US embassy cable - 03ADANA102

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 0102 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PINS, PGOV, PHUM, TU, IZ, Press Summaries, ADANA 
SUBJECT:  SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY, 
          APRIL 10, 2003 
 
 
1.  This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary 
for April 10, 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.  Hurriyet/Bolge: It is claimed that 150 mayors 
nationwide, including Yildiray Arikan of Seyhan 
district of Adana, will transfer to CHP. Mayor 
Arikan is still a member of YTP. It is reported 
that CHP's Central Executive Committee has 
approved the transfers. Mayor Arikan verified 
that he would transfer to CHP, and that the 
developments regarding the issue would become 
more definite in coming weeks. 
 
 
3.  Hurriyet: The State Security Court of Erzurum 
gave 15 months of imprisonment to three persons 
for referring to Abdullah Ocalan as the 
"PKK/KADEK Chairman" during a "No To War" meeting 
held in front of DEHAP offices in Dogubeyazit 
(Igdir). The inmates are charged with 
propagandizing for a terrorist organization. 
Meanwhile, a court in Tarsus (Mersin) asked 5 
years of imprisonment for each of 9 persons who 
referred to Ocalan with the customary honorific 
form of address "Sayin" ("Honorable" or 
"Esteemed") during DEHAP's district convention. 
 
 
4.  Milliyet/Radikal/Evrensel: A US delegation 
headed by a Capt. Todd Plotner turned over to 
Turkish officials from Ankara the airport at 
Gaziantep.  US troops had been sent there under 
the "modernization program" accord. 
 
 
5.  Bolge: The ban on US soldiers at Incirlik AFB 
going off base, which had been in effect since 
March 18, was lifted as of yesterday. The 
soldiers are now permitted to go off the base 
between 09:00-19:00 hours. 
 
 
6.  Milliyet/Tercuman: 14 villagers from 
Sanliurfa's Buyuk Murdesi hamlet, where a US 
missile had fallen erroneously, asked for legal 
assistance from the Bar Association.  They are 
being arraigned at a court in Sanliurfa for 
throwing stones and eggs at the US delegation 
that came to the village to recover fragments of 
the errant missile. 
 
 
7.  Evrensel: It is claimed that two villagers, 
Haci Olmez (37) and Mevlut Olmez (30) from the 
village of Andac (Sirnak), who had left their 
village the previous evening to look for their 
lost sheep, were fired upon by soldiers 
affiliated to Andac Jandarma Battalion. It is 
further alleged that Haci Olmez was killed in the 
incident and that his body was taken to the 
Turkish-Iraqi border by soldiers. 
 
 
8.  Evrensel: In response to a lawsuit brought 
against soldiers by villagers who back in October 
2002 had gone hunting near Baldan village of 
Tunceli and were then wounded there by soldiers' 
gunfire, the Tunceli Governor did not give 
permission to for an investigation to be 
conducted.  He stated that "the security forces 
had not abused their authority, and therefore no 
crime had been constituted." The villagers' 
attorney said they would appeal the Governor's 
decision. 
 
 
9.  Cumhuriyet: The President of the Chamber of 
Doctors of Istanbul, Prof. Dr. Gencay Gursoy, 
announced at a press conference that physicians 
dispatched from Istanbul to Cukurca (Hakkari) by 
Health Ministry due to war on Iraq, were unable 
to reach their destinations.  Roads were still 
closed, and the physicians have been staying at a 
military facility in Van at their own expense. 
The physicians dispatched to Silopi (Sirnak) have 
also been staying at military facilities and the 
hospital they would work in has not been set up 
yet. 
HOLTZ