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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ADANA 000025 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PINS PGOV PHUM TU
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR FEBRUARY 21, 2007 
 
 
¶1.      This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for 
February 21, 2007.  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.      BOLGE:  Eric Green, U.S. Consul to Adana, who came to 
Mardin to attend a series of visits at the Habur Border Gate in 
Sirnak and to pay local visits to businessmen, political party 
representatives, and civil society organizations, talked with 
press members during his visit to the Mardin Governor Mehmet 
Kiliclar and said that he came to see the economic, regional and 
political developments at a local level.  Mr. Green, when asked 
about the policy the U.S. government would pursue about the 
draft law brought to congress about the Armenian genocide 
claims, said that the U.S. government, the President and the 
Secretary of the State shared the belief that such a move would 
 
SIPDIS 
produce no good results.  Mr. Green believed that Turkey and 
Armenia should engage in bilateral meetings to discuss the 
issues concerning the past to better shape the future. Mr. Green 
later paid a visit to DTP Mardin Provincial Chairperson Ferhan 
Turk, who is the brother of DTP National Chairperson Ahmet Turk. 
 
¶3.      SABAH (GUNEY):  Aytac Durak, Mayor of Adana, welcomed 
the idea of Sabah's Guney supplement about stimulating citrus 
fruit consumption through holding an international citrus fruit 
festival in Adana.  Durak said that they will include a program 
concerning citrus fruit under this year's International Altin 
Koza Film Festival which is an annual festival held in Adana. 
 
¶4.      GUNDEM: According to the daily, as the Kurds have 
begun preparations for this year's Newroz celebrations, senior 
Turkish police officers from the National Security Directorate 
and 12 security directors in provinces of eastern and 
southeastern region held a security summit in Diyarbakir 
yesterday allegedly in order "to prevent the Newroz celebrations 
to have wide influence in the region." 
 
¶5.      GUNDEM: Diyarbakir Bar Association will hold a 
conference called "Truth, Justice and Facing the Past For 
Reconciliation and Peace" with support from Hainrich Boll 
Stiftung Association on February 23 at the theater hall of the 
Diyarbakir Munucipality.  Sezgin Tanrikulu, Chairperson of 
Diyarbakir Bar Association, regarded the conference as one that 
would spearhead establishment of an independent commission, 
similar to Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa, 
which was co-founded by Alex Boraine. 
 
¶6.      GUNDEM: Staff members of a journal called Ozgur Halk 
(Free Peoples) applied to a court in Van to claim back the 
documents, magazines and books the police seized during a raid 
they conducted at the Van branch office of the journal on an 
unspecified date.  The representative of the journal claimed 
that the raid was unauthorized and the material the police 
seized were not banned publications. 
 
¶7.      GUNDEM: A new Kurdish television called Newroz TV 
started its test broadcasts from Europe yesterday morning.  The 
language of broadcasting will be Kurdish and Persian and the 
actual broadcasts will start on March 21. 
 
¶8.      GUNDEM: DTP Bitlis provincial party organization 
distributed 10,000 brochures to people for the elections that 
will be held in 2007.  The brochures are making calls to people 
to register themselves as voters. 
 
¶9.      RADIKAL / ZAMAN:        An Istanbul court ordered that Former 
Van Prosecutor Ferhat Sarikaya, who was dismissed because of the 
controversial indictement he prepared for the Semdinli bombing 
incident in Hakkari, should pay 5000 YTL monetary fine for 
attacking the personal rights of Major General Nuri Ali Karababa 
in the Semdinli indictement.  Sarikaya was already fined 
recently to pay 5000 YTL to another senior military officer of 
the Sirnak Provincial Jandarma Command on the same grounds. 
 
¶10.     ZAMAN:  According to an election poll conducted by 
Plusmayak, thirty three per cent of the Adana electorate will 
cast votes for AKP in 2007 parliamentary elections.  The votes 
for CHP turned out as 21.4 per cent and the votes for MHP turned 
out as 15.28 per cent. 
 
SECURITY 
 
 
ADANA 00000025  002 OF 003 
 
 
¶11.     GUNDEM: The daily reported that rural areas around the 
villages of Siirt were attacked by five helicopters at 6 a.m. 
yesterday within the scope of military operations that have been 
going on in the area for about a month.  Nearly 200 armored 
military vehicles from the Siirt Brigade Command have recently 
been deployed in the Mount Mava region and many soldiers have 
been sent to the area.  The daily also reported a military 
operation that had started in the Amanos Maountains. (Note: 
Amanos Mountains cross the Kahramanmaras and Hatay provinces. 
End Note.) 
 
