Cablegate: Southeast Turkey Press Summary for August 14, 2006
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SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR AUGUST 14, 2006
This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for August 14,
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, SECURITY, HUMAN RIGHTS
RADIKAL: Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul, who was commenting on
Iraqi government's recent ban on activities of the PKK in
northern Iraq, said that the PKK was an evil source causing
dissension to prevail over solidarity between Turks and Kurds.
It is to the benefit of them (Iraqi government) that they
cooperate with Turkey, and the PKK constitutes a problem for
both of the countries, which are undeniable components of the
region, said Gul.
OZGUR GUNDEM: Mahmut Osman, a Kurdish politician and member of
the Iraqi Parliament, harshly criticized the Iraqi government
for shutting down the PKK offices in Iraq.
RADIKAL: PKK attempted to carry out a bomb attack on a jandarma
station in a village in Mardin's Midyat district with a donkey
carrying explosives. However, the donkey, heading towards the
fields instead of the jandarma station, exploded in the open
field.
ZAMAN / RADIKAL / CUMHURIYET / OZGUR GUNDEM / EVRENSEL: PKK
terrorists detonated a remote-controlled bomb on a road in
Tunceli 500 meters away from a police checkpoint at 8.45 a.m.
yesterday morning as a vehicle carrying the duty officers were
passing by. Two special team members were killed and one
wounded.
RADIKAL: Police caught three terrorists in Antalya's Alanya
district making preparations to launch an attack with 1.5
kilograms of explosives and cell phone devices.
OZGUR GUNDEM: The daily reported on its front-page allegations
of a senior PKK member claiming that MIT intelligence center
officials, who infiltrated northern Iraq to kill PKK officials,
were recently caught and were being interrogated. The senior
PKK member claimed that the KP government has launched an fresh
effort to kill the senior PKK members.
OZGUR GUNDEM: PKK headquarters instructed its members to abide
by the agreement signed with the Swiss-based Geneva Call
Organization on July 15, 2006 on not using anti-personnel mines.
PKK headquarters said that they have been in contact with the
UN supported non-governmental organization Geneva Call for about
a year.
OZGUR GUNDEM: Kurdish people started celebrating the anniversary
of the first-ever PKK attack which was carried out on August 15,
1984 in Siirt's Eruh district and Hakkari's Semdinli district.
Police opened fire in Adana as people attempted to stage a
demonstration to mark the event. A young person was shot in the
head and reportedly entered a vegetative state. Another young
person was also wounded. Police carried out operations until
early in the morning in the quarters of the province where Kurds
lived. Meanwhile, police raised security levels in provinces
such as Diyarbakir, Hakkari, Sirnak, Tunceli, Mardin, Bingol and
Van because of the sensitive August 15 pro-PKK anniversary. The
control at entrances of the sensitive provinces has been
tightened.
BOLGE: Bolge daily stresses that the demonstration in Adana
was an unauthorized one. According to the daily, one person was
wounded during the incident because the person fell into a ditch
as he was running away from the police.
OZGUR GUNDEM / EVRENSEL: The soldiers are allegedly continuing
to set ablaze the forest areas in the region. Following the
forest fires in Tunceli, Bingol and Diyarbakir's Lice district,
the soldiers reportedly set fire in the forest areas in the
Gabar Mountain of Sirnak the previous night. Meanwhile, GABB
(Union of Municipalities of Southeasern Anatolia) established an
initiative to investigate the cause of the fires.
EVRENSEL / CUMHURIYET: Parliament speaker Bulent Arinc said that
it would be an anti-democratic move to enforce an election
threshold for the independent candidates aiming to win seats in
the next elections.
EVRENSEL: Patriotic Front members, who started an anti-U.S. walk
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from ?ncirlik Air Base in Adana to Istanbul on July 15, took a
break in Ankara. The group sent telegrams to embassies of the
U.S. and Israel.
EVRENSEL / OZGUR GUNDEM: A 20 year old woman, who was forced
into a marriage, committed suicide in Diyarbakir's Dicle
district.
EVRENSEL: The weekly Kurdish language newspaper Azadiya Welat
will start to be published on a daily basis starting from August
15.
CUMHURIYET: The daily alleged on its front page that the U.S.
was sending urgent support in terms of weaponry from the
Incirlik Air Base in Adana via the ports in Mersin to Israel,
and the AKP government had given permission to shipment from the
air base.
GREEN
REID