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 000039 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU ADANA
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR FEBRUARY 17, 2006 
 
 
This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for February 17, 
¶2006.  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 
 
BOLGE / SABAH (GUNEY) / EKSPRES / OZGUR GUNDEM / EVRENSEL: Some 
members of Democratic Society Party (DSP), majority of whom were 
women, attempted to conduct an unauthorized demonstration in 
Adana yesterday.  Security forces did not allow the group to 
hold a protest activity when people gathered in front of the DSP 
party building, started shouting slogans in support of the PKK, 
and attempted to march in the street. The Deputy Security 
Director and a police chief were wounded when people in the 
party building reportedly threw heavy objects at the police from 
the windows.  Some objects hit shop windows and caused material 
damage. Police detained nearly 200 demonstrators during the 
unrest. 
 
SABAH (GUNEY):  Twenty-six refugees, who entered the country 
illegally, were caught as they were traveling from the Hatay 
province to Istanbul by Jandarma teams on the road between 
Antakya and Adana.  8 Mauritanians, 8 Somalians, 4 Saudis, 2 
Palestinians, 2 Iraqis and 2 Bangladeshis were arrested. 
 
ZAMAN / CUMHURIYET / OZGUR GUNDEM / SABAH:      The dailies 
reported alleged torture cases occurring in Adana's 6th Army 
Corps Command.  Army prosecutor filed an indictment against a 
Lieutenant and 29 soldiers on charges of killing with torture on 
June 28 a 20-year-old private who was jailed in a military 
prison.  The indictment pressed separate charges against 6 more 
soldiers, who were under arrest for serious torture in the 6th 
Army Corps Command.  Ozgur Gundem and Sabah branded this case as 
similar to the torture cases of the U.S. soldiers on Abu Ghraib 
prisoners.  Amnesty International will also reportedly examine 
the death of the private. 
 
ZAMAN:  A case known as "JITEM case" has continues in 
Diyarbakir's 3rd Heavy Penalty Court.  A brigadier general, a 
major, a colonel and some PKK defectors are among the eleven 
defendants in the case.  They are being charged with 
"establishing a ring to commit criminal activities." The case 
covers criminal activities before 1996 allegedly perpetrated by 
this JITEM group. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:    Martin Scheinin, UN Human Rights Committee 
human rights reporter, will hold meetings with contacts over the 
next week in Ankara and Diyarbakir and obtain first-hand 
knowledge of current human rights issues in Turkey.  Scheinin's 
reporting comes while human rights cases are recently increasing 
in the country as many members of the intelligentsia have been 
held as defendants on charges of violating article 301 of the 
Turkish Penal Code. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   A staff member of the daily Ozgur Gundem has 
reportedly been arrested in Mus province on charges of "being a 
member of a terrorist organization" following his detention and 
arraignment. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   Four senior DSP members in Mersin, who were 
detained (on an unspecified date) for making a press 
announcement in support of Abdullah Ocalan, have been released 
following their arraignment.  Separately, senior DSP members in 
Tunceli, who were detained following an unannounced raid on DSP 
headquarters in Tunceli, have been released. 
 
SABAH (GUNEY):  Forty-two people in Sanliurfa were detained 
when people attempted to hold an unauthorized demonstration to 
protest the arrest of Abdullah Ocalan seven years ago on 
February 15.  Seventeen of the detained have been released 
without being arraigned. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   Kurds, who reportedly have passed their day 
indoors as a sign of protest on February 15, hit the streets and 
held demonstrations yesterday in Siirt, Mardin, Van and 
Sanliurfa.  Thousands of people in Batman marched for hours. 
People reportedly said that they would continue to gather in the 
squares every day until the Kurdish issue is resolved through 
democratic means.  Police detained 50 people in Bitlis's Tatvan 
district.  Reportedly, nearly 500 people staged a march in Agri 
and ended the protest peacefully.  Tension in Sirnak and its 
Cizre district continued and people staged a march to continue 
to protest the appearance of military tanks in the streets a 
couple of days ago in Cizre.  In a separate article, the daily 
reported that Diyarbakir mainly remained silent and 
non-protesting throughout the day on February 15, marking a 
clear contrast with the rest of the region.  Only small groups 
in some quarters were seen holding protests there. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   AKP (Justice and Development Party) deputy 
from Mardin announced that the decision to establish an 
architecture and engineering faculty and an arts faculty in 
Mardin has been ratified by the president following its 
ratification by the council of ministers. 
EVRENSEL:       Avalanches, which took place at eight separate 
points along the road between Hakkari and Van, closed the road 
for traffic once again. 
 
CUMHURIYET / HURRIYET:  The daily reported allegations of CHP 
deputies who reportedly claimed that bird flu disease broke out 
one month earlier than the first publicly known cases in Agri's 
Dogubeyazit district on December 30 in Turkey.  Prior to the 
cases in Agri, Ministry of Agriculture and Village Works 
allegedly had already detected bird flu disease in eight 
separate spots in the eastern provinces. 
REID