Cablegate: Southeast Turkey Press Summary for September 11, 2006

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TAGS: PINS PGOV PHUM TU
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR SEPTEMBER 11, 2006

This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for September 11,
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

HURRIYET (CUKUROVA) / SABAH (GUNEY) / BOLGE: Gaziantep and
Erzincan Police searched a truck and discovered 152 kilograms of
heroin in hidden sections of the vehicle in Gaziantep. The
Security Director said that the heroin was worth 1,500,000
Euros.

HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): Eric Green, U.S. Consul in Adana, paid a
visit to the Journalists' Association in Gaziantep. Green
pointed out to the importance of non-governmental organizations
in the society during his visit.

OZGUR GUNDEM: The daily reports the speech of a sociologist
in a panel about Alevi Arabs in Adana. According to the
panelist, Alevi Arabs must not be ashamed of their ethnic
identity in society.

EVRENSEL / RADIKAL: A New York Times article said, ahead of
the visit of Joseph Ralston, Special PKK Envoy of the U.S., to
Turkey, that improving the relationship between Turkey and the
U.S. was in the interest of the U.S.

CUMHURIYET / RADIKAL / EKSPRES / EVRENSEL: In a terrorism
conference in Washington, Security Affairs Director of the
Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that in the first seven
months of 2006, ninety-one soldiers and 427 civilians were
killed in terrorist attacks by the PKK. The death toll among
security members in one single month, namely July, was
twenty-five, according to the official.

RADIKAL: People have reportedly been suffering from the
construction work going on for six days on a section of the
Van-Hakkari road in Hakkari. Reportedly, the road, which is the
opening of Hakkari province to the world, is closed for
construction purposes. People are reportedly not able to
transport their sick relatives to other provinces because of the
construction.

RADIKAL: Ministry of Education and ILO authorities are
reportedly paying visits to the cotton fields in Adana to
convince families working in the fields to send their children
to schools.

EKSPRES: Two female U.S. soldiers have been victims of
snatch-and-run thieves who grabbed the soldiers' purses from
their cars at a junction on D-400 highway in Adana.

BOLGE: University registrations which started on September
4 at the Cukurova University in Adana ended on September 8. A
total of 7,053 students registered at the university.

BOLGE: Mersin Mayor Macit Ozcan attended one of the
cultural events of the Mersin Culture festival yesterday.
Various performances of sister-cities from Japan and China were
held in yesterday's event.

BOLGE: There is growing discontent among a sizeable number
of members of CHP's Adana chapter against the party
administration which is reportedly being run by a circle of
people from the same family. This group is expected to go to
the party center in Adana in the coming days to pressure the
chairperson to resign.

RADIKAL / OZGUR GUNDEM / CUMHURIYET: A security
vulnerability at the Diyarbakir Military Airport reportedly
caused a scandal to surface. A mother of two children was able
to board a plane despite not being a passenger. She even went
to the cockpit to tell the pilots to take her children to the
destination point safely.

RADIKAL / CUMHURIYET: Members of the Historical Cities Union
attended a seminar called "Local Development in an Area Where
Civilizations Meet"in Mardin's Midyat district. The group paid
a visit to Batman's Hasankeyf district as well.

OZGUR GUNDEM: Reportedly, in order to prevent families'
anger to soar during the funerals of soldiers who died as they
were doing military service in the southeastern region,

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according to the recent intelligence reports, the military will
keep track of people who attendthe funerals. This measure will
reportedly prevent any non-governmental organizations or people
to provoke families of martyrs against the military or the
government. The reports also say that it was a provocative act
for human rights associations to pay visits in order to extend
condolences to the families of the soldiers who passed away.

OZGUR GUNDEM: The funerals of two people who died in
Batman's Kozluk district allegedly as a result of soldiers
opening fire on a car were held in Batman. (Note: A 10-year-old
girl was also killed during the incident. End Note.) Two
hundred people, including the senior officials of DTP's Batman
chapter, reportedly attended the ceremonies.

CUMHURIYET: The daily points out that the chief prosecutor's
office has not started a probe concerning the death of a
10-year-old girl killed "in error" in crossfire between security
officers and two terrorists in Batman's Kozluk district on
September 5. It is reported that Human Rights Association,
Batman Bar Association and Mazlum-Der (Association for the
Oppressed People) have already conducted studies at the site of
the incident. The Human Rights Association Chairperson claims
that security officials could have caught the people in the car
alive if they wanted to.

OZGUR GUNDEM: Soldiers reportedly blockaded a village in
Siirt's Eruh district pursuant to a September 6 PKK attack on a
jandarma station which killed one soldier.

OZGUR GUNDEM: The daily reports declarations Abdullah Ocalan
made during his last meeting with his attorneys in his jail at
Imrali Prison Island.

EKSPRES / BOLGE: Ayhan Senbayrak, Chairperson of CUGIAD
(Cukurova Young Businessmen Association), said that efforts were
launched to form a "Special Energy Area" in a nearly 250,000
acre area in Ceyhan district of Adana. Senbayrak reminded the
recent trip of the premier and the minister of energy to Ceyhan
where various energy projects were under way.

BOLGE: Vice-Chairperson of Adana's Chamber of Industry
announced that a meeting would be held on September 12 at the
chamber to give information to industrialists about the 2007
Hannover Industrial Fair.

REID
GREEN

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