US embassy cable - 03ADANA41

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 ADANA 0041 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PINS, PGOV, PHUM, ADANA, Press Summaries 
SUBJECT:  SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY 
FEBRUARY 6, 2003 
 
 
1.  This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary 
for February 6, 2003.  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.  TWENTY-TWO ELECTION COUNCIL MEMBERS INDICTED IN 
SIIRT 
(Cumhuriyet)  In Pervari's (Siirt) Dogan Village, 
during the November 3 Parliamentary elections, 
ballot boxes which should have been set up during 
the elections were not, which resulted in the 
cancellation of the elections in Siirt.  Later, the 
Pervari Prosecutor's Office ordered 22 election 
council officials to pay fines of TL 218 million 
(approx. USD 130) each.  The fines were based on 
Article 136/1 of the Election Law number 298. 
However, the officials refused to pay the fines. 
A criminal case has been opened against them. 
 
 
3.  WAR EXERCISES 
(Sabah/Bolge)  Adana's Incirlik Air Base had 
another busy day on February 5.  Exercises began 
with alarms early in the morning and continued all 
day long.  Measures against possible terrorist 
attacks were reviewed.  Different scenarios were 
implemented against chemical weapons attacks, 
fires, and air raids.  While the exercises were 
going on, Turkish Air Forces affiliated F-4 Phantom 
warplanes landed at the base.  Some U.S. F-117 
ghost war planes will reportedly be deployed at 
Incirlik.  Turkiye and Evrensel reported that a 
humanitarian-assistance exercise is being carried 
out in Silopi (Sirnak) under the leadership of 
Regional Governor Gokhan Aydiner.  "Operation Rain 
Plan," aimed at preventing a wave of refugees from 
Iraq and providing humanitarian assistance, is 
being implemented.  In the event of a war, 400 
tents set up in the region will also be used, if 
tents set up in northern Iraq fail to suffice. 
Hurriyet reported that journalists were not allowed 
to watch the February 5 exercise in Silopi, while 
the number of journalists in the region has 
increased.  Tercuman reported that, following the 
exercise, the capacity of refugee centers 
established along the border might rise from 3,000 
to 24,000 people. 
 
 
4.  DISPATCH OF MILITARY EQUIPMENT CONTINUES 
(All papers)  The dispatch of military personnel 
and equipment to the Iraqi border continues, prior 
to a possible U.S.-led war in Iraq.  Trains 
carrying military vehicles, ambulances, armored- 
personnel carriers, armored light-machine vehicles, 
cannons, and soldiers set off from Adapazari on 
February 5.  Another train that had left Tekirdag 
arrived in Gaziantep on February 5.  Intense 
security measures were taken on the trains. 
Turkiye reported the arrival of the first party of 
soldiers and armored-personnel carriers at Sirnak's 
Habur border gate.  In addition, trains left 
Istanbul's Haydarpasa Train Station for the 
Southeast, with cargoes of soldiers and materiel. 
Milliyet reported the February dispatch of tanks 
and armored-personnel carriers from Diyarbakir- 
based Seventh Corps Command to the border area. 
 
 
5.  RADAR DOME BACK IN SERVICE 
(Hurriyet)  Radar Dome at Diyarbakir's Pirinclik 
Air Base, which Americans evacuated six years ago, 
has gained importance in preparations for a 
possible operation against Iraq.  The Dome, which 
helps listen from the Middle East to Russia and can 
detect a possible nuclear attack 28 minutes in 
advance, has been put back into operation.  New 
pre-fab dwellings have been established at the base 
and walls around military equipment heightened. 
 
 
6.  ANTI-WAR AND ANTI-ISOLATION DECLARATION 
(Evrensel)  An Anti-War Peace Declaration signed by 
labor unions, mass organizations, professional 
organizations, and political parties was publicized 
in Diyarbakir.  The declaration called for the 
elimination of isolation imposed on jailed 
KADEK/PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan.  It also 
emphasized that people in the Southeast were 
against a possible U.S.-led war in Iraq. 
 
 
7.  THIRTEEN HIZBULLAH SUSPECTS HELD IN DIYARBAKIR 
(Turkiye/Cumhuriyet)  The Diyarbakir Security 
Directorate arrested a total of 31 suspected 
Hizbullah members in the month of January.  The 
arrestees are accused of political organization, 
recruitment and extortion, fund-raising, and 
logistical support for the organization.  A pistol, 
15 rounds of ammunition and Hizbullah documents 
were also confiscated.  Following interrogation, 
the arrestees were arraigned in a local court, 
where 13 suspects were ordered to remain in 
custody.  The remaining 18 were released but 
ordered to appear for their upcoming trial. 
 
 
8.  PRO-OCALAN DEMONSTRATIONS 
(Evrensel)  The Labor Party (EMEP) Tunceli 
organization visited people who had launched hunger 
strikers at the HADEP Tunceli office in protest of 
war and prison isolation.  One hunger striker said 
the strike was not only against the isolation of 
(jailed KADEK/PKK leader Abdullah) Ocalan, but all 
kinds of anti-democratic practices and war. 
Families who had launched hunger strikes to protest 
war and isolation in prisons will end their 
demonstration on February 6.  In addition, ten 
women briefly chained themselves and protested war 
and prison isolation in Seyhan (Adana). 
 
 
9.  SUSPECTED KADEK/PKK MEMBERS ARRESTED IN BATMAN 
(Evrensel)  According to the Batman Security 
Directorate, police arrested an unnamed suspected 
KADEK/PKK member who had been plotting Molotov 
cocktail attacks.  Three Molotov cocktails were 
also confiscated. 
 
