VZCZCXRO1130
RR RUEHDA
DE RUEHDA #0127/01 1501143
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 301143Z MAY 06
FM AMCONSUL ADANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4162
INFO RUEHDA/AMCONSUL ADANA 0762
RUEUITH/AFOSI DET 521 ANKARA TU
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 0711
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 0612
RUEKJCS/OSD WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000127 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR MAY 26, 2006 
 
 
DThis is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for May 26, 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 
 
YENI SAFAK / OZGUR GUNDEM:      U.S. Ambassador Ross Wilson, who 
met with Kurdish politicians and human rights association 
administrators in Ankara, will come to Diyarbakir with an 
accompanying delegation to hold meetings with Diyarbakir Mayor 
Osman Baydemir, Diyarbakir Bar Association Chairperson Sezgin 
Tanrikulu, and Southeastern Industrialists and Businessmen 
Association Chairperson Sahismail Bedirhanoglu.  Wilson will go 
to Mardin and Sanliurfa later.  Yeni Safak daily pointed out 
that Wilson's not meeting with DTP representatives in Ankara was 
interpreted as the U.S. imposing an embargo on the DTP. 
 
HURRIYET / CUMHURIYET / RADIKAL:        A list of EU criticisms now 
includes the Semdinli incident, according to the Hurriyet daily. 
 EU-Turkey Association Council will also discuss Semdinli 
concerns during the meeting that will be held in Luxemburg on 
June 12 and 14.  The judicial process for the Semdinli case 
should continue within the boundaries of rule of law and 
judicial criteria, says the EU. 
 
SABAH:  BTC (Baku-Tibilisi-Ceyhan Pipeline) security team 
found a valve 11 kilometers away from the Ceyhan district in 
Adana, which was installed by thieves aiming to steal petroleum 
from the pipeline.  This recent development will delay the 
ceremonies marking the arrival of petroleum to Ceyhan which was 
envisaged as May 27. 
 
EVRENSEL:       The daily reported that The Washington Times, a 
newspaper in the U.S. reportedly close to fundamentalists in the 
U.S., reported it as good news that there were hundreds of 
Christian missionaries in the Arbil province of Iraq.  The U.S. 
evangelists have reportedly been striving to proselytize the 
Kurds in the Autonomous Kurdish Region in Iraq. 
 
EVRENSEL:       First general assembly of DTP, which will be held 
next month, will reportedly determine the structural character 
of legal Kurdish politics.  That assembly will reportedly shed 
light on which route the DTP will choose to follow next.  There 
are debates going on within party ranks whether to annul the 
co-chairmanship model and introduce a single national leadership 
in response to Turkish Supreme Court objections to the 
co-chairmanship model.  Another issue on the agenda of the party 
is whether to form alliances with other leftist political 
parties in the next elections or to take part in the elections 
with independent candidates. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   DTP Hakkari provincial chairperson said that 
people in Hakkari have been feeling uneasy about the explosions 
which have resumed in the province.   The chairperson reminded 
the people that the last explosion took place (see press summary 
05/22) in front of the apartment building where Sabahattin 
Suvagci, former DEHAP (Democratic People's Party) provincial 
chairperson, was living in Hakkari. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   DTP Kars provincial party organization will 
protest the reported attempt to ban the speaking of Kurdish in 
jails.  DTP party members in Kars will speak no other language 
than Kurdish for one week in Kars. 
 
BOLGE / EVRENSEL / EKSPRES / HURRIYET (CUKUROVA):       Rector, 
vice-rectors, faculty members, students, members of Adana 
Chamber of Doctors, Association for University Faculty Members, 
Egitim-Sen Adana Branch members participated in a march held on 
the Cukurova University campus in Adana (see press summary 
05/25) to protest the May-17 gun attack on the Council of State 
in Ankara. 
 
RADIKAL:        Mayor (from AKP) of Izgin Township in 
Kahramanmaras's Elbistan district has been detained when 
historical artifacts dated to Roman-Byzantium and Ottoman times 
were found in his car.  An undocumented Glock-brand gun has also 
been found in the car. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   Forty-six Pakistani people, who have entered 
the country illegally, were caught in Agri's Dogubeyazit 
district. 
 
BOLGE:  Gaziantep police found sixty-five kilograms of 
heroin hidden in secret sections of a truck on a road between 
Gaziantep and Osmaniye. 
 
BOLGE / EKSPRES / ZAMAN:        Delegates of parliamentary 
commission for investigating causes of problems on production 
 
ADANA 00000127  002 OF 002 
 
 
and exports of fresh vegetables and fruits and citrus fruits 
have arrived in Adana and held a meeting to discuss the problems 
with Adana farmers.  During the meeting, people reportedly fired 
criticisms at Vahit Kirisci, Adana deputy from AKP, who told the 
farmers in Adana to remove the citrus fruit trees and cultivate 
canola. 
 
RADIKAL:        For the first time in Hakkari, a woman muhtar 
(headman) candidate will run in the muhtar elections in 
Hakkari's Merzan quarter. 
 
SABAH (GUNEY):  The capers cultivated in Marsin's Savur 
district will be processed in a factory built at the same area 
and will be marketed in domestic markets and Europe. 
 
RADIKAL / EVRENSEL / OZGUR GUNDEMZ:     Fuel tank of a car, which 
was converted to LPG system, exploded when the car crashed into 
another car in Mus.  Three people were killed in the accident 
and six people have been wounded. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   Two soldiers have reportedly been wounded 
during the clash that took place between soldiers and PKK 
members in Sirnak's Silopi district.  Separately, the daily 
claimed that six village guards in Van's Saray district refused 
to take part in a military operation and gave their arms back to 
district jandarma command. 
 
SABAH (GUNEY):  During the assembly meeting of Union of 
Turkish Municipalities in Ankara, Ankara Mayor Melih Gokcek and 
20 other mayors demanded that Adana Mayor Aytac Durak resign 
from chairmanship of the union. 
REID