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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000199 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PINS PGOV PHUM TU
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR SEPTEMBER 11, 2006 
 
 
This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for September 11, 
¶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) / SABAH (GUNEY) / BOLGE:    Gaziantep and 
Erzincan Police searched a truck and discovered 152 kilograms of 
heroin in hidden sections of the vehicle in Gaziantep.  The 
Security Director said that the heroin was worth 1,500,000 
Euros. 
 
HURRIYET (CUKUROVA):    Eric Green, U.S. Consul in Adana, paid a 
visit to the Journalists' Association in Gaziantep.  Green 
pointed out to the importance of non-governmental organizations 
in the society during his visit. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   The daily reports the speech of a sociologist 
in a panel about Alevi Arabs in Adana.  According to the 
panelist, Alevi Arabs must not be ashamed of their ethnic 
identity in society. 
 
EVRENSEL / RADIKAL:     A New York Times article said, ahead of 
the visit of Joseph Ralston, Special PKK Envoy of the U.S., to 
Turkey, that improving the relationship between Turkey and the 
U.S. was in the interest of the U.S. 
 
CUMHURIYET / RADIKAL / EKSPRES / EVRENSEL:      In a terrorism 
conference in Washington, Security Affairs Director of the 
Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that in the first seven 
months of 2006, ninety-one soldiers and 427 civilians were 
killed in terrorist attacks by the PKK.  The death toll among 
security members in one single month, namely July, was 
twenty-five, according to the official. 
 
RADIKAL:        People have reportedly been suffering from the 
construction work going on for six days on a section of the 
Van-Hakkari road in Hakkari.  Reportedly, the road, which is the 
opening of Hakkari province to the world, is closed for 
construction purposes.   People are reportedly not able to 
transport their sick relatives to other provinces because of the 
construction. 
 
RADIKAL: Ministry of Education and ILO authorities are 
reportedly paying visits to the cotton fields in Adana to 
convince families working in the fields to send their children 
to schools. 
 
EKSPRES:        Two female U.S. soldiers have been victims of 
snatch-and-run thieves who grabbed the soldiers' purses from 
their cars at a junction on D-400 highway in Adana. 
 
BOLGE:  University registrations which started on September 
4 at the Cukurova University in Adana ended on September 8.  A 
total of 7,053 students registered at the university. 
 
BOLGE:  Mersin Mayor Macit Ozcan attended one of the 
cultural events of the Mersin Culture festival yesterday. 
Various performances of sister-cities from Japan and China were 
held in yesterday's event. 
 
BOLGE:  There is growing discontent among a sizeable number 
of members of CHP's Adana chapter against the party 
administration which is reportedly being run by a circle of 
people from the same family.  This group is expected to go to 
the party center in Adana in the coming days to pressure the 
chairperson to resign. 
 
RADIKAL / OZGUR GUNDEM / CUMHURIYET:    A security 
vulnerability at the Diyarbakir Military Airport reportedly 
caused a scandal to surface. A mother of two children was able 
to board a plane despite not being a passenger.  She even went 
to the cockpit to tell the pilots to take her children to the 
destination point safely. 
 
RADIKAL / CUMHURIYET:   Members of the Historical Cities Union 
attended a seminar called "Local Development in an Area Where 
Civilizations Meet"in Mardin's Midyat district.  The group paid 
a visit to Batman's Hasankeyf district as well. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   Reportedly, in order to prevent families' 
anger to soar during the funerals of soldiers who died as they 
were doing military service in the southeastern region, 
 
ADANA 00000199  002 OF 002 
 
 
according to the recent intelligence reports, the military will 
keep track of people who attendthe funerals.  This measure will 
reportedly prevent any non-governmental organizations or people 
to provoke families of martyrs against the military or the 
government.  The reports also say that it was a provocative act 
for human rights associations to pay visits in order to extend 
condolences to the families of the soldiers who passed away. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   The funerals of two people who died in 
Batman's Kozluk district allegedly as a result of soldiers 
opening fire on a car were held in Batman.  (Note: A 10-year-old 
girl was also killed during the incident. End Note.)  Two 
hundred people, including the senior officials of DTP's Batman 
chapter, reportedly attended the ceremonies. 
 
CUMHURIYET:     The daily points out that the chief prosecutor's 
office has not started a probe concerning the death of a 
10-year-old girl killed "in error" in crossfire between security 
officers and two terrorists in Batman's Kozluk district on 
September 5.  It is reported that Human Rights Association, 
Batman Bar Association and Mazlum-Der (Association for the 
Oppressed People) have already conducted studies at the site of 
the incident.  The Human Rights Association Chairperson claims 
that security officials could have caught the people in the car 
alive if they wanted to. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   Soldiers reportedly blockaded a village in 
Siirt's Eruh district pursuant to a September 6 PKK attack on a 
jandarma station which killed one soldier. 
 
OZGUR GUNDEM:   The daily reports declarations Abdullah Ocalan 
made during his last meeting with his attorneys in his jail at 
Imrali Prison Island. 
 
EKSPRES / BOLGE:        Ayhan Senbayrak, Chairperson of CUGIAD 
(Cukurova Young Businessmen Association), said that efforts were 
launched to form a "Special Energy Area" in a nearly 250,000 
acre area in Ceyhan district of Adana.  Senbayrak reminded the 
recent trip of the premier and the minister of energy to Ceyhan 
where various energy projects were under way. 
 
BOLGE:  Vice-Chairperson of Adana's Chamber of Industry 
announced that a meeting would be held on September 12 at the 
chamber to give information to industrialists about the 2007 
Hannover Industrial Fair. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
REID 
GREEN