US embassy cable - 03ADANA144

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 0144 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PINS, PGOV, PHUM, TU, IZ, ADANA, Press Summaries 
SUBJECT:  SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY, 
          MAY 23, 2003 
 
 
1.  This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary 
for May 23, 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: Before he was killed, the former 
Security Director of Diyarbakir, Gaffar Okkan, 
had disclosed the names of 26 Hizbullah members. 
Hizbullah's leader in Turkey, Mehmet Besir Varol, 
AKA "Melle Mizgin," was arrested in Konya on May 
17. Mehmet Cicek and Nurullah Gulsever who were 
also arrested have been identified as important 
militants in the organization. The Hizbullah 
militants were taken to Diyarbakir for 
interrogation. So far, eight of the terrorists on 
Okkan's list have been arrested while two others 
were killed some time ago. The militants were 
ordered held by Diyarbakir State Security Court. 
Cicek and Gulsever are accused of involvement in 
18 incidents. 
 
 
3.  Turkiye: A meeting dubbed "Family Planning 
and Methods to Prevent Pregnancy" was organized 
at Cukurova University (CU), by CU's Women's 
Problems Research and Application Center. Vice 
Rector Prof. Dr. Nebahat Sari said a major 
portion of women are affected by health problems 
in the country. Sari added that two million women 
become pregnant in Turkey annually, and of 450 
thousand miscarriages, 280 thousand are 
intentional. She said approximately 30 thousand 
children were stillborn, and more than 700 
mothers a year lose their lives due to various 
health problems. 
 
 
4.  Bolge: At a City Council meeting, the 
Governor of Adana, Kemal Onal, said the 
government had built houses for the earthquake 
victims in Adana in 1994. Governor Onal said two 
thousand families persisted living in the damaged 
and inhabitable houses rather than moving to the 
government-built houses. The governor added that 
those families would forcibly be evacuated by the 
security forces from those unsafe houses. 
 
 
5.  Milliyet: Because of the authority vested in 
the OHAL Governor (State of Extraordinary Rule 
Governor), the administrative decisions made by 
his office could not be reversed. Such a 
prevention in the provinces under the OHAL  has 
been found to be against the law. The OHAL 
Governor wanted to transfer a teacher in 
Diyarbakir for his activities. The teacher filed 
a petition with the Administrative Court for the 
reversal of the action, but the court dismissed 
the case. The teacher appealed the case to the 
Supreme Court which demanded the reversal of the 
action and submitted the file to the 
Constitutional Court. While five members of the 
Constitutional Court decided against the 
reversal, 6 decided in favor of the decision. 
 
 
ECONOMIC AND AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENTS 
 
 
6.  Bolge: After McDonalds unilaterally decided 
to cancel its contracts in Turkey, the owner of 
the McDonalds outlet in Mersin, Mustafa Yuksel, 
put a pad lock on his facility with a ceremony to 
protest the decision. Yuksel said he  had spent 
USD 450 thousand for the McDonalds, and had 
signed a contract for 20 years. Yuksel claimed 
that McDonalds' unilateral decision caused 19 of 
42 McDonalds outlet owners in Turkey to go 
bankrupt. Yuksel said, on a monthly basis, he 
paid 18 percent of his gross for rent, 5 percent 
for advertisement, and 5 percent for use of the 
brand name in addition to $45 thousand he had 
initially paid for franchising. Yuksel said he 
was offered only $75 thousand for closing down 
his facility where 25 people were employed. 
HOLTZ