Cablegate: Southeast Turkey Press Summary for June 07, 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 000120
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU ADANA
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR JUNE 07, 2005
This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for June 07, 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
ZAMAN/CUMHURIYET/YENI
SAFAK/RADIKAL/HURRIYET/SABAH/GUNDEM/EVRENSEL: A medium-scale
tremor in Bingol caused damage in many buildings and wounded 50
people. The Turkish Red Crescent dispatched relief items
including food, blankets, and tents to the region where schools
have been closed for two days as well.
ZAMAN: It is alleged that cooperation has been taking place
between PKK and Hizbullah. According to a piece of news in the
Aksiyon Magazine this week, PKK has given some of its C-4
explosives to Hizbullah in order to distract the security
officials' attention. Taking advantage of the vacuum of
authority in Iraq, PKK allegedly acquired C-4 explosives during
the looting of military warehouses in Iraq and infiltrated
approximately 1000 kilos of those explosives into Turkey. PKK
leader Murat Karayilan reportedly announced in a statement in
May that PKK signed a new agreement with Hizbullah and wanted to
benefit from the Hizbullah's experiences in urban areas.
ZAMAN/GUNDEM: The dead body of the Syrian Kurdish religious
figure Sheikh Mohammad Mashuk Xaznevi, was found in Deir el Zor
town on June 1, 2005 after he was reportedly kidnapped from the
Islamic Studies Center in Damascus on May 8 and allegedly
exposed to torture for three weeks. The Kurds hold Damascus
responsible for the assassination and undertook demonstrations
in his birthplace Qamichli, where 5 persons were reportedly
killed and 33 others, including 3 policemen, wounded during the
tumult.
YENI SAFAK/HURRIYET: The European Commission donated 12 million
Euros to 32 projects in nine Southeastern provinces aiming to
promote sites of historical value there and promote tourism.
Some of the projects that will benefit from the donation are:
Restoration of the Gaziantep castle and the tea shops beneath
it; the project by the Chamber of Commerce of Gaziantep to
promote the tourism potential in Zeugma, Halfeti, and Rumkale;
the project aiming to support handcrafts and thus create
employment opportunities for women by the Diyarbakir Chamber of
Commerce and Industry; the Sirnak Foundation to Develop Sirnak
and Its Townships; the project to promote hand woven fabric
indigenous to Sirnak; the restoration of a 150 year-old
stone-house and publicity of the cuisine of Kilis; the project
aiming to develop mohair weaving unique to Siirt and the
Renovation of Veysel Karani Complex, Socio-Economic Examination
of the Syriac Culture. Hurriyet newspaper reports that the
projects that will benefit from the donation will be completed
within 24 months.
EKSPRES/HURRIYET/EVRENSEL: After extension of the use of
Incirlik Air Base by the Turkish cabinet, four C-17 U.S. cargo
planes flew to the base and have been deployed there as of June
2. It is reported that logistical items, such as tents, food,
clothing and spare parts, will be brought to the base by
civilian cargo planes and moved to Iraq and Afghanistan by the
US Air Force's C-17 cargo planes.
GUNDEM: The Syrian government reportedly notified the family of
HPG (PKK affiliated "Public Protection Forces") militant Nezire
Qasim, who had been killed in May 12 clashes with GOT forces in
Tunceli, that it would not admit her body into Syria because she
did not have a Syrian passport. Nezire's brother and uncle
visited her grave in Ovacik of Tunceli.
GUNDEM: Approximately one thousand people reportedly attended
HPG militant Sami Comak's funeral in Bingol. Comak apparently
died when a snake bit him in rural Tunceli. The crowd shouted
"Martyrs don't die," while his brother said "we do not want to
see anybody shedding tears." Meanwhile, soldiers killed in
clashes in Cicekli village of Tunceli were buried in Gaziantep,
Kars, and Denizli. Gaziantep Governor Lutfullah Bilgin, the
Fifth Armored Brigade Commander, Gaziantep Mayor, and DEHAP
Provincial Chaiman attended the funeral in Gazaintep.
GUNDEM: It is reported that the GOT forces started a large-scale
operation in Sirnak-Besta region and deployed troops at spots of
strategic importance in the Cele Buka and Mame Mus regions.
GUNDEM: In Adana, five students were reportedly apprehended in
their houses in Barajyolu quarter of the town on charges of
membership to an outlawed organization. They were put in the
Kurkculer prison following their arraignment.
EVRENSEL: Approximately ten-thousand people from Diyarbakir,
Siirt, Bingol, Tunceli, Elazig, Mardin, Batman, and Sanliurfa
are reportedly to have attended a meeting held in Diyarbakir
under the name of "We are out in squares for a Democratic
Turkey, for the right of education in the mother tongue, and
against the closing of Egitim-Sen." Mayor Osman Baydemir and
other subordinate mayors also reportedly attended the meeting.
Police reportedly detained 15 persons from the group that had
come from Siirt on the charges of shouting "illegal slogans."
Approximately 150 persons reportedly undertook a sit-in protest
for three hours because of the detentions.
REID