VZCZCXRO4101
RR RUEHDA
DE RUEHDA #0160/01 1911340
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 101340Z JUL 06
FM AMCONSUL ADANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4222
INFO RUEHDA/AMCONSUL ADANA 0823
RUEUITH/AFOSI DET 521 ANKARA TU
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 0770
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 0667
RUEKJCS/OSD WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000160 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR JULY 10, 2006 
 
This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for July 10, 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 
 
CUMHURIYET / HURRIYET / ZAMAN / EVRENSEL:       Tunceli Mayor Songul 
Erol Abdil showed reaction to the girls wearing turbans as they 
danced folkloric dances in Tunceli in a 07/08 opening ceremony 
attended by parliament spokesperson Bulent Arinc.  Abdil made 
clear that the costumes of folkloric dances in Tunceli never 
included the turban component and regarded inclusion of turban 
in the costumes as an insult to the Alevi community.  According 
to Zaman, Arinc dismissed any supposed official connection or 
manipulation in the clothing of the dancers, and branded such 
allegations as speculation aiming to wear out official bodies 
and the parliament offices.  Tunceli Governor Mustafa Erkal 
reportedly said that that folkloric group performed in the same 
clothes several times before. 
 
CUMHURIYET / HURRIYET:  Hakkari Governor's Office announced that 
a clash took place between security members and PKK terrorists 
around the border area in Hakkari's Cukurca district. Three PKK 
members have reportedly been killed. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   During a joint military operation of Turkish 
and Iranian forces against PKK members in the border area around 
Hakkari's Semdinli district, the daily claims that four Iranian 
soldiers and one PKK member have been killed.  One PKK member 
has been taken captive by the Turkish Armed Forces. 
 
SABAH (GUNEY):  A ceremony has been held in a village of 
Sirnak's Idil district to commemorate 16 people killed by PKK 
terrorist on July 08, 1987. 
 
BOLGE:  Three persons have been arrested in a district of 
Elazig on charges of providing logistic support for the PKK. 
 
ZAMAN / OZGUR GUNDEM:   A group of PKK terrorists blocked the 
traffic flow on an intercity road 100 kilometers away from 
Bingol, extorted money from passengers, and made pro-PKK 
propaganda.  Ozgur Gundem portrays the incident as a normal road 
check of the PKK members. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   A faculty member from the Sociology Department 
of Koc University in Istanbul said that escalation of clashes 
and military operations in the southeastern region have 
eliminated hopes of those people who were considering returning 
back to their villages from which they were evacuated because of 
the past state of emergency rule in the region. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   Fourteen students have reportedly been 
dismissed from the Education Faculty of Ataturk University in 
Agri allegedly as a result of an investigation opened on grounds 
that those students attended March 21 Newruz celebrations. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   A DTP delegation including party assembly 
member Tuncer Bakirhan, Diyarbakir's Kayapinar district mayor 
Zulkuf Karatekin and Van's Bostanici district mayor Gulcihan 
Simsek went to Italy and met with coalition and opposition party 
members in that country.  During the contacts held with Italian 
politicians, Turkey-EU relations and Kurdish issue were 
discussed. 
 
EVRENSEL / OZGUR GUNDEM:        Diyarbakir Municipality organized 
a summer camp for 4500 children at the facilities around Hazar 
Lake in Elazig. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   A villager in Van's Gurpinar district filed a 
complaint with the prosecutor on grounds that JITEM (Jandarma 
Intelligence) members threatened to kill him when the villager 
rejected their suggestion that he become an informant for them 
on July 6. 
 
   OZGUR GUNDEM:        Six out of seventeen people, who were arrested 
in Batman on charges of counterfeiting seals of health insurance 
cards the (Turkish) state provides for needy people having no 
social security, have been arraigned and imprisoned in Batman 
jail. 
 
SABAH (GUNEY):  PM Erdogan will come to Malatya on July 12 to 
conduct local studies and attend a series of opening and 
ground-breaking ceremonies in the province. 
 
SABAH (GUNEY):  ANAP (Motherland Party) Provincial Chairperson 
in Mardin criticized the government for canceling tenders 
concerning building of new schools and renovation of older 
school buildings in the province for the second time.  The 
 
ADANA 00000160  002 OF 002 
 
 
previous cancelation reportedly took place last year. 
 
EKSPRES:        The daily reported that Ministry of Agriculture and 
Village Works has officially banned aircraft pesticide spraying 
because of the serious environmental damage that method had 
caused.  Some aircraft pesticide spraying companies have been 
exerting pressure to withdraw the ban on such pesticide spraying 
method. 
 
HURRIYET / YENI SAFAK:  S.D., a 30-year-old woman in Sirnak's 
Cizre district who divorced from her husband because of her 
alleged extra-marital affair, was hospitalized after being 
stabbed by the cousin of her former husband as she went back her 
former house to see her children.  S.D. died after being treated 
for 20 days in the hospital and no one claimed possession of her 
dead body. 
 
BOLGE:  Director of MIT intelligence center's Adana branch 
reportedly committed suicide last evening in Adana by shooting 
himself in the head at his home in Adana. 
REID