US embassy cable - 05ADANA134

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ADANA 000134 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PINS, PGOV, PHUM, TU, Press Summaries, ADANA 
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR JULY 11, 2005 
 
This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for July 11, 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/BOLGE/ZAMAN:    A scientific study on stingrays has been 
started by Harran University in Yumurtalik distict of Adana to 
monitor and collect data about the level of stingray hunting in 
Yumurtalik and Iskenderun bays. (This article is from the 07/09 
and 07/10 editions.) 
 
RADIKAL/ZAMAN:  A bus driver, who was carrying 22 passengers, 
notified Hakkari Jandarma Command upon noticing a mine ambush 
that was laid nearby Semdinli-Yukseova crossroad. Jandarma had 
safely defused the mine.  The Zaman daily, in contrast, notes 
that Jandarma that was patrolling the area noticed the mine on 
the road. (This article is from the 07/09 editions.) 
 
HURRIYET/BOLGE/SABAH(GUNEY)/EKSPRES:    Yalcin Akyol, former 
mayor of Seyhan district in Adana, announced his candidacy, 
before the Sunday election (June 10), for the new Seyhan 
district chairperson of CHP (Republican People's Party) in 
Adana. Akyol asked for the support of party members while firing 
sharp criticisms at CHP Provincial Chairperson, Serdar Seyhan. 
Votes by the party members to nominate CHP's Yuregir district 
chairperson were cast on the same day. The results announced on 
Monday turned out that the intra party opposition group's 
candidate for the Seyhan contest, Yalcin Akyol, was defeated, 
and his rival, Resit Karakus, was reelected. In Yuregir, the 
sole candidate, Mekin Sahin, was reelected as the chairperson of 
the district. (This article is from the 07/09 and 07/11 
editions.) 
 
BOLGE/ZAMAN:    Abdullah Torun, Adana deputy from AKP, 
dismissed the comments made about him, claiming that "Like 
(Aytac) Durak, the Adana Mayor, Torun has also became a 
supporter of (Abdullah) Dogru," who is the AKP Adana Provincial 
Chairperson. Torun said that he has never supported individuals, 
but only his party apparatus.  (This article is from the 07/09 
and 07/10 editions.) 
 
HURRIYET (CUKUROVA):    Macit Ozcan, the Mersin Mayor from CHP, 
complained that the government was not backing his projects and 
that he was being deliberately ignored by the ruling party to 
doom his mayoral term in Mersin to failure. (This article is 
from the 07/09 edition.) 
 
HURRIYET (CUKUROVA):    Sofulu Environmental Initiative 
Spokesperson Zeki Durak showed a video of the Sofulu Garbage 
Disposal Area in Adana to Osman Pepe, Minister of Environment 
and Forests, to draw the Minister's attention to the pressing 
problems of the garbage site. Pepe reportedly pledged to 
rehabilitate the garbage site afterwards. (This article is from 
the 07/09 edition.) 
 
BOLGE:  Abdullah Dogru, AKP (Justice and Development Party) 
Provincial Chairperson, addressed the audience at AKP's 13th 
Provincial Advisory Assembly gathering in Adana. Dogru said that 
there was not much time to lose with vain discussions about 
whether to hold earlier national elections, especially at a time 
when Turkey has achieved stability. According to Dogru, AKP has 
managed to have the economy, which was struck by successive 
crises, back on track in 2.5 years. (This article is from the 
07/10 edition.) 
 
ZAMAN/OZGUR GUNDEM:     Forty-seven members of Diyarbakir's DTH 
(Democratic Society Movement) Founding Board were announced. 
Diyarbakir has the second-most numerous board, after Istanbul. 
DTH Founding Board elections in Van will be conducted on July 
17. Zaman notes that former DEP (Democracy Party) deputies 
drafted the outline of the Democratic Society Party's party 
charter, which envisages that the language of education in some 
of the regions will be Kurdish (This article is from the 07/09 
and 07/10 editions.) 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   The paper reports that security officials 
allegedly set fire to the forests of the Gabar Mountain in 
Sirnak on July 6 after completing a military operation. 
Reportedly, the officials are neither attempting to extinguish 
the fire, which has approached the borders of Akdizgin village, 
nor have they let anyone to take action against it.  (This 
article is from the 07/10 edition.) 
 
HURRIYET/OZGUR GUNDEM/ZAMAN/RADIKAL:    Three soldiers in a 
military vehicle died when a remote control bomb allegedly laid 
on the road by the PKK terrorists exploded in the Semdinli 
district of Hakkari. 15 soldiers were wounded as a result of the 
blast. Separately, the paper reports that a large-scale military 
operation was launched in the rural section of the Kurtalan 
district in Siirt and 150 military vehicles have recently been 
deployed there. (This article is from the 07/10 editions.) 
 
