US embassy cable - 03ADANA44

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 0044 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE, NEA/NGA AND DRL 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, TU, SY, IZ, ADANA 
SUBJECT:  INCREASING UNREST IN SE TURKEY 
 
 
1.  (SBU)  Summary:  Imprisoned PKK/KADEK leader 
Abdullah Ocalan has been denied access to lawyers 
and family by the GOT since November 2002.   In 
SE Turkey, reaction against this enforced 
isolation has been angry.  There have been 
demonstrations, hunger strikes, and Molotov- 
cocktail threats. Kurdish interlocutors believe 
the prolongation of Ocalan's isolation has the 
potential to set off a new wave of violence. 
Within the past three weeks, perhaps 
coincidentally, there have been two armed clashes 
between GOT security forces and the PKK.  End 
summary. 
 
 
Ocalan's Isolation Provokes Increased Tension 
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::::::::::::::::::: 
 
 
2.  (U)  Press reports -not denied by the GOT - 
indicate imprisoned PKK/KADEK leader Abdullah 
Ocalan has not met with his lawyers or family 
members since November 2002.   The GOT has 
offered the explanation that inclement weather 
has prevented boats from reaching Imrali Island 
in the Sea of Marmara, where Ocalan has been 
incarcerated ever since his capture in 1999. 
This explanation is widely dismissed as bogus by 
Kurdish representatives. 
 
 
3.  (U) Starting in December 2002, anger about 
the enforced isolation of Ocalan has been 
bubbling up in SE Turkey.  We have reports from 
press and consular contacts of nearly 50 
demonstrations or other incidents since December 
8.  They have included public rallies, marches, 
slogan-chanting, proclamations, bonfires and 
tire-burnings, roadblocks, and hunger strikes. 
The venues have been all over the SE: Diyarbakir, 
Batman, Siirt, Saniurfa, Van, Bingol, Mersin, 
Adana, Gaziantep, Hakkari, Agri, and Mardin. 
Police, in some cases using truncheons and 
armored personnel-carriers, have made numerous 
arrests, including students and DEHAP members. 
In at least one case, police claimed to have 
found Molotov-cocktails that were being readied 
for use.   In some of the demonstrations, protest 
against a possible U.S. strike against Iraq has 
been mingled with the call for an end to Ocalan's 
isolation. 
 
 
Tanks Return to the Streets 
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: 
 
 
4.  (SBU)  In recent travel in the Consular 
district, both Poleconoff and Principal Officer 
heard simmering rage from Kurdish interlocutors 
about the continued isolation of Ocalan.  More 
than one interlocutor remarked the situation even 
had the potential to trigger armed attacks by 
PKK/KADEK elements.  In the city of Diyarbakir, 
at the end of January, Principal Officer observed 
the armored personnel-carriers and tanks moving 
about and learned that some sections of the city 
had been cordoned off for security purposes.  The 
security presence was the more visible than at 
any time she could recall over the past two 
years. 
 
 
GOT-PKK Armed Clashes Escalate 
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::: 
 
 
5.  (SBU)  It is worth noting that the anger over 
Ocalan's isolation has coincided with two GOT-PKK 
armed clashes within the past three weeks. The 
first, near Lice in Diyarbakir Province, took 
place on January 16; the second, on January 27 in 
Idol in Sirnak province.   In the Lice skirmish, 
one Turkish soldier and an unspecified number of 
PKK fighters were killed.  In Idol, press reports 
indicate the PKK forces started the engagement, 
which left one Turkish soldier dead.   If so, 
this would represent the first time in a long 
while that the PKK has mounted an offnsie 
operation. 
 
 
6.  (SBU)  Consulate contacts in the Kurdish 
community agrees that the temperature seems t be 
risng  Te iyarbakir B 
Asocatin resdet 
tld s hatKuds in prpoteousth GO 
explaation hat Oclan ha been nable o 
reciv viit frm amiy embrs or lawyers for 
the past nine weksbeause of  "weather".  He 
opined that some elements could perceive Ocalan's 
isolation as a provocation to incite violence and 
thereby provide a pretext for the GOT to hit back 
hard.  A DEHAP member from Sirnak offered us the 
view that ordinary people find it very hard to 
see Ocalan's enforced isolation as anything other 
than a violation of his human rights.  (Note: 
Amnesty International has now spoken out against 
Ocalan's isolation, too.  End note.)  A human 
rights contact of ours said that Ocalan's health 
was a matter of genuine concern - if Ocalan were 
to fall seriously ill or die in custody, it would 
be easy to imagine a renewal of suicide bomb 
attacks, as occurred shortly after Ocalan's 
arrest in Kenya.  A former president of the 
Batman Bar Association emphasized that if the 
GOT, in denying Ocalan access to his lawyers and 
family members, is seen to be reneging on its 
promise to uphold Copenhagen Criteria and EU 
norms, it will dash many hopes in the region. 
 
 
7.  (SBU) Comment:  Whatever the real reason 
PKK/KADEK leader Abdullah Ocalan has been denied 
access to visitors since November 2002,  our 
contacts blame the GOT for renewed anger and 
tension and tanks in the streets.  End Comment. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
HOLTZ