US embassy cable - 03ADANA84

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 0084 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PINS, PGOV, PHUM, TU, IZ, Press Summaries, ADANA 
SUBJECT:  SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY, 
          MARCH 25, 2003 
 
 
1.  This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary 
for March 25, 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. 
 
 
2.  Tercuman: After granting overflight rights to 
U.S. and British aircraft, Turkey restricted 
civilian flights in East and Southeast Turkey. 
Private flights other than scheduled THY flights 
are subjected to special permission. Eight 
provinces have been entirely closed to air 
traffic, and THY cancelled its regular flights to 
Mardin, Sanliurfa and Gaziantep. 
 
 
3.  Cumhuriyet: As the Americans keep withdrawing 
from the bases in Mardin province, they halted 
their activities at Iskenderun port. The Turkish 
workers at the port said they had been told the 
operations were halted temporarily. Military 
equipment dispatched from Nusaybin started 
arriving at the Iskenderun port. Because of a 
monetary dispute between the Delta Shipping 
Company and truckers, some truckers refused 
carrying military equipment from Nusaybin to 
Iskenderun. In response, the shipping company 
made a deal with other truckers for the 
deliveries.  The US troops are getting ready to 
leave Kiziltepe (Mardin), too. Fifteen trucks are 
reportedly waiting in front of the industrial 
zone there in order to transport equipment. 
Operations that were being conducted with heavy 
construction machinery have stopped. 
 
 
4.  Cumhuriyet: The Americans are seeking to get 
back some of the cash they had paid for leasing 
the shops at Nusaybin's Industrial Zone. The U.S. 
had paid one month's rent, a total of USD 
248,000, for the 154 shops at the industrial 
zone.  Now, the U.S. has been demanding 
reimbursement, prorating the rent.  On the other 
hand, it is claimed that some shopkeepers who 
provided some services to the U.S. are trying to 
collect unpaid debts. 
 
 
5.  Bolge: The US military experts visiting the 
scene of the bomb fallen near Ozveren village of 
Birecik township in Sanliurfa province were the 
targets of protests by  villagers shouting "No to 
war". The U.S. military delegation removed the 
bomb fragment and took it back to Incirlik Air 
Force Base, and apologized to the villagers for 
the mistake, assuring them that such mistakes 
would not happen again. 
 
 
6.  Turkiye: The Turkish Armed Forces continue 
increasing measures against a possible migration 
across the border. Some 150 soldiers from 
assorted units were dispatched in a military 
convoy of 30 vehicles from Mardin to Silopi. 
 
 
7.  Turkiye: The head of the Turkish General 
Staff, Hilmi Ozkok, will inspect Second Army 
Units on the border region today and tomorrow. It 
is reported by the TGS that General Ozkok will 
make a press announcement at the 7th Corps Command 
Headquarters in Diyarbakir tomorrow. 
 
 
8.  Turkiye: Based on a tip, police from the 
Tarsus (Mersin) Security Directorate arrested six 
alleged PKK members who were involved in hanging 
banners, blocking roads, burning tires, and 
shouting pro-PKK slogans. The detainees, who were 
brought before the court after their 
interrogations at the police station, were 
ordered held in custody. 
 
 
9.  Evrensel: 36 students were arrested and 
brought before the court by jandarma at the 
Centennial University of Van while trying to hold 
Newroz festivities in the university campus on 
March 20. Some 11 of the detainees were ordered 
held, but were later released. 
10.  Evrensel: DEHAP's Hazro (Diyarbakir) 
District Chairman, Hamit Ergin, who had hung a 
DEHAP flag from the window of his house and 
forgot to take it down, was given six months of 
imprisonment on the charges of "violating the 
Election Law". 
 
 
11.  Turkiye: The President of the Southeastern 
Businessmen and Industrialists Association, 
Bedrettin Karaboga, announced that the 
businessmen in the Southeast were the ones mostly 
affected by the war. Karaboga urged that the 
region should be declared a "Disaster Region," 
and the merchants' and businessmen's Social 
Security and Income Tax debts should be 
postponed. He also claimed many workers had been 
laid off, business had closed, and production had 
stopped due to the war. 
HOLTZ