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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000149 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR JUNE 21, 2006 
 
This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for June 21, 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 
 
RADIKAL / HURRIYET / CUMHURIYET:        Heavy penalties have been 
given to non-commissioned officers who were being tried at Van's 
Third Heavy Penalty Court because of the Semdinli bombing. The 
jurors required the defendants to provide their last defense 
statements after reportedly overturning all the demands of the 
defendants' attorneys.  The defendants have been sentenced to 
one year and eleven months for founding an illegal gang, to 
twenty-five years in prison for killing Zahir Korkmaz (in the 
Semdinli bombing), to twelve years in prison for attempting to 
kill Seferi Yilmaz (the bombed bookstore owner), and, to six 
months in prison for wounding Metin Korkmaz.  The jurors 
unanimously decided to sentence the defendants to a total of 
thirty-nine years and five months and five days in prison.  The 
third defendant Veysel Ates's case has been separated since 
Ates's attorney did not attend the hearing, and the court will 
give verdict about him on August 3.  During the Semdinli trial 
yesterday, the defendants reportedly struggled to prolong the 
trial and delay the verdict. The defendants' attorneys claimed 
that the presiding judge had lost his impartiality and based 
such a claim on a news article Ozgur Gundem daily published 
before the June 19 trial day.  That article was reporting as if 
it was definite that a verdict would come out of the third 
hearing, if not; it would come out of the fourth one, according 
to the daily.  During the case the defendants' attorneys 
demanded the presiding judge withdraw himself from the case 
because of that. (This article is from 06/20 editions) 
 
HURRIYET:       Hurriyet daily points out today that Ozgur Gundem 
daily had reported clearly before the third (June 13) and fourth 
hearing (June 19) of the Semdinli case that a verdict would come 
out in the fourth hearing. 
 
HURRIYET:       Seferi Yilmaz, owner of the bookstore bombed on 
November 9, 2005 in Semdinli, has been arrested based on the 
statements of a PKK defector including concerns about Yilmaz. 
The PKK defector, Hasan Salar, surrendered to authorities a 
while ago and told authorities that Seferi Yilmaz had 
connections with senior leaders of the PKK.  The juror, who 
decided that Yilmaz should be arrested, is the only juror in the 
Semdinli case who objected to the thirty-nine years and five 
months of prison sentence for the Semdinli defendants.  That 
juror demanded that the defendants be sentenced to lifetime in 
prison two times for attempting to disrupt the unity and 
solidarity of the (Turkish) state and for attempting to kill 
people. But, the jurors unanimously decided to sentence the 
defendants to a total of thirty-nine years and five months and 
five days in prison. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM / EVRENSEL / ZAMAN / YENI SAFAK:  Legal pundits and 
politicians think that the verdict given at the Semdinli trial 
was a positive step in the fight against illegal formations in 
the state structure, but was not satisfactory in the sense that 
it has not unveiled all alleged links in that reported illegal 
network and has reportedly remained within boundaries of 
convicting only two non-commissioned officers and has kept clear 
of accusing more senior officers in the military.   Zaman and 
Yeni Safak dailies cite Joost Lagendijk, head of the Turkey-EU 
joint parliamentary commission, as pointing out that the verdict 
of the Semdinli case was an indicator of being a country 
observing the rule of law.  Diyarbakir Bar Association 
Chairperson Sezgin Tanrikulu said that there had been attempts 
during the trial to delay the verdict by not confronting one of 
the defendants, who was hospitalized in a military hospital 
during the third and fourth hearings, with the lawsuit. 
 
