US embassy cable - 03ADANA49

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 ADANA 0049 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PINS, PGOV, PHUM, TU, IZ, ADANA, Press Summaries 
SUBJECT:  SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY 
FEBRUARY 21, 2003 
 
 
1.  This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary 
for February 21, 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.  YSK APPROVES ERDOGAN'S CANDIDACY IN SIIRT 
ELECTIONS 
(Milliyet/Radikal/Turkiye)  The Higher Election 
Council (YSK) approved AK Party leader Recep 
Tayyip Erdogan's candidacy in the March 9 Siirt 
elections.  YSK had rejected Erdogan's candidacy 
application in the November 3 Parliamentary 
elections.  Three people, including Nusret 
Cakiroglu of the Workers' Party (IP), had 
objected to the nomination of Erdogan as AK 
Party's first-listed candidate in Siirt.  YSK 
rejected all the objections during its two-hour 
meeting on February 20.  Tercuman reported that 
YSK had unanimously given a visa to Erdogan's 
nomination as AK Party's first-listed candidate. 
 
 
3.  MYSTERIOUS AMERICAN COMMANDER IN MARDIN 
(Hurriyet)  An unnamed American general arrived 
in Mardin in a private U.S. plane on February 20. 
Mardin Brigadier Commander Brigadier General 
Fahri Isildak met the general, for whom 
comprehensive security measures had been taken 
around the airport.  Journalists were not allowed 
to take photographs.  A helicopter affiliated 
with the Turkish Armed Forces also landed at the 
Mardin Airport. 
 
 
4.  TWO HUNDRED AMERICAN SOLDIERS DISPATCHED TO 
BATMAN 
(Hurriyet)  Of 1,000 U.S. soldiers who had 
arrived in Diyarbakir on February 16 and 17 in 
giant cargo planes for the modernization of 
Turkish bases, 200 people were sent to Batman. 
Cumhuriyet reported the arrival of 200 American 
soldiers at the Batman Air Base on February 19. 
The soldiers settled in tents that had been set 
up for them there.  Preparations have been 
concluded for Patriot missiles from the 
Netherlands which are expected to arrive in 
Batman by the weekend.  At night, cargo planes 
frequently land at the base, where Turkish 
Airlines (THY) flights have been suspended for 
the past week. 
 
 
5.  STINGER-MISSILE BATTERIES ARRIVE 
(Hurriyet/Radikal)  U.S.-flagged ship "Tellus" 
docked at the Iskenderun (Hatay) Port on February 
19, unloading 422 military vehicles.  Battery 
systems that can project missiles are among these 
vehicles.  Striking among these vehicles were 
Hummer jeeps and Lancers on which Stinger missile 
batteries were mounted.  Three other ships like 
"Tellus" are reportedly waiting in the 
Mediterranean.  Four other ships carrying M-1 
Abrams tanks and heavy military equipment are 
waiting to unload their cargoes at Iskenderun. 
If the Turkish parliament permits the coming of 
U.S. soldiers to Turkey, these ships will steer 
toward Iskenderun and Mersin ports.  Otherwise, 
they will proceed to the Persian Gulf through the 
Suez Canal.  Americans will pay the Iskenderun 
port USD 3 million per month.  An agreement has 
also been signed with transportation companies 
with fleets of trailer trucks to transport the 
military vehicles.  The trucks will have drivers 
and wait near the port area.  Ten trailer trucks 
have been rented from Mersin's Koknar 
International Transportation Company.  Each truck 
will receive a monthly payment of USD 2,000. 
Milliyet reported that a crisis was experienced 
during the entrance of nine busloads of U.S. 
soldiers from Incirlik to the Iskenderun port. 
The soldiers had to wait in the buses for nearly 
an hour before they were admitted on to the port. 
A delay in the receipt by port officials of a 
list of these soldiers reportedly caused the 
crisis.  Cumhuriyet reported that the unloading 
of U.S. tanks and other heavy equipment at the 
Iskenderun Port, prior to the passage of a 
memorandum for the use of bases and ports, caused 
controversy.  The Turkish General Staff (TGS) 
reportedly gave permission for the unloading, 
which caused disturbances among other public 
organizations.  The Minister of Foreign Affairs 
said the U.S. soldiers had arrived for 
modernization, while he denied having any 
information about the military equipment. 
 
