US embassy cable - 03ADANA125

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ADANA 0125 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PINS, PGOV, PHUM, TU, IZ, Press Summaries, ADANA 
SUBJECT:  SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY 
MAY 1, 2003 
 
1.  This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary 
for May 1, 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.  Cumhuriyet: The dead body of Siddik Kaya, the 
victim of a mysterious killing in Varto, was 
found on the bank of the Murat River. The 
Istanbul Forensic Medicine Department determined 
firearms had killed Kaya before he was thrown 
into the river. The HRA announced that more 
disappearance cases were being reported to their 
chapters after Kaya's body was found. The family 
of Riza Koc also applied to Mus' HRA Chapter to 
help them determine the whereabouts of their son. 
Riza Koc closed his grocery store in Mus the 
night of September 13, 2002, and left with a 
friend.  He was never seen or heard from again 
after he separated from his friend. According to 
reports, Koc told his wife one-day before his 
disappearance that two pedestrians followed him. 
The inhabitants of the quarter where Koc lived 
reported a suspicious vehicle was constantly 
moving in their neighborhood and they reported 
its license plates. After some research, it was 
discovered the Security Directorate of Mus owned 
the suspicious vehicle. After receiving no 
affirmative responses from the Mus' Security 
Directorate about Riza Koc's whereabouts, Koc's 
relatives sought assistance from the HRA Chapter 
in Mus. The HRA President in Mus, Sevim Yetkiner, 
said "Koc's family did not apply to us for 
reasons such as lack of education and fear, but 
we will investigate their case. It is very 
interesting that the Koc case has not been 
exposed up to now." Another mysterious killing is 
reported from Yuksekova. Mustafa Kanbas (49) 
wanted to swap his car with the car of Master 
Sergeant Riza Karabacak from the Yuksekova 
District Jandarma Command. After dropping off a 
relative of his at the 4th Jandarma Border Brigade 
in Sirnak on April 18, Kanbas set off for 
Yuksekova the next morning. One week later, 
Kanbas' dead body was found on a heap of sand on 
the shores of the Zap River. 
 
 
3.  Radikal: Three judges from the European Human 
Rights Court (EHRC) interrogated Turkey between 
April 28 and April 30 at hearings closed to 
public in a Courthouse in Ankara. The judges 
heard claims that Serdar Tanis and Ebubekir Deniz 
disappeared while detained under the supervision 
of Silopi's District Chairman of HADEP. The 
judges took statements from 30 persons, including 
military officers and villagers. Some of the 
villagers made their statements in Kurdish. Tanis 
and Deniz were last seen at Silopi District 
Jandarma Command on January 25, 2001. Then 
Commander of Provincial Jandarma Command, Levent 
Ersoz, did not report to the court even though he 
was on the list of people to make a statement 
before the EHRC judges. 
 
 
4.  Evrensel: By aiming a pistol at her head, the 
police in Adana intimidated a woman they had 
harassed with a truncheon to withdraw her appeal 
to the European Human Rights Court (EHRC). Later, 
MAY 01, 2003 
the police kicked the 55 year-old woman off the 
car and into the street. The woman said she was 
cooking for her family when the police raided her 
house on April 23, 2003, and asked her to 
withdraw her application to EHRC. She said the 
police left her house so that her neighbors would 
not become suspicious. She stated she went to the 
Turkish Red Crescent's Policlinic on April 28 to 
receive medical care.  She had been receiving 
medical care there because of the torture she had 
experienced in 1996. She further said, she gave 
an account of her experience with the police to 
the Human Rights Association. She recalled the 
police forced her into their car while she was 
buying bread from a booth, and cursed her as they 
shut her eyes and mouth, and finally, kicked her 
from the car. She added, because of fear of the 
police, her neighbors did not dare to visit her 
even when she was sick, and claimed that she was 
being isolated. She filed a petition of complaint 
with the Chief Public Prosecutor. 
 
 
5.  Radikal/Turkiye: After the US took Iraq under 
control, it has been removing the military 
structure it had established in the post-First 
Gulf War. Ending its military presence in Saudi 
Arabia the previous day, the US will end 
Operation Northern Watch (ONW) as well with a 
ceremony at Incirlik AFB today. ONW, which 
provided security in the "no fly zones" above the 
36th parallel in northern Iraq and below the 32nd 
parallel in southern Iraq, started in 1997. 
 
 
6.  Radikal/Turkiye/Tercuman: In its "2002 Global 
Terrorism," report, the US Administration 
signaled it was open to a dialogue with Syria, 
which was shown as a target after Iraq. The 
report mentioned Syria and Libya, Cuba, Iran, 
Iraq, North Korea, and Sudan, as "countries 
supporting terrorism" and outlined Syria's and 
Libya's support of terrorism had decreased. In 
addition to DHKP-C, PKK/KADEK has also been 
included in the list of the terrorist 
organizations. 
 
 
7.  Hurriyet: The "2002 Global Terrorism" report 
published by the State Department announced the 
PKK/KADEK organization armed 8,000 warriors. The 
report said KADEK continued arming about 8,000 
trained warriors in and around Turkey while it 
claimed it was abiding by the peace initiative it 
had declared. The report announced Turkey was one 
of the US's steadfast allies in combating 
terrorism. It was noted Turkey had suggested 
assigning a special force of 90 soldiers for 
combating terrorism in Afghanistan and had 
participated to the UN-led ISAF in Afghanistan 
with 1,400 troops. From Turkey, DHKP-C and 
PKK/KADEK have been included in the terrorists' 
list that named 36 foreign terrorist 
organizations. 
 
 
8.  Turkiye: Naile Yavuz (14) and Songul Yavuz 
(16) were wounded while picking bushes in rural 
Kizilhac yesterday because the ordinance they 
found among the bushes exploded. After medical 
treatment at Mus State Hospital, the girls were 
discharged, and an investigation is underway. 
 
 
9.  Turkiye: As a result of ensuing clashes 
between the security forces patrolling the 
Habizbin region and a group of PKK terrorists who 
disobeyed a "halt" warning, one terrorist was 
killed while two others were wounded. The 
security forces' operations in the region are 
still continuing. 
 
 
ECONOMIC AND AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT 
 
 
10.  Sabah: During Foreign Minister (FM) Abdullah 
Gul's visit to Damascus, the Syrian Head of 
State, Beshar Essad, suggested Syria market its 
natural gas in Europe versus in Turkey and Gul 
proposed Turkey would clear the 850 kilometer- 
long Turkish-Syrian border of land mines. The 
collective belief is that the water and Hatay 
issues would be resolved more easily if economic 
cooperation between both countries developed. The 
parties decided holding a Turkish-Syrian Joint 
Economic Meeting in Syria on May 15, and the 
Turkish-Syrian Business Council Meeting in Turkey 
on May 20. The Turkish and Syrian sides decided 
on signing an agreement exempting trade between 
both countries from taxes. 
HOLTZ