 
10.  CONCERN OVER ESCALATING TENSION IN THE 
SOUTHEAST 
(Evrensel)  In Diyarbakir, people are concerned 
that they will return to the days of the State of 
Emergency (OHAL).  Tension is escalating in the 
region due to the possibility of Diyarbakir and the 
Southeast becoming the center of war in the event 
of a possible U.S.-led operation against Iraq, the 
continuation of the two-month-long isolation of 
jailed KADEK/PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, and 
increased complaints of demonstration bans, 
arrests, detentions, and torture. 
 
 
11.  HADEP/DEHAP OFFICE DISTRICT OFFICES RAIDED 
(Evrensel)  Van police raided the HADEP/DEHAP Gevas 
(Van) and Muradiye (Van) district offices under the 
pretext of "possession of banned publications." 
During the search of the Gevas office, police 
confiscated T-shirts with "Asiti (Kurdish for 
"Peace") written on them, as well as old magazines. 
Four HADEP/DEHAP officials were temporarily 
arrested.  Following the search of the Muradiye 
office, a HADEP/DEHAP member was summoned to the 
Prosecutor's Office in connection with a recent 
anti-war press release. 
 
 
12.  RIGHT TO MOTHER-TONGUE EDUCATION 
(Evrensel)  Three Dicle University (Diyarbakir) 
students appealed to the Diyarbakir Regional 
Administrative Court to reverse disciplinary 
actions by the university administration.  The 
court agreed to review the appeal.  The students 
had been suspended for a year for having petitioned 
the university for an elective course in Kurdish. 
13.  VILLAGE GUARDS INDICTED NINE YEARS LATER 
(Evrensel)  Thirty-two Mardin village guards have 
been indicted nine years after allegedly beating an 
Omerli (Mardin) man to death in 1994.  The village 
guards will be tried in the Mardin Felony Court for 
homicide. 
 
 
14.  VAN HADEP OFFICIAL CONVICTED FOR KURDISH 
SPEECH 
(Evrensel)  The Gevas (Van) Court of General 
Criminal Jurisdiction convicted Muzaffer Yildiz, 
President of the People's Democracy Party (HADEP) 
district chapter, of giving a Kurdish-language 
speech during the October 2002 inauguration of the 
district chapter office.  Yildiz was sentenced to 
seven days' imprisonment and a fine of TL 1.6 
billion (approx. USD 950). 
 
 
15.  SIIRT RESIDENT ARRESTED FOR SALE OF EXPLOSIVES 
(Turkiye)  In a sting operation, Jandarma arrested 
a Siirt man who was trying to sell 28 fuses and 
half a meter of wick. 
 
 
16.  VISITS TO PULUMUR CONTINUE 
(Evrensel)  Major-general Sakir Altinbas, together 
with Pulumur (Tunceli) district Governor Ali Adali 
and Pulumur Mayor Mesut Coskun, visited a tent city 
set up in Pulumur's Meydanlar district.  Thus far, 
a total of 95 tents have been set up in the region. 
Seventy-five pre-fab dwellings have also arrived, 
while another 35 are on the way. 
 
 
ECONOMIC AND AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENTS 
-------------------------------------- 
 
 
17.  SYRIAN BUSINESS DELEGATION VISITS ADANA 
(Dunya)  A 30-person delegation of Syrian 
businessmen arrived in Adana as part of a trip 
organized by Turkey's Aleppo Consulate General and 
TUYAP.  The businessmen visited the province's 
Organized Industrial Zone.  They said the purpose 
was to increase the volume of trade between Turkey 
and Syria.  Bilateral relations had previously 
declined to the point of zero due to the Hatay 
issue and terror. 
 
 
18.  SIGNALS OF ECONOMIC CRISIS IN MALATYA DUE TO 
IRAQ WAR 
(Milli Gazete)  Muzaffer Ersan, the President of 
the Malatya Active Businessmen's Association 
(MAKIAD), said that the provincial economy had 
suffered substantial losses during the 1991 Gulf 
War.  According to Ersan, the Iraq crisis has 
caused danger bells to ring again.  Evrensel 
reported the presidents of 22 Chambers of Commerce 
and Industry in Eastern and Southeastern Turkey 
will convene for a meeting in Diyarbakir to discuss 
a possible war in Iraq and the current economic 
situation. 
 
 
19.  MINE EXCITEMENT IN SIIRT 
(Turkiye)  Mervan Gul, former AK Party Member of 
Parliament from Siirt, has begun to exert efforts 
to put Siirt's Sirvan mine back into operation. 
Gul withdrew from the March 9 Siirt elections to 
open way for AK Party leader Erdogan's candidacy in 
Siirt.  The mine, located in Siirt's Sirvan 
village, has a reserve of 16 million tons of 
copper.  The Eti Holding (Company) owns the mine's 
operating license.  According to Gul, with an 
investment of USD 280 million by German SKW firm, 
the mine will create employment for thousands of 
people. 
 
 
20.  "DIE'S INFLATION FIGURE SERIOUS SIGN OF 
WARNING" 
(Bolge)  In his evaluation of the State Statistics 
Institute's (DIE) inflation figure for the month of 
January, Adana Chamber of Industry Umit Ozgumus 
said the figure was much higher than anticipated. 
Ozgumus blamed the increase on a possible U.S. 
operation against Iraq, increased petroleum prices, 
and a 7.7% increase in the price of agricultural 
products. 
 
 
21.  ANIMAL HUSBANDRY 
(Bolge)  The Gaziantep Commodity Exchange (GCE) 
applied to the Ministry of Agriculture and Village 
Affairs to prevent the killing of small lambs and 
pregnant sheep during Bayram.  GCE characterized 
such slaughter as a serious blow on the country's 
animal husbandry sector. 
HOLTZ