US embassy cable - 05ADANA171

UNCLAS ADANA 000171 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PINS, PGOV, PHUM, TU, ADANA, Press Summaries 
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR SEPTEMBER 27-28, 2005 
 
This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for September 
27-28, 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 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   Reportedly, fragments of a flare fired by 
soldiers at night killed a 15-year-old child sitting on the 
balcony of his house in Van's Bostanici district. 
 
RADIKAL / OZGUR GUNDEM: Relatives of the inmates of Adana's 
Kurkculer Jail claimed that the inmates, especially women, 
serving prison sentences for being members of a terrorist 
organization, have been subjected to more torture in recent 
days. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   Diyarbakir Bar Association's Chairperson 
Sezgin Tanrikulu said that the newly drafted anti-terror law 
envisaged stricter restrictions than the current law.  According 
to Tanrikulu, the law should be completely abolished rather than 
trying to extend its restrictions. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   The daily reported that the PKK called for 
village guards not to participate in military operations. 
Reportedly, military operations have been continuing in Tunceli, 
Agri, Diyarbakir and Sirnak provinces. 
 
HURRIYET (CUKUROVA):    The Hatay Airport construction project, 
which has continued without completion for 14 years, will get a 
shot in the arm following transfer of responsibility for the 
project from the Provincial Administration Authority to Ministry 
of Transportation, said the Hatay Governor. 
 
BOLGE:  The members of Mersin Liman-Is (Port Workers' Union) 
temporarily ended their 76-day strike.  The strike was initiated 
against the privatization of the port.  A recent ruling by a 
local administrative court to stop the privatization process 
brought about the decision to end the strike. 
 
RADIKAL / SABAH:        According to figures provided by the Ministry 
of Interior, one out of every fifteen village guards is involved 
in criminal acts.  The village guard system was introduced in 
late 1980s to counter terrorism activities in Southeastern 
Turkey. 
 
MILLIYET ONLINE VERSION 
:     Walter 
Scott Reid's (U.S. Consul in Adana) attempt to greet with a kiss 
even the AKP's women's branch chairperson reportedly came as bit 
of shock to her and to party members, who were welcoming him at 
the entrance of the party building in Diyarbakir as Mr. Reid was 
paying a visit to the party administration in the city. 
Reportedly the lady refrained from the kiss, and only shook 
hands with the Consul.  (Note: Despite the lady's position in a 
line of people greeting the Consul, the paper reported that the 
lady was actually not greeting him. End Note.) 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   A bus, which started touring Turkey to draw 
attention to the campaign to end violence against women, will 
finish its travel when it arrives in Diyarbakir on October 1. 
 
RADIKAL / OZGUR GUNDEM: A new investigation has been filed 
against DEHAP National Chairperson on grounds that he incited 
unlawful acts with speeches he made following the flaring up of 
tension in Bilecik's  Bozuyuk district early in September. 
 
 RADIKAL:       The relatives of Gunay Soyer, a person from Adana 
who was working in Mosul in Iraq as a gas pumper, claimed that 
U.S. soldiers arrested Soyer on the charges that he was an 
"agent". 
 
 
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS 
 
1.      BOLGE:  A delegation of Turkish origin businessmen 
from Iraq, in order to foster commercial relationships, will 
come to Gaziantep on September 29 to visit their counterparts 
there. 
 
2.      BOLGE / EKSPRES:        Fethi Coskuntuncel, Chairperson of Adan 
 
Chamber of Commodity Exchange, said that this year's cotton 
harvest would reach up to 3,930,000 tons.  According to 
Coskuntuncel, this year's cotton harvest will be 600,000 tons 
short of expectations.  Coskuntuncel urged Cukobirlik 
(Cooperative for Agricultural Sales) to announce its cotton 
prices. 
 
 
REID