ECONOMY 
 
¶12.     HURRIYET (CUKUROVA):    In order to broaden the trade 
opportunities between Turkey, Iraq and Syria, Mehmet Aslan, 
president of the executive board of Gaziantep Chamber of 
Commerce, suggested that the border trade locality should be 
built in a place called Akcakoyun and direct train lines should 
be established between Gaziantep in Turkey and Aleppo in Syria. 
Aslan further said that the U.S. and Iraqi governments should 
play a more assertive role in helping to ensure the safety of 
the Turkish transport companies as they operate to carry goods 
to and from Iraq. 
 
¶13.     SABAH (GUNEY):  Marc Pierini, Head of the European 
Commission's Delegation to Turkey, and representatives of 13 EU 
Information Offices attended the meeting held to support the 
network of EU's information offices at Gaziantep's Chamber of 
Commerce. 
 
CRIME / LAW ENFORCEMENT 
 
¶14.     BOLGE / GUNDEM / CUMHURIYET / RADIKAL:  Ministry of 
Health started an investigation into allegations of patient 
abuse, violence, and maltreatment in Adana's Hospital for Mental 
Illnesses that a national television channel brought to light. 
The chief doctor of the hospital has been suspended from office 
and the health ministry sent inspectors to the hospital to probe 
the case.  MHP Adana provincial chairperson Yilmaz Tankut said 
that the footage of the situation in the hospital that was 
broadcast on a national TV station was abhorrent and constituted 
a shame for humanity. 
 
¶15.     EVRENSEL / GUNDEM / CUMHURIYET: A regional 
administrative court affirmed that Diyarbakir Governor's Office 
was right in objecting to the decision taken on March 2, 2006 by 
the Diyarbakir Provincial Assembly to include Kurdish 
equivalents for Turkish village names written on signs. 
 
¶16.     SABAH (GUNEY) / ZAMAN:  The court ordered a 15,000 YTL 
fine against Ceyhan District Mayor in Adana for attacking the 
personal rights of PM Erdogan and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah 
Gul in an interview a local Adana daily made with the Mayor on 
December 19, 2005. 
 
¶17.     SABAH (GUNEY) / BOLGE / EKSPRES:        Adana Mayor Aytac 
Durak paid a visit to Chairperson of Adana Bar Association and 
its executive board members.  Durak announced that the 
municipality would allocate 1290 square meter land for the 
social facility that is envisaged to be built for retired 
attorneys. 
 
¶18.     SABAH (GUNEY) / HURRIYET (CUKUROVA) / ZAMAN:    An 
anonymous businessman donated 25,000 YTL for the fundraising 
campaign Adana Mayor Aytac Durak initiated one month ago for one 
of the two soccer clubs of Adana, namely Adanaspor.  Durak 
conveyed the money to the deputy president of the soccer club. 
 
¶19.     HURRIYET (CUKUROVA):    Truck drivers transporting goods 
to Iraq initiated a strike when subcontractor companies started 
to pay their salaries lower than the amount initially agreed 
upon. 
 
¶20.     HURRIYET (CUKUROVA):    Instructors of EU, Ministry of 
Health, and Turkey's Family Health and Planning Foundation 
funded two-year "Peer Education on Sexual Health Project" 
reaching out to 8000 youth in Turkey, 2000 of whom are based in 
Adana province.  Instructors informed youth on healthy sexuality 
and reproduction. 
 
 
¶21.     HURRIYET (CUKUROVA):    General Directorate of Foundations 
will donate 7 million YTL for the restoration project of the 
historical Ashab-i Keyf complex located in Kahramanmaras's Afsin 
 
ADANA 00000025  003 OF 003 
 
 
district. 
 
¶22.     BOLGE:  Gaziantep Mayor Asim Guzelbey briefed press 
about a project undertaken by the Gaziantep Municipality and ILO 
(International Labor Organization) that would aim to offer 
vocational training to the parents of those children who are 
working in the streets to earn livelihood. 
 
¶23.     CUMHURIYET / BOLGE / ZAMAN:     Under a program of the EU 
called 'Comenius 1.2 School Partnerships', 15 students from 
Slovakia and Turkey met at a high school in Turkey to learn 
about the cultural humor patterns in both countries in order to 
promote better understanding and friendship among the youth. 
GREEN