 
6.  TURKISH TROOPS IN NORTHERN IRAQ 
Cumhuriyet reported that 7,000 soldiers 
affiliated with the (Malatya-based) Second Army 
Command had crossed 10-14 kilometers into Iraq 
through Hakkari and Sirnak.  Many tanks and 
armored vehicles were sent to the region, 
particularly to Zaho and Dahok, along with 
soldiers placed in strategic passages and hills. 
Also, preparations are underway to dispatch U.S. 
soldiers and materiel unloaded at the Iskenderun 
(Hatay) Port.  Evrensel reported the deployment 
of additional troops, as well as hundreds of 
village guards familiar with northern Iraq, along 
the Iraqi border.  The village guards will 
reportedly be used, especially in anti-KADEK/PKK 
operations. 
 
 
7.  INCREASED ACTIVITY CONTINUES AT INCIRLIK 
Hurriyet reported an increase in the number of A- 
6 Intruder/EA-6B Prowler planes at Adana's 
Incirlik Air Base.  Bolge reported the landing 
and taking off of many warplanes on February 20. 
According to the newspaper, doors to hangars near 
the runway were kept open, with officials working 
on some.  The paper also pointed to increased 
activity in the number of flights, as well as in 
ground services.  Modernization projects continue 
in some parts of the base. 
 
 
8.  WAR ALARM FOR HEALTH PERSONNEL 
(Hurriyet/Tercuman)  While preparations continue 
toward a possible war in Iraq, the Directorate 
General of the Red Crescent and Civil Defense 
switched to the "extraordinary situation" code, 
under the direction of the Heath Ministry. 
Orders prepared for such extraordinary situations 
as wars and natural disasters have been put in 
effect.  Temporary-duty timetables have also been 
prepared for hospitals and health personnel.  An 
effort is also underway to provide health 
materials, medicine, and stock of blood, while 
the Health Ministry initiated an effort to 
purchase anthrax and smallpox vaccines from the 
U.S.  Milli Gazete reported that the Red Crescent 
Adana Blood Center, through billboards, is urging 
citizens to donate blood.  Turkiye quoted Red 
Crescent Society National President Dr. Ertan 
Gonen as saying the Society is ready for war in 
every respect.  According to Evrensel, all public 
employees serving in the Southeast were ordered 
to be ready for a possible Iraq war. 
 
 
9.  CALL FOR BOYCOTTING U.S. PRODUCTS 
(Bolge)  Seyfullah Sariaslan, President of the 
Adana chapter of the Egitim-Bir Sen, together 
with other union members, held a press conference 
in Adana's Ugur Mumcu Square to voice opposition 
to war against Iraq.  During the press 
conference, Sariaslan called on the public to 
boycott U.S. products.  He wanted the U.S. to 
withdraw its military from the region and 
immediately evacuate from Turkish bases. 
 
 
10.  NEW ADANA GOVERNOR SAYS ONLY A MIRACLE CAN 
PREVENT WAR 
(Hurriyet/Bolge)  Adana's new Governor, Kemal 
Onal, who took office on February 20, said Adana 
had strategic importance in a possible U.S. 
operation against Iraq because of its Incirlik 
Air Base.  "Unless a miracle takes place, there 
is the danger of a hot war near to us," he added. 
Onal stressed that the public would be informed 
accurately about civil defense measures. 
 
 
11.  GERMAN AMBASSADOR IN DIYARBAKIR 
(Turkiye)  German Ambassador to Turkey Joseph 
Rudolf Schmidt 
arrived in Diyarbakir for contacts.  Schmidt 
visited the Governor's Office and the 
Municipality and toured the province's historical 
sites.  In answer to journalists' questions 
regarding a possible war in Iraq, Schmidt said 
that, as a member of NATO, his country would 
perform its responsibilities in the event of a 
possible U.S.-Iraq war.  He added that German 
soldiers were not likely to take part in the 
ground operations and noted that the number of 
personnel to participate in an air operation was 
not known yet.  He will later travel to Mardin. 
 
