US embassy cable - 03ADANA202

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 0202 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PINS, PGOV, PHUM, TU, IZ, ADANA, Press Summaries 
SUBJECT:  SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY 
JULY 25, 2003 
 
 
1. This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary 
for July 25, 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. Turkiye / An earthquake of 4.0 has been 
reported in Kadirli/Osmaniye on July 25 at 
12.34 am. No damage or loss of life has 
been reported. 
 
 
3. Turkiye, Bolge / Two young men found eight 
fetuses at the Cukurova University refuse 
area.  Fetuses were in plastic buckets, 
which belong to Cukurova University 
Pathology Departmen, and their internal 
organs had been emved 
. uriye Blge/ ecuit foce fond1 
mllion oot hepinGen/Bngo. he oos 
ae sidto elng KKKADK andthy ae 
gow tomae marijuana. Officials say tha 
their value is more than $700,000. 
 
 
5. Turkiye, Milli Gazete / Security officials 
found about 21,000 packets of cigarettes 
and 3,220 liters of diesel which were 
illegally brought in Turkey from Iran.  Two 
people are under police custody for 
questioning. 
 
 
6. Dunya / The land in Turkish-Syrian border 
will be used for farming after the 
clearance of the landmines. Agriculture 
officials say that it would be great for 
the economy because the area is flat, has 
no water problems and it's been resting for 
a long time, which is good for farming. 
 
 
7. Bolge, Gunaydin, Hurriyet / Pharmacists in 
Adana sent faxes to the Prime Minister to 
claim their payments from the government. 
(Editor's Note: The government owes back 
payments for prescriptions filled under 
social security programs). 
 
 
8. Bolge / Gaziantep Security officials found 
$2,500 in counterfeit 100 USD notes.  A man 
is still being questioned. Police are 
looking for two men related to the case. 
 
 
9. Gunaydin, Hurriyet / There were two 
ceremonies at Ataturk Park yesterday.  The 
celebration of the 95th anniversary of the 
free press and the celebration of the 
anniversary of Lausanne Peace Agreement. 
NGOs and some kindergartens attended the 
ceremonies. 
 
 
10. Gunaydin / Esat Bala, the owner of the Bala 
shoe factory announced that they are 
exporting shoes to Greece, Israel, Jordan 
and Dubai. "This will create more jobs in 
the shoe factories and workshops", Bala 
stated. 
 
 
11. Milli Gazete / Government Health 
Authorities in Siirt started a new project 
for fighting against Malaria in the region. 
Fifty Malaria technicians are visiting all 
the villages in the region and taking blood 
samples. Out of 6,300 blood samples 18 
malaria cases were discovered.  Emre Omur, 
Head of the Siirt Health Authority stated 
that their aim is to completely get rid of 
malaria in the region. 
12. Milli Gazete / Fifty caves in Hasankeyf/ 
Batman are going to be used as apart 
hotels. 
 
 
13. Evrensel / NGOs, political parties and 
people walked in Diyarbakir to announce 
that US Government can not help with the 
Kurdish problem.  Serdal Savas, the 
spokesman of Diyarbakir Democracy Platform 
stated that government's policy is to leave 
the Kurdish problem with the United States 
Government. "This is very dangerous" Savas 
added. 
 
 
14. Hurriyet / Necati Hancerlioglu, Head of 
TEDAS (Turkish Electric Distribution 
Company) officially reported to the court 
that he has been threatened. In his report 
he says one of the rich clients is talking 
about finding a person to kill him for 5 
billion TL.  Hancerlioglu is known to be 
very effective in decreasing the number of 
the unauthorized electric users in Mersin. 
(The unauthorized electric using rate was 
%59 when he took over the job in March 
2003.  Now it is %16). A hired assassin 
before had killed Hasan Balikci, assistant 
manager of TEDAS in Urfa, who was known to 
fight against unauthorized usage of 
electricity. 
HART