US embassy cable - 05ADANA119

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000119 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PINS, PGOV, PHUM, TU, ADANA, Press Summaries 
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR JUNE 02, 2005 
 
This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for June 02, 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 
 
ZAMAN / HURRIYET / OZGUR GUNDEM:        Lesker Acar, who was  found 
guilty in 1998 of engaging in PKK activities in 1992, and was 
sentenced to life in prison, later appealed to the European 
Court of Human Rights (ECHR). The ECHR ruled in June 2004 that 
Acar was not tried fairly and must be retried. Diyarbakir's 5th 
Heavy Penalty Court reportedly commenced a retrial in March 
2005, but after holding two court sessions, it discontinued the 
case in the third session, citing a law which restricts action 
on EHCR retrial decisions period. (Ozgur Gundem reports the case 
was discontinued in order to avoid setting an example for the 
Ocalan case.) 
 
RADIKAL / HURRIYET / OZGUR GUNDEM / EVRENSEL:   A fourteen year 
old boy killed his 16 year old sister with a pistol in Silopi 
district of Sirnak in the name of honor after his sister 
allegediy had an extramarital relationship with an unspecified 
person. Some papers report that the girl was a victim of rape 
and she was in her sixth month of pregnancy. 
 
RADIKAL:        The representatives of NGOs concerned with women's 
rights gathered in a Diyarbakir park to make a press 
announcement regarding the new Penal Code. While the new code 
includes provisions that will benefit women, it does not 
satisfactorily address the honor killing issue, according to the 
NGO group. 
 
RADIKAL:        A report by two Mersin University professors 
includes a claim that the coal-powered power plant in the 
Afsin-Elbistan area is discharging particles comprising an ash 
and coal dust mixture into the atmosphere. This indicates that 
the plant is not operating properly and people reportedly face 
grave health risks, including lung cancer. 
 
EVRENSEL / OZGUR GUNDEM:        Egitim-Sen (Education Union) 
members in Ankara, Izmir, Bursa, Tunceli, Siirt and Adana staged 
protests in front of AKP party buildings against the court 
ruling to shut down the Union (see press summary 05/26). The 
protesters chanted slogans saying, "Education in one's native 
language cannot be banned," "Shut down Incirlik Airbase instead 
of Egitim-Sen." 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:  In an Ozgur Gundem report, a party called the 
Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK) claimed that on May 27, Iran 
launched a large military operation against PJAK members in the 
highlands between Piransehir of Iran and the Qandil Mountains. 
PJAK claims the operations were not successful and harmed only 
civilians. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   The Suruc Subgovernor in Sanliurfa rejected 
the decision of the Suruc Municipality to name a new public park 
after a HADEP (People's Democracy Party) founding member, who 
was killed eleven years ago. To date the perpetrator of that 
killing has not been found. 
 
HURRIYET / RADIKAL / OZGUR GUNDEM / EVRENSEL:   The National 
Chairperson of the Human Rights Association (HRA), the Human 
Rights Chairperson of the Prime Minister's Office, the 
Diyarbakir Bar Association (DBA) and Diyarbakir branch of the 
HRA fired criticism at Turkey's intelligence service, MIT, and 
at the Diyarbakir Court that permitted MIT to monitor all 
communications in Turkey for two months.  The DBA and Diyarbakir 
HRA demanded that the intelligence records from the two-month 
period be revealed and then destroyed. 
 
CUMHURIYET / BOLGE / EKSPRES / OZGUR GUNDEM:    Mersin's 
Journalists Association officials began a three-day hunger 
strike to protest the new Turkish Penal Code that went into 
effect as of June 1. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   According to the paper, the terrorist 
organisation PKK/Kongra-Gel said in a press announcement that 
the PKK would declare a ceasefire should the state end its 
military operations and begin establishing dialogue with legal 
authorities or elected persons from among the Kurdish people. 
 
CUMHURIYET:     Turkey together with the IOM (International 
Organization on Migration) launched a campaign to fight against 
trafficking-in-persons in Turkey. This is project covers eastern 
Europe and countries from the former Soviet Union, as well. 
 
EVRENSEL:  The  ECHR ruled that Turkey must pay  18,000 Euros 
in compensation to the Labor Party (EP) which was closed in 1996 
allegedly because its charter  prescribed "finding a democratic 
solution to the Kurdish issue for the benefit of people."  The 
court also ordered compensations in ten other cases against 
Turkey, six of which were filed by families whose relatives were 
allegedly killed extrajudicially by security forces in 
southeastern Turkey. 
 
EVRENSEL:       Necati Eris was found dead in 2001 in Gurpinar 
district of Van. The family of Ercis applied to the Van Human 
Rights Association as to date they have not been able to obtain 
an autopsy report from the Istanbul Forensic Medicine Authority 
and learn the cause of his death. 
 
SABAH / HURRIYET:       The Ministry of Defense paid 3,500 YTL 
(approximately 2,600 USD) to the family of a soldier that died 
in a conflict with PKK members in Lice district of Diyarbakir. 
In order to pay this, the Ministry filed a lawsuit for the same 
amount against the families of five PKK members in April 2005. 
 
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS 
 
1.      SABAH (GUNEY) / EKSPRES / BOLGE:        The heavy rainfall in 
two days in Ceyhan district of Adana damaged the wheat crop 
which would be harvested soon. This situation aggravated the 
hardships endured by producers who had been complaining about 
the low prices offered for for their produce. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
REID