US embassy cable - 03ADANA140

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 0140 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PINS, PGOV, PHUM, TU, IZ, Press Summaries, ADANA 
SUBJECT:  SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY 
MAY 21, 2003 
 
 
1.  This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary 
for May 21, 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/Milli Gazete/Turkiye: It is 
claimed that around 90 PKK/KADEK militants have 
infiltrated into regions close to Turkish 
borders, and 300 more are in motion. After 
Barzani's IKDP, and Talabani's PUK, it is claimed 
PKK/KADEK wants to become the third major force 
in northern Iraq, and it is both continuing to 
threaten Turkey, and trying to increase its 
negotiation power with the US. Gathering at 
Kandil Mountain in northern Iraq, the 
organization's Presidency Council, which did not 
find the US demands acceptable, dispatched 90 
militants toward the Turkish border, and moved 
300 more to Gara and Gabbar. 
 
 
 
 
3.  Cumhuriyet: T.O., who was tortured by 
dripping melted plastic on her arms, and whose 
father was killed in front of her eyes by village 
guards in Omerli township of Mardin in 1994 when 
she was 12 years old, is still being threatened 
to withdraw her case charging 33 village guards 
with murder. T.O. and her father, Zeki Ozdemir, 
were stopped by village guards and jandarma for 
an ID check and taken to a farmhouse. The 
officials accused her father of taking food and 
ammunitions to the PKK, attacked her father with 
their rifle butts, and burnt plastic on her body. 
She said although her father was killed at the 
scene, no legal action was taken, and the village 
guards evicted them from the village a few days 
later. Ramazan Demiray left his village in 
Diyarbakir due to pressure to become a village 
guard in 1992. In the meantime, Demiray's land 
was used by village guards for eleven years. 
After filing a petition with the local Public 
Prosecutor's office in 2001 that his land had 
being expropriated without permission, charges 
were brought against the village guards. The 
court ordered the village guards to pay 
approximately USD 10 thousand to the land owner. 
 
 
4.  Radikal/Evrensel: The provincial chairmen of 
Peoples Democratic Party (DEHAP) announced in 
Ankara that, instead of the "repent law" on the 
agenda, a general amnesty, which would include 
PKK/KADEK militants as well, should be declared 
to establish reconciliation in the society. The 
DEHAP Provincial Chairmen said important 
developments that affected the region and Turkey 
were taking place as a result of US's 
intervention in Iraq, which created a historic 
chance for resolving the Kurdish issue. They said 
a non-discriminatory amnesty covering the 
PKK/KADEK components as well was essential in 
order to make the cessation of clashes lasting. 
 
 
5.  Sabah: Dr. Hasan Arslan, the Chief Doctor of 
State Hospital in Yukeskova of Hakkari, claimed 
he was kidnapped by three persons two days ago. 
Arslan said he had been beaten, his money and 
cellular phones seized, and he had been forced to 
sign promissory notes and resign from his 
position after he was interrogated. Arslan said 
the kidnappers had introduced themselves as 
members of "Yukesekova Gang." Three of the four 
persons Dr. Arslan reported were later arrested. 
Special Operations Team members, village guards, 
the mayor, and PKK confessors were tried at court 
for membership in the "Yukeskova Gang" some time 
ago. 
 
 
6.  Turkiye: Security forces from the 3rd Border 
Battalion in Caldiran of Van arrested 81 
Pakistani nationals near Soguksu village at the 
Iranian border. The arrestees, after being taken 
to the infirmary in Caldiran for a physical 
examination, were relased by the court for 
extradition. Two Turkish national harboring the 
fugitives were detained. 
 
 
7.  Milliyet/Hurriyet: The President of Adana's 
Street Children Association, Prof. Dr. Fazilet 
Aksu, said because of eastern and southeastern 
families' desire to move to bigger towns to 
improve their economic lives the number of the 
street children increased. At a conference by 
Adana's Chamber of Pharmacists, Prof. Aksu said 
the situation of the street children aged between 
12 and 14 had become an acute wound in the 
society. Aksu added that they conducted 
interviews with approximately 500 street children 
who mostly had migrated from Sanliurfa, Mardin, 
Diyarbakir, Siirt, and Kayseri provinces. The 
children said their families had moved to Adana, 
Istanbul, and Izmir in order to improve their 
economic conditions, but the migration had 
scattered the household members. In order to 
contribute to their families' income, the young 
children sell chewing gum, wipe windshields of 
the cars, and beg. Aksu said the majority of the 
children were illiterate, and were exposed to 
abuse and various diseases. Aksu mentioned that 
the association did not have the power to provide 
a humane life for those children, and the state 
did not fulfil its obligation in that regard. The 
Security Directorate of Adana estimated the 
number of street children at five thousand. 
 
 
8.  Bolge: Adana Provincial Jandarma Command 
announced that 34,029 roots of hemp, 300 hemp 
seeds, and 215 grams of heroin were seized in 
four separate operations in Adana, and four 
persons were detained in connection with the 
drugs. 
 
 
ECONOMIC AND AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENTS 
 
 
9.  Milliyet/Hurriyet: The Young Businessmen 
Association opened a branch in Mersin, MEGIAD. 
MEGIAD's Executive Board President, Mehmet 
Karalar, said, within the framework of democratic 
order of Turkey and in the light of Ataturk's 
principles, they had founded the association in 
Mersin to contribute to the economic, social and 
cultural development of the town. Karalar said 
they would fulfil their obligations as a business 
association and an NGO, and would try to find 
remedies to economic issues by arranging economic 
forums. 
HOLTZ