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 000058 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU ADANA
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR MARCH 27, 2006 
 
 
This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for March 27, 
¶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 
 
EVRENSEL:       The daily criticized AKP for holding a party 
congress in the 12,000-year-old caves of the ancient Hasankeyf 
city in Batman and damaging sensitive historical site with 
technical sound equipment installed in the caves.  The daily 
further cited an AKP deputy from Mardin as defending the 
controversial dam project which will bury part of the historical 
ruins in Hasankeyf under dam waters. 
 
EVRENSEL / OZGUR GUNDEM:        CHP national leader Deniz Baykal, 
as he criticized the government for attempting to plot the 
Semdinli indictment, further added that the government has been 
unsuccessful in reaching its goals.  When asked whether Prime 
Minister's Undersecretary was backing the Semdinli indictement, 
the CHP leader said that there should be tangible evidence to 
allege that.  However, the CHP leader believed that the 
indictment was interwoven with politics, and Prosecutor Sarikaya 
was being manipulated by certain circles. 
 
ZAMAN / HURRIYET:       Six of the fourteen terrorists killed in a 
large-scale military operation held on Friday were reportedly 
from Syria, Iran and Iraq.  Three of the terrorists are 
reportedly from Diyarbakir.  The operation was carried out in 
Diyarbakir's Kulp and Lice, Bingol's Genc and Solhan, and Mus's 
Senyayla districts.  According to the military officials, three 
shelters full of supplies for terrorists were destroyed.  The 
dead bodies of the terrorists were sent to the Malatya Forensic 
Authority. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   PKK confirmed that 14 terrorist have been 
killed in a military operation carried out on Friday, and 
published identities of the killed on its internet site. 
Reportedly, 10,000 soldiers and village guards took part in the 
military operation which has been supported with ground and 
aerial military forces.  PKK, which made a call to the families 
of those killed to take possession of the bodies of their kin, 
claimed that Turkish military forces used chemical weapons 
during the operation. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   The daily claimed that military forces have 
been readying to launch military operations in the districts of 
Mardin.  Military personnel from Jandarma Division on the road 
to Mardin have reportedly been deployed in Mardin province and 
its districts for about one week.  War planes taking off from 
the airport in Mardin have reportedly been flying over Kiziltepe 
district.  Road checkpoints have been fortified in the area. 
 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   The administrative investigation started 
against Ferhat Sarikaya, Van Prosecutor who prepared the 
Semdinli indictement, will be completed this week.  If the 
report of the investigation is completed by Thursday, it will be 
discussed at Thursday's meeting of the Higher Council of Judges 
and Prosecutors. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   Mesrob Mutafyan (Mesrob II), Patriarch of the 
Armenian Community in Turkey, paid a visit to the Hatay Governor 
Ahmet Kayhan.  Mutafyab, who reportedly came to Hatay to conduct 
a series of separate visits, told the journalists asking about 
Armenian issues that it was a positive development that the 
Armenian issue was being discussed at the universities now. 
 
SABAH GUNEY:    Michael Roberts, Undersecretary of British 
Embassy in Ankara, and his wife came to Hatay and paid a visit 
to the Hatay Governor.  Roberts reportedly told journalists that 
he did not agree with remarks of Iraqi Prime Minister Alawi as 
claiming that there was civil war in Iraq.  Roberts further said 
that nobody should expect that democracy will come to Iraq very 
quickly. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   A waiter incurred serious wounds when a bomb 
went off at 7.15 p.m. on Saturday night at a night club in 
Tunceli.  Another explosion took place across the street from a 
DTP provincial building located in Elazig province. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   At a congress held by Van branch of Mazlum-Der 
(Association of Human Rights and Solidarity for Oppressed 
People), Mazlum-Der members demanded that a discriminatory 
amnesty be issued for all political inmates at jails to be able 
to solve the Kurdish issue. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   Van branch of DTP condemned the police's 
"harsh" attitude against demonstrators protesting recent arrest 
of former DEHAP Provincial Chairperson, Sebahattin Suvagci (see 
press summary 03/24), in Hakkari.  Meanwhile, five of 23 
demonstrators detained for holding protest activities against 
the arrest of Suvagci have been arrested following arraignment 
of all 23 detainees the previous day.  Meanwhile, the daily 
reports that tension persisted in Hakkari, and masked special 
team members have been frequenting the streets. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   A 42-year-old male has been killed in a gun 
attack in Batman. 
 
CUMHURIYET:     New Iraqi Constitution poses a new threat to Turkey: 
It will reportedly pave the way for PKK members to be granted 
the right to citizenship or be political refugees in Iraq. 
 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   Sanliurfa Governor had demanded on an 
unspecified date that 18 public employees, who are members of 
KESK (Confederation of Public Employee Unions), be exiled from 
their posts for attending a February 2005-dated press conference 
called "No to war for global peace."  Fourteen of these people 
have been exiled to posts in other provinces to date. 
 
EKSPRES / SABAH GUNEY / BOLGE:  Tourism Minister Atilla Koc 
will come to Adana today to attend the opening of 8th Sabanci 
International Theater Festival of Adana. 
REID