US embassy cable - 05ADANA97

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000097 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PINS, PGOV, PHUM, TU, ADANA, Press Summaries 
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR MAY 05, 2005 
 
 
This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for May 05, 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 
 
CUMHURIYET / EVRENSEL / OZGUR GUNDEM:   An investigation has 
been undertaken against 675 people who signed a "Call for Peace 
Declaration" in Eruh district of Siirt last year on November 27, 
a date which also marks the date the terrorist organization PKK 
engaged in armed actions for the first time. (Note: That was in 
1984). Three hundred fifty people, including members of NGOs, 
political organizations, mayors and municipality assembly 
members from Diyarbakir gave their statements at the Office of 
the Security Director in Diyarbakir yesterday. 
 
RADIKAL / CUMHURIYET / EVRENSEL:        Bekir Kaya, one of the 
attorneys for jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, was detained 
and later released by the Gemlik Jandarma Command in Bursa upon 
an order by the Istanbul 11th Heavy Criminal Court. (Note:  Kaya 
had earlier been called to the Istanbul court to make a 
statement there and had not appeared.)  Meanwhile, Hatice Korkut 
and Feridun Celik (former Diyarbakir mayor), also attorneys for 
Abdullah Ocalan, paid their weekly visits to Ocalan. 
 
CUMHURIYET:     According to results of a study, 20,000 children 
work in the streets of Diyarbakir and 600 children live in the 
streets there. The Children's Rights Center of the Diyarbakir 
Bar Association stated that these children, lacking love and 
protection, are highly vulnerable to addictions, involvement by 
criminal networks in crime, and child prostitution and sexual 
abuse. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   Turkish Armed Forces reportedly started a 
military operation in the area of the Hani, Lice and Dicle 
districts of Diyarbakir. Reportedly 4,000 soldiers and an 
unspecified number of village guards are deployed in the area. 
 
 
EVRENSEL:               The petroleum that leaked from 
Batman-Yumurtalik Pipeline (see press sum 4/18) to the Ataturk 
Dam has made its way to the shores of Samsat district in 
Adiyaman, where it is disturbing the local population, which is 
concerned about the quality of their potable water. 
 
EVRENSEL:       Truckers and transporters launched a nationwide 
strike to draw the government's attention to the problems of 
truckers. Truckers demand a decrease in the diesel oil prices, 
an increase in transportation fees, and an end to companies' 
demands that they overload their vehicles. 
 
ZAMAN / RADIKAL / YENI SAFAK:   Pursuant to intelligence obtained 
about several bomb incidents allegedly being planned by the PKK, 
a woman (reportedly a runner) was caught with 1.5 kilograms of 
C-4 explosives on her body in front of the Office of the 
Security Director in Diyarbakir. Separately, the security forces 
raided a terrorists' cell in Istanbul, arrested two PKK members 
and found 7.5 kilograms of plastic explosives. 
 
BOLGE:  DYP (True Path Party) Adana Provincial Chairperson 
Nevzat Saskin is quoted as saying that AKP (Justice and 
Development Party) has lost its credibility in the eyes of the 
public and will not be able to fare well in 2006. 
 
BOLGE / EKSPRES:        A heavy hailstorm that struck Yumurtalik 
district of Adana damaged produce in cotton, watermelon, and 
apricot fields belonging to 20 different farmers. 
 
EKSPRES:        It was a "cold shower" for the victims of Adana's 
June 1998 earthquake when the General Directorate of Disaster 
Relief ordered them to repay the total amount of money granted 
as a loan to them. The victims were surprised upon hearing that 
their liability had become effective in 2001;they claim no state 
authority had sent notice before that date to them regarding any 
repayment. 
 
SABAH (GUNEY):   Twenty-seven German teachers arrived in Adana 
and paid visits to various primary schools. The group's aim was 
to learn more about the Turkish education system and its 
policies. Some German teachers reportedly asked school directors 
about the headscarf issue, corporeal punishment, and the status 
of non-Muslim students with regard to religious instruction in 
classes. 
 
RADIKAL / ZAMAN / OZGUR GUNDEM / YENI SAFAK:    Former PKK 
militants, who in years past reportedly confessed to membership 
in PKK and then operated on behalf JITEM (Jandarma Intelligence 
Center), were arrested by police in Istanbul as they tried to 
extort money from DEHAP Istanbul administrators. 
 
RADIKAL:        Relatives including the brother-in-law and 
father-in-law of a 15-year-old girl, who had attempted to cut 
the girl's nose off of her face, were released by a Duty 
Prosecutor on March 11 after being charged with a crime 
classified as "minor wounding."  (Note:  Despite the use of the 
terms "brother-in-law" and "father-in-law" in the news report, 
the girl is under the legal age required for marriage in Turkey. 
 End note.)  The men were arrested again only after Remziye 
Tanrikulu, attorney and member of the Human Rights Center of the 
Diyarbakir Bar Association, appealed to the Court. 
 
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS 
 
1.  EVRENSEL:   A Gaziantep University study revealed that 
Gaziantep province's unemployment figures were higher than the 
nationwide average.  The study says Gaziantep has a 20.3 percent 
unemployment rate whereas the nationwide unemployment figure is 
reported to be as 13.8. 
 
 
 
REID