ZAMAN / YENI SAFAK:     Diyarbakir chapter of HUDER (Association 
for Legal Research) claimed following the verdict given by the 
heavy penalty court in Van concerning the Semdinli case that 
controversial Semdinli indictment prepared by the former 
Prosecutor Ferhat Sarikaya, which caused Sarikaya's expulsion 
from his job, have proved its correct stance; therefore, the 
decision taken to expel Sarikaya should be revised, according to 
HUDER. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM / EVRENSEL:        The U.S. has been continuing to 
support Turkey in its efforts to black out Roj TV broadcasts in 
Denmark.  According to the dailies, Denmark, following the 
second U.S. attempt to put pressure on Denmark, has declined to 
discontinue Roj TV broadcasts. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   During a talk on Roj TV, DTP Co-Chairperson 
Ahmet Turk said that the first congress of DTP to be held in 
 
ADANA 00000149  002 OF 002 
 
 
Ankara on June 25 would constitute a new beginning and a new 
democratic initiative that would aim to transform the parliament 
into a platform for resolving issues.  In a separate article, 
the daily cites remarks of the PKK leader Murat Karayilan about 
DTP.  According to Karayilan, DTP must assume a role and a 
vision that would organize all the sections of the society to 
undertake strong commitments in the political arena. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   PKK has reportedly revealed identities of two 
guerillas killed in an ambush of Iranian forces that took place 
on June 16 in the border area with Iran.  Separately, the PKK 
has claimed responsibility for the bombing of a cargo train on 
June 17 (see press summary 06/19).  PKK declined any involvement 
in the bomb incident that took place in Van's Baskale district 
on June 17. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   Diyarbakir Mayor Osman Baydemir gave a 
statement regarding an ongoing investigation filed against him 
for expressing remarks allegedly praising the PKK in the days 
that followed the violent demonstrations in late March in 
Diyarbakir. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   DOKH (Free Women's Democratic Movement) will 
hold its third conference in Istanbul July 7-9 following its 
second conference which was held in Batman. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   Officials from Oxford University in England 
went to northern Iraq and reportedly discussed with local 
authorities the issue of opening a branch of the university in 
the region. 
 
EVRENSEL:       National Chairperson of Egitim-Sen (Teacher's Union) 
pointed out the alarming educational conditions in the eastern 
part of Turkey such as the grave shortage of teachers and 
quality education, poor classroom conditions, violence in 
schools, non-attendance of students to the classes due to poor 
economic conditions of the disadvantaged displaced families. 
 
BOLGE / EKSPRES:        BTC (Baku-Tibilisi-Ceyhan) authorities have 
announced that petroleum that has traveled through the pipeline 
has reached the amount of 1,280,000 barrels.  The first 
petroleum that arrived at Ceyhan on May 28 and that was loaded 
on "The British Hawtharne" vessel, set off for Italy on June 4. 
Loading of crude oil on the second vessel, Panama flagged 
"Tridents Hope", reportedly will start today and operations 
about it have been going smoothly. 
 
YENI SAFAK:     Turkey has made a last call to Russia to join the 
Samsun-Ceyhan pipeline project. 
 
SABAH (GUNEY):  Senior administration of one of the prominent 
banks of Turkey, Akbank, organized a cocktail at Hilton Hotel 
and came together with its clients in the region.  Adana 
Governor Cahit Kirac, Adana Mayor Aytac Durak, Cukurova 
University Rector Alper Akinoglu, Adana Chamber of Commerce 
Chairperson Saban Bas were among the participants of the 
cocktail. 
 
SABAH (GUNEY):  A Turkish delegation including the Governor of 
Mersin went to Syria's port town Lazkiye with the newly 
initiated passenger ferry service between Mersin in Turkey and 
Lazkiye. The ferry service aims to boost tourism sector in the 
area. 
 
HURRIYET (CUKUROVA):    Fire broke out in a forest land in 
Adana's Kozan district the previous day.  Efforts have been 
going on to prevent spreading of the fire by the wind. 
 
RADIKAL:        Turkish Armed Forces organized a press tour for 
members of the press to view the activities of the military 
units at the border areas with Syria and Iraq.  A senior 
military official announced that 58 soldiers have died and 200 
have been wounded in the 108 mine attacks in the region since 
June 1, 2004.  In the same time period, 168 terrorists have been 
killed and 93 of them have been caught alive.  The measures the 
military units took have also reportedly deterred smuggling 
activities. 
REID