US embassy cable - 05ADANA214

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000214 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PINS, PGOV, PHUM, TU, ADANA, Press Summaries 
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR NOVEMBER 21, 2005 
 
This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for November 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 
 
HURRIYET / RADIKAL / CUMHURIYET / ZAMAN:        MGK (National Security 
Council) General Secretariat has recently placed the Semdinli 
incident on its agenda.  The Council, after probing the deeper 
roots of the incident, will report its findings to the members 
of MGK.  Separately, Turkish Parliament will reportedly discuss 
the increasing terrorist events and their causes.  The General 
Assembly of the parliament will discuss the proposals submitted 
by CHP (Republican People's Party), ANAP (Motherland Party) and 
AKP (Justice and Development Party) deputies to probe the 
Semdinli incident.  It is expected that an investigatory 
commission will be set up as a result of these discussions. 
 
 
CUMHURIYET / HURRIYET:  When a group of people attempted to 
protest the incidents in Semdinli and shouted slogans in support 
of jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan in separate districts in 
Istanbul, police intervened and used pepper gas.  During an 
unauthorized protest activity in Istanbul's Kucukcekmece, 12 
people were detained. 
 
CUMHURIYET / HURRIYET / ZAMAN:  In two separate protests in 
Mersin, people burned tires and shouted similar slogans in 
support of Ocalan.  Police intervened.  A 19-year-old person 
died as a result of a shot from an unknown shooter.  A 
15-year-old child was wounded.  In a separate protest in Adana, 
people burned tires and blocked a road while they chanted 
terrorist slogans in one of the quarters of the Seyhan district. 
 The police intervened and people hurled stones at the police. 
The fight lasted two hours and faded away when the protestors 
finally ran away and disappeared in the streets.  Five members 
of the Socialist Platform of the Oppressed People were detained. 
 A group of people staged similar protests against the Semdinli 
incident in Sirnak's Cizre district. 
 
HURRIYET:       PM Erdogan went to Van yesterday night at 9.15 p.m. 
to pay visits to the Hakkari province's districts and to conduct 
studies there.  Reportedly, the timing of Erdogan's trip was 
kept secret until his plane took off from Ankara.  Minister of 
Internal Affairs and Minister of Justice will accompany Erdogan 
during his visit. 
 
HURRIYET:       Jandarma Regiment Command (RGJ) reportedly sent a 
copy of the report it prepared on Semdinli bombing to PM 
Erdogan.  According to the report, ownership of the car and the 
guns (seized by the local people on the day of the incident) 
belonged to the Jandarma.  The two sergeant majors, who were 
allegedly involved in this incident, had long been following the 
owner of the bookshop, where the bombing took place, by means of 
permission obtained from Van's 3rd Heavy Penalty Court.  Seferi 
Yilmaz, the owner of the bookshop, was reportedly a leading 
member of a terrorist organization.  Upon allegedly receiving a 
tip-off that Yilmaz would meet one of the brains of the 
organization, the two sergeants, together with a confessor (PKK 
defector), who knew the bookshop owner well, waited 150 meters 
away from the shop.  The confessor was reportedly sent to the 
bookshop to see whether the man the bookshop owner would meet 
arrived at the spot or not.  Just as the confessor entered the 
building, the explosion took place and the confessor started to 
run back to the sergeants' car.  The local people then attacked 
the car of the sergeants as they shouted "the bombers are 
escaping."  The local people reportedly seized the firearms and 
the documents found in the car then. 
 
CUMHURIYET / OZGUR GUNDEM:      Today marks the first anniversary 
of the killing by government security forces of Ahmet Kaymaz, a 
truck driver, and Ugur Kaymaz, Ahmet Kaymaz's 12-year-old child, 
in Mardin's Kiziltepe district on the grounds that they were 
terrorists.  Several ceremonies will be held today to remember 
the event. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   According to the daily, the perpetrators of 
Ahmet and Ugur Kaymaz's deaths are still holding their offices 
and no progress has been made in their prosecution process.  On 
the contrary, said the daily, the people who are watching the 
trial sessions in Eskisehir are reportedly being terrorized by 
the ultra-nationalists.  The trial was moved to Eskisehir 
province out of security concerns by the court. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   Three young persons fought with a police 
officer in Diyarbakir on the grounds that the officer and two 
other officers were following them.  As the other two officers 
ran away, three youths beat the officer and seized his gun, 
badge and mobile phone.  The wounded police officer was saved by 
officers patrolling the area.  Three young people, who claimed 
that the officers would kill them, were detained by the police. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   Former Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said that 
the U.S. was behind the incidents in Semdinli.  The 
"unfortunate" developments in recent months were caused by 
circles, which were supported by the U.S., according to Ecevit. 
ZAMAN / HURRIYET / CUMHURIYET:  Ecevit further endorsed the 
claims of the forme PM and President Suleyman Demirel and 
former Preident Kenan Evren that there was a separate 
struture, which deeply embedded itself within the currnt 
Turkish state. 
 
ZAMAN:  Two explosives wee thrown into the Security 
Directorate's garden in Sirnak's Silopi district yesterday at 
around 10p.m.  No casualties or damage was reported during he 
incident.  Meanwhil, unidentified person(s) threw a hand 
grenade at he car of a junior officr at 6.30 p.m. i Mardin's 
Derik district.  The grenade did great damage to the car. 
ZAMAN:  Huan Rights Watch Organization (HRW) criticized 
Tukey because of the death of three demonstrators duing the 
incidents that happened in Semdinli. 
 
ZAMAN:  National Security Directorate sent 50 speial eam 
memer to te d 
tricts of the Hakkari rovine folowing ts 
deployment of anti-riot tems and armored vehicles there. 
 
ECONOMIC DEVELPMENTS 
 
ZAMAN:  Businessmen of the southeaster region, who are 
worried about terrorist activites developing in the region, met 
in Van upon invitation of the Van Chamber of Commerce and 
Industry.  TOBB (Turkish Union of Chambers and Commodity 
Exchange) administration came together with the chairpersons of 
the chambers in the region to discuss the recent developments. 
 
 
2.      BOLGE:  A group of industrialists in Adana have 
returned from their trip to an international fair called MIDEST 
and EUROPLAST held in France. The trip was organized by the 
Adana Chamber of Commerce. 
REID