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UNCLAS ADANA 000253 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PINS PGOV PHUM TU
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER 04, 2006 
 
 
This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for December 04, 
¶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 
 
HURRIYET / ZAMAN / SABAH / CUMHURIYET:  A group of soldiers 
who were being transferred to Agri's Dogubeyazit district from 
the Sixth Armored Brigade in Bitlis's Tatvan district in a small 
bus     had an accident and collided with a truck which reportedly 
unlawfully left his lane of travel.  Three soldiers died and 
eight of them were wounded. 
 
HURRIYET / ZAMAN / SABAH:       A first instance court in 
Sanliurfa's Viransehir district issued a fine to a defendant on 
charges that he engaged in activities illegal under the Election 
Law.  The defendant submitted two petitions, one in Turkish and 
one in Kurdish, to appeal the court's decision.  The Eight 
Supreme Court overturned the petition in Kurdish and processed 
the Turkish one stating the grounds that the medium of language 
of the Turkish State was Turkish. 
 
ZAMAN / CUMHURIYET:     Mersin-based CETKODER (Association for 
Protecting the Environment and Consumer Rights) launched a 
campaign and gathered two million signatures for the parliament 
to pass amendments regarding the Political Parties Act. 
CETKODER is objecting to clauses in the act which regulate the 
funding provided by the Treasury for the political parties. 
 
 
BOLGE / EKSPRES / ZAMAN:        Adana Mayor Aytac Durak, who 
attended one of the regular monthly meetings of Chamber of 
Commerce in Adana as a guest, said during his speech that some 
circles in Adana, for political gains, worked hard to reverse 
the planned course of action in the light rail metro system 
project, and in a sense "derailed" the project whose 
construction had to halt because of those efforts. 
 
SABAH:  The PKK allegedly executed a former senior member 
who was reportedly formerly the head of broke away from the 
organization on May 2005, with another senior member.  Heftaro 
was reportedly killed in Aleppo on November 28, 2006. 
 
SECURITY 
 
SABAH:  A funeral was held for two brothers, aged 12 and 14, 
who died because of an explosion that took place as they were 
playing with the bullets of a propeller gun they found in the 
ground in a village of Sirnak's Uludere district. 
 
ECONOMY 
 
SABAH (GUNEY):  A Project Coordination Unit, which is being 
established by the Gaziantep Governor's Office, was opened by 
State Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullatif Sener in 
Gaziantep's Chamber of Commerce.  Sener announced that the 
Interregional Cooperation Program between Turkey and Syria would 
allocate 20 million dollars of funding for the projects that 
will be carried out in Gaziantep and Kilis. 
 
CULTURE / SOCIETY / ENVIRONMENT 
 
HURIYET / EVRENSEL:     Snowfall in a section of Erzincan coated 
a road with sheet of ice causing a passenger bus to slide off 
and roll over.  Thirty-one out of forty-three passengers were 
wounded. 
 
HURRIYET (CUKUROVA):      Two hundred handicapped people held a 
march to mark the World Disability Day in Adana.  Seyhan and 
Yuregir Municipalities organized separate activities to 
celebrate the day in Adana.  World Disability Day celebrations 
were also held in Diyarbakir.  Some news footage showed 
Diyarbakir Mayor Osman Baydemir as joining in the folk dances 
performance of the disabled persons. 
 
GREEN