HURRIYET/OZGUR GUNDEM:  The number of people in Bingol who have 
contracted anthrax increased to 42. The health officials report 
that some people are still not heeding officials' warnings and 
continuing to eat contaminated meat. Meanwhile, as the prices of 
meat fell sharply, butchers of Bingol delivered 80 kilograms of 
meat for free to the people ensuring that the meat was from 
healthy sources. (This article is from the 07/10 and 07/11 
editions.) 
CUMHURIYET/OZGUR GUNDEM:        A ferryboat arriving at Van 
accidentally hit the wall of the wharf as it was maneuvering to 
get closer to land. Thirty-two people were wounded in the 
accident. (This article is from the 07/10 editions.) 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   DEHAP Central Executive Board member Alican 
Onlu filed a complaint alleging that the police officers had 
conducted a search in his house in Onlu's absence four days ago 
in Tunceli. The police reportedly conducted a raid on a house 
belonging to other DEHAP members as well and detained DEHAP 
Provincial Chairperson Murat Polat and a DEHAP member. (This 
article is from the 07/10 edition.) 
 
ZAMAN/HURRIYET: A brucellosis epidemic is currently affecting 
the Pinarli hamlet in Adiyaman province. Twenty-one people were 
reported as contracting the disease. The hamlet is under 
quarantine now and health officials are taking precautions to 
treat the affected people and stop the epidemic from spreading. 
(This article is from the 07/09 and 07/10 editions.) 
 
EKSPRES/BOLGE:  Adana's Chamber of Agricultural Engineers 
warned farmers against purchasing fake agricultural pesticides 
currently circulating in the market. 
 
BOLGE/HURRIYET (CUKUROVA)/EKSPRES:      The cultural section of the 
Turkish Embassy in Damascus organized a historical and cultural 
trip for thirty-five journalists from Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. 
The journalists paid their first visit to Adana. The group will 
be visiting Mersin, Nevsehir and Konya provinces as well. 
 
HURRIYET (CUKUROVA):    A boulevard in Gaziantep was named after 
Syria's city of Aleppo to mark the improving relationships 
between Syria and Turkey. The Gaziantep Mayor and Aleppo Mayor 
attended the opening ceremony of the boulevard. 
 
HURRIYET (CUKUROVA):    Adana Rotary Club President Bulent 
Paksoy said that the construction of the ARTEM (Community 
Education and Training Center) will be completed in October and 
will begin to operate to alleviate the social, economic and 
cultural problems in Adana. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   Feleknas Uca, member of the European 
Parliament, is currently attending the 4th Culture, Arts and 
Tourism Festival in the Dogubeyazit district in Van. Uca noted 
here that the EU had started to discuss issues on how to resolve 
the Kurdish issue. Uca further said that the intensifying 
conflict in the southeastern Turkey was starting to concern 
European parliamentarians, and members of the Parliament would 
be conducting studies in the region in the coming days to 
generate a report. 
 
YENI SAFAK/RADIKAL/OZGUR GUNDEM/EVRENSEL:       A bomb and gun attack 
by alleged terrorists on        a police position in front of the 
subgovernor's office at midnight wounded 3 police officers in 
the Hozat district of Tunceli. In a separate incident in Sirnak, 
a truck hit an explosive on the road and 7 people were wounded 
as a result of that. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   A total of 40,000 signatures have been 
collected during a campaign that was organized by the Mardin 
DEHAP provincial party organization to voice the people's demand 
for education in their native language. 
 
CUMHURIYET/OZGUR GUNDEM/EVRENSEL/YENI SAFAK:    An explosion 
caused by an unknown reason occurred at the house of a village 
guard in a hamlet of Hizan district in the Bitlis province. 
(Note: Only Cumhuriyet and Yeni Safak papers in contrast note 
that the explosion was caused by a bottled gas used 
conventionally for cooking in Turkey. End Note.) Fifteen members 
of the family were wounded and nine of them were in serious 
condition. Jandarma started to investigate the matter. 
 
YENI SAFAK:     Ambassadors from various European Union countries, 
such as Estonia and Belgium, as well as officers of the British 
and Austrian Embassies, attended the 7th Tatvan Crater Lake 
festival and joined in the local folkloric dances of the local 
people. 
 
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS: 
 
1.      ZAMAN:  A 60-person group of Syrian businessmen and 
senior members of Syrian chambers of commerce came to Iskenderun 
district of Hatay and visited "Istex 2005 Industry and Commerce 
Fair." The group showed interest in the industrial products 
section. The group also visited the stand of Aleppo's Chamber of 
Commerce and Industry in the fair.  (This article is from the 
07/09 edition.) 
 
 
 
 
 
REID