US embassy cable - 03ADANA108

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 0108 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PINS, PGOV, PHUM, TU, IZ, ADANA, Press Summaries 
SUBJECT:  SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY, 
          APRIL 15, 2003 
 
1.  This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary 
for April 15, 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. 
 
 
POLITICAL, SECURITY, HUMAN RIGHTS 
 
 
2.  Milli Gazete/Bolge: Incirlik AFB became 
active once more yesterday noon as five C-130s 
took off and another one landed at the base. It 
is reported that the cargo planes carried 
military equipment brought to the AFB from other 
US bases in the southeast and Iskenderun port. 
Bolge reports the "Maersk Rostock" freighter 
discharged 10 containers of US humanitarian 
relief to be forwarded to Iraq via southeastern 
Turkey. 
 
 
3.  Cumhuriyet: Goc-Der, The Immigrants Social 
Assistance and Cultural Association has launched 
a campaign to end the village guard system, which 
is perceived as the most important impediment for 
return to the villages. Many people moved to 
urban centers because of the terror that started 
in the southeast in 1984. While GOT officials 
have stated that some 375,000 people left from 
some 3,000 southeastern villages and hamlets, 
some NGOs have estimated much higher, citing 
millions of internally displaced people. With the 
support of NGOs and municipalities, Goc-Der is 
going to prepare a "Migration Map" of Turkey. The 
project aims primarily to determine: the exact 
number of migrants stemming from the 15-year-long 
clash; how many of them managed to return; what 
are their living conditions; and what is the 
status of uncultivated land.  At Goc-Der's 
initiative, petitions with 18,000 signatures 
demanding return to the villages were submitted 
to the Turkish parliament. According to the 
parliament's Human Rights Commission report of 
April 2003, a total of 58,513 persons from 10,511 
families have been returned to 456 villages and 
347 hamlets. Clashes between village guards who 
have been settled in the evicted villages and the 
returnees have been reported, and thus Goc-Der 
portrays the village guard system as the main 
obstacle. 
 
 
4.  Turkiye: Acting on a tip, Van Security 
Directorate teams seized over 20 kilos of 
Iranian-origin heroin in the secret compartments 
of a private car. Two persons arrested in 
connection with trafficking of the drugs were 
ordered held by the court. The police searching 
the houses of the suspects and there seized one 
unlicensed pistol and EU 10,600. 
 
 
5.  Turkiye: Jandarma teams, acting with a search 
warrant issued by Adana State Security Court, 
seized 37 illegal publications, books, magazines, 
and documents at Ramazan Elcin's house in Gecitli 
district and Mehmet Sefik Arslan's house in Misis 
district of Yuregir township. An investigation 
has started, the officials said. 
 
 
6.  Hurriyet: An independent parliamentary deputy 
from Hakkari, Mustafa Zeydan, joined ANAP. With 
his transfer, ANAP will henceforth be represented 
in the Turkish parliament. 
 
 
ECONOMIC AND CULTURAL DEVELOPMENTS 
 
 
7.  Turkiye: It is reported by the Gaziantep- 
based Southeast Anatolian Exporters Union that 
there has been a more than five percent increase 
in pine nut exports in the first three months of 
the year. The Exporters Union also announced 
similar increases in nuts, red lentils, 
chickpeas, and in wheat flour. More dramatic was 
the decrease in exports of pistachios, sugar, 
electric-electronic items, oil seeds, cement, and 
livestock. 
 
 
8.  Hurriyet: As oil tankers could not come to 
Yumurtalik because of the war in Iraq, the 
Turkish Ministry of Energy asked to halt pumping 
of oil last week because the pipes were already 
full. Between 5 to 5.5 thousand cubic meters of 
oil had been pumped daily from the lines, but no 
oil tankers were able to ship the oil from the 
storage in Yumurtalik to the international 
markets. 
HOLTZ