US embassy cable - 05ANKARA5115

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 005115 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/01/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PHUM, TU, OSCE, PKK 
SUBJECT: PKK FUNERAL CLASH INDICATES RISING TENSION IN 
SOUTHEAST 
 
REF: A. ANKARA 4842 
 
     B. ANKARA 5109 
 
Classified by Polcouns Janice G. Weiner; reasons 1.4 b and d. 
 
1. (C) Summary: One demonstrator was found dead following an 
August 28 clash in Batman between police and a group of PKK 
sympathizers trying to claim the bodies of six PKK fighters 
killed by Turkish military forces.  Relatives of the victim 
say he was shot to death by police; the Batman police chief 
denies the charge.  There have been similar violent incidents 
in recent months during funerals for PKK militants, one of 
many signs of rising tension in Turkey's southeast.  End 
Summary. 
 
2. (U) The conflict began August 28 when approximately 1,000 
demonstrators gathered outside a hospital in Batman and 
attempted to claim the bodies of six PKK militants killed 
during an August 25-27 operation by Turkish military forces 
near the town of Besiri, Batman Province.  Officers of the 
Turkish National Police reportedly used water cannons and 
tear gas against the protesters, who retaliated by hurling 
Molotov cocktails and stones at the officers.  Police fired 
warning shots in the air, and there were allegations that 
some demonstrators had also used firearms.  According to 
press reports, the demonstrators were affiliated with the 
pro-Kurdish Democratic People's Party (DEHAP) and an 
organization called Free Citizen Initiative.  (Note: We are 
not familiar with this group.  End Note.) 
 
3. (U) After the clash, 25-year-old Hasan Is was found dead 
at the scene.  Relatives claimed police shot and killed Is 
during the altercation.  However, Batman Police Chief Arif 
Oksuz issued a statement claiming that Is was killed before 
police opened fire, and that his body was placed at the scene 
by demonstrators.  An attorney for the Is family told 
reporters that the autopsy had been manipulated to establish 
a false time of death in order to exonerate police.  The body 
was later taken to the Diyarbakir Forensic Medicine Institute 
at the family's request.  Blood, urine, and tissue samples 
will be sent to Istanbul for testing. 
 
4. (C) Sabih Atac, a Batman attorney and businessman, told us 
he blames both sides for provoking the clash -- the police, 
who showed up at the demonstration with a military-style 
armored vehicle, and the demonstrators, who arrived with 
ready-made Molotov cocktails.  Atac is highly skeptical of 
Oksuz' claim that police did not shoot Is.  He noted that the 
Batman governor has promised an investigation of the 
incident. 
 
5. (U) Members of Free Citizen Initiative on August 29 
reportedly carried Is's coffin, draped in the green, red, and 
yellow colors of the PKK, while flashing photos of jailed PKK 
leader Abdullah Ocalan and chanting pro-PKK slogans. 
Mourners reportedly smashed the windows of the Batman branch 
office of the ruling AK Party.  Batman Mayor Huseyin Kalkan, 
a DEHAP member, attended the funeral, as did other mayors 
from the region.  Diyarbakir Mayor Osman Baydemir, also of 
DEHAP, traveled to Batman to offer condolences to Is's family. 
 
6. (U) In recent months there have been several similar 
incidents of clashes between demonstrators and security 
forces during funeral services for PKK fighters.  In June, 
one demonstrator was killed and 19 injured in two separate 
incidents in Van and Diyarbakir. 
 
------------------------------ 
Comment: Rising Tensions in SE 
------------------------------ 
 
7. (C) The funeral clashes are one of many signs of rising 
PKK-related tensions in the southeast.  As long as these 
tensions persist, it will be difficult for PM Erdogan to 
follow through on his inchoate initiative to address the 
Kurdish issue (reftels).  It will also be difficult to escape 
from the shadow the PKK issue casts over U.S.-Turkey 
relations. 
MCELDOWNEY