This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 0110 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU IZ ADANA
SUBJECT:  SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY, 
          APRIL 16, 2003 
 
¶1.  This is the Southeastern Turkey press 
summary for April 16, 2003.  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 
 
 
¶2.  Tercuman/Turkiye/Evrensel/Cumhuriyet: The 
Turkish General Staff announced that some of the 
1,166 US soldiers deployed in Turkey under ONW 
and "Site Preparation" left for Germany on 10 
aircraft yesterday, and that the rest would 
leave Turkey today. Reverse shipment of the 
military equipment, vehicles, and materiel 
brought to Turkey under the "Site Preparation" 
project will take place from Iskenderun port 
between April 15-23. 
 
 
¶3.  Cumhuriyet: Following the fall of Kirkuk to 
peshmergas affiliated to PUK, Celal Talabani 
held a meeting with representatives of various 
groups and told the "Kurdistani News" paper that 
the PUK was taking into account Turkey's 
concerns.  He added that the people of Iraq will 
determine the future of and the type of 
administration in Iraq. We are not going to 
allow our neighbors' intervention."  He said 
that he would not agree to Syria's saying "Mosul 
is an Arab town," Turkey's saying "Kirkuk is a 
Turkomen town," nor Iran's saying "Karbala and 
Najaf are Iranian towns."   In this light, he 
warned that if Turkey opened up the issue of 
Kirkuk, then Kurds would bring up the issue of 
Diyarbakir and other towns. 
 
 
¶4. Evrensel: In Adana, police raiding some 
houses in various sections of the city detained 
two Cukurova University students, Yalcin Aslan 
and Ozer Erener, and two other individuals, 
Emine Cig and Remzi Aslan. The detainees are 
being interrogated at the Security Directorate 
of Adana.  The charges are not mentioned. 
 
 
¶5. Evrensel: Attorney Muharrem Sahin, a member 
of Diyarbakir Bar Association's Prisons 
Inspection Committee, filed charges against the 
prison administration of Bitlis for putting 
pressure on his clients who are inmates, as well 
as other inmates.  He cited a lack of a 
designated room for lawyers to meet with their 
clients as an example of inmates being denied 
fundamental rights. Attorney Sahin's filed 
complaint also stated that searches in female 
cells were done by male wardens, and that they, 
too, listened in on the conversations between 
the lawyers and their inmate clients. Sahin said 
he would apply to both the Justice Ministry and 
international organizations in order to end such 
practices. 
 
 
¶6. Bolge/Milliyet/Hurriyet: The Turkish 
President, Prime Minister, former President 
Demirel, and political party leaders are 
expected to attend May 4 opening ceremonies for 
the completion of one of Turkey's largest 
potable water projects, which will bring water 
from Catalan Dam to Adana. Mayor Aytac Durak of 
Adana will host the event. 
 
 
ECONOMIC AND AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENTS 
 
 
¶7.  Dunya: In response to newspaper allegations 
about a "fictitious export" business, Gaziantep- 
based SANKO Holding's President, Abdulkadir 
Konukoglu, denied the allegations and added that 
his company paid between around USD 4,250,000 of 
VAT to the state annually, and would never 
consider cheating the state of a mere USD 
122,000 with that type of scheme. Konukoglu 
said, it was later determined that the subject 
company had a tax penalty but that it 
legitimately benefited from the AKP-sponsored 
Tax Reconciliation Law just like everybody else. 
Konukoglu remarked that it was unfair to blacken 
a company just because it has reached a certain 
level of visibility. 
¶8.  Evrensel: Because no oil prospecting and 
drilling is being done, oil production by the 
Turkish Oil Company (TPAO) has dropped by 50 
percent since 1980. While officials have stated 
simply that there was "no oil", Halliburton 
Company today is producing 5,500 barrels a day 
from a recently drilled well in Batman. 
Currently, TPAO is producing only 35,000 barrels 
a day. Its production in 1980 was 70,000 barrels 
a day. Oil Workers Union President for the 
Batman Chapter, Nimetullah Sozen, said the 
reason why TPAO did not invest was a "political 
question," and TPAO made a profit of over USD 
600 million. Sozen also claimed that Turkish 
workers at foreign oil prospecting companies 
worked under poor conditions and made only about 
USD 200 a month because they had been forced to 
resign from the union. 
HOLTZ