US embassy cable - 03ADANA132

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 0132 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PINS, PGOV, PHUM, TU, IZ, Press Summaries, ADANA 
SUBJECT:  SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY, 
          MAY 7, 2003 
 
 
1.  This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary 
for May 7, 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: Turkish President Ahmet Necdet 
Sezer's visit to Bingol with the Head of TGS, 
Gen. Hilmi Ozkok, caused a protocol crisis. 
Bingol's DEHAP Mayor, Feyzullah Karaaslan, went 
to the 49th Domestic Security Brigade Command to 
welcome the president on behalf of the people of 
Bingol, but was denied access to the military 
compound.  Bingol's Governor, Huseyin Avni Cos, 
seeing that the mayor was denied entry to the 
military compound, did not intervene in the case. 
After Mayor Karaaslan returned to his tent in the 
park to continue his activities, he received a 
call from a captain saying there had been a 
misunderstanding and invited him back to the 
Brigade Command, but Mayor Karaaslan refused to 
go. Mayor Karaaslan said he would not go to the 
place he had been dismissed from. 
 
 
3.  Cumhuriyet/Evrensel/Milliyet: Bingol's DEHAP 
Mayor, Feyzullah Karaaslan, complained that all 
the humanitarian relief items sent to the 
municipality following the earthquake were seized 
by the governor's office.  Mayor Karaaslan said 
the municipality tried to cooperate with all 
government agencies in town from the very 
beginning of the earthquake, but because of the 
governor's efforts to render the municipality 
ineffective, the municipality decided to withdraw 
from the "Crisis Table" headed by the governor. 
He stated that the needy people did not get the 
relief items, adding the "Crisis Table" seized 
all the relief assistance coming to the town and 
stored them in military facilities, a gymnasium, 
and in an orphanage.  He also claimed the Crisis 
Table was prevented from receiving humanitarian 
assistance sent by other municipalities in the 
region. In addition, Karaaslan said that rather 
than supplying the needs of the people, the 
Crisis Organization Center and its officials 
drove their cars and APCs against the people, and 
responded with gunfire by Special Operation 
Teams.  He further claimed yesterday police 
seized food and shelter materials sent by 
Kigi/Yayladare Assistance and Solidarity 
Association. The police, taking the relief 
materials to the Security Directorate, denied the 
request of association officials for the delivery 
of the material. 
 
 
4.  Cumhuriyet: 800 students boarding at Kozluk 
Regional Boarding School in Batman are being 
evacuated from the school because of the cracks 
formed in the building after the earthquake in 
Bingol. It has been determined that already part 
of the school slid. The school was built on a 
salt rock foundation four years ago. 
 
 
5.  Milliyet: Hamdiye Aslan, a woman arrested and 
allegedly tortured by police in Kiziltepe of 
Mardin on the charges of assisting and harboring 
the PKK, claimed she recognized the policewoman 
who had maltreated her, Hanife Sennur Pat, and 
sued.  Police said Aslan rolled herself on the 
ground and traces were left on her body when they 
grabbed her by the arm to lift her from the 
ground.  Aslan claimed she was tortured 
constantly while under detention, but could not 
see the faces of the male police officers because 
of black plastic bags put on her head.  She said 
four to five policemen beat her all the time, and 
she tried to remove the plastic bag when she was 
out of breath. Aslan said it was at that time 
that she saw the policewoman who tortured her. 
The court adjourned the hearing to an unspecified 
date. 
 
 
6.  Bolge:  The following four members of the DYP 
party resigned from their positions yesterday: 
1) DYP's Adana Provincial Chairman, Yavuz Tekeli; 
2) the chairman for Yuregir District; 3) the 
chairman of Seyhan District; 4) the chairman of 
Kozan District; and 5) the chair of the Youth and 
Women Organization of the party.  Tekeli was 
elected to the office at DYP's Adana Provincial 
Convention on June 22, 2002. 
 
 
7.  Milli Gazete: Approximately eight thousand 
students left school before the completion of the 
academic year in Siverek township of Sanliurfa in 
order to work as seasonal- farm-workers for six 
months with their families during the harvesting 
period. 
HOLTZ