Cablegate: Southeast Turkey Press Summary for September 01, 2006

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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PINS PGOV PHUM TU
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR SEPTEMBER 01, 2006

This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for September 1,
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

SABAH (GUNEY) / BOLGE / YENI SAFAK: Ross Wilson, U.S. Ambassador
in Ankara, paid a visit to the Mersin Governor and extended
thanks on behalf of the U.S. citizens to the Turkish authorities
and people of Mersin, who provided assistance during evacuation
of U.S. citizens from Lebanon. Wilson said that he was proud to
be in Mersin and expressed that American people will always
remember Turkey's help shown during those difficult times.
Wilson also made statements about the PKK issue and said that
PKK was a terrorist organization and nothing can justify its
attacks. Wilson expressed the U.S.'s solidarity with Turks and
condemnation of recent PKK attacks.

YENI SAFAK: Turkish officials reportedly found it unnecessary
that Government of Iraq should also appoint an Iraqi envoy for
countering PKK terrorism. It is also reported that U.S. Envoy
for Countering Terrorism, Joseph Ralston, held his first meeting
with the Turkish Ambassador in Washington.

OZGUR GUNDEM: Dan Fried, Assistant Secretary of State,
reportedly said that cross-border attacks are not going to help
Turkey. Dan Fried also dismissed allegations that the U.S.
Government was engaging in conversations with the PKK.

ZAMAN / YENI SAFAK: A private was wounded in his leg as a
result of gunfire by PKK terrorists at military residences in
Van.

RADIKAL: Four kilograms of C-4 explosives, which were
allegedly placed on a road between Semdinli and Yuksekova
districts in Hakkari by PKK terrorists, was barely noticed by
security officers who were screening the road in advance of
travel of military vehicles on the road. That section of the
road is reportedly being used frequently for military
dispatches.

ZAMAN: Six terrorists surrendered themselves to security
officers in Sirnak, reported the Governor's Office there.

EKSRES / BOLGE: A 15-person group, which called itself
"Solidarity with the Peoples of the Middle East", held a sit-in
protest in the Inonu Park of Adana to protest Israel.

ZAMAN / YENI SAFAK: The engineer of a train, which headed
for Sirnak's Nusaybin district from Gaziantep, was caught with
50 kilograms of drugs in Gaziantep.

OZGUR GUNDEM: Diyarbakir Governor's Office did not grant
authorization to Peace Day festivities that were planned to be
held on September 3 in Diyarbakir on grounds that an important
examination will be held on the same day. DTP, however,
decided to make a press announcement upon arrival of DTP
national chairperson to the city. Meanwhile, DTP made calls to
people to attend the September 1 peace Day festivities in Van,
Mersin and Sirnak's Cizre district.

EKSRES / BOLGE / HURRIYET: Abdullah Caliskan, an Adana deputy
from AKP, had a coronary spasm yesterday morning and was
hospitalized. Health condition of Caliskan is reportedly
getting better. Hurriyet daily notes that Caliskan would vote
against dispatch of Turkish troops to Lebanon.

ESKPRES / BOLGE: Chairperson of Adana Chapter of Kizilay (Red
Crescent) paid a visit to Adana Mayor Aytac Durak and requested
contribution for the aid campaign launched by Kizilay for people
of Palestine and Lebanon.

BOLGE / ZAMAN: Prime Minister Erdogan will come to Adana
today at 12:30 to conduct studies at the BTC
(Baku-Tibilisi-Ceyhan Project) terminal in Ceyhan district. PM
Erdogan will fly over the site of the BTC in a helicopter.

BOLGE / HURRIYET: Devlet Bahceli, MHP National Leader, addressed
large crowds (reportedly nearly 50,000 people) in Mersin and its
Tarsus district as he attended August 30 Victory Day
celebrations there. Bahceli, who talked about the PKK policy of
the government, deliberations on dispatch of Turkish troops to
Lebanon, and the recent forest fires, reportedly fired sharp

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criticism against the government during his speech. Deputy
National Chairperson of MHP expressed similar concerns in a
press announcement he made in Erzincan.

BOLGE: Police in Osmaniye province caught 20 Pakistani
nationals, who entered the country illegally, in a passenger bus
in Osmaniye. The Pakistanis will be sent to Van and will be
deported afterwards.

HURRIYET: Thirty-six people, who entered the country illegally
from Iraq, were caught in Pozanti district of Adana by Adana
police undertaking regular road checks.

HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): Police stated that a bomb, which
exploded on August 29 in Mersin leaving one person injured, was
a hand made one. The person detained after the event has
reportedly been released.

OZGUR GUNDEM: The inmates at the Kurkculer Jail of Adana,
who were reportedly imprisoned for political grounds, sent a
letter to President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Turkish Parliament
spokesperson Bulent Arinc, and condemned Abdullah Ocalan's
confinement in his prison cell for 20 days.

YENI SAFAK: 350 mayors will attend a meeting called Union of
Historical Cities between September 7 and 9 in Mardin's Midyat
district.
GREEN

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