US embassy cable - 05ADANA104

UNCLAS ADANA 000104 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PINS, PGOV, PHUM, TU, Press Summaries, ADANA 
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR MAY 12, 2005 
 
This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for May 12, 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 
 
RADIKAL / OZGUR GUNDEM / EVRENSEL:      News reports characterized 
the views of different political groupings toward the 
controversial retrial issue of jailed PKK leader Abdullah 
Ocalan.  Recent nationalist circles' angry attitudes foreshadow 
the possibility of people hitting the streets should a retrial 
decision come to the agenda of the GOT.  CHP follows a similar 
nationalistic tendency.  AKP is said to be striving to evade 
"political responsibility" by presenting the issue as a broader 
"state issue."  And for the moment, military circles remain 
silent, aside from Gen. Buyukanit, the Land Forces Army 
Commander, who said that the issue a concern for the judiciary, 
not the military. Everybody knows the opinions and feelings of 
the military on the issue, Buyukanit added. Meanwhile, Kurds are 
reported as hopeful that the European Court of Human Rights 
(ECHR) will rule a "violation of international law" occurred in 
the way Ocalan was captured and brought to Turkey in 1999. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   The 14th Heavy Criminal Court, which currently 
has cases opened against three of Ocalan's attorneys for 
"engaging in propaganda in favor of the terrorist organization," 
reportedly decided in advance of the ECHR ruling to impose a ban 
on the attorneys trips abroad. Aysel Tugluk, one of the 
attorneys in question, called the decision "arbitrary;" the 
lawyers had been planning to attend a press declaration that is 
to be held by Ocalan's attorneys at the European Parliament. 
Meanwhile, Kurds are planning a mass demonstration in 
Strasbourg, where the ECHR decision will be announced. 
 
BOLGE / EKSPRES:        A panel discussion entitled "Where are we on 
the road to the EU membership?" was held at Adana's Cukurova 
University. Ozan Ceyhun, a former Green Party deputy in Germany, 
told the audience that it would not help Turkey's EU membership 
bid for certain political forces to claim the December 17 
decision as any one force's victory for domestic political gain. 
 
CUMHURIYET / OZGUR GUNDEM:  On the heels of a similar incident 
in Mardin (see press summ 5/9), a shepherd has been wounded by a 
hand grenade he found in the open land in Yedisu district of 
Bingol. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   The chairperson of the Dicle University 
Student Association in Diyarbakir was reportedly suspended from 
the university for a semester for allegedly attending a 
demonstration held against the YOK (Higher Education Board), 
chanting "Police! Go home! Universities are ours," and reading a 
press announcement in Kurdish. 
 
RADIKAL / HURRIYET / EVRENSEL / OZGUR GUNDEM: The       Governor's 
Office in Tunceli announced that three terrorists were killed in 
a conflict between Turkish Armed Forces and a group of 300 PKK 
members in Hozat district of Tunceli. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:  A Kiziltepe court has reportedly opened a case 
against Mihdi Perincek, Regional Representative of the Human 
Rights Association (HRA), and Selahattin Demirtas, HRA 
Diyarbakir Branch Chairperson, on the grounds that they have 
violated the Press Act by publicly announcing results of their 
report on the killing of Ahmet and Ugur Kaymaz in Mardin's 
Kiziltepe district. 
 
EVRENSEL:       The paper alleges that PM Erdogan, by distributing 
direct income subsidies to Sanliurfa's farmers just three days 
before his trip to the city, is trying to head off any hostile 
public reaction to his visit. 
 
CUMHURIYET:     Land Forces Army Commander Yasar Buyukanit warned 
people that they have recently caught many terrorists possessing 
significant number of C-4 explosives, which terrorists were 
bringing with them from northern Iraq. The Commander warned 
people of the likelihood for attacks in both rural areas and 
bigger cities. 
 
 
 
REID