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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ADANA 000002 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PINS PGOV PHUM TU
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR DECEMBER 28, 2006 
 
¶1.      This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for December 
28, 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.      ZAMAN / BOLGE / EKSPRES:        Mayor Aytac Durak, Deputy 
Governor Mehmet Demir, and Cukurova University Rector Alper 
Akinoglu attended the opening ceremony of renovated units of the 
Balcali Hospital of the Cukurova University, such as the Blood 
Center and General Surgery Unit.  Following some media 
organizations' reports on accommodation problems experienced by 
the relatives of patients at Balcali Hospital Rector Akinoglu 
announced that they were planning to build a hotel on the upper 
floors of a parking facility near the hospital in order to offer 
a convenient place for the relatives of the patients who come to 
Adana from nearby provinces in order to take care of their kin. 
Akinoglu made a call to Adana businessmen to support 
construction of the hotel since they were not able to raise the 
funds needed for it on their own. 
 
¶3.      HURRIYET:       Following remarks of Ahmet Turk, the National 
Chairperson of the DTP, who said 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, a senior general working in the southeastern Turkey said 
that he PKK had no maps in hand that showed the locations of 
each mine they had planted in Turkey.  The general gave further 
information about improvised mines PKK was using and said that 
there were no specific locations assigned that the terrorist 
organizations would plant their mines to.  According to the 
general DTP had no idea about the structure and tactics of the 
PKK, and that DTP was wrongfully assuming that they could 
influence the PKK.  However, the general pointed out that the 
PKK was playing with DTP for its own advantage. 
 
¶4.      RADIKAL / EVRENSEL / TOPLUMSAL DEMOKRASI:       Four members of 
DTP provincial party administration in Ankara, who were detained 
the previous day by Ankara police reportedly because they 
participated in a religious ceremony held in Ankara for a 
deceased PKK member and because of a press announcement they 
held on December 2 about the cease-fire, were released yesterday 
after being arraigned. 
 
¶5.      TOPLUMSAL DEMOKRASI:    DTP Chairperson Ahmet Turk 
dismissed recent news reports that appeared with claims about 
his frustration with the people of Diyarbakir who reportedly 
"did not extend much support" to the 900-person "Walk for Peace" 
convoy that traveled from Diyarbakir to Ankara last week to 
support the cease-fire process (see press summary for December 
18, 19 and 25). According to Turk, those reports were aiming to 
sour ties between DTP and Kurdish people.   Turk said that his 
remarks then were merely self-criticism fired against the DTP 
party organization, and it was not intended for, or meant to 
point a finger at, the Diyarbakir people.  Turk added that the 
party organization was able to take that criticism well. 
 
¶6.      TOPLUMSAL DEMOKRASI:    Mus Prosecutor's Office started an 
investigation against Siddik Genc, DTP Mus Provincial 
Chairperson, because of a speech Genc delivered during the "Walk 
for Peace" activity held at the onset of last week. 
 
¶7.      TOPLUMSAL DEMOKRASI:    The court issued a 1200 YTL 
(approximately 850 USD) fine against DTP District Chairperson of 
Agri's Dogubeyazit district who was standing trial for using the 
non-Turkish 'W' letter in an application document requesting 
permission from the subgovernor's office to hold 2006 Newruz 
celebrations and who used the same letter in the banners. 
 
¶8.      EVRENSEL / TOPLUMSAL DEMOKRASI: Thirteen villagers, 
who were standing trial for hurling stones and eggs at U.S. 
soldiers that came in a convoy to Sanliurfa's Suruc district in 
March 2003 to recover the remnants of a misfired Tomahawk 
missile, have been acquitted by the 2nd First Instance Court. 
 
 
¶9.      TOPLUMSAL DEMOKRASI:    The party organization of DTP in 
Hakkari's Yuksekova district held a meeting called "Peace and 
Democratic Solution for the Kurdish Issue." Yuksekova Mayor 
(from DTP), members of Free Citizens' Initiative and other civil 
society organizations, and people attended the meeting. It is 
stressed in the meeting that Kurds should give up voting for 
 
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parties like AKP, CHP and MHP which have reportedly been 
nurturing animosity against Kurds.  During the meeting, people 
gave messages to embrace the cease-fire process more strongly. 
 