 
12.  PRO-OCALAN DEMONSTRATIONS 
(Evrensel)  Members of the Elazig Fundamental 
Rights and Freedoms Association Initiative and 
HADEP youths protested the isolation of jailed 
PKK/KADEK leader Abdullah Ocalan by lighting 
candles.  In Van, youths staged demonstrations in 
three different locations calling for an end to 
Ocalan's isolation.  Police raided several homes 
and arrested three people.  A Mersin court 
released 12 of the 13 people, including Social 
Democrat Party (SDP) Provincial Chairman Huseyin 
Gur, arrested during the February 18 anti-war and 
anti-isolation protest in that province.  The 
court ordered Gur to remain in custody for having 
read a press release during the protest 
demonstration.  Seven of the 16 pro-Ocalan 
demonstrators arrested in Adana's Ceyhan district 
were ordered held in custody.  In Batman, an 
investigation has been launched against 12 DEHAP 
officials, including the DEHAP provincial 
chairman, in connection with an anti-war and 
anti-isolation press release.  The officials were 
summoned to the Prosecutor's Office for 
questioning. 
 
 
13.  HRA DIYARBAKIR OFFFICIALS ACQUITTED 
(Evrensel)  A hearing was held in the Diyarbakir 
Court of General Criminal Jurisdiction on 
February 20 in the case of seven Diyarbakir Human 
Rights Association (HRA) officials charged with 
displaying posters during Newroz celebrations at 
the province's Southeastern Journalists' Society 
in 2002.  Attorney Muharrem Erbey represented the 
defendants during the trial.  In his defense, 
Erbey said that the defendants did not have the 
intention of committing crimes.  Erbey requested 
his clients' acquittal.  The court later 
acquitted the HRA officials.  Prison terms 
ranging from six months to two years had been 
requested for the officials under Article 77/1 of 
the Associations Law. 
 
 
14.  TUNCELI MUNICIPALITY UNDER INVESTIGATION 
(Evrensel)  The Interior Ministry has launched an 
investigation against the municipality of 
Tunceli.  The investigation stemmed from a 
complaint by the National Property Directorate 
General that the Municipality had been involved 
in misfeasance in the sale of municipal land. 
 
 
ECONOMIC AND AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENTS 
-------------------------------------- 
 
 
15.  ECONOMIC REVIVAL POSTPONED UNTIL AN UNKNOWN 
DATE DUE TO WAR 
Sabah columnist Esen Evran wrote that while 
Turkey is focused on tense Iraq bargaining 
ongoing with the U.S., the Southeast's agenda is 
much more intense.  While a possible operation 
against Iraq is a brake on the economic revival 
expected to come after the economic crisis, 
everything in the Southeastern provinces has been 
on hold until an unknown date.  Abdulkadir 
Konukoglu, President of the Gaziantep-based Sanko 
Holding Company, said he was disturbed by a 
possible war in Iraq, but there was not much he 
could do about it.  "Everyone comes up and asks 
what we will do.  I tell them to stay where they 
are.  We do not have the strength to move our 
factories," he added.  Gaziantep Chamber of 
Industry President Nejat Kocer pointed to 
uncertainty and shrinkage in business in the 
region during this process.  Diyarbakir Chamber 
of Commerce and Industry President Kutbettin Arzu 
said the possible war in Iraq impacted the 
region.  "In the west of the country, people 
postpone their purchase of television sets and 
overcoats, while people here in the region do not 
buy anything other than bread, sugar, and cooking 
oil," he noted.  Turkiye cited Van Commodity 
Exchange President Feridun Irak as complaining 
that Turkey's total trade volume with its 
neighbors was around 5%, way below the desired 
level. 
HOLTZ