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Cablegate: Southeast Turkey Press Summary,

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 0141

SIPDIS


E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU IZ ADANA
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY,
MAY 22, 2003


1. This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary
for May 22, 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. Radikal/Cumhuriyet/Evrensel/Milli
Gazete/Turkiye/Milliyet/Hurriyet: As a result of
clashes between the security forces and members
of illegal organizations in Tunceli, two privates
were martyred while four organization members
were killed. A group of PKK/KADEK militants
firing on the soldiers near rural Atacinar
village in Tunceli the previous night killed two
soldiers. Reinforcement units dispatched to the
scene encircled the terrorist group, but clashes
continued throughout the night. Officials said,
in the region, there were around 30 PKK/KADEK
militants who had infiltrated into Turkey some
time ago. During clashes between security forces
and a group of TKP/ML (Turkish Communist
Party/Marksist Leninist Faction) and TIKKO
(Turkish Workers Villagers Communist Army)
members, four members of the illegal organization
were killed.

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3. Evrensel: Based on the permission from the
governor to return to their village,
approximately 500 people from Yesiloz village in
Sirnak left Van, Hakkari, and Cizre on May 16 for
their village. The families were not allowed to
go to the village by the Sub-govern orate and
Jandarma Command on grounds that the village
lacked the necessary infrastructure. The
villagers are being kept under military
supervision in an open space in the Village
Services Department's workshop. The villagers'
request for tents has not been met. Villagers
claimed the problem stemmed from the Chief
Village Guard and Tribal Leader, Kemal Aslan,
having denounced the villagers to the Brigade
Command for allegedly assisting the PKK some time
ago.


4. Evrensel: Emin Ete, who was apprehended at
his store in Siirt on April 19, filed a petition
with the local public prosecutor claiming he was
taken by police to a field where he was exposed
to physical and psychological pressure. Ete also
claimed the police cut his fingers with a knife.
The court dropped the charges against the
policemen Sinasi Cetin and Senol Kutal, who are
stationed at the Anti-terror Department of Siirt
Security Directorate, on the grounds that there
was no evidence that police had wounded the
accuser. Opposing the court's decision, Ete said
police seized the physical report he obtained
after he had been wounded, and that he would
appeal the case.


5. Hurriyet: The 6th Harmonization Package with
the EU, which will be submitted to the Prime
Ministry by the Ministry of Justice today, makes
it permissible to name children in Kurdish. The
ban in the Political Parties Law in regard to
campaigning in languages other than Turkish will
also be lifted, and amendments will be made in
the RTUK Law (Radio Television High Council).
Broadcasting on public and private TV channels
and radio stations of different languages and
accents the Turkish citizens use in their daily
lives will be permitted.


6. Turkiye: Police teams from Adana arrested
eleven Somali nationals in a bus at the Adana Bus
Terminal. The Somalis had illegally crossed into
Turkey from Hatay at the Turkish-Syrian border,
and were planning to go to Italy. The Somalis
will be brought before the court for "coming into
the country through illegal ways."


7. Milliyet: Teams from the Organized Crimes
Department of the Adana Security Directorate
arrested a Tarik Cakar, the so called leader of
"Cakarlar," a gang involved in theft, pick-
pocketing and extorting money from shopkeepers in
various quarters of the town. It is claimed that
Cakar was involved in four murder cases.


8. Turkiye/Milliyet/Hurriyet: The Government and
UNICEF's joint project "The Child and Family
Education Program" was started in Mersin today.
Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir, Diyarbakir, Samsun, and
Mersin have been picked as pilot cities for the
program. Regarding the program which aims to end
domestic violence, the Deputy Governor of Mersin,
Ibrahim Seker, said three thousand families would
be educated throughout the province within the
framework of the program.
HOLTZ

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