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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000192 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PINS PGOV PHUM TU
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR SEPTEMBER 01, 2006 
 
This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for September 1, 
¶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 
 
SABAH (GUNEY) / BOLGE / YENI SAFAK:     Ross Wilson, U.S. Ambassador 
in Ankara, paid a visit to the Mersin Governor and extended 
thanks on behalf of the U.S. citizens to the Turkish authorities 
and people of Mersin, who provided assistance during evacuation 
of U.S. citizens from Lebanon.  Wilson said that he was proud to 
be in Mersin and expressed that American people will always 
remember Turkey's help shown during those difficult times. 
Wilson also made statements about the PKK issue and said that 
PKK was a terrorist organization and nothing can justify its 
attacks.  Wilson expressed the U.S.'s solidarity with Turks and 
condemnation of recent PKK attacks. 
 
YENI SAFAK:     Turkish officials reportedly found it unnecessary 
that Government of Iraq should also appoint an Iraqi envoy for 
countering PKK terrorism.  It is also reported that U.S. Envoy 
for Countering Terrorism, Joseph Ralston, held his first meeting 
with the Turkish Ambassador in Washington. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   Dan Fried, Assistant Secretary of State, 
reportedly said that cross-border attacks are not going to help 
Turkey.  Dan Fried also dismissed allegations that the U.S. 
Government was engaging in conversations with the PKK. 
 
ZAMAN / YENI SAFAK:     A private was wounded in his leg as a 
result of gunfire by PKK terrorists at military residences in 
Van. 
 
RADIKAL:        Four kilograms of C-4 explosives, which were 
allegedly placed on a road between Semdinli and Yuksekova 
districts in Hakkari by PKK terrorists, was barely noticed by 
security officers who were screening the road in advance of 
travel of military vehicles on the road. That section of the 
road is reportedly being used frequently for military 
dispatches. 
 
ZAMAN:  Six terrorists surrendered themselves to security 
officers in Sirnak, reported the Governor's Office there. 
 
EKSRES / BOLGE: A 15-person group, which called itself 
"Solidarity with the Peoples of the Middle East", held a sit-in 
protest in the Inonu Park of Adana to protest Israel. 
 
ZAMAN / YENI SAFAK:     The engineer of a train, which headed 
for Sirnak's Nusaybin district from Gaziantep, was caught with 
50 kilograms of drugs in Gaziantep. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   Diyarbakir Governor's Office did not grant 
authorization to Peace Day festivities that were planned to be 
held on September 3 in Diyarbakir on grounds that an important 
examination will be held on the same day.   DTP, however, 
decided to make a press announcement upon arrival of DTP 
national chairperson to the city.  Meanwhile, DTP made calls to 
people to attend the September 1 peace Day festivities in Van, 
Mersin and Sirnak's Cizre district. 
 
EKSRES / BOLGE / HURRIYET:      Abdullah Caliskan, an Adana deputy 
from AKP, had a coronary spasm yesterday morning and was 
hospitalized.  Health condition of Caliskan is reportedly 
getting better.  Hurriyet daily notes that Caliskan would vote 
against dispatch of Turkish troops to Lebanon. 
 
ESKPRES / BOLGE:        Chairperson of Adana Chapter of Kizilay (Red 
Crescent) paid a visit to Adana Mayor Aytac Durak and requested 
contribution for the aid campaign launched by Kizilay for people 
of Palestine and Lebanon. 
 
BOLGE / ZAMAN:  Prime Minister Erdogan will come to Adana 
today at 12:30 to conduct studies at the BTC 
(Baku-Tibilisi-Ceyhan Project) terminal in Ceyhan district. PM 
Erdogan will fly over the site of the BTC in a helicopter. 
 
BOLGE / HURRIYET:       Devlet Bahceli, MHP National Leader, addressed 
large crowds (reportedly nearly 50,000 people) in Mersin and its 
Tarsus district as he attended August 30 Victory Day 
celebrations there.  Bahceli, who talked about the PKK policy of 
the government, deliberations on dispatch of Turkish troops to 
Lebanon, and the recent forest fires, reportedly fired sharp 
 
ADANA 00000192  002 OF 002 
 
 
criticism against the government during his speech.  Deputy 
National Chairperson of MHP expressed similar concerns in a 
press announcement he made in Erzincan. 
 
BOLGE:  Police in Osmaniye province caught 20 Pakistani 
nationals, who entered the country illegally, in a passenger bus 
in Osmaniye.  The Pakistanis will be sent to Van and will be 
deported afterwards. 
 
HURRIYET:       Thirty-six people, who entered the country illegally 
from Iraq, were caught in Pozanti district of Adana by Adana 
police undertaking regular road checks. 
 
HURRIYET (CUKUROVA):    Police stated that a bomb, which 
exploded on August 29 in Mersin leaving one person injured, was 
a hand made one.  The person detained after the event has 
reportedly been released. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   The inmates at the Kurkculer Jail of Adana, 
who were reportedly imprisoned for political grounds, sent a 
letter to President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Turkish Parliament 
spokesperson Bulent Arinc, and condemned Abdullah Ocalan's 
confinement in his prison cell for 20 days. 
 
YENI SAFAK:     350 mayors will attend a meeting called Union of 
Historical Cities between September 7 and 9 in Mardin's Midyat 
district. 
GREEN