US embassy cable - 02ADANA418

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 0418 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PINS, PGOV, PHUM, TU, IZ, ADANA, Press Summaries 
SUBJECT:  SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY 
DECEMBER 17, 2002 
 
 
1.  This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary 
for December 17, 2002.  Please note that Turkish 
press reports often contain errors or 
exaggerations; AmConsulate Adana does not vouch 
for the accuracy of the reports summarized here. 
 
 
POLITICS, SECURITY, HUMAN RIGHTS 
-------------------------------- 
 
 
2.  TURKISH TROOPS ON IRAQI BORDER 
(Hurriyet/Sabah)  A high-level Turkish military 
official made a statement to the British Reuters 
Agency by phone, saying that Turkey has deployed 
10,000-15,000 soldiers and engineers along the 
Iraqi border in preparation for a possible U.S. 
war in Iraq. 
 
 
3.  ECHR ORDERS TURKEY TO PAY INDEMNITY 
(Cumhuriyet)  The European Court of Human Rights 
(ECHR) ruled against the Government of Turkey in 
connection with six cases, including "prolonged 
detention, violation of right to fair trial, 
torture, death in custody and prevention of 
freedom of thought" and ordered a total payment 
of EUR 130,000 (approx. USD 133,000) in 
reparations.  These cases included the killing by 
a landmine of 16-year-old suspect Orhan Yakar, 
arrested in Bingol in 1996, after Yakar was taken 
to a rural area to show a PKK member's body. 
ECHR also ordered that Turkey pay Mus resident 
Makbule Kinay, whose home had been burned by 
soldiers, EUR 59,000 (approx. USD 60,300) in 
indemnity. 
 
 
4.  LANDMINE THREAT IN THE SOUTHEAST 
(Sabah)  Turkey faces the problem of over one 
million landmines planted across the Southeast. 
According to the Human Rights Association (HRA), 
600 people, among them children, lost their 
lives, and over one thousand others were injured 
by landmines over the past ten years.  Turkish 
security forces swept 10,638 landmines in various 
border regions by the end of 2001.  However, 
Turkish Armed Forces said USD 12 million is 
initially needed to remove the remaining 
landmines.  Five years and USD 36 million are 
needed to remove all the landmines. 
 
 
5.  CHOMSKY IN DIYARBAKIR 
(Evrensel)  U.S. writer and linguist Noam Chomsky 
held a press conference in Diyarbakir on December 
16 in which he said he had returned to the U.S. 
in a very positive mood following his visit to 
Turkey in 2001.  In answer to the question 
whether or not the U.S. would launch an operation 
against Iraq, Chomsky said it was not easy to 
find a statement of reasons for the resolution 
made by the U.N.  "No matter what the report of 
weapons inspectors in Iraq is, the U.S. and the 
U.K. have from the very beginning been determined 
to wage a war against Iraq.  The U.N.'s decision 
clearly foresees disarmament in the region. 
There are thousands of nuclear weapons in the 
hands of Israel.  Saddam Hussein is not the only 
problem in the region," he added. 
 
 
6.  3.5 TONS OF UNPROCESSED HEROIN SEIZED IN 
ELAZIG 
(All papers)  In collaboration with U.S. and 
Russian units, Elazig police seized 3.5 tons of 
asitanhidrite in 15 plastic barrels concealed 
among timber on a trailer truck headed for 
Hakkari.  The truck first came to the Samsun Port 
by a ferryboat that left Russia's Novorossisk 
Port.  The value of the seized asitanhidrite, 
which was reported to be associated with the 
PKK/KADEK, was estimated at EUR 600,000 (approx. 
USD 613,000).  In the truck, nine people were 
arrested and an unlicensed pistol was 
confiscated.  Five other suspects, including a 
Syrian national, were arrested during ensuing 
operations in Kilis and Ankara.  The 15 arrestees 
were later sent to the (Elazig) State Security 
Court. 
 
 
ECONOMIC AND AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENTS 
-------------------------------------- 
 
 
7.  ADANA FOREIGN TRADE CLUB 
(Turkiye/Bolge/Milliyet)  The Adana Foreign Trade 
Club project launched by the Adana Chamber of 
Commerce (ACOC), the Adana Chamber of Industry 
(ACOI) and the U.K.'s Sheffield Chamber of 
Commerce and Industry has been shown as a model 
project on the way to the EU. 
HOLTZ