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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000001 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER 27, 2006 
 
¶1.      This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for December 
27, 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 
 
¶2.      CUMHURIYET / TOPLUMSAL DEMOKRASI:       A Turkish-based 
radical group called Hezbollah, which dissolved after its leader 
was killed six years ago in Istanbul, has reportedly been 
striving to regain strength in southeastern Turkey, especially 
in Diyarbakir province.  Hezbollah is trying to regroup in many 
districts, villages and townships through foundations and 
associations. The group's current political goals reportedly 
focus on winning independent seats for its members in the 
Turkish Parliament and on winning mayoral posts in some 
townships in local elections. (Note: There are no known ties 
between this group and Iranian-based Hezbollah. End Note.) 
 
 
¶3.      TOPLUMSAL DEMOKRASI:    The University of British 
Columbia-based Human Security Center released a 150-page report 
on Human Security worldwide.  The report described the Kurdish 
problem as one for which "there was no effort of a negotiated 
settlement." Turkey is not addressing the general Kurdish issue, 
but is instead simply combating the security liability caused by 
the PKK, according to the report. 
 
¶4.      TOPLUMSAL DEMOKRASI:    Ahmet Turk, the National 
Chairperson of the DTP, and Aysel Tugluk, Vice-Chairperson, will 
attend a series of activities that seek to find ways to convert 
the cease-fire process into a state of permanent peace in the 
Batman and Tunceli provinces.  Turk and Tugluk have already held 
similar events, in which they met with thousands of people, in 
Hakkari, Agri, and Van provinces. 
 
¶5.      HURRIYET:       The daily reported DTP Chairman Ahmet Turk as 
saying that if Turkey were to employ democratic and civilian 
methods in finding a solution to the Kurdish issue, the DTP 
would then call on the PKK to either sweep the mines it had laid 
or to indicate where it planted them.  Turk added that if the 
Government were to send the message that it wanted to resolve 
the Kurdish issue through non-violent methods, then it would be 
able to deal with the issue more effectively. 
¶6.      BOLGE / EVRENSEL:       A hundred members of the Labor Platform 
held a march in Adana to demand a larger minimum wage increase. 
The group chanted slogans as it marched towards the AKP's 
provincial party building. 
 
¶7.      TOPLUMSAL DEMOKRASI:    A Diyarbakir court continued its 
hearing of the case opened against Diyarbakir Mayor Osman 
Baydemir as a result of remarks he had made "to calm the unrest" 
that had erupted between March 28 and 31 in Diyarbakir and had 
resulted in the death of 10 people.  The Mayor reportedly faces 
up to ten years of imprisonment.  The Diyarbakir Governor's 
Office reportedly stated that Baydemir had requested permission 
from the Governor's Office to attempt to calm down the 
instigators.  The Office had also assigned a Deputy Governor to 
work with Baydemir on restoring the peace. 
 
¶8.      SABAH:    Sabah daily reported that the Diyarbakir 
Governor's Office denied assigning any responsibilities to Mayor 
Baydemir during the incidents that took place last March in 
Diyarbakir. 
 
CRIME / LAW ENFORCEMENT: 
 
¶9.      RADIKAL / HURRIYET:     In Diyarbakir a 16-year-old boy, 
who found his 18-year-old sister talking to her boyfriend on her 
cell phone at 3 AM, shot and killed her.  The boy confessed to 
the murder and was arrested by police. 
 
¶10.     HURRIYET:       Customs officials at the port of Mersin 
discovered contraband cigars worth 150,000 YTL (approximately 
100,000 USD) in a truck aboard a vessel loaded with oranges that 
had come from the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus. 
 
¶11.     HURRIYET:       Three men, who deserted from the PKK and were 
briefly afforded shelter by peshmergas of the Iraqi Kurdistan 
Democratic Party, were returned to Turkey, reportedly upon their 
own request.  The Sirnak Governor's Office announced that the 
men had been arrested at the Habur Border Gate in Sirnak.  In 
another PKK-related story, hackers who had been caught and 
arrested on charges of conducting propaganda for the PKK by 
hacking websites, had allegedly hacked a total of 2,307 public 
and private websites before being apprehended. 
 
CULTURE / SOCIETY / ENVIRONMENT 
 
 
ADANA 00000001  002 OF 002 
 
 
¶12.     SABAH:  A 13-year-old girl in Van's Baskale district, 
whose uncles had attempted to marry her to a 40-year-old man 
after her parents died, was put under state protection by the 
Van Governor's Office. 
 
¶13.     SABAH (GUNEY):  State Minister Kursat Tuzmen attended 
the groundbreaking ceremony for a monument that would be erected 
in memory of the 14 children who were massacred by French forces 
during the clashes that took place in Gaziantep as the city was 
fighting to liberate itself from French occupation in 1920s. 
 
¶14.     HURRIYET (CUKUROVA):    The Dean of the Department of 
Fisheries and Aquaculture at Mustafa Kemal University in Hatay 
stated that Iskenderun Bay well-protected for tourism and 
fishing purposes. He added that the government had become 
indifferent to the issues emerging in and around the Bay. 
 
¶15.     HURRIYET (CUKUROVA):    Gaziantep Mayor Asim Guzelbey said 
that Gaziantep province ranked second among Turkey's most 
heavily-indebted municipalities.  Guzelbey, who noted that 
earlier administrations had made unplanned and lavish 
expenditures, added that the municipality had won its 
international arbitration court case, which would result in 
seven trillion (approx USD 5 million) Turkish Liras being repaid 
to the Gaziantep Municipality. 
 
¶16.     HURRIYET (CUKUROVA) / BOLGE / EKSPRES:  The Yeni Adana 
daily celebrated its 89th birthday yesterday in Adana.  Many 
journalists, executives, and other distinguished guests attended 
the event. 
 
¶17.     HURRIYET (CUKUROVA):    In Gaziantep, two people claiming 
to be the police chief and his deputy defrauded tradesmen of 
their money.  Police apprehended the two offenders. 
 
¶18.     RADIKAL / ZAMAN / SABAH (GUNEY) / TOPLUMSAL DEMOKRASI: 
Heavy snowfall has been adversely affecting daily life in 
Diyarbakir, Bingol, Mardin and Batman provinces.  The roads to 
villages were blockaded with snow, and schools in Diyarbakir's 
Silvan district were closed for a day due to the heavy snow. 
 
¶19.     TOPLUMSAL DEMOKRASI:    According to this daily, an 
anonymous official from Regional Directorate of Environment and 
Forests allegedly admitted that the Idil Jandarma Command had 
requested permission from the Directorate to cut down trees in 
some sections of the district due to security concerns in the 
area (see press summary for December 26). Soldiers had, however, 
started cutting down trees in many places prior to official 
permission being given by the Directorate.  The official further 
acknowledged that these activities had occurred not only in 
Sirnak's Idil district, but in the Guclukonak and Uludere 
districts as well. 
 
¶20.     TOPLUMSAL DEMOKRASI:    A delegation, including DTP's Idil 
District Chairperson and the mayor of Idil, paid a visit to the 
Syriac Church in Sirnak to Christmas greetings. 
 
¶21.     CUMHURIYET:     A controversial Turkish-US joint venture 
entitled the "Blackhawk Security Company" announced recently 
that it was halting its operations in Sirnak's Silopi district 
due to financial concerns. 
REID