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R 200640Z APR 07
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RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 1047
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RUEHDA/AMCONSUL ADANA 1104

UNCLAS ADANA 000058 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PINS PGOV PHUM TU
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR APRIL 19, 2007 
 
 
¶1.      This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for April 
19, 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.      ZAMAN / EVRENSEL / SABAH / HURRIYET / RADIKAL: 
Three people were killed and two people were wounded in an 
attack carried out at a Bible publication house in Malatya 
yesterday afternoon.  One of the victims was a German national. 
At the site of the incident, police detained four people they 
suspected.  The publication house manager said that they were 
being threatened, but he said he cannot name any definite 
organization that targeted them.  Malatya Governor Halil Ibrahim 
Dasoz, Security Director and the Chief Prosecutor visited the 
site of the incident.  Ahmet Guvener, the priest of the 
Protestant Church in Diyarbakir, told Sabah daily that they 
themselves had received many threats on allegations that they 
were conducting Christian missionary activities, and, the local 
media in Mardin portrayed them (the Christians) in a manner that 
would spark hostile intentions among circles in the community 
(against Christians.) 
 
¶3.      BOLGE / ZAMAN:  Under leadership of the Cukurova 
Journalists' Association (CJA), a march was held in Adana by the 
members of the local press to protest the three assailants' 
attack carried out on two journalists during a TV program on 
Saturday (04/14) at the premise of the Akdeniz TV station.  DYP 
and CHP provincial chairmen attended the march, as well.  Adana 
Governor Ilhan Atis paid a visit to the CJA and said that that 
incident did great harm to the image of the province.  The 
Governor and CJA chairperson paid a visit together to the 
journalist who was hospitalized. 
 
¶4.      EVRENSEL:       People protested the authorities in Agri's 
Patnos district for not reissuing green cards to them after 
their cards expired.  The authorities reportedly set a 
precondition for green card holders to pay a certain municipal 
tax on environmental and cleaning services before they can be 
reissued green cards. (Note: Green cards are issued for people 
whose income level is lower than the minimum income level in 
Turkey and green cards provide free access to certain medical 
services. End Note.) 
 
¶5.      EVRENSEL:       DTP members in Gaziantep condemned the censure 
of the Gundem, Guncel and (Kurdish) Azadiya Welat newspapers and 
branded such censuring policies as antidemocratic.  Political 
parties and some organizations in Adana and Sirnak's Silopi 
district protested the oppression extered on Kurdish media. 
 
¶6.      ZAMAN / EVRENSEL / SABAH / RADIKAL:     The court acquitted 
four police officers who were being prosecuted in a heavy 
penalty court in Eskisehir on charges of killing a father and 
his 12-year-old son, namely Ahmet and Ugur Kaymaz, in Mardin's 
Kiziltepe district in November 2004.  The court regarded the 
killing as self-defense by the officers.  The Kaymaz family 
members protested the verdict and said that they would take the 
case to the appellate court. 
 
¶7.      RADIKAL:        PM Erdogan lodged a complaint with the 
prosecutor's office against Gaye Erbatur, Adana deputy from CHP, 
on grounds that Erbatur allegedly sent e-mail messages to 
faculty members of Cukurova University in Adana which described 
Erdogan "as a yokel who is the enemy of secularism and Ataturk." 
 
SECURITY: 
 
¶8.      ZAMAN / SABAH:  A soldier from Third Commando Brigade 
Command died during a military operation that was going on in 
Sirnak's Guclukonak district against the terrorists. 
 
CULTURE / SOCIETY / ENVIRONMENT 
 
¶9.      BOLGE:  The daily reports that street dogs in the 
Cukurova University in Adana are posing a rabies threat.  A 
university staff member was recently bitten by a dog with rabies 
and she was only saved from contracting the disease because the 
dog's fangs did not tear the victim's skin.  The dog reportedly 
died because of the disease.  The authorities in the university 
said the necessary precautions concerning stray dogs will be 
taken. 
 
GREEN