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

221227Z Feb 06

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000040 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
NOT FOR INTERNET DISTIBUTION 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PTER TU ADANA
SUBJECT: TURKEY: PROTESTS MARK ANNIVERSARY OF OCALAN CAPTURE 
THROUGHOUT SOUTHEAST 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  As in past years, protest activities marking 
the anniversary of the February 15, 1999 capture in Kenya of PKK 
leader Abdullah Ocalan and his subsequent transport to Turkey by 
Turkish authorities, occurred throughout southeast Turkey.  This 
year's protests lasted one week, instead of the one or two days 
in recent past anniversaries.  Many of the protests were 
peaceful, but in some areas they  turned violent, with clashes 
between protesters and security forces.  This may augur more 
confrontational Newroz protests in March.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (U) Based on media reports, as early as February 7, pro-PKK 
groups around southeast Turkey started to call for protests to 
mark the February 15 anniversary marking PKK leader Abdullah 
Ocalan's 1999 capture and transport by Turkish authorities from 
Kenya to Turkey.  The protests come in the wake of urgings of 
PKK  leader and head of the Kurdish Federations Association 
Murat Karayilan for Kurds to protest the anniversary of Ocalan's 
capture.  Media reported that  pro-Ocalan Kurdish groups 
throughout the southeast, including in Adana, Mersin, Hatay, 
Mardin, Gaziantep, Iskenderun, Sirnak, Siirt, Batman, 
Diyarbakir, Cizre, Malatya, Van and even Kandil in Northern 
Iraq, have called on Kurds to shut down businesses, boycott 
schools, wear black, go on hunger strikes, pray for, and march 
in protest against, Ocalan's incarceration and as a remembrance 
of his being brought to Turkey after his capture in Kenya. 
Reportedly, the theme of these activities was to "halt a life 
which excludes Ocalan." A rough count from the media showed 
approximately forty incidents related to the Ocalan capture 
around the southeast region. 
 
¶3. (U) Media reported that in Adana on February 16, a large 
group of pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DSP) members 
attempted to conduct an unauthorized demonstration, and when 
security forces intervened, demonstrators started throwing heavy 
objects at the police, resulting in the injury of the Deputy 
Security Director and a police shift leader, as well as damage 
to nearby shops. (Note: Subsequent press reports indicate that 
prosecutors charged approximately 30 protestors with resisting 
arrest and being members of an illegal organization End Note). 
Police reportedly detained nearly 200 people.  Also in Adana, a 
February 14 press report said that, on February 13, a group of 
youths staged a demonstration and blocked traffic flow with 
Molotov cocktails. There were similar protests in Adana and 
Mersin again on February 19, according to reliable press reports. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Media reported on February 15 that Murat Karayilan, a 
senior leader of the PKK's military wing, called on Kurds to 
fast on February 15 and to close down their businesses and not 
go to work.  A local Imam reportedly called on the community to 
pray for Ocalan.  On February 14, media reported a DSP-sponsored 
group in Diyarbakir marched and shouted pro-Ocalan slogans and 
clashed with police, resulting in two arrests and two injured 
policemen.  According to our contacts and the press, no 
Ocalan-related activities took place in Diyarbakir on the 
anniversary day -- February 15 -- itself. 
 
¶5. (U) On February 14, per the press, 3000 people marched in 
Hakkari's Yuksekova district, while on February 15, security 
forces in Yuksekova and Semdinli patrolled the streets and 
reportedly forced business-owners to open their businesses. 
Many people throughout the region responded to the PKK's call by 
closing their businesses, as did people in Adana, Batman, 
Hakkari and Siirt.  Police in Nusaybin, Derik and Kiziltepe 
reportedly took down the names of shop-owners who closed their 
doors for the day. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Our police contacts reported that 2000 people marched 
and shouted slogans in Mersin, while smaller groups of Ocalan 
sympathizers in a number of districts of Mersin clashed with 
security forces, who intervened with tear gas and armored 
vehicles.  Businesses in those districts reportedly stayed 
closed, while students boycotted schools. 
 
Comment 
----------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) This year's protests marking the Ocalan capture 
anniversary have been violent in Adana and Mersin, but on a par 
with last year's intensity in Diyarbakir.  This year's protests 
also spanned a week rather than 1-2 days as in recent past 
years.  This longer duration  probably is due to  recent calls 
by Ocalan for better medical treatment and the reopening of his 
trial, as well as recent widespread public discontent in the 
southeast over prosecutors' decision to keep Ocalan locked-down 
in his cell for 20 days as punishment for his attempts to 
control the PKK through his attorneys (reftel).  TNP reaction to 
the protests has varied in eastern and southeastern Turkey, with 
the most aggressive in the Adana-Mersin area.  The obvious PKK 
and DTP-led efforts to use this date as a rallying point may 
augur for a more confrontational Newroz season in late March 
this year. 
REID