US embassy cable - 05ADANA120

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000120 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PINS, PGOV, PHUM, TU, Press Summaries, ADANA 
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR JUNE 07, 2005 
 
 
This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for June 07, 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/CUMHURIYET/YENI 
SAFAK/RADIKAL/HURRIYET/SABAH/GUNDEM/EVRENSEL: A medium-scale 
tremor in Bingol caused damage in many buildings and wounded 50 
people. The Turkish Red Crescent dispatched relief items 
including food, blankets, and tents to the region where schools 
have been closed for two days as well. 
ZAMAN: It is alleged that cooperation has been taking place 
between PKK and Hizbullah. According to a piece of news in the 
Aksiyon Magazine this week, PKK has given some of its C-4 
explosives to Hizbullah in order to distract the security 
officials' attention. Taking advantage of the vacuum of 
authority in Iraq, PKK allegedly acquired C-4 explosives during 
the looting of military warehouses in Iraq and infiltrated 
approximately 1000 kilos of those explosives into Turkey. PKK 
leader Murat Karayilan reportedly announced in a statement in 
May that PKK signed a new agreement with Hizbullah and wanted to 
benefit from the Hizbullah's experiences in urban areas. 
ZAMAN/GUNDEM: The dead body of the Syrian Kurdish religious 
figure Sheikh Mohammad Mashuk Xaznevi, was found in Deir el Zor 
town on June 1, 2005 after he was reportedly kidnapped from the 
Islamic Studies Center in Damascus on May 8 and allegedly 
exposed to torture for three weeks. The Kurds hold Damascus 
responsible for the assassination and undertook demonstrations 
in his birthplace Qamichli, where 5 persons were reportedly 
killed and 33 others, including 3 policemen, wounded during the 
tumult. 
YENI SAFAK/HURRIYET: The European Commission donated 12 million 
Euros to 32 projects in nine Southeastern provinces aiming to 
promote sites of historical value there and promote tourism. 
Some of the projects that will benefit from the donation are: 
Restoration of the Gaziantep castle and the tea shops beneath 
it; the project by the Chamber of Commerce of Gaziantep to 
promote the tourism potential in Zeugma, Halfeti, and Rumkale; 
the project aiming to support handcrafts and thus create 
employment opportunities for women by the Diyarbakir Chamber of 
Commerce and Industry; the Sirnak Foundation to Develop Sirnak 
and Its Townships; the project to promote hand woven fabric 
indigenous to Sirnak; the restoration of a 150 year-old 
stone-house and publicity of the cuisine of Kilis; the project 
aiming to develop mohair weaving unique to Siirt and the 
Renovation of Veysel Karani Complex, Socio-Economic Examination 
of the Syriac Culture. Hurriyet newspaper reports that the 
projects that will benefit from the donation will be completed 
within 24 months. 
EKSPRES/HURRIYET/EVRENSEL: After extension of the use of 
Incirlik Air Base by the Turkish cabinet, four C-17 U.S. cargo 
planes flew to the base and have been deployed there as of June 
2. It is reported that logistical items, such as tents, food, 
clothing and spare parts, will be brought to the base by 
civilian cargo planes and moved to Iraq and Afghanistan by the 
US Air Force's C-17 cargo planes. 
GUNDEM: The Syrian government reportedly notified the family of 
HPG (PKK affiliated "Public Protection Forces") militant Nezire 
Qasim, who had been killed in May 12 clashes with GOT forces in 
Tunceli, that it would not admit her body into Syria because she 
did not have a Syrian passport. Nezire's brother and uncle 
visited her grave in Ovacik of Tunceli. 
GUNDEM: Approximately one thousand people reportedly attended 
HPG militant Sami Comak's funeral in Bingol. Comak apparently 
died when a snake bit him in rural Tunceli. The crowd shouted 
"Martyrs don't die," while his brother said "we do not want to 
see anybody shedding tears."  Meanwhile, soldiers killed in 
clashes in Cicekli village of Tunceli were buried in Gaziantep, 
Kars, and Denizli. Gaziantep Governor Lutfullah Bilgin, the 
Fifth Armored Brigade Commander, Gaziantep Mayor, and DEHAP 
Provincial Chaiman attended the funeral in Gazaintep. 
GUNDEM: It is reported that the GOT forces started a large-scale 
operation in Sirnak-Besta region and deployed troops at spots of 
strategic importance in the Cele Buka and Mame Mus regions. 
GUNDEM: In Adana, five students were reportedly apprehended in 
their houses in Barajyolu quarter of the town on charges of 
membership to an outlawed organization. They were put in the 
Kurkculer prison following their arraignment. 
EVRENSEL: Approximately ten-thousand people from Diyarbakir, 
Siirt, Bingol, Tunceli, Elazig, Mardin, Batman, and Sanliurfa 
are reportedly to have attended a meeting held in Diyarbakir 
under the name of "We are out in squares for a Democratic 
Turkey, for the right of education in the mother tongue, and 
against the closing of Egitim-Sen." Mayor Osman Baydemir and 
other subordinate mayors also reportedly attended the meeting. 
Police reportedly detained 15 persons from the group that had 
come from Siirt on the charges of shouting "illegal slogans." 
Approximately 150 persons reportedly undertook a sit-in protest 
for three hours because of the detentions. 
 
 
 
REID