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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000039 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PINS PGOV PHUM TU
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR MARCH 13, 2007 
 
This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for March 13, 
¶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 
 
BOLGE:  Adana Mayor Aytac Durak wrote a letter to Dogu 
Perincek, Labor Party (IP) leader against whom a Swiss court 
issued 9000-Swiss-francs of fine for denying the Armenian 
genocide.  Durak said in his letter to Perincek that he would 
volunteer to pay the amount of money the Swiss court obliged 
Perincek to pay.  Durak further said that the Western countries 
were displaying a double-faced attitude regarding the issue of 
freedom of expression. 
 
BOLGE / EKSPRES / EVRENSEL / ZAMAN:     Eric Green, the U.S. Consul 
in Adana, paid a visit to the Cukurova Journalists' Association 
in Adana.  Green told the press members during his visit to the 
association that Bush administration was urging the Congress to 
drop the Armenian resolution pending in the U.S. Congress since 
the Administration believed that the resolution would not help 
the strategic relationship and alliance between the U.S. and 
Turkey.  Green further said that the U.S. very well understood 
the concerns of the Turkish people about the resolution and the 
damage it could to the ties between the two countries.  Green 
further said that the issue was more controversial with the 
intervention of the diplomats and politicians, that Turkey must 
deal with its historical issues with a more critical approach, 
and that the issue must be left to historians.  Green noted that 
the U.S. wants to focus all attention on maintaining the 
long-standing alliance and cooperation between Turkey and the 
U.S., and leave the resolution issue behind and concentrate on 
mutual interests of the two countries. 
 
SABAH (GUNEY):  The Twenty-third Motorized Infantry Brigade 
Command made a donation of apparels to people in Sirnak's Silopi 
district, who were victims of  flooding in the district last 
October, to provide relief for suffering caused by the disaster. 
 
EVRENSEL / RADIKAL:     The daily reports that Yasamda Gundem 
daily, which appeared on the shelves immediately after the 
one-month-ban imposed against the pro-Kurdish Gundem daily 
(because of its publications about alleged poisoning of Ocalan) 
(see press summaries for March 8 and 12.), has also been closed 
and been withdrawn from the shelves today.  The prosecutor's 
office has said Yasamda Gundem daily is an extension of the 
former Gundem daily. 
 
ZAMAN / EVRENSEL / HURRIYET / RADIKAL / SABAH:  Bursa Chief 
Prosecutors Office declared the report by Istanbul Forensic 
Authority on the alleged attempts to poison Abdullah Ocalan in 
his prison at Island Imrali found no traces of any poisoning. 
Zaman daily quotes Government Spokesperson and Ministry of 
Justice Cemil Cicek as saying that the allegations about 
Ocalan's poisoning were refuted and were proved baseless. 
 
EVRENSEL:       Members of the initiative for "Seeking Turkey's 
Peace", who are based in the southeastern region and in 
Diyarbakir, issued a joint declaration and made a call to the 
government to maintain common sense and show tolerance in the 
face of the developments that could escalate societal tension. 
The declaration was signed by 64 institutions and members of 
intelligentsia, it condemned the pressure exerted on DTP and 
called for an independent delegation of doctors to investigate 
the allegations about the poisoning of Ocalan. 
 
EVRENSEL:       Some mayors of the southeastern (from DTP), namely 
mayors of Diyarbakir, Hakkari, Tunceli, Mardin's Kiziltepe 
district, and Mus varto district, are holding contacts in 
Istanbul and Ankara to discuss the Kurdish issue, and, in 
particular, the health condition of Ocalan, the increased 
pressure on DTP, and efforts to hold peaceful Newroz 
celebrations.  The mayors are paying visits to the 
representatives of media organizations, opinion leaders, 
columnists, editors-in-chief, union leaders in Istanbul.  In 
Ankara, the mayors are planning to pay visits to the 
spokesperson of the parliament and deputy chairpersons of groups 
at the parliament.  The first visit in Istanbul was paid to the 
national chairperson of The Confederation of Revolutionary Trade 
Unions of Turkey (DISK). 
 
ZAMAN:  Diyarbakir Governor Efkan Ala said in a press 
announcement that the Diyarbakir people could identify those 
 
ADANA 00000039  002 OF 002 
 
 
people who are actually doing harm to province's public image. 
Ala said that the people engaging in terrorist activities should 
be aware of the fact that the provocations are taking the city 
20 years backwards and causing the people of Diyarbakir and 
Turkey to suffer from the consequences. 
 
ZAMAN:  Diyarbakir Mayor Osman Baydemir told journalists 
during DTP mayors' visits in Istanbul that the tourism potential 
in the Newroz celebrations should be brought to attention 
instead of just perceiving Newroz as a source of tension. 
Separately, in response to a question about a court's recently 
issued prison sentence against Ahmet Turk, DTP national 
chairperson, for using a courtesy title before the name of 
Abdullah Ocalan, Baydemir said that those kinds of remarks 
should not be construed as acts of crime in the 21st century. 
 
 
RADIKAL:        The Ankara Governor's Office decided to protect Esat 
Canan, Hakkari deputy from CHP.  They did this because of the 
information obtained by the Istanbul police through its phone 
lines and e-mail addressed that a possible assault may target 
Canan.  Police started getting information after news appeared 
in the media about the remarks Canan made at an official 
reception allegedly saying that "the southeastern region has its 
own martyrs."  Canan has already been going through an 
investigation process because of those remarks. 
 
CRIME / LAW ENFORCEMENT 
 
HURRIYET (CUKUROVA):    Mardin police chased a car which did not 
obey the instructions of the police to halt.  Police searched 
the car which was later found as deserted and found 19,000 
packages of cigarettes. 
 
ECONOMY 
 
ZAMAN:  Bahjat Dougman, Syrian Consul General to Gaziantep, 
made a call to businessmen and industrialists to carry out 
investments in Syria at a meeting held at Chamber of Commerce 
and Industry in Iskenderun district of Hatay. 
 
CULTURE / SOCIETY / ENVIRONMENT 
 
HURRIYET:       A group of 100 people wearing masks protested the 
controversial landfill problem in Mersin which has not been 
resolved for many years.  The protestors urged the local 
administration to hold a summit to solve the problem about where 
to dump the garbage of the city. 
 
HURRIYET:        A 4-magnitude earthquake shook Bingol province at 
2.30 p.m. yesterday. No material damage or casualties were 
reported. 
GREEN