US embassy cable - 05ADANA193

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000193 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PINS, PGOV, PHUM, TU, ADANA 
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR OCTOBER 21, 2005 
 
This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for October 21, 
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 
 
BOLGE:  CHP (Republican People's Party) Adana provincial 
party administration and 28 provincial delegates vowed to extend 
support for the CHP national leader Deniz Baykal during CHP's 
October 19-20 Congress to be held in Ankara. 
 
2.      HURRIYET / EVRENSEL:    A bomb went off yesterday in one 
of the ladies' restrooms on the third floor of the Court Hall in 
the Batman province during the lunchtime.  The walls of the 
ladies' restroom were demolished as a result of the blast.  No 
casualties were reported following the incident.  Security 
Directorate of Batman has started an investigation to probe the 
blast. 
 
3.      SABAH (GUNEY) / HURRIYET (CUKUROVA) / BOLGE:    A bomb 
attack was carried out on AKP Osmaniye Mayor's father's house in 
Osmaniye.  No casualties were reported, but material damage was 
reported following the incident. 
 
4.      OZGUR GUNDEM: A bomb that exploded in front of a 
restaurant in Hakkari's Yuksekova district at 4 a.m. caused no 
casualties, but material damage was done to the restaurant and 
nearly 20 businesses in the area nearby.  The owner of the 
restaurant reportedly has competed as a DEHAP candidate for the 
mayor's office in the Yuksekova district during the last local 
election. 
 
5.      BOLGE:  AKP (Justice and Development Party) provincial 
chairperson Abdullah Dogru called on everybody in Adana to 
contribute to the campaign initiated by the Governor's Office 
for raising money to send relief to the earthquake victims in 
Pakistan. 
 
6.      HURRIYET (CUKUROVA:     A 3.4-magnitude earthquake shook 
Mersin yesterday. 
 
7.      EVRENSEL:       A clash broke out during the ongoing military 
operation in Tunceli.  Reportedly, one PKK terrorist was killed 
and many soldiers were wounded.  Aircraft and helicopters are 
reportedly providing assistance from the air for ground 
operations. 
 
8.      EVRENSEL:       Ankara's 11th Heavy Penalty court overturned 
the appeal of the DEHAP National Chairperson and seven DEHAP 
senior members to annul the decision banning these DEHAP members 
from going abroad.  DEHAP members are obliged to sign their 
names every week at the security directorates' office of the 
respective provinces they are in (see press summary 08/25 and 
08/26).  This week has become the eighth week running that they 
signed their names.  DEHAP members filed a case with the 
European Court of Human Rights following the overturning by the 
Ankara Court. 
 
9.      ZAMAN / EVRENSEL/ OZGUR GUNDEM: Naci Aslan, CHP deputy for 
Agri, has resigned from his party.  Aslan is expected to join 
the AKP ranks. 
 
10.     EVRENSEL: Gaziantep's Directorate for Cultural Affairs 
announced that, in the first nine months of this year, 24,863 
people visited Gaziantep's Archaeological Museum, which 
exhibited Zeugma mosaics as well. 
 
11.     OZGUR GUNDEM:   Tension has escalated in the central 
Anatolian province Eskisehir, because police officers accused of 
killing Ahmet and Ugur Kaymaz, will be tried in Eskisehir on 
November 24.  The committee, which was set up to monitor the 
trial process, had meetings with the Governor of Eskisehir and 
Head of the Eskisehir Security Director.  The Security Director 
reportedly said that the court will allow only 100 people, 
comprised of the attorneys, the monitoring committees, the NGOs 
and the representatives of the political parties, into the 
courtroom.  The Security Director further guaranteed that the 
officers would not allow outsiders into the city.  Moreover, 
nobody would be allowed near the Court Hall on the day of the 
trial.   According to the daily, the ultranationalists have 
started to provoke the people in the province.  Ayhan Tepe, 
DEHAP Eskisehir Provincial Chairperson, alleged that, following 
their meeting with the Governor and the Security Director, the 
Governor made contradictory statements to other people.  The 
Governor allegedly said that the authorities did not have the 
right to prevent people from watching the trial.  This, 
according to Tepe, contradicts his statement that, "nobody would 
be allowed in the surroundings of the Court Hall on the day of 
the trial." 
 
12.     OZGUR GUNDEM / ZAMAN:   Turkish Union of Bar Associations 
members will go to Van today to protest the words of the Van 
Prosecutor Kemal Kacan, who said that he did not trust the Bar 
Association attorneys, because half of their members were also 
supporters of the PKK. (see press summary 10/18) 
 
13.     OZGUR GUNDEM:   Prof. Gencay Gursoy, the spokesperson of 
the Intelligentsia Initiative; Celal Dogan, Gaziantep's former 
mayor; and Mehmet Altan, an author, will discuss in a panel held 
by the Diyarbakir Bar Association, "the Kurdish issue on the 
path to the EU" on October 22 at the conference hall of the 
Diyarbakir Municipality. 
 
14.     ZAMAN:  Police officer Hakan Acil, who was allegedly 
kidnapped by the PKK on a road between Sirnak's Idil district 
and Mardin's Midyat district (see press summary 10/11 and 10/12) 
on October 9, has not been found yet. 
 
15.     ZAMAN: Snowfall began one month earlier than normal in 
parts of the eastern Turkey. 
 
 
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS 
 
SABAH (GUNEY) / BOLGE:  During a seminar called "Accession 
Negotiations Process with the EU", which was held by the joint 
efforts of the Economic Development Association (EDA) and Adana 
Chamber of Commerce (ACC) in Adana, an EDA Executive Board 
member said that the negotiations framework agreement was not an 
ideal document that resolved all the concerns (of the parties. 
Saban Bas, Chairperson of the ACC, said that a huge step was 
taken in the path to Turkey's full membership, but at the same 
time, a new and a challenging process has begun for Turkey. 
Mehmet Demir, Adana Deputy Governor; Aytac Durak, Adana Mayor; 
Walter Scott Reid, US Consul in Adana; and Saban Bas, 
Chairperson of the Adana Chamber of Commerce, participated in 
the seminar. 
 
 
REID