US embassy cable - 05ADANA149

UNCLAS ADANA 000149 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PINS, PGOV, PHUM, TU, ADANA, Press Summaries 
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR AUGUST 04. 2005 
 
This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for August 04, 
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.      BOLGE:  BAK (Global Peace and Justice Commisssion) 
invited a group of Iraqi doctors to Turkey.  The doctors will 
attend the August 27 regional meeting of BAK in Adana and tell 
about the massacres carried out in their country.  The doctors 
will be attending anti-war activities of BAK on September 4 in 
Istanbul as well. 
 
2.      EKSPRES / BOLGE:        Hilmi Guler, Minister of Energy and 
Natural Resources, who came to Adana's airport to change planes, 
said at the airport that the BTC (Baku-Tibilisi-Ceyhan Pipeline) 
project, by nature, involved security measures and there were 
ongoing efforts regarding that.  Guler, who was heading for 
Nigde province to conduct studies at the dams, said there were 
efforts under way to privatize five dams and allocate the public 
resources reserved for them elsewhere. 
 
3.      CUMHURIYET / OZGUR GUNDEM:      Hasan Sahin (68), the father 
of a senior member of the PKK terrorist organization, was killed 
by unknown people in his village in Tunceli.  Reportedly seven 
bullets hit Sahin's left chest and there was a wound on his 
head, which reportedly could have been caused by a blow. 
 
4.      OZGUR GUNDEM:  Reporting on the recent ruling of the 
European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) about Turkey, the daily 
notes that Turkey was not only found guilty for not protecting 
the life of Serdar Tanis and Ebubekir Deniz, but also for not 
providing the investigation file to the ECHR, and hiding some of 
the case's witnesses from the Court (see press summary 08/03). 
 
5.      OZGUR GUNDEM:   The daily reports that, because of 
ongoing military operations conducted at the border area in 
Hakkari, the local people are afraid to leave their houses. 
People were being further oppressed by the intensity of the 
identity checks conducted at province's only entrance, namely 
Depin. Separately, the paper reports that five people were taken 
into custody as a result of the raids conducted in some sections 
of the city of Hakkari. 
 
6.      OZGUR GUNDEM:   Some women Turkey in Diyarbakir, Batman 
and Silopi are celebrating August 2, the Rose Festival. The 
festival reportedly marks two 1999 occurrences: the terrorist 
leader Abdullah Ocalan ordering PKK "guerillas" to leave the 
country, and Turkey abolishing capital punishment. 
 
7.      RADIKAL / CUMHURIYET:   The Foreign Ministry spokesperson 
of said that Turkey urged U.S. and Iraqi officials to ban 
organizations which were extensions of the PKK terrorist 
organization in Iraq. The U.S., however, was not expected to do 
anything about the offices, which reportedly had ties with the 
PKK, on the grounds that these offices were political entities. 
 
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS 
 
1.      HURRIYET (CUKUROVA):    Thirty-five Gaziantep businessmen 
and their businesses were "proud to be   included" in the list 
of "Turkey's Biggest 1000 Exporters," which was recently 
announced by Turkish Exporters Assembly. 
 
2.      BOLGE / EKSPRES / SABAH (GUNEY):        The general manager of 
Isdemir (Iskenderun Steel and Iron Company) in the Hatay 
province resigned from his position, a decision, which some 
papers report as based on the manager's health problems, while 
other papers base this resignation on the manager's discontent 
about the way Isdemir was being privatized. 
 
 
 
 
MANSON