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RR RUEHDA
DE RUEHDA #0098/01 1240555
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
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FM AMCONSUL ADANA
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INFO RUEHDA/AMCONSUL ADANA 0720
RUEUITH/AFOSI DET 521 ANKARA TU
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 0672
RUEKJCS/OSD WASHINGTON DC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 0584

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000098 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR MAY 03, 2006 
 
 
This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for May 03, 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 
 
HURRIYET (CUKUROVA) / EKSPRES / BOLGE / ZAMAN:  As the AKP Adana 
May 6 party congress drew near Abdullah Dogru, Chairperson of 
AKP Adana party organization, voiced allegations that his 
political rivals had been wiretapping his telephone 
conversations.  Dogru claimed that Seyhan Mayor Azim Ozturk had 
been striving to name an opponent that would stand against him 
during the May 6 chairmanship contest. Bolge name implies that 
Ozturk has been backing a name called Omer Kaya and hints that 
Kaya's candidacy would not be appropriate.  Ekspres daily notes 
that AKP Adana party grassroots have been supporting Dogru 
whereas AKP national headquarters have been backing Omer Kaya, 
who still has not announced his candidacy.  Meanwhile, Mustafa 
Kebude, a candidate who would run for chairmanship has been 
paying visits to AKP delegates in the districts.  Meanwhile, 
Zaman daily quoted Adana Mayor as announcing that he was 
supporting nobody in the congress of the AKP. 
 
SABAH:  PM Erdogan said that in a speech he delivered to 
party members that provincial and district chairpersons of AKP 
were being threatened by the PKK terrorists. 
 
HURRIYET:       Diyarbakir Mayor Osman Baydemir has been invited to 
the AKP party congress that would be held in Diyarbakir on 
Sunday (05/07). PM Erdogan will be participating in the 
congress. 
 
YENI SAFAK / OZGUR GUNDEM:      Upon invitation from Human Rights 
Association's Diyarbakir Chapter, European Parliament's 
EU-Turkey Joint-Parliamentary Commission Chairperson Joost 
Lagenddijk will come to Diyarbakir on May 6. 
 
ZAMAN / EVRENSEL / OZGUR GUNDEM:        Ministry of Interior sent a 
secret circular to the Governor's Offices in Turkey and 
 
SIPDIS 
allegedly required establishment of committees that would work: 
1-to detect students who are being abused by the terrorist 
organization, 2- to prevent the Kurdish language be medium of 
teaching and instruction, 3-to encourage students to attend 
Turkish language and Turkish culture classes. 
 
ZAMAN / HURRIYET / EVRENSEL / OZGUR GUNDEM / SABAH / YENI SAFAK: 
Van 3rd Heavy Penalty Court's jurors heard statements of 45 
witnesses, including bombed bookstore owner Seferi Yilmaz, in an 
open-air court hearing at the place where November 9 Semdinli 
incident took place last year in Semdinli.  Hurriyet daily noted 
that 37 of 40 witnesses were present at the hearing.  The court 
delegation also made studies at the location of the incident. 
12 attorneys from bar associations of Van, Hakkari and Ankara 
made an application to watch the hearing.  Intense security 
measures have been taken and press members were not allowed to 
take photos. 
 
EVRENSEL:       The daily cites Arbil Mayor in Iraq as expressing 
his hopes for living in a peaceful and friendly environment and 
opposing Turkey's preparations for military operations at the 
border. 
 
EVRENSEL / OZGUR GUNDEM:        The daily reported military 
activities as going on in the Cudi Mounitain in Sirnak.  Turkish 
foces have reportedly been deployed in a strategic area in the 
Iraqi side of the mountain which has reportedly been used a lot 
by terrorists to infiltrate into Turkey. 
 
