Cablegate: Southeast Turkey Press Summary for April 10, 2007

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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PINS PGOV PHUM TU
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR APRIL 10, 2007

This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for April 10,
2007. 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

ZAMAN / RADIKAL: Diyarbakir Mayor Osman Baydemir, who attended
the opening ceremony of an artist's exhibition in an art gallery
of Diyarbakir, talked with journalists when he was asked about
his views about ten security personnel who lost their lives in
the last two days in the operations. Baydemir reportedly said
that every life lost was taking away something from the future
of the peoples and diminishing the human values. Baydemir
reportedly refused to respond questions regarding recent
statements of Massoud Barzani, president of the regional
authority in Iraq, about Diyarbakir and Turkey.

ZAMAN / EVRENSEL / RADIKAL: One day after the expiration of
the due date (on April 6) of the one-month-ban imposed on March
6 by the 13th Heavy Penalty Court on the publication and
distribution of the pro-Kurdish Ozgur Gundem daily, this time
11th Heavy Penalty Court issued a 15-day-ban on the daily's
publication because of the announcements that appeared on the
daily concerning an event that would be held to mark terrorist
leader's birthday at the birth place of Abdullah Ocalan.
Evrensel daily notes that people protested 'silencing of the
Ozgur Gundem daily' in front of the DTP provincial headquarters
in Diyarbakir. Baglar district mayor (from DTP) and Sur
district mayor (from DTP) and some assembly members from the
municipality attended the protest activity.

EVRENSEL: Nineteen people, including the provincial
chairperson of the DTP in Bursa province, were detained on
grounds that they chanted slogans and held banners in support
for Abdullah Ocalan during a public meeting held during March 21
Newroz celebrations in Bursa. Meanwhile, Human Rights
Association (HRA) condemned the recent detention of Ankara
chapter of HRA and DTP Ankara provincial chairperson (see press
summary for April 6) in Ankara.

EKSPRES / BOLGE: Kemal Sag, Adana deputy from CHP, paid a visit
to the Daglioglu Police Station in Adana, where a bomb incident
took place the previous day (see press summary for April 9).
Kemal Sag claimed that the AKP administration, with its
decisions taken and implementations carried out regarding
terrorism, was creating vulnerabilities during the
counter-terrorism efforts undertaken.

CRIME / LAW ENFORCEMENT:

HURRIYET (CUKUROVA): Police, who stopped a car on the road
between Van and Bitlis, found 29 kilograms of heroin after a
police dog searched the car.

SECURITY:

ZAMAN / BOLGE: More soldiers and two Cobra helicopters were
reportedly dispatched to the area when security forces detected
30 PKK members in rural sections of the Tunceli, Bingol and
Sirnak provinces. A total of ten terrorists were killed as
security forces intensified their military efforts in those
areas. One member of the DHKP/C was reportedly caught alive.

ZAMAN: Three DHKP/C members who were caught in Adana the
previous day as they were allegedly making preparations to carry
out a bomb attack in the province (see press summary for April
09), have been arraigned and arrested.

ECONOMY

SABAH (GUNEY): Dipal Varua, Vice-President of a bank called
Grameen Bank, which provides micro-credit loans to women, came
to Diyarbakir and paid a visit to a group of women in the city
together with a Diyarbakir deputy from AKP. Varua said that a
total of nearly 6 million YTL credits were offered to women in
Diyarbakir to date.

SABAH (GUNEY): Nejat Kocer, President of Gaziantep's Chamber
of Industry, said that Second International Iraqi Fair, which
will be held between May 23 and 27 in Gaziantep, will contribute
a great deal to the Turkish economy.

CULTURE / SOCIETY / ENVIRONMENT

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EKSPRES: Eric Green, U.S. Consul to Adana, and Nuri Sabuncu,
Honorary Consul of Tunusia and Finland, paid a visit to a school
in Adana that offered training in various fields of employment
to women of different ages, who have no access to regular
national education system. The students at the school ran a
fashion show for the visitors and they displayed the handcrafted
apparel they designed and created according to the cultural
motifs, patterns and embroidery used in traditional Turkish
clothes.

ZAMAN / HURRIYET (CUKUROVA) / EKSPRES / BOLGE: The heavy rain
that affected Adana province for three hours the previous day
caused the garden and the base floor of the Culture and Arts
Center (Former Girls' High School) to flood with rain water.
Many of the office tools and documents of a well-known festival
company of Adana, namely Altin Koza, were destroyed after the
flooding. The rain also badly affected many settlement areas
whose infrastructures were built weakly. In some areas where
people were stuck and not able to get out of their houses,
armored police vehicles saved people.

BOLGE / EKSPRES: Adana Mayor Aytac Durak, who made a press
statement to mark the anniversary of the foundation of Turkish
National Police, said that the employee rights of police
officers should be expanded.

EKSPRES: Third Theater Festival organized by joint
undertaking of the Cukurova University and Adana Municipality
started yesterday.

SABAH (GUNEY): Under a project called "Peace Houses" thirty
students who are from Salzburg city of Austria came to Hatay
province and planted trees in a campus of a rehabilitation
center for the handicapped people.

SABAH (GUNEY): Mardin Governor Mehmet Kiliclar attended a
religious ceremony held by Syriacs celebrating the Easter in a
1400-year-old church in Mardin.
GREEN

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