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

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ADANA 0232 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU IZ ADANA
SUBJECT:  SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY, 
          SEPTEMBER 03, 2003 
 
 
¶1. This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary 
for September 03, 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: The Interior Ministry alerted all the 
security directorates against possible attacks 
by PKK/KADEK organization which refused to 
benefit from the Reintegration Law. The 
Interior Ministry's decree stated that 
PKK/KADEK militants who had congregated in Iran 
had founded a new party called "Democratic 
Uprising Party (DUP)." There has been an 
increase in the number of attacks launched 
against security units in East and Southeast 
Turkey since the proclamation of the 
Reintegration Law. Mustafa Karasu, a member of 
KADEK's Presidential Committee, has been 
assigned as the person in charge of thirteen- 
person Executive Board of the new party. It is 
speculated that DUP will attack public 
employees and buildings in retaliation to 
security forces' operations. 
 
 
¶3. Milliyet/Zaman/Tercuman/Hurriyet: PKK/KADEK 
announced that it lifted the so-called truce it 
had unilaterally declared in 1999. In response 
to BBC's questions, Mizgin Sen, one of the 
spokesman for the organization, claimed that 
the Turkish government did not give any 
affirmative answers to their suggestions for a 
solution. Sen said the government did not pass 
a general amnesty and reciprocated with 
increased operations to their calls. Sen 
claimed that no improvement was made in 
Abdullah Ocalan's health condition. On the 
other hand, Mustafa Karasu, a Presidential 
Committee member, announced on Med-TV that the 
truce would not work unilaterally. He added 
that the state should undertake steps for 
resolving the Kurdish issue as well. 
 
 
¶4. Milliyet: Two female PKK/KADEK members who 
applied to benefit from the Reintegration Law 
were surrendered to the Turkish security 
officials at Esendere Border Gate, Hakkari 
province, by the Iranian security forces. 
Another militant surrendered to the security 
officials at Habur Border Gate in Sirnak 
province. The interrogation of  the three 
militants is still continuing, the officials 
said. 
 
 
¶5. Turkiye: As a result of operations since 
September 1, the security forces in Bingol 
arrested five persons allegedly harboring and 
providing shelter and logistic support for 
PKK/KADEK members. The suspects were put in 
prison by the court. 
 
 
¶6. Turkiye/Milli Gazete: Based on a tip, the 
security teams in Sanliurfa seized sixteen 
kilos of heroin in a car in Sanliurfa. The 
security forces also found twenty-six pistols 
and assorted bullets and clips in the suspect's 
house. Four persons were arrested in connection 
with drug trafficking and smuggling of weapons. 
The security officials searching a car which 
was going to leave for Syria from Cilvegozu 
border gate, Hatay province, found 234 thousand 
Captagon tablets in the secret compartment of 
the car. The market value of the Captagon 
tablets is estimated to be around USD 2.150 
million. 
 
 
¶7. Turkiye: The security officials seized eleven 
Kalashnikov weapons and thirty assorted pistols 
in a minibus in Uludere, Sirnak province. The 
driver of the minibus was detained in 
connection with weapons. 
 
 
¶8. Evrensel: A group of one hundred women from 
various political parties with leftist 
tendencies formed "The Labor, Peace and 
Democracy Block" in Adana. They flew balloons 
for peace under September 1 World Peace Day 
celebrations. The spokeswoman for the block, 
Nurten Coskun, said the imperialist system that 
has convicted the world to violence and war had 
to be interrogated once more. The group shouted 
Turkish and Kurdish slogans such as: "Long live 
peace, Life, Free Life. Murder US, get out of 
the Middle East. Long Live Peoples' Fraternity. 
Don't remain silent, cry out that peoples are 
brothers." 
 
 
¶9. Evrensel: Based on a tip, jandarma arrested 
four persons in a cemetery in Cemisgezek, 
Tunceli province, on August 31 on the grounds 
that they had written "They died, but they were 
not defeated" on the grave stones of DHKP-C 
(Revolutionary Peoples Liberation Party-Front) 
militants killed in the clashes and buried 
there. They were imprisoned by the court on the 
charges of disseminating  propaganda of an 
outlawed organization. 
 
 
¶10. Evrensel: Around forty thousand people 
attended "Peace Will Win" Diyarbakir meeting 
held within the framework of September 1 World 
Peace Day. DEHAP's Chair, Tuncer Bakirhan, 
accused AK Party of spoiling the peace 
atmosphere and leaving the Kurdish issue 
unsolved. DEHAP's Chairman said AK Party 
pretended to be democratic but the ban on 
Kurdish language rights, and changing the 
Kurdish names of the villages still continued. 
 
 
¶11. Evrensel: The Human Rights Association's 
Diyarbakir Chapter condemned the attack at the 
Security Directorate in Silvan. One policeman 
was killed and two others were wounded during 
the attack. In a written press announcement, 
HRA's Vice President for Diyarbakir Chapter 
Reyhan Yalcidag expressed that they, as HRA, 
condemned such attacks which aimed to drag 
people into clashes again, and found such 
attempts extremely dangerous. 
 
 
¶12. Evrensel/Ekspres/Bolge: Kamu-Sen, Public 
Employees Union, members marched from their 
office to AK Party's Provincial headquarter in 
Adana yesterday. The union's representative for 
Adana, Ismail Koncuk, said their action was a 
warning to the government. 
 
 
ECONOMIC 
 
 
¶13. Milliyet: The President of Chamber of 
Commerce of Adana, Saban Bas, said unemployment 
was the most important problem Turkey faced. He 
said the actual number of those unemployed was 
much greater than 2.5 million persons reported 
by the State Statistics Institute. Bas said the 
obstacles in front of investment and labor 
costs should be reduced in order to solve the 
unemployment problem in Turkey. Bas added that 
the current political and economic system would 
not carry Turkey to the 21st century. 
 
 
¶14. Milliyet/Ekspres/Bolge: A business 
delegation from Adana's Chamber of Industry 
(ACI) will attend the International Industry 
and Trade Fair to be held in Greece between 
September 6-14. A delegation from ACI visited 
the Trade Fair in Thessalonika in April 2003. 
ACI members aim to increase their business 
connections with Greece and become permanent 
suppliers in the Greek market. 
 
 
HEALTH 
 
 
¶15. Milli Gazete: As the Health Ministry failed 
to send measles shots to Viransehir, Sanliurfa 
province, 30 measles cases were seen in 
villages of Viransehir. Kemberli village 
headman Mubarek Talay said they took their 
children who were suffering from measles to the 
hospitals and infirmaries in the area but  they 
received no treatment due to lack of shots. Dr. 
Ilker Kat from the Provincial Health 
Directorate of Sanliurfa stated that they did 
not get any measles shots from the ministry for 
one month but they received a shipment just 
recently, and would start inoculations 
immediately. Dr. Kat said they would start a 
measles shot campaign similar to "Infant Polio 
Campaign" in the past. 
REID