EVRENSEL / OZGUR GUNDEM:        Three former administrators of 
Kurd-Der (Kurdish Association), which has been recently closed, 
attempted to walk towards the border in Silopi district, and 
were eventually detained by soldiers on grounds that Kurd-Der 
members wore uniforms with statements in Turkish and Kurdish as 
saying "The cost of enforcing the people to migrate is big. The 
target is depicted as the PKK, but the actual targets are Kurds 
and Kurdistan." 
 
HURRIYET (CUKUROVA):    Police found 60 kilograms of heroin in 
the fuel tank of a truck in Gaziantep.  Six people have been 
detained in connection with the event. 
 
EKSPRES / BOLGE / SABAH (GUNEY):        Adana's 7th Court of First 
Instance has continued to hear the case of Ceyhan Mayor Huseyin 
Sozlu (from MHP) against whom PM Erdogan filed a complaint 
because of a January 6-dated interview of Sozlu with a local 
Adana newspaper.  Sozlu allegedly depicted PM Erdogan as a 
traitor during a speech he made at the January 6 ceremonies 
marking the Ceyhan district's liberation from enemy forces, and 
 
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Sozlu faces a penalty of paying 20,000 new Turkish liras to 
Erdogan if convicted. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   The May Day demonstrations turned into a 
protest against the U.S. in Hatay's Iskenderun district. 
Hundreds of people reportedly marched against alleged U.S. 
interest in the Iskenderun Bay.  Tension developed during 
demonstrations in Mersin when reportedly a TAYAD-member group 
opened a banner with pictures of 122 people who allegedly died 
during hunger strikes in Turkey.  Police intervened with gas 
bombs. People carried banners of hunger strikers in Adana as 
well. CHP deputies attended May Day in Adana.  Reportedly, 
ultra-nationalists and police intervened in the march of May Day 
demonstrators in Elazig. 15 demonstrators have been detained. 
Organizing Committee decided to cancel the rally because of 
security concerns in the rally area (This summary is from 05/03 
edition). 
 
EVRENSEL:       The following figures have been reported as people 
attending May Day celebrations in several provinces in the 
southeast: Malatya (3000), Adiyaman (over 1000), Gaziantep 
(2000), Bingol (100).  The daily reported other May Day 
activities in Mus's Varto and Bulanik districts, Bitlis, Kars, 
Hatay and Adana as well. 
 
HURRIYET / ZAMAN / SABAH:       President Ahmet Necdet Sezer 
signed a decree that would assign new security directors to 26 
provinces and that would reshuffle directors in 11 provinces. 
Hakkari Security Director, who has been accused of acting 
insufficiently during the demonstrations following November 9 
Semdinli case, have been moved to Kirsehir.  Former Deputy 
Director of Intelligence Office of the National Security 
Directorate has been named as the new Hakkari Security Director. 
 
 
HURRIYET:       Interior Minister criticized ANAP leader Erkan Mumcu 
for using the term "guerilla" instead of "terrorist" when making 
reference to PKK terrorists. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   TKP (Turkish Communist Party) building in 
Diyarbakir has been set on fire yesterday morning by 
unidentified people.  Material damage has been reported. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   Diyarbakir Mayor Osman Baydemir dismissed 
allegations of a Hurriyet columnist in a March 31-dated article 
claiming that Baydemir met with PKK leader Murat Karayilan. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   Batman Mayor Huseyin Kalkan met with 32 
headmen in the province to exchange ideas and perform a needs 
assessment for future undertakings of the municipality. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   Attorney of Abdullah Ocalan, who went to 
Diyarbakir to meet with one of his clients in a Diyarbakir jail, 
has been briefly detained. 
 
SABAH (GUNEY):  Batman Governor Haluk Imga said that 22 young 
PKK members have been convinced to return to normal life with 
the cooperation of the state and the families. 
 
SABAH (GUNEY):1000 tons of petroleum has leaked on the ground in 
Batman due to the some sections of pipeline that decayed. TPAO 
Petroleum Corporation started renovating the decayed parts, but 
great damage was done to cultivated areas due to the leakage. 
REID