Cablegate: Southeast Turkey Press Summary for October 21, 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 000193
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU ADANA
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR OCTOBER 21, 2005
This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for October 21,
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
BOLGE: CHP (Republican People's Party) Adana provincial
party administration and 28 provincial delegates vowed to extend
support for the CHP national leader Deniz Baykal during CHP's
October 19-20 Congress to be held in Ankara.
2. HURRIYET / EVRENSEL: A bomb went off yesterday in one
of the ladies' restrooms on the third floor of the Court Hall in
the Batman province during the lunchtime. The walls of the
ladies' restroom were demolished as a result of the blast. No
casualties were reported following the incident. Security
Directorate of Batman has started an investigation to probe the
blast.
3. SABAH (GUNEY) / HURRIYET (CUKUROVA) / BOLGE: A bomb
attack was carried out on AKP Osmaniye Mayor's father's house in
Osmaniye. No casualties were reported, but material damage was
reported following the incident.
4. OZGUR GUNDEM: A bomb that exploded in front of a
restaurant in Hakkari's Yuksekova district at 4 a.m. caused no
casualties, but material damage was done to the restaurant and
nearly 20 businesses in the area nearby. The owner of the
restaurant reportedly has competed as a DEHAP candidate for the
mayor's office in the Yuksekova district during the last local
election.
5. BOLGE: AKP (Justice and Development Party) provincial
chairperson Abdullah Dogru called on everybody in Adana to
contribute to the campaign initiated by the Governor's Office
for raising money to send relief to the earthquake victims in
Pakistan.
6. HURRIYET (CUKUROVA: A 3.4-magnitude earthquake shook
Mersin yesterday.
7. EVRENSEL: A clash broke out during the ongoing military
operation in Tunceli. Reportedly, one PKK terrorist was killed
and many soldiers were wounded. Aircraft and helicopters are
reportedly providing assistance from the air for ground
operations.
8. EVRENSEL: Ankara's 11th Heavy Penalty court overturned
the appeal of the DEHAP National Chairperson and seven DEHAP
senior members to annul the decision banning these DEHAP members
from going abroad. DEHAP members are obliged to sign their
names every week at the security directorates' office of the
respective provinces they are in (see press summary 08/25 and
08/26). This week has become the eighth week running that they
signed their names. DEHAP members filed a case with the
European Court of Human Rights following the overturning by the
Ankara Court.
9. ZAMAN / EVRENSEL/ OZGUR GUNDEM: Naci Aslan, CHP deputy for
Agri, has resigned from his party. Aslan is expected to join
the AKP ranks.
10. EVRENSEL: Gaziantep's Directorate for Cultural Affairs
announced that, in the first nine months of this year, 24,863
people visited Gaziantep's Archaeological Museum, which
exhibited Zeugma mosaics as well.
11. OZGUR GUNDEM: Tension has escalated in the central
Anatolian province Eskisehir, because police officers accused of
killing Ahmet and Ugur Kaymaz, will be tried in Eskisehir on
November 24. The committee, which was set up to monitor the
trial process, had meetings with the Governor of Eskisehir and
Head of the Eskisehir Security Director. The Security Director
reportedly said that the court will allow only 100 people,
comprised of the attorneys, the monitoring committees, the NGOs
and the representatives of the political parties, into the
courtroom. The Security Director further guaranteed that the
officers would not allow outsiders into the city. Moreover,
nobody would be allowed near the Court Hall on the day of the
trial. According to the daily, the ultranationalists have
started to provoke the people in the province. Ayhan Tepe,
DEHAP Eskisehir Provincial Chairperson, alleged that, following
their meeting with the Governor and the Security Director, the
Governor made contradictory statements to other people. The
Governor allegedly said that the authorities did not have the
right to prevent people from watching the trial. This,
according to Tepe, contradicts his statement that, "nobody would
be allowed in the surroundings of the Court Hall on the day of
the trial."
12. OZGUR GUNDEM / ZAMAN: Turkish Union of Bar Associations
members will go to Van today to protest the words of the Van
Prosecutor Kemal Kacan, who said that he did not trust the Bar
Association attorneys, because half of their members were also
supporters of the PKK. (see press summary 10/18)
13. OZGUR GUNDEM: Prof. Gencay Gursoy, the spokesperson of
the Intelligentsia Initiative; Celal Dogan, Gaziantep's former
mayor; and Mehmet Altan, an author, will discuss in a panel held
by the Diyarbakir Bar Association, "the Kurdish issue on the
path to the EU" on October 22 at the conference hall of the
Diyarbakir Municipality.
14. ZAMAN: Police officer Hakan Acil, who was allegedly
kidnapped by the PKK on a road between Sirnak's Idil district
and Mardin's Midyat district (see press summary 10/11 and 10/12)
on October 9, has not been found yet.
15. ZAMAN: Snowfall began one month earlier than normal in
parts of the eastern Turkey.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS
SABAH (GUNEY) / BOLGE: During a seminar called "Accession
Negotiations Process with the EU", which was held by the joint
efforts of the Economic Development Association (EDA) and Adana
Chamber of Commerce (ACC) in Adana, an EDA Executive Board
member said that the negotiations framework agreement was not an
ideal document that resolved all the concerns (of the parties.
Saban Bas, Chairperson of the ACC, said that a huge step was
taken in the path to Turkey's full membership, but at the same
time, a new and a challenging process has begun for Turkey.
Mehmet Demir, Adana Deputy Governor; Aytac Durak, Adana Mayor;
Walter Scott Reid, US Consul in Adana; and Saban Bas,
Chairperson of the Adana Chamber of Commerce, participated in
the seminar.
REID