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DE RUEHDA #0054/01 1010546
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 110546Z APR 07
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RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 1042
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 0898
RUEKJCS/OSD WASHINGTON DC
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RHMFIUU/AFOSI DET 522 INCIRLIK AB TU
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RUEHDA/AMCONSUL ADANA 1099

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000054 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PINS PGOV PHUM TU
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR APRIL 09, 2007 
 
This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for April 09, 
¶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 
 
EKSPRES / BOLGE:        Anavatan (Motherland Party) Leader Erkan Mumcu 
held a public meeting in Adana.  During his address to the 
people, Mumcu reacted harshly to the statements of Massoud 
Barzani, president of Iraqi regional authority, which said that 
if Turkey conducted a cross border operation in northern Iraq, 
then they would conduct an operation in Diyarbakir.  Mumcu 
suggested that, if Turkey closed the Habur Border Gate in Sirnak 
for three days, then people would perceive the reality that 
Turkey was not a small country that they would easily play with. 
 
 
EKSPRES:        MHP Provincial Chairperson Yilmaz Tankut issued a 
statement to mark the 162nd anniversary of the foundation of 
Turkish National Police.  Tankut, who said that the police 
organization was the pride of the country, pointed out that 
regulations imposed on Turkey by the EU and the government's 
alleged yielding attitude towards the illegal circles, were 
weakening the position of the police. 
 
ZAMAN / EVRENSEL:       An office of the Council of State recently 
overturned the appeal of the Diyarbakir Mayor Osman Baydemir who 
objected to the investigation started by the Ministry of 
Internal Affairs on November 28, 2006 on the grounds that 
Baydemir violated a law on the use of the Turkish alphabet and 
sent an invitation for a festival in Diyarbakir to the 
Diyarbakir Prosecutor in both Kurdish and Turkish on an 
unspecified date in the past. 
 
EVRENSEL:       DTP Diyarbakir provincial chairperson Hilmi 
Aydogudu, who was arrested in late February because of his press 
statement that reportedly claimed that they would regard an 
attack targeting Kirkuk as an attack on Diyarbakir, was released 
early in April, but will stand trial for his statements.  Today, 
Evrensel daily publishes an interview with Aydogdu, who 
complained that some of his statements were deliberately pulled 
out of context by the media and were portrayed as if his remarks 
carried hostile intentions.  Aydogdu, who stayed in prison for 
41 days, blamed the authorities for pursuing aggressive policies 
towards them. 
 
SECURITY 
 
EVRENSEL:       Two soldiers and a village guard died during 
separate military operations the Turkish Armed Forces carried 
out in Bitlis and Sirnak provinces.  One of the soldiers died 
when he stepped on a land mine in Bitlis's Celtikli district. 
 
HURRIYET:       Hurriyet daily reports that four PKK members were 
killed during a military operation carried out in Tunceli's 
Cemiskezek and Hozat districts yesterday. 
 
EKSPRES / BOLGE / HURRIYET (CUKUROVA) / HURRIYET:       Three 
people have been arrested in Adana as they were allegedly making 
preparations to carry out a bomb attack in the province.  The 
police reported that the people caught were members of a radical 
DHKP/C terrorist organization and they were reportedly targeting 
judges, prosecutors and the military personnel.  The police 
found material used in devising a bomb, 11 kilograms of 
explosives, three alarm clocks, and varius other material in the 
car and the at house of the arrestees. 
 
ZAMAN / EKSPRES / BOLGE / HURRIYET (CUKUROVA):  A bomb attack 
hit a police station in Adana's Daglioglu quarter at 00.10 am 
Sunday morning.  A police car was damaged badly and the impact 
caused a hole in the wall of the police station.  The bomb was 
left in a trash can in front of the station.  Witnesses said 
that an unanonynmous person(s) opened fire with an RPG from a 
white-color car towards the station immediately after the bomb 
attack, and fled the scene.  No casualties were reported.  The 
Adana Governor visited the site of the incident. 
 
CRIME / LAW ENFORCEMENT: 
 
EVRENSEL:       Twenty-one Kurdish refugees who set off from Mosul 
on April 3 to enter Turkey illegally to settle in Istanbul in 
order to find employment have been caught by jandarma in a rural 
area of Mardin's Kiziltepe district.  The refugees were starving 
 
ADANA 00000054  002 OF 002 
 
 
when the jandarma found them.  The refugees were cheated out of 
their money by a truck driver who falsely promised to take them 
to Istanbul. 
 
CULTURE / SOCIETY / ENVIRONMENT 
 
EKSPRES / BOLGE:        The funeral of a commissioned officer who was 
killed in a conflict between the security forces and terrorists 
in Sirnak's Besteler area (on an unspecified date) will be held 
in Saimbeyli district of Adana today. 
 
ZAMAN:  Heavy rain flooded some quarters and settlements in 
the Adana province and left many families in hardship as they 
worked to save their furniture and property from muddy waters 
the rain brought in to their houses. 
 
EKSPRES / BOLGE / HURRIYET (CUKUROVA) / ZAMAN:  Mayor Aytac 
Durak donated wheel-chairs to 45 handicapped people living in 
Adana. 
GREEN