer Topcu. Reportedly, Mehmet Abaci has only a primary 
school graduate but is exercising full control over the affairs 
of the Municipality. 
 
EVRENSEL:       Kemal Unakitan, Finance Minister, will be arriving 
in Diyarbakir today to address the issue of landmines in the 
border area with Syria. Unakitan plans to fly by helicopter to 
examine the border area, beginning with the Kozluca site of 
Nusaybin district in Mardin. 
 
CUMHURIYET / OZGUR GUNDEM / EVRENSEL:   Fourteen-year-old 
Mehmet Latif Yilmaz died when a landmine exploded as he was 
digging his field in Tasliburun village of Midyat district in 
Mardin. Cumhuriyet reports that it was reported to be an 
anti-personnel mine laid in the ground by the PKK. Separately, 
in another mine incident in Lice district of Diyarbakir, one PKK 
terrorist was killed and another injured as they attempted to 
lay a mine on a road used by military vehicles. 
 
EKSPRES:        Kemal Anadol, CHP (Republican People's Party) Deputy 
Chairperson of the Party Group in the Turkish Parliament, said 
that they would not let anyone breach the Turkish Constitution 
by making an agreement with the U.S. that bypassed a decision to 
be given by parliament. 
 
EVRENSEL / OZGUR GUNDEM:        Radio Dunya had opened a lawsuit 
with Ankara Business Court against RTUK (Supreme Board of Radio 
and Television) after it received a warning by RTUK for 
broadcasting a program in September 2001 which featured three 
hours of Kurdish songs.  The prosecution process ended recently 
in favor of Radya Dunya; the Supreme Court of Administrative 
Cases reportedly decided RTUK's warning was undue. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   Turkey continues its military operations in 
the Gabar Mountains. Beginning in the early morning, four Cobra 
helicopters reportedly bombed the area and a 50-vehicle military 
convoy traveled to the same place at noon. The paper reports 
that many Turkish soldiers (allegedly) died in the conflicts. 
Meanwhile, Security officers from Sirnak's Main Jandarma Command 
raided the home of Osman Ayan, a DEHAP (Democratic People's 
Party) member and arrested him upon allegedly finding four hand 
grenades, four empty Kalachnikov cylinders and bullets of a 
BKC-brand machine gun in front of Ayan's house. DEHAP's Sirnak 
Provincial Chairperson described the finding of the guns in 
Ayan's place as a "scenario that is contrived". 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   Syrian State Planning Institute Chairperson 
Abdullah Dardari, accompanied by a Syrian delegation, arrived in 
Gaziantep and was welcomed by the Turkish State Planning 
Institute Chairperson, Gaziantep's Governor, Gaziantep 
University's Rector, and the Gaziantep Mayor. Dardari said that 
the border gates should be widened to make them more convenient 
for people to pass through. During the meetings, the 
infrastructure deficiencies of border gates will reportedly be 
discussed. 
 
 
REID