US embassy cable - 05ADANA145

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000145 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PINS, PGOV, PHUM, TU, Press Summaries, ADANA 
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR JULY 20, 2005 
 
This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for July 20, 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 
 
1.      SABAH (GUNEY)/ BOLGE:   Turk Telekom (The newly privatized 
Turkish Communication Company) workers in Adana refused to 
attend work for half a day to stage a protest against the 
company's privatization.  The workers are protesting the 
transfer of some Telekom services to a subcontractor company, 
which was awarded a contract. 
 
2.      BOLGE / EKSPRES / ZAMAN:        Turkish Desk Senior Official 
Baxter Hunt and the U.S. Adana Consul paid a visit to the Seyhan 
district mayor Azim Ozturk obtaining information about the 
services rendered by the Municipality. 
 
3.      SABAH (GUNEY)/ BOLGE:   Adana Governor Cahit Kirac paid a 
visit to the Ceyhan and Yumurtalik districts.  Kirac, who went 
to the construction site of the BTC (Baku-Tibilisi-Ceyhan 
Pipeline) to conduct studies on the site, announced that BTC's 
end in Ceyhan would be opened a month later. Kirac later paid 
visits to Ceyhan and Yumurtalik subgovernors and to the Mayor of 
Ceyhan. 
 
4.      ZAMAN:  Adana Governor Cahit Kirac, Adana Mayor Aytac 
Durak, Adana Security Director Mehmet Cebe and AKP Provincial 
Chairperson Abdullah Dogru met briefly with State Minister Ali 
Babacan at the Sakirpasa Airport of Adana, reportedly talking 
about the issue of Adana's unfinished light metro construction. 
Babacan arrived in Adana to change planes during his trip from 
Nigde to Istanbul. 
 
5.      RADIKAL / HURRIYET / ZAMAN / OZGUR GUNDEM:        Four 
soldiers died and four more were wounded when a military vehicle 
hit a remote controlled mine at 9 a.m. on the Hakkari-Cukurca 
road in Hakkari.  Separately, four soldiers were wounded in a 
conflict that broke out in a village of Cukurca.  Ozgur Gundem 
claims that Turkish Armed Forces allegedly used chemical weapons 
during the military operations in Hakkari. 
 
6.      ZAMAN / OZGUR GUNDEM:   Zaman daily continues to report on 
the July 6 killing of Hikmet Fidan, former HADEP Deputy National 
Chairperson. (see press summary 07/18.)  According to a report, 
the initial findings reveal that the "execution" was allegedly 
committed by the PKK.  The article notes that the perpetrators 
were definitely professionals.  According to specialists, 
following the fragmentation in PKK after Ocalan's capture, a 
"Kurdish Red Apple Coalition" was formed, notes the paper.  The 
paper alleges that there is currently a dispute between this 
coalition, which is close to the supporters of increased 
terrorism in Turkey to block Turkey's EU accession, and the 
people, who want to resolve the Kurdish issue. Ozgur Gundem 
quotes DEHAP National Chairperson Tuncer Bakirhan as dismissing 
the allegations blaming Kurdish politicians for not embracing 
willingly Fidan's case. 
 
7.      OZGUR GUNDEM:   DEHAP National Chairperson Tuncer 
Bakirhan said that efforts were under way to form a delegation 
that would try to work out a solution for Private Kirandi's 
release. 
 
8.      OZGUR GUNDEM:   A research assistant from Dicle 
University's Faculty of Theology, who specialized on the 
sociology of religion, noted that steps should be taken o 
prevent the full migration of Syriacs from southeast Turkey. He 
said their migration has been caused mainly by the conflict in 
the southeastern region. 
 
9.      RADIKAL / OZGUR GUNDEM: A lawsuit has reportedly been 
opened against the Rector of Van's Yuzuncu Yil University, Prof. 
Yucel Askin, and four university administrators, on the charges 
of "forming a criminal clique to obtain profit." 
 
10.     OZGUR GUNDEM:   A member of Batman's Private Kurdish 
Language Course dismissed the claims that its courses would be 
shut down, and complained that these courses, which should be 
financially supported and encouraged, were instead rendered as 
instruments for current political abuse.  Diyarbakir Mayor Osman 
Baydemir, who claimed that a language couldn't be cultivated 
through the private courses, demanded that Kurdish language be 
supported in public schools, too.  Meanwhile, Van Municipality 
rejected the application of a group which requested 
authorization for their campaign to collect signatures in 
support of "education in one's native language." 
 
11.     OZGUR GUNDEM:   The paper reports that the officials 
were still not embarking on any efforts to extinguish the fires 
which broke out ten days ago in Gabar, Cudi and Besta mountains 
of Sirnak. 
 
12.     RADIKAL / HURRIYET / OZGUR GUNDEM:      Ozgur Gundem claims 
that Second Chief of Staff Ilker Basbug invited journalists to 
the Office of the Chief of Staff and requested that media "not 
publish any news that would strengthen the cause of the PKK." 
All papers report that Basbug even discouraged the usage of a 
phrase such as "Kurdish intelligentsia." 
 
13.     RADIKAL:        Deputy Chief of the Turkish General Staff 
Ilker Basbug said at a briefing held for journalists yesterday 
that the U.S. administration has decided to capture the leaders 
of the PKK terrorist organization.  Basbug further stated that 
C-4 explosives were coming to Turkey from Iraq, and since the 
security forces of Iraq have not been fully formed, Turkey, 
reserving the right to protect itself, might conduct cross 
border military operations in the future.  In a separate 
article, the paper quotes the remarks of Dan Fried, Assistant 
Secretary of State for European Affairs a saying, "A cross 
 
SIPDIS 
border military option would not be the best option to pursue." 
 
14.     RADIKAL:        CHP (Republican People's Party) Deputy 
National Chairperson Onur Oymen claimed that the U.S. is 
preventing Turkey from eliminating the presence of the PKK in 
Northern Iraq. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
REID