VZCZCXRO9178
RR RUEHDA
DE RUEHDA #0055 1081147
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 181147Z APR 07
FM AMCONSUL ADANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4498
INFO RUEUITH/AFOSI DET 521 ANKARA TU
RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 1044
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 0900
RUEKJCS/OSD WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEILB/NCTC WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/AFOSI DET 522 INCIRLIK AB TU
RUETIAA/DIRNSA FT MEADE MD
RUEHDA/AMCONSUL ADANA 1101

UNCLAS ADANA 000055 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PINS PGOV PHUM TU
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR APRIL 17, 2007 
 
This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for April 17, 
¶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. 
 
SECURITY: 
 
BOLGE / HURRIYET:       Nearly 10,000 soldiers took part in military 
operations that were started in a section of Tunceli yesterday 
night against the terrorists.  Thirteen terrorists were 
reportedly killed and a soldier reportedly died.  The operations 
will continue until an estimated 350 PKK militants located in 
Tunceli are eradicated. 
 
CRIME / LAW ENFORCEMENT: 
 
HURRIYET (CUKUROVA):    Diyarbakir and Van Police undertook a 
joint operation and found 61 kilograms of heroin in a car.  The 
car had set off from Van and was stopped in Diyarbakir by the 
police. 
 
EKSPRES / BOLGE:        Thirteen people, who reportedly conducted an 
unauthorized demonstration and chanted illegal slogans as they 
visited a graveyard of a person at a cemetery in Adana, have 
been detained.  The people were members of a group that branded 
itself HOC (Rights and Liberties Front.) 
 
EKSPRES / BOLGE:        Three people, who carried out an assault on a 
journalist as he was talking during an interview that was being 
held at a local TV station in Adana on Saturday (04/14), 
surrendered themselves to police today. 
 
 
CULTURE / SOCIETY / ENVIRONMENT 
 
BOLGE:  Adana Mayor Aytac Durak extended condolences to the 
host of the talk show aired on Akdeniz TV and his guest, a 
journalist from a local daily, who was being interviewed when 
three persons raided the TV station and carried out an assault 
targeting the interviewee on Saturday night in Adana.  Mayor 
Durak noted that the cause of the assault was reported 
ambiguously in the media.  Durak further said that the assault 
came as the interviewee was talking about (controversial) 
tenders held in district municipalities of Adana, and the talk 
had no connection with any tenders conducted by Durak's office. 
 
HURRIYET (CUKUROVA):    Atilla Koc, Minister of Culture and 
Tourism, came to Hatay to mark Tourism Week which will be 
celebrated through activities between April 15 and 22. 
 
EVRENSEL:       Snowfall that started in eastern Turkey startled 
people who were expecting that the weather would get warmer. 
Students in Ardahan's Cildir district were given one day off 
from school because of the weather conditions.  Snow, which 
reached a depth of  13 centimeters in Ardahan and 9 centimeters 
in Kars, adversely affected daily life in Van Province.  Snow 
will continue to fall throughout the week, says the weather 
forecasts. 
 
EVRENSEL:       Assembly members of Diyarbakir's Sur district 
municipality, Diyarbakir Clergymen's Association and sixteen 
muhtars (headmen) of the Surici quarter made a press 
announcement and called for a fight against moral corruption in 
society.  The announcement, which envisaged a committed struggle 
to be launched against gambling and drug abuse in the community, 
was made in both Turkish and Kurdish. 
 
GREEN