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 0098 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU IZ ADANA
SUBJECT:  SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY, 
          APRIL 7, 2003 
 
¶1.  This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary 
for April 7, 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.  Milliyet/Bolge/Cumhuriyet: Two Patriot 
missile batteries and military vehicles, 
including Hummer jeeps, were unloaded at 
Iskenderun port and moved to yesterday. It is not 
definite yet where the Patriot missiles will be 
deployed. 
 
 
¶3.  Tercuman/Cumhuriyet: The US troops deployed 
at two factories in Mardin's Organized Industrial 
Zone have now evacuated the factories. The US 
troops left the region in 11 buses and a convoy 
of over 150 trucks yesterday. The military jeeps, 
vehicles, equipment, and communications gear 
leaving Mardin was heading for Iskenderun port. 
 
 
¶4.  Sabah/Milli Gazete/Turkiye/Cumhuriyet: 
Incirlik Air Force Base, which had been quiet for 
some time, experienced a very active day 
yesterday. Around 100 trucks carrying military 
equipment and generators, including Hummer jeeps, 
entered the base yesterday evening. Twelve F-16 
fighters  and six F-15 fighters took off from the 
base for an unknown destination early in the 
morning, after which bombers, one passenger 
aircraft, one tanker plane, and one hospital 
plane also took off from the base. 
 
 
¶5.  Evrensel/Turkiye: As a result of the 
explosion of a land mine the previous night in 
Esenyamac village of Baskale (Van) right on the 
Turkish-Iranian border, two villagers were 
killed. It is reported that the land mine victims 
were engaged in fuel-smuggling. 
 
 
¶6.  Milliyet: PKK/KADEK, which declared a 
unilateral cease fire  after its leader Abdullah 
Ocalan was arrested in 1999, and had pulled the 
majority of its militants into camps in northern 
Iraq, has been using the war situation for its 
propaganda in a region populated by the 
international press. A Reuters reporter visiting 
a PKK camp yesterday transmitted photographs of 
female militants, and heard PKK demands for 
political and cultural rights. 
 
 
¶7.  Evrensel: Although the Turkish Supreme Court 
had lifted the ban on naming children in Kurdish, 
the Court of First Instance in Ayvalik 
(Balikesir) did not honor it. A resident in 
Ayvalik, Abdullah Aric, wanted to name his son 
(b. May 10, 2002) as "Rojhat."  The name means 
"New Day" in Kurdish.  When he applied on May 13, 
2002 to the Population Registry Office in Ayvalik 
his request was refused. After struggling for 
three months, the father managed to have his son 
registered as "Rojhat." In the meantime, the 
Population Registry Office sued the father on the 
grounds that the name "Rojhat" was "not in 
conformity with Turkish names and traditions." 
The suit sought that the baby's name should be 
annulled, per article 16/4 of the Population Law, 
which mandates that "names that hurt public 
opinion and are not in compliance with national 
culture, moral values and regulations cannot be 
given." The court decided to erase the name 
"Rojhat" from the registry on March 27, 2003. 
¶8.  Bolge: Around 300 members of Anti-War 
Platform of Adana undertook an anti-war 
demonstration at the entrance of Incirlik town 
where the military airbase is located. The 
demonstrators shouting anti-US and anti-AKP 
slogans set fire to an effigy of President Bush 
and smashed light bulbs that had been dipped in 
blood. Jandarma took stringent security measures 
and restricted the protesters' activities to a 
nearby vacant lot. The demonstrators carried 
banners with slogans such as "Close Incirlik 
Airbase," "Murderer USA, Collaborator AKP," "No 
to imperialist occupation," "Don't be silent; 
scream and stop the War," "Do not barricade 
people, but rather the USA," and "AKP's bulb is 
dipped in blood." 
¶9.  Turkiye: In Hakkari, where there is a 
shortage of doctors, inhabitants are taking their 
patients to other provinces for treatment. 
Hakkari Governor, Erdogan Gurbuz, he could not 
understand why doctors did not come Hakkari to 
work. Governor Gurbuz announced that he and the 
security force members were serving in the region 
happily, that there were no security problems, 
and that he could provide fully equipped lodging 
facilities for 500 doctors. 
 
 
ECONOMIC AND AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENTS 
 
 
¶10.  Dunya: The President of Chamber of Industry 
of Gaziantep, Nejat Kocer, said investment has 
halted in many regions, but that Gaziantep city 
deserved praise for its creating new job and 
investment opportunities. Kocer added that banks 
had reduced their loan capacities because of the 
economic crisis continuing for two years now, 
causing some Gaziantep companies to resort to 
importing raw material, machinery, and spare 
parts with loans obtained abroad. 
 
 
¶11.  Evrensel: Van Province's Drivers and 
Automobile Owners Association President, Sefik 
Alpaslan, claimed that the Turkish Ministry of 
Industry and Commerce's decision to not include 
diesel in the list of items within the framework 
of border trade would cause 120,000 people to 
face starvation. Aplaslan said 2,720 trucks in 
Van would become idle due to the decision by the 
ministry, and estimated that an annual figure of 
USD 4 million was generated from the diesel trade 
between 1987 and 2000. 
HOLTZ