VZCZCXRO0571
RR RUEHDA
DE RUEHDA #0157/01 1871255
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 061255Z JUL 06
FM AMCONSUL ADANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4218
INFO RUEHDA/AMCONSUL ADANA 0818
RUEUITH/AFOSI DET 521 ANKARA TU
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 0766
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 0663
RUEKJCS/OSD WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000157 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR JULY 06, 2006 
 
 
This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for July 06, 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):    Hakkari police conducted an operation 
and seized 67 kilograms of pure heroin upon receiving a tip-off 
that drugs will be trafficked in the area.  A person has been 
detained in connection with the trafficking. (This summary is 
from 07/05 edition) 
 
RADIKAL / HURRIYET / EVRENSEL:  Allegedly in connection with 
the expulsion of Van Prosecutor from office a while ago, the 
dailies pointed out that Ministry of Interior allegedly included 
in the decree which relocates positions of judges and 
prosecutors in Turkey, the name of Van's Chief Prosecutor Kemal 
Kacan, a move which is interpreted as a disciplinary action 
against Kacan for his roles in the cases of Van Centennial 
University's trial process and in the Semdinli case. (This 
summary is from 07/05 edition) 07/06 edition of Radikal cites 
Minister of Justice as dismissing such allegations and branding 
the development as a normal procedure. 
 
RADIKAL:        PM Erdogan, who is reportedly not pleased that 
numerous candidates have been running for chairmanship in AKP's 
Agri chapter, have rolled up his sleeves to convince circles to 
name one person and one crew to run for chairmanship. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   The daily claims that two soldiers died and 
five soldiers have been wounded in a reported PKK attack on a 
jandarma station in Hakkari's Cukurca district on July 2. 
 
HURRIYET:       A group of PKK terrorists attacked a police 
checkpoint which has been guarding the police residences in 
Tunceli's Cemiskezek district with hand grenades and 
long-barelled guns.  Terrorists reportedly escaped after a 
10-minute clash with the police officers. 
 
EVRENSEL / OZGUR GUNDEM:        Nineteen out of 26 people, who 
were arrested during demonstrations in Mardin's Kiziltepe 
district (on an unspecified date) held to protest events that 
took place in late March in Diyarbakir following the funeral of 
four terrorists, have been released by Diyarbakir's 6th heavy 
Penalty Court.  The rest of the people will continue to stay 
under arrest. 
 
EVRENSEL / OZGUR GUNDEM:        Twenty DTP members in Sirnak had 
two trials brought against them: one for "making propaganda of 
terrorist organization and praising the criminals" during 
support extended by the DTP members to the human shields in May 
last year; the DTP members in Sirnak stood a second trial for 
remarks they made at a January 27 announcement of the DTP party 
organization. 
 
EVRENSEL:       Chairperson of DTP's Kars chapter said that despite 
only being appointed for six months as a party chairperson, 7 
investigations had been started against him. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   British attorneys from the London-based 
Kurdish Human Rights Project came to Van to see at a local level 
how committees set up to compensate for the losses incurred 
because of terrorism and measures taken to counter terrorism in 
the southeastern region have been operating. The delegation of 
attorneys and senior administrators of Van's Goc-Der (Solidarity 
Association for Displaced People) paid visits to two villages of 
Gurpinar district. 
 
EVRENSEL:       A group of Italian journalists came to Mardin and 
talked with relatives of people who lost their lives in clashes 
or extra-judicial killings.  The journalists also paid a visit 
to Mardin chapter of DTP. 
 
RADIKAL / CUMHURIYET / HURRIYET / OZGUR GUNDEM / EVRENSEL:      A 
16-year-old girl in Gaziantep was reportedly killed yesterday 
morning by her brother in the name of honor.  The girl was 
reportedly pregnant because of an extra-marital affair. 
 
HURRIYET:       During searches made in a highland area of 
Diyarbakir, Jandarma teams and temporary village guards 
discovered 20 fields where hemp has been cultivated.  The teams, 
who claimed that those fields were cultivated by PKK terrorists 
to produce drugs, uprooted a total of 9 million hemps and 
destroyed them. 
 
CUMHURIYET / BOLGE / EVRENSEL / EKSPRES:        Nearly 30 cleaning 
services workers continued their demonstrations and held a march 
towards Seyhan Municipality in Adana to protest their dismissal 
 
ADANA 00000157  002 OF 002 
 
 
from their jobs. 
 
BOLGE / EKSPRES:        Adana Governor Cahit Kirac announced that 
recent rumors claiming that an organ mafia was behind 
disappearances, murders and drowning cases in Adana were mere 
hoaxes. 
 
HURRIYET (CUKUROVA) / RADIKAL:  Members of the chambers 
convened in Adana's Ceyhan district to hold a consultation 
meeting ahead of the opening ceremony for Baku-Tibilisi-Ceyhan 
(BTC) pipeline which will be held in Adana's Ceyhan district on 
July 13.  Radikal daily separately notes that world leaders were 
not showing much interest in the 3-million-dollar BTC opening 
and only two of the presidents of 16 countries who have been 
invited have responded affirmatively to Turkey's BTC invitation. 
 
 
CUMHURIYET:     The decision of Administrative Court of the Council 
of State, which suspended enforcement of the privatization of 
the port of Mersin, reportedly pleased Liman-Is (Union of 
Ports). 
 
CUMHURIYET:     Cumhuriyet daily reports on the controversy between 
Turks and Kurds on where to open two new border gates on the 
border between Turkey and Iraq.  Turkish side is reportedly not 
favoring a border gate opening to the Kurdish area in northern 
Iraq. 
REID