Cablegate: Southeast Turkey Press Summary for May 05, 2005

This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000097

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU ADANA
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR MAY 05, 2005

This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for May 05, 2005.
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

CUMHURIYET / EVRENSEL / OZGUR GUNDEM: An investigation has
been undertaken against 675 people who signed a "Call for Peace
Declaration" in Eruh district of Siirt last year on November 27,
a date which also marks the date the terrorist organization PKK
engaged in armed actions for the first time. (Note: That was in
1984). Three hundred fifty people, including members of NGOs,
political organizations, mayors and municipality assembly
members from Diyarbakir gave their statements at the Office of
the Security Director in Diyarbakir yesterday.

RADIKAL / CUMHURIYET / EVRENSEL: Bekir Kaya, one of the
attorneys for jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan, was detained
and later released by the Gemlik Jandarma Command in Bursa upon
an order by the Istanbul 11th Heavy Criminal Court. (Note: Kaya
had earlier been called to the Istanbul court to make a
statement there and had not appeared.) Meanwhile, Hatice Korkut
and Feridun Celik (former Diyarbakir mayor), also attorneys for
Abdullah Ocalan, paid their weekly visits to Ocalan.

CUMHURIYET: According to results of a study, 20,000 children
work in the streets of Diyarbakir and 600 children live in the
streets there. The Children's Rights Center of the Diyarbakir
Bar Association stated that these children, lacking love and
protection, are highly vulnerable to addictions, involvement by
criminal networks in crime, and child prostitution and sexual
abuse.

OZGUR GUNDEM: Turkish Armed Forces reportedly started a
military operation in the area of the Hani, Lice and Dicle
districts of Diyarbakir. Reportedly 4,000 soldiers and an
unspecified number of village guards are deployed in the area.

EVRENSEL: The petroleum that leaked from
Batman-Yumurtalik Pipeline (see press sum 4/18) to the Ataturk
Dam has made its way to the shores of Samsat district in
Adiyaman, where it is disturbing the local population, which is
concerned about the quality of their potable water.

EVRENSEL: Truckers and transporters launched a nationwide
strike to draw the government's attention to the problems of
truckers. Truckers demand a decrease in the diesel oil prices,
an increase in transportation fees, and an end to companies'
demands that they overload their vehicles.

ZAMAN / RADIKAL / YENI SAFAK: Pursuant to intelligence obtained
about several bomb incidents allegedly being planned by the PKK,
a woman (reportedly a runner) was caught with 1.5 kilograms of
C-4 explosives on her body in front of the Office of the
Security Director in Diyarbakir. Separately, the security forces
raided a terrorists' cell in Istanbul, arrested two PKK members
and found 7.5 kilograms of plastic explosives.

BOLGE: DYP (True Path Party) Adana Provincial Chairperson
Nevzat Saskin is quoted as saying that AKP (Justice and
Development Party) has lost its credibility in the eyes of the
public and will not be able to fare well in 2006.

BOLGE / EKSPRES: A heavy hailstorm that struck Yumurtalik
district of Adana damaged produce in cotton, watermelon, and
apricot fields belonging to 20 different farmers.

EKSPRES: It was a "cold shower" for the victims of Adana's
June 1998 earthquake when the General Directorate of Disaster
Relief ordered them to repay the total amount of money granted
as a loan to them. The victims were surprised upon hearing that
their liability had become effective in 2001;they claim no state
authority had sent notice before that date to them regarding any
repayment.

SABAH (GUNEY): Twenty-seven German teachers arrived in Adana
and paid visits to various primary schools. The group's aim was
to learn more about the Turkish education system and its
policies. Some German teachers reportedly asked school directors
about the headscarf issue, corporeal punishment, and the status
of non-Muslim students with regard to religious instruction in
classes.

RADIKAL / ZAMAN / OZGUR GUNDEM / YENI SAFAK: Former PKK
militants, who in years past reportedly confessed to membership
in PKK and then operated on behalf JITEM (Jandarma Intelligence
Center), were arrested by police in Istanbul as they tried to
extort money from DEHAP Istanbul administrators.

RADIKAL: Relatives including the brother-in-law and
father-in-law of a 15-year-old girl, who had attempted to cut
the girl's nose off of her face, were released by a Duty
Prosecutor on March 11 after being charged with a crime
classified as "minor wounding." (Note: Despite the use of the
terms "brother-in-law" and "father-in-law" in the news report,
the girl is under the legal age required for marriage in Turkey.
End note.) The men were arrested again only after Remziye
Tanrikulu, attorney and member of the Human Rights Center of the
Diyarbakir Bar Association, appealed to the Court.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS

1. EVRENSEL: A Gaziantep University study revealed that
Gaziantep province's unemployment figures were higher than the
nationwide average. The study says Gaziantep has a 20.3 percent
unemployment rate whereas the nationwide unemployment figure is
reported to be as 13.8.

REID

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