Cablegate: Southeast Turkey Press Summary for November 22, 2006
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000248
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TAGS: PINS PGOV PHUM TU
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR NOVEMBER 22, 2006
This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for November 22,
2006. 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
TOPLUMSAL DEMOKRASI: Ozgur Gundem daily, which authorities
banned a week ago, has appeared on the shelves back under the
name "Toplumsal Demokrasi", which translates as "Societal
Democracy."
EVRENSEL: Civil society and political organizations in
Tunceli, where recently one soldier and six PKK members died
during the ongoing military operations, convened at the
conference hall of the Tunceli Municipality to make a call to
people to embrace the cease-fire decision taken three months
ago.
EVRENSEL: Central Executive Board of DTP announced the results
of a meeting it held the previous day. DTP chairpersons will be
holding a series of visits in the southeastern region and the
chairpersons will later hold two public meetings in Diyarbakir
and Istanbul about the cease-fire.
EVRENSEL: Murat Karayalcin, National Chairperson of SHP
(Social Democratic People's Party), came to Diyarbakir to start
election preparations in that province.
CUMHURIYET: Diyarbakir's Fifth Heavy Penalty Court continued to
hear the case of the 56 mayors in the southeastern region who
sent a letter to the Danish Prime Minister Anders Von Rasmussen
to seek his support in order not to black out pro-PKK Roj TV.
The undersecretary of Embassy of Denmark in Ankara came to
Diyarbakir to attend the court hearing and observe the trial
process.
SECURITY
ZAMAN: A bomb placed in the car of the former president of
a Patriotic Forces' Solidarity Union in Hatay exploded yesterday
night at 3 a.m. Police launched a large scale investigation
following the incident.
HUMAN RIGHTS
EVRENSEL: Mersin Women's Platform sent postcards to the women
in jails as a gesture to mark the November 25 International Day
for the Elimination of Violence against Women. The Platform
members also announced that a public meeting would be held in
Mersin on November 26 to mark the day. Diyarbakir Women's
Platform, Diyarbakir Chapter of the International Amnesty
Organization and The Women's Assembly of the Local Agenda 21
announced the program of activities that would be held on 25th.
RADIKAL / SABAH: Doctors diagnosed that B.E., a 24-year-old
girl in Van, who is a relative of the 15-year-old girl killed in
the name of honor because of her pregnancy out of an
extramarital affair, was also pregnant. The authorities put
B.E. under state protection to avoid her being a victim of an
"honor killing." The number of women who were put under state
protection increased to five in Van.
CRIME / LAW ENFORCEMENT
HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): Police seized 64 kilograms of hashish
during an anti-drug operation conducted in a house in Hatay's
Samandag district.
HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): Jandarma officials, who received a
tip-off about fuel oil thievery from a pipeline of the NATO
facilities in Malatya, caught the suspected person and found 900
liters of fuel oil in the van of that person.
ZAMAN: Police caught the fourth suspect in connection with
the killing of the Mayor (from AKP) and his brother in Adana's
Karatas district on September 22. It is found out that four
people allegedly devised the plan to kill the mayor because
their unearned revenues from a beach area in the district were
disrupted because of the recent designation of the district as a
tourism area.
ECONOMY
ADANA 00000248 002 OF 002
BOLGE / ZAMAN: The speech delivered by a faculty member of
Ankara-based Hacettepe University's Faculty of Engineering on
"Information for Turkish SMEs in Compliance with EU's
Environmental Acquis" at Adana Chamber of Industry did not
receive much public attention.
CULTURE / SOCIETY / ENVIRONMENT
SABAH (GUNEY) / HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): November 16 marked the
16th anniversary of the death of Ege Bagatur, a former mayor of
Adana, who was assassinated. People gathered at the theater
hall of Adana Municipality to remember him. Adana Mayor Aytac
Durak said during his address to the people that Bagatur was an
honest politician.
CUMHURIYET: As damage assessment studies have been continuing,
the Diyarbakir Bar Association and Batman Bar Association
decided that they would provide free legal services for people
who became victims of the flooding that killed over 40 people in
the southeastern region.
SABAH / ZAMAN: Villagers and opinion leaders of a clan in
Mus's Haskoy village held a meeting and condemned the killings
perpetrated in the name of honor.
SABAH: A crisis broke out between Diyarbakir's Kayaypinar
Municipality and a union over a clause in the collective
agreement stipulating that courses in Kurdish about labor law,
health and work safety should be offered to the workers.
GREEN