US embassy cable - 03ADANA149

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 0149 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PINS, PGOV, PHUM, TU, IZ, Press Summaries, ADANA 
SUBJECT:  SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY, 
          JUNE 02, 2003 
 
 
1.  This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary 
for June 02, 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/Turkiye/Evrensel: Tension rose 
between a group of soldiers on leave in downtown 
Tunceli and private citizens yesterday. Around 
two thousand people gathered in the city's main 
square and shouted, "peace could not be 
disrupted; Dersim (Tunceli) would became a grave 
to fascism; [and] Damn Jitem (jandarma 
Intelligence Center." When the quarrel between 
the soldiers and locals turned into a fight, one 
of the soldiers fetched a long-barreled weapon 
from the Jandarma Central Command and started 
shooting at random.  He broke the some windows of 
buildings and damaged some cars; his colleagues 
finally stopped him.  The police did not 
intervene in the incident in order not to magnify 
the event. In the meantime, Tunceli Governor Ali 
Cafer Akyuz announced from municipal loudspeakers 
that an unwanted incident had burst out in town. 
The governor added that action was taken against 
the perpetrators, and called upon everybody to be 
calm. The crowd dispersed after the governor's 
announcement. Regional Jandarma Commander Sakir 
Altinbas claimed one soldier was beaten in the 
course of the quarrel, and added that legal and 
administrative actions were initiated against the 
soldier who had opened fire in the air. 
 
 
3.  Turkiye: Two brothers, Yunus (14) and Idris 
Uzun (17), were killed when they tried to open a 
mortar found near Bingol at their home. Their 
younger brother, Onur Uzun, was also wounded. 
Onur was taken to Firat University Hospital in 
Elazig. 
 
 
4. Evrensel: The police arrested two students in 
the Hani township of Diyarbakir on the grounds of 
making insinuating remarks in Kurdish to their 
female teacher during Children's Day celebrations 
on April 23. Based upon the teacher's complaint, 
two policemen from the Hani Security Directorate 
detained the students. It is claimed the police 
beat the students in a cell in the basement of 
the security directorate and placed human 
excrement to the faces of the two students. 
According to reports, the police then toured the 
students in town and exhibited them to the 
public. The students' attorney, Mehmet Zulfu 
Dundar, described the incident as "shameful." 
Dundar said they would sue the policemen in 
coming days. Because of the petition filed by the 
teacher, the students are charged with 
molestation. The next hearing has been adjourned 
for June 4. Regarding the issue, the teacher and 
the two policemen said they could not make any 
announcement because they were public employees. 
 
 
ECONOMIC AND AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENTS 
 
 
5.  Turkiye: The basic price announced for wheat 
by TMO (Soil Products Office) received negative 
reaction from the farmers in the Cukurova plain. 
TMO announced the price for a kilo of wheat is 
approximately 0.22 USD. The merchants are buying 
wheat from the market at 0.24 USD per kilo. The 
farmers' expectation of the basic price was 0.27 
or 0.28 USD per kilo. Regarding the issue, the 
Adana Farmers' Union President, Cumali Dogru, 
said the government left the farmers to their own 
destiny. Dogru added that the wheat from Cukurova 
plain deserved a basic price of not less than 
0.25 US dollar per kilo. 
HOLTZ