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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000106 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PINS PGOV PHUM TU
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR AUGUST 27, 2007 
 
 
¶1.      This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for August 
27, 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: 
 
¶2.      HURRIYET (CUKUROVA):    All MPs from Gaziantep had a 
dinner together, reportedly without regard to party origins. 
Akif Ekici, CHP, hosted the event.  Deputies expressed a 
committment to act together to solve the pressing problems of 
the province. 
 
¶3.      EKSPRES:        Emphasizing the importance to Adana to have 
one of its deputies as a cabinet minister, a local columnist 
points to recent efforts by Prof. Vahit Kirisci, AKP Adana 
deputy, to win the seat of the Ministry of Agriculture.  The 
columnist further wonders whether Dengir Mir Mehmet Firat, AKP 
Adana MP, will support Prof. Kirisci, who ranked lower than 
Firat on the local party ticket in Adana, or former agriculture 
minister Mehdi Eker, with whom Firat has been best friends for 
years? 
 
¶4.      GUNDEM / EVRENSEL:      During a visit to DTP offices in 
north-western Sakarya province, Akin Birdal, DTP Diyarbakir MP, 
said that during the rounds of the presidential elections DTP 
was expecting Abdullah Gul to address their expectations about 
issues of interest.  Birdal said DTP did not support Gul's 
presidency in the first round because they did not hear him make 
such statements.  Meanwhile, DTP Diyarbakir deputies started 
investigating the problems of seasonal agricultural workers in 
Sakarya province. 
 
¶5.      GUNDEM: The daily claims that the Turkish companies 
investing in northern Iraq are employing Turkish intelligence 
agents and covering the costs of their intelligence duties. 
 
¶6.      YENI SAFAK:     A group of DTP administrators proposed 
Diyarbakir Mayor Osman Baydemir to fill the party chairmanship 
seat vacated by Ahmet Turk when he was elected to parliament in 
the July 22 elections.  DTP will elect its leader at its October 
28 extra-ordinary convention. 
 
SECURITY 
 
¶7.      RADIKAL / BOLGE / HURRIYET / SABAH / ZAMAN:     Funerals 
of two commissioned officers, who were killed in a confrontation 
between security forces and terrorists in Sirnak's Uludere 
district on August 24, were held separately in Mersin and 
Gaziantep provinces.  Meanwhile, Bolge and Zaman dailies 
separately report that American made M-16s were found with the 
bodies of the 10 terrorists killed in Sirnak yesterday. 
 
¶8.      SABAH:  Sabah reports that, during the anti-terrorism 
operations in Diyarbakir, an improvised explosive device planted 
by the PKK in Diyarbakir's Lice district was found and safely 
detonated. 
 
¶9.      GUNDEM: A group of nearly 100 people of Sirnak's 
Uludere district led by DTP Uludere district chairperson claimed 
the coffins of ten terrorrists killed in Uludere yesterday.  The 
daily separately alleges that a total of 16 soldiers were 
recently killed in conflicts between security forces and the PKK 
which erupted in rural sections of Sirnak and Diyarbakir 
provinces. 
 
CRIME AND LAW ENFORCEMENT 
 
¶10.     HURRIYET (CUKUROVA) / SABAH (GUNEY):    Police caught 
six illegal migrants, one Palestinian and five Iraqi nationals, 
hiding in a cotton field in Hatay's Reyhanli district. 
Separately, police caught in Hatay's Yayadag district 17 illegal 
migrants from different countries, including Afghanistan, 
Erythres, Sri Lanka, Somalia and Palestine.  Sabah's Guney 
supplement reports in its August 26 edition that a total of 681 
Iraqi nationals attempted to enter Turkey illegally in the last 
three months by crossing the river at the border. 
 
ECONOMY 
 
¶11.     EKSPRES / BOLGE:        Credit Guarantee Fund, an entity which 
sponsors SMEs and which enables favorable bank loans for their 
investments, opened a branch under the umbrella of Adana Chamber 
of Industry. 
 
ADANA 00000106  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶12.     SABAH (GUNEY) / EVRENSEL:       Gaziantep Chapter of Chamber 
of Agricultural Engineers indicated that this year's total 
pistacchio yield in Gaziantep was 30 to 35 per cent of last 
year's yield.  The decrease was due to the trees' genetic 
structure, which causes the harvest to be heavier in alternate 
years. 
 
CULTURE / SOCIETY / ENVIRONMENT 
 
¶13.     EKSPRE / BOLGE: Philip McDaniel, the Commander of the 
Incirlik Airbase, called on base personnel to be responsible 
regarding alcohol consumption.  Mr. McDaniel pointed out that 
there has been an upward trend in general alcohol related 
incidents in the base. 
 
¶14.     SABAH / GUNDEM / ZAMAN / EVRENSEL / RADIKAL:    A 
5.4-magnitude earthquake that shook Bingol's Karliova district 
yesterday night caused no casualties or material damage but 
panicked local people.  Separately, the flood that hit Van's 
Ozalp and Baskale districts three days ago caused suffering 
among the victims who need urgent help from authorities. 
 
¶15.     HURRIYET (CUKUROVA):    Hatay Governor Ahmet Kayhan said 
that they were planning to complete the airport construction 
project in Hatay in September. (This summary is from August 26 
edition.) 
GREEN