US embassy cable - 05ADANA105

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000105 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PINS, PGOV, PHUM, TU, ADANA, Press Summaries 
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR MAY 13, 2005 
 
This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for May 13, 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 / EVRENSEL:        DEHAP (Democratic People's Party) 
reportedly announced that the ruling of the European Court of 
Human Rights (ECHR) was no surprise and the Party was hopeful 
that this development would help foster further democratization 
and the establishment of peace within Turkey. According to Ozgur 
Gundem, Ocalan said that the decision gives Turkey a historic 
opportunity to transform the issue into a struggle for democracy 
and for the resolution of the Kurdish problem. 
 
BOLGE:  Pro-Kurdish activists in Cyprus celebrated the 
retrial decision of the ECHR and hit the streets carrying 
pictures of Abdullah Ocalan and chanting slogans in favor of the 
PKK/Kongra-Gel. Meanwhile, Mehmet Ocalan, 55-year-old brother of 
Abdullah Ocalan, who lives in Yakapinar village of Yuregir 
district in Adana, said that the ruling of the ECHR was fair and 
was no surprise to him. He added, however, that a possible 
retrial was doomed to being unfair due to politicians' 
"pre-judging" comments, which would definitely influence the 
course of a retrial. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   The Ministry of Internal Affairs reportedly 
announced that it is working to draft a law to improve the 
village guard system in Turkey. The law would stipulate that 
57,860 village guards receive social security benefits. 
 
 
RADIKAL:        Turkish military launched an extensive operation 
with thousands of soldiers in Tunceli province upon obtaining 
intelligence that terrorist activities would be conducted with 
C-4 explosives. Reportedly, there were confrontations with a 
group of nearly 30 PKK members in Pulumur pasture. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   Adana American Consul Walter Scott Reid paid a 
visit to the Dogubeyazit Mayor, Mukaddes Kubilay, in Agri. Reid 
reportedly inquired about the problems of women in Dogubeyazit 
and the Mayor, who is one of Turkey's few female mayors, stated 
that "language and identity" were the most important problems 
women were experiencing. 
 
CUMHURIYET:     PM Erdogan plans to break ground for a "Park of 
Religions" in Sanliurfa during his visit to the province on 
Saturday.  However, nationalists, who claim that the "Baby 
Killer" Ocalan had been supporting this project, and 
fundamentalists and Saadet Party members, who believe that 
synagogues and churches will be built with this "Jewish 
project", have created tension in advance of the PM's arrival 
and urged people to rise up. In today's Friday prayer, devout 
people will reportedly be called upon to take a hard stance 
against the park project. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   Rural land that was being used for shooting 
drills by the military two years earlier in Demirkapi village of 
Dogubeyazit district is now being used as grazing land by many 
young shepherds. A year ago, a 13-year-old shepherd was 
reportedly killed there by a blast and three other children were 
wounded. 
 
EVRENSEL / OZGUR GUNDEM:        The people of Igdir province are 
reportedly taking their children out of school two months early 
to work as shepherds in the highlands due to the hot summer 
conditions at lower altitudes. 
 
EKSPRES:        Ejder Dilci, a researcher and author living in 
Adana, has filed a complaint with the Adana Prosecutor against 
Swiss prosecutor Andrej Gnehm, stating Gnehm violated the 
European Human Rights Agreement and Universal Declaration of 
Human Rights, and degraded the honor of the Turkish Republic. 
(Note:  Gnehm reportedly launched an investigation early in May 
against a Turkish historian for denying 1915 Armenian genocide 
allegations during a talk in Switzerland.  End note.) 
 
EVRENSEL:       A moderate 3.4-magnitude earthquake shook the 
Colakli district of Malatya at 5 a.m. yesterday. 
 
HURRIYET (CUKUROVA):    Michel Moretti, a Security Official of 
the French Embassy in Ankara, came to Mersin to obtain more 
information about such issues as drug dealing and human 
trafficking. Moretti paid a visit to the Deputy Security 
Director of Mersin. 
 
SABAH (GUNEY) / BOLGE / HURRIYET (CUKUROVA):    The first EU 
Application and Research Center of the Mediterranean Region in 
Turkey has been opened at Cag University in Adana. Ulrike Hauer, 
First Secretary of the Delegation of the European Commission to 
Turkey, attended the opening ceremony of the Center. 
 
 
REID