Cablegate: Southeast Turkey Press Summary for December 04, 2006

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TAGS: PINS PGOV PHUM TU
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER 04, 2006

This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for December 04,
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

HURRIYET / ZAMAN / SABAH / CUMHURIYET: A group of soldiers
who were being transferred to Agri's Dogubeyazit district from
the Sixth Armored Brigade in Bitlis's Tatvan district in a small
bus had an accident and collided with a truck which reportedly
unlawfully left his lane of travel. Three soldiers died and
eight of them were wounded.

HURRIYET / ZAMAN / SABAH: A first instance court in
Sanliurfa's Viransehir district issued a fine to a defendant on
charges that he engaged in activities illegal under the Election
Law. The defendant submitted two petitions, one in Turkish and
one in Kurdish, to appeal the court's decision. The Eight
Supreme Court overturned the petition in Kurdish and processed
the Turkish one stating the grounds that the medium of language
of the Turkish State was Turkish.

ZAMAN / CUMHURIYET: Mersin-based CETKODER (Association for
Protecting the Environment and Consumer Rights) launched a
campaign and gathered two million signatures for the parliament
to pass amendments regarding the Political Parties Act.
CETKODER is objecting to clauses in the act which regulate the
funding provided by the Treasury for the political parties.

BOLGE / EKSPRES / ZAMAN: Adana Mayor Aytac Durak, who
attended one of the regular monthly meetings of Chamber of
Commerce in Adana as a guest, said during his speech that some
circles in Adana, for political gains, worked hard to reverse
the planned course of action in the light rail metro system
project, and in a sense "derailed" the project whose
construction had to halt because of those efforts.

SABAH: The PKK allegedly executed a former senior member
who was reportedly formerly the head of broke away from the
organization on May 2005, with another senior member. Heftaro
was reportedly killed in Aleppo on November 28, 2006.

SECURITY

SABAH: A funeral was held for two brothers, aged 12 and 14,
who died because of an explosion that took place as they were
playing with the bullets of a propeller gun they found in the
ground in a village of Sirnak's Uludere district.

ECONOMY

SABAH (GUNEY): A Project Coordination Unit, which is being
established by the Gaziantep Governor's Office, was opened by
State Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullatif Sener in
Gaziantep's Chamber of Commerce. Sener announced that the
Interregional Cooperation Program between Turkey and Syria would
allocate 20 million dollars of funding for the projects that
will be carried out in Gaziantep and Kilis.

CULTURE / SOCIETY / ENVIRONMENT

HURIYET / EVRENSEL: Snowfall in a section of Erzincan coated
a road with sheet of ice causing a passenger bus to slide off
and roll over. Thirty-one out of forty-three passengers were
wounded.

HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): Two hundred handicapped people held a
march to mark the World Disability Day in Adana. Seyhan and
Yuregir Municipalities organized separate activities to
celebrate the day in Adana. World Disability Day celebrations
were also held in Diyarbakir. Some news footage showed
Diyarbakir Mayor Osman Baydemir as joining in the folk dances
performance of the disabled persons.

GREEN

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