US embassy cable - 05ADANA101

UNCLAS ADANA 000101 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PINS, PGOV, PHUM, TU, ADANA, Press Summaries 
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR MAY 09, 2005 
 
This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for May 09, 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 
 
EKSPRES / BOLGE:        Six hundred university students, primarily TKP 
(Turkish Communist Party) members, traveled to Adana from Ankara 
on Saturday to stage protests against the U.S. presence at 
Incirlik Airbase. The protest reportedly took place on the date 
marking the 33rd anniversary of the 1972 capture and execution 
of three young Marxist leaders by the military junta in Turkey. 
On Sunday, a 14-person group (Socialist Platform of the 
Impoverished People) held a press declaration in the Incirlik 
district calling for the Base to be shut down. 
 
EKSPRES:        A 60-person group of DEHAP members in Adana held a 
demonstration in support of jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan. 
The group chanted slogans saying, "Put an end to the isolation 
and to military operations." 
 
RADIKAL:        Five thousand people participated in a demonstration 
in Diyarbakir organized by the "Freedom for Headscarves 
Initiative," chanting slogans and saying "Shoulder to shoulder 
against cruelty," and "AKP, do not exhaust our patience." 
 
BOLGE:  The Anti-Terror Branch of the Mersin Security 
Directorate reportedly captured two alleged PKK members, who 
were allegedly readying bomb attacks against public office 
buildings and facilities of economic importance. Ample devices 
for manufacturing bombs and an abundant supply of guns were 
reportedly found in the flat where terrorists took cover. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   A 33-person delegation from the Turkmen 
Businessmen's Association in Iraq will visit Ankara and 
Gaziantep to hold meetings, announced the Office of the Governor 
in Gaziantep. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   A play by a well-known Turkish author, which 
was staged in many provinces of Turkey, was reportedly banned in 
southeastern Turkey. Ozgur Gundem reports that the staging of 
Aziz Nesin's play, "Yobaz" (The Fanatic), was banned because 
certain statements in the text of the play referring to "Kurds" 
and "(Turkish) Armed forces".  According to Cizre's Security 
Directorate, the reports says, the ban was imposed because of 
information they had about one of the actors' background. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   The explosion of a bomb in a military waste 
dump area reportedly killed an 8-year-old boy and wounded a 
10-year-old severely in Serenli village of Mardin province.  The 
father of the wounded boy will file a complaint against the 
Jandarma. 
 
EVRENSEL / OZGUR GUNDEM:        Forty-six village guards in 
Kekikduzu village of Van province applied to the Office of the 
Governor and the Sub-governor after the Saray District Jandarma 
Command communicated to them that a military operation would be 
conducted along the Iraqi border.  The village guards reportedly 
stated that they no longer wanted to participate in military 
operations, and are awaiting an official response. 
 
CUMHURIYET / OZGUR GUNDEM:      Ministry of Education statistics 
indicate that the average number of students per class/teacher 
in the southeastern provinces of Turkey is 60. The average 
number of students per class decreases sharply in the western 
provinces, however; the ratio is 22 students per class in Izmir, 
33 students per class in Istanbul, and 21 students per class in 
Ankara. 
 
CUMHURIYET:     State Minister Guldal Aksit noted that the number of 
street children in Turkey in 2004 is 41,982. According to Aksit, 
children coming from eastern and southeastern provinces of 
Turkey constitute thirty-seven percent of the street children. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   DEHAP Adana Administrators organized a "dinner 
for peace" and mediated successfully to amicably resolve a feud 
between the Ozlu and Erden families in Adana. 
 
 
REID