VZCZCXRO8819
RR RUEHDA
DE RUEHDA #0262/01 3531329
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 191329Z DEC 06
FM AMCONSUL ADANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4392
INFO RUEUITH/AFOSI DET 521 ANKARA TU
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 0938
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 0810
RUEKJCS/OSD WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEILB/NCTC WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/AFOSI DET 522 INCIRLIK AB TU
RUETIAA/DIRNSA FT MEADE MD
RUEHDA/AMCONSUL ADANA 0994

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000262 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PINS PGOV PHUM TU
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER 19, 2006 
 
 
This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for December 19, 
¶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 
 
TOPLUMSAL DEMOKRASI / EVRENSEL / ZAMAN / RADIKAL:       "A Walk 
for Peace", comprised of a 20-car convoy and which was started 
by nearly 1000 elected members of DTP three days ago in 
Diyarbakir in order to extend support for the cease-fire 
declared by the PKK, ended in Ankara yesterday (see press 
summary for December 18).  Evrensel and Toplumsal Demokrasi 
dailies report Kurds' deep frustration about Parliament 
Spokesperson Bulent Arinc who declined to meet DTP officials in 
Ankara.  The dailies, which reminded that elected Kurdish 
deputies were dismissed from the parliament in 1994 and 2005, 
further reported that the hands extended to find a counterpart 
for a possible peace process "found no response again" 
yesterday.  DTP Chairperson Ahmet Turk commented that a 
Parliament Spokesperson plainly gave no response to their 
request for an appointment, and branded such attitude as a 
stance taken against peace.  Evrensel and Toplumsal Demokrasi 
dailies also pointed out that Mr. Arinc met with Land Forces 
Commander on the same day they requested an appointment from 
Arinc.  DTP members held a 10-minute sit-in protest in Ankara, 
left their white scarves symbolizing peace on the trees, and 
returned to their hometowns. 
 
HURRIYET (CUKUROVA):    Assembly members (from MHP) of the Adana 
Municipality protested against the Municipality for not 
completing the light rail metro system whose construction was 
started back in 1997. 
 
ECONOMY 
 
SABAH (GUNEY):  Many organizations, such as a cooperative in 
Adana, Seyhan District's Chamber of Agriculture, and Mersin 
Governor's Office launched efforts to encourage consumption of 
citrus fruit and its juice.  The cooperative for its part will 
provide citrus fruit supplementing the regular dinner meals 
provided to its staff members and will offer a citrus fruit as a 
drink to their guests. 
 
CRIME / LAW ENFORCEMENT 
 
BOLGE / HURRIYET (CUKUROVA):    Gaziantep police seized four 
kilograms of hashish as a result of an anti-drug operation 
conducted on a car carrying five persons in Gaziantep.  The 
people caught have been detained.  Meanwhile, police, who found 
17 kilograms of hashish in a passenger bus in Van's Muradiye 
district during their regular searches, started investigating 
the case. 
 
HUMAN RIGHTS 
 
TOPLUMSAL DEMOKRASI / EVRENSEL: Human Rights Association 
(HRA) sent a delegation to the Pirinclik village of Diyarbakir 
to probe the case of a 17-year-old young person who, according 
to the military officials, died because of a heart attack he had 
while he was under detention at a jandarma station there (see 
press summary for December 18). (Note: Some papers report the 
age of the boy as 16.  End note.)  HRA will generate a report 
about its findings on the incident.  Diyarbakir Prosecutor's 
Office started an investigation against the soldiers, according 
to the reporting of Toplumsal Demokrasi daily.  Evrensel daily 
points out that Diyarbakir Governor's Office did not find 
satisfactory grounds for the Office to start an investigation 
into the incident.  Deputy Governor reportedly claimed that 
jandarma only opened fire in the air and did not shoot anybody 
during the event. 
 
TOPLUMSAL DEMOKRASI:    Prosecution process against 59 members 
of the Sanliurfa Democracy Platform will start tomorrow in 
Sanliurfa's Fifth First Instance Court.  Charges were brought 
against those 59 defendants because they allegedly violated the 
Act on Holding Meetings and Demonstrations during a press 
announcement held on February 15, 2005 in support of "global 
peace as against global war." 
 
TOPLUMSAL DEMOKRASI:    Eight students of the Centennial 
University were detained by police as they were walking in a 
street in Van.  The grounds for the students' detention were 
reportedly not provided. 
 
ADANA 00000262  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
TOPLUMSAL DEMOKRASI / RADIKAL:  In the face of honor 
killings dominating the agenda of the Van province, and, 
according to the Toplumsal Demokrasi daily: the municipality 
"doing nothing to address the issue of honor killings", a female 
attorney recently launched efforts for a project to build a 
women's shelter in Van. 
 
EVRENSEL:       Chairperson of Tunceli Chapter of Human Rights 
Association, who held a press announcement together with 
political party representatives, attorneys, union 
representatives and other people, claimed that The Law on 
Compensating for the Losses Incurred Because Of Terrorism, and 
Anti-Terror Measures proved itself unsatisfactory in 
compensating for losses of the terrorism victims. 
 
CULTURE / SOCIETY / ENVIRONMENT 
 
EVRENSEL:        The Rector's Office of Dokuz Eylul University in 
Izmir did not grant authorization to students to open stands for 
an aid campaign launched to help the victims of flooding 
disasters that took place in the southeastern region.  The 
Rector's Office overturned the students' request on grounds that 
the application was not conforming to the procedures and that 
the campaign lacked an instructor who would properly lead the 
initiative. 
 
SABAH (GUNEY):  Sanliurfa Governor Yusuf Yavascan announced 
that cash aid amounting to 500 YTL (nearly 350 USD) would be 
provided to each family out of a total of 116 families who have 
been victims of flooding in the whole province.  The Governor 
also pledged that aid will be provided to those people whose 
houses got destroyed during the disaster. 
 
BOLGE / HURRIYET (CUKUROVA):    Barabra Petzen, an American 
citizen, who came to Adana's Incirlik district in 1983 to teach 
English there, settled in Mersin's Kizkalesi district when she 
retired.  Petzen, who recently died in the U.S. as she was being 
treated for leukemia, requested in her will for her ashes to be 
brought and be thrown into the sea in Kizkalesi district, a 
place she loved very much. 
 
HURRIYET (CUKUROVA):    An eight-year-old Turkish girl won the 
first prize in her category at the International Chess 
Championship held by the American Chess Federation in the U.S. 
GREEN