 
SECURITY 
 
¶10.     TOPLUMSAL DEMOKRASI:    District Jandarma Command Teams in 
Sanliurfa's Suruc district conducted a raid on a village early 
yesterday morning upon reported intelligence received and as a 
result of permission given by the Suruc Prosecutor's Office. 
Teams, who searched all the houses, were able to find nothing 
and left the village later. 
 
ECONOMY 
 
¶11.     SABAH (GUNEY):  The daily portrays Chairperson of Adana 
Chamber of Commerce (ACC) as drinking a glass of orange juice at 
a shop in downtown Adana to support the camping Sabah (Guney) 
daily recently launched to increase the consumption of citrus 
fruit in the Adana province. 
 
CRIME / LAW ENFORCEMENT: 
 
¶12.     RADIKAL:        Masked thieves with long-barreled rifles 
stopped a car in Van's Baskale district and stole a total of 
16,000 YTL (approximately 11,200 USD) and three cell phones from 
the people in the car. 
 
¶13.     BOLGE / ZAMAN:  Mersin police found 13 kilograms of 
heroin in a hidden section of a small passenger bus.  The heroin 
was brought to Mersin via Van after it entered the country from 
Iran, said the Security Director of Mersin.  It would then be 
transported through Istanbul to the European countries to be 
marketed there.  Four people in the vehicle were detained by the 
police. 
 
CULTURE / SOCIETY / ENVIRONMENT 
 
¶14.      HURRIYET / TOPLUMSAL DEMOKRASI / CNNTURK ONLINE / 
HURRIYET (CUKUROVA) / SABAH (GUNEY) / RADIKAL / ZAMAN:  An 
avalanche killed a 55-year-old member of a crew working to clear 
the snow-covered roads between Hakkari's Yuksekova and Semdinli 
districts.  Another crew member was wounded in the incident. 
Separately, 22 passengers in a small bus stranded in snow on a 
road in one of the villages of the Cukurca district were rescued 
by the teams working to clear the roads from snow.  Due to 
adverse weather conditions schools in Bitlis; Bitlis's Tatvan 
and Guroymak districts; Eruh's Siirt district; Mardin's Omerli 
district; Van's Bahcesaray, Caldiran, Baskale and Ercis 
districts have been closed for one day.  Schools in Batman, 
Sirnak and Igdir provinces shave been closed for three days. 
Snowfall forced the closure of the main road that connected 
Diyarbakir to Bingol and Mardin provinces.  Turkish Airlines 
cancelled a morning flight between Istanbul and Diyarbakir due 
to the icing spotted on Diyarbakir Airport's runway yesterday. 
Eleven flights from Diyarbakir to Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir and 
Antalya provinces were also cancelled the previous day. Roads to 
the thousands of villages and hamlets are blocked in many 
provinces of the eastern and southeastern Turkey.  Snow reached 
to one foot in Hakkari and to two feet in Mardin city centers. 
A total of 114 people went to the hospitals because of fractures 
caused by falling on slippery roads in Diyarbakir in the last 
two days. 
 
¶15.     TOPLUMSAL DEMOKRASI:    DTP called off its program that 
would have Ahmet Turk, National Chairperson of DTP, and Aysel 
Tugluk, Vice-Chairperson, to work out ways to turn the 
cease-fire process into a state of permanent peace in Batman and 
Tunceli provinces, due to the adverse weather conditions in the 
region (see press summary for December 27). 
 
¶16.     TOPLUMSAL DEMOKRASI:    The daily comments on the incident 
that took place on December 19 and 20 in the Mersin University 
between the leftist oriented students and ultra-nationals 
students.  Thirteen students were arrested after the event.  The 
anti-riot teams had difficulty quelling the clash between the 
students then.  According to the daily, the authorities 
refrained to date from initiating legal actions against the 
ultra-nationalist students who allegedly "attacked the leftist 
oriented Kurdish students in the campus", and tacitly gave 
support to the ultra-nationalist students.  However, the local 
dailies such as Bolge and Ekspres reported last week that "200 
leftist students attacked the students who were believed to be 
 
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ultra-nationalists." (Note: The last sentence is from December 
20 editions of Bolge and Ekspres dailies. End Note.) 
GREEN