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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000071 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PINS PGOV PHUM TU
SUBJECT: SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY FOR MAY 10 AND 11, 2007 
 
 
¶1.      This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary for May 10 
and 11, 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 / EKSPRES:        The local daily Bolge reads as follows 
in big captions on its front page: "Durak has his eyes on 
President's Office."  The article further reads that (Adana 
Mayor) Durak advocated in a speech he made at a meeting of the 
Union of Cukurova Municipalities that, like in the government's 
proposal which said that the president should be elected 
directly by the people in a two-round election, the mayors 
should be elected in two rounds, as well, and the voters should 
be able to directly vote for the candidates, not for candidates 
that a board nominated.  Durak further proposes that the right 
to return to their posts should be secured by the constitution 
for public office holders who are to resign from their offices 
to run in the elections. 
 
¶3.      ZAMAN:  Land Forces Commander Ilker Basbug paid a 
visit to the Sirnak Governor Selahattin Apari.  Basbug told 
Apari that he had inspected some of the military units at the 
province. 
 
¶4.      GUNDEM: DTP's election strategy was unanimously 
decided as to field independent candidates as a result of the 
two-day meeting DTP held in Diyarbakir on May 8 and 9.  The 
other election strategy, namely forming alliances with other 
parties, was opted out.   DTP's candidates will run in a total 
of 40 cities and it aims to win 37 parliamentary seats in the 
July 22 election.  The daily reports that the legal concerns 
over whether former Kurdish deputies Leyla Zana, Hatip Dicle, 
Orhan Dogan and Selim Sadak could run and whether they will be 
nominated as candidates will be discussed in a separate party 
assembly meeting. Two of the topics discussed during the 
meetings were the termination of the PKK's unilateral cease-fire 
on May 18 and the health condition of Abdullah Ocalan.  (This 
summary is from May 10 edition.) 
 
¶5.      EVRENSEL / GUNDEM / HURRIYET:   The dailies claim that, AKP, 
CHP, Motherland Party and DYP, who were in bitter strife during 
the presidential election process, have reportedly smoothly 
agreed to boycott DTP's election strategy to win seats through 
independent candidates.  DTP's Vice-Chairperson Osman Ozcelik, 
who said the recent amendment on the election law aimed to 
prevent Kurdish people's will to be represented in the 
parliament, commented that those efforts would prove vain. 
Ankara deputy from AKP, Ersonmez Yarbay, said that amendments to 
the election law should be made one year ahead of the election 
period, or, if it gets verified, it should be implemented a year 
later; otherwise it would harm the credibility of that law. 
 
¶6.      GUNDEM: The tension between Esat Canan, Hakkari deputy 
from CHP, and CHP party administration is reportedly signaling a 
rift between the two.  Canan said, "It has become more difficult 
for me to carry out politics within CHP ranks."  (This summary 
is from May 10 edition.) 
 
¶7.      GUNDEM: Abdullah Ocalan's attorneys set off for their 
weekly call on Ocalan at Imrali Prison Island.  (This summary is 
from May 10 edition.) 
 
 
¶8.      ZAMAN / EVRENSEL / GUNDEM:      Under a constitutional 
article cited, the Ministry of Interior suspended Cizre District 
Mayor Ayhan Budak from his office because of the two court cases 
he is currently standing trial (see press summary for May 9). 
Attorneys of Budak will appeal the decision at the Council of 
State. 
 
¶9.      GUNDEM: Diyarbakir Sur District Mayor Abdullah 
Demirbas, DTP Vice-Chairperson Bayram Altun, DTP European 
Representative Fayik Yagizay and Brussel Kurdish Institute 
Chairperson Derwis Ferho held a press announcement at the 
European Parliament and talked about pressures exerted on DTP 
officials in Turkey. 
 
¶10.     GUNDEM: Diyarbakir Heavy Penalty Court continued 
hearing the case brought against Batman Mayor Huseyin Kalkan 
(from DTP) on charges of making propaganda of the PKK in his May 
2006 statements published in Los Angeles Times newspaper in the 
U.S. 
 
ADANA 00000071  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶11.     GUNDEM: The Istanbul Prosecutor, following the end of 
the initial investigation process brought against Sirri Sakik, 
Vice-Chairperson of DTP, for his remarks during Newroz 
celebrations in a district of Istanbul, decided that there was 
no indictable offense in Sakik's remarks. 
 
¶12.     GUNDEM: DTP Viransehir District Chairperson in 
Sanliurfa, who was detained on charges that he used an honorific 
title before the name of Abdullah Ocalan during a press 
announcement four days ago, has been arraigned and released. The 
chairperson will stand trial for "praising criminals." 
 
¶13.     GUNDEM: KKK, PKK's political wing, which harshly 
criticized the government's attempts to block Kurds' 
representation in the parliament, announced that they were 
supporting DTP's strategy to field independent candidates. 
 
CRIME AND LAW ENFORCEMENT 
 
¶14.     ZAMAN / BOLGE / EKSPRES:        Teams from Adana Provincial 
Jandarma Command and Pozanti District Jandarma Command, upon 
receiving a tip-off, conducted a search in two tanker trucks 
traveling on a highway.  Teams found 57 tons of smuggled 
fuel-oil (diesel-oil) which was brought from the port of Mersin. 
 
¶15.     ZAMAN / SABAH (GUNEY) / BOLGE:  Police caught 26 
people in a truck parking area in Adana who entered the country 
illegally.  16 of them were Somalis and 10 of them were Iraqis. 
The snakeheads reportedly cheated people out of their money 
(3000 USD), told them that they arrived in Istanbul, and left 
people in a truck parking lot in Adana to flee the scene. 
 
¶16.     SABAH (GUNEY):  Jandarma teams found 350 Indian hemp 
roots planted in flower pots and hidden in sections of a field 
cultivated by a person.  Legal action has been brought against 
the owner of the field. 
 
CULTURE / SOCIETY / ENVIRONMENT 
 
¶17.     SABAH (GUNEY):  The daily reports Mersin's great 
frustration over Council of State suspending the 
500-million-dollar-tourism subsidy that would be allocated to 
the province. 
 
¶18.     GUNDEM: The villagers in a village of Sirnak's Uludere 
district attempted to cross the border into northern Iraq the 
previous day reportedly as a result of the alleged ongoing 
pressure from the military: The security officers prevented them 
from doing so.  Three hundred village guards this time decided 
to lay down their arms and expressed strong commitment not to 
participate in the military operations.  The army officials 
reportedly tried to convince the villagers by promising to 
remove check points at the entrance of the village and agreed 
that the villagers would not have to attend the operations.  The 
villagers this time said that they would not take up arms until 
they feel fully convinced they will not be forced to participate 
in the operations. 
 
¶19.     GUNDEM: Families of the two PKK terrorists, who were 
killed in Hatay's Hassa district on May 5 during a military 
operation (see press summary for May 7 and 8), and some DTP 
members claimed the bodies of the terrorists from the mortuary 
of Adana Forensic authority.  One of the terrorists was buried 
in Sanliurfa and the daily claims that the soldiers prevented 
the family from burying their dead without observing one of the 
Islamic burial procedures.  The other PKK member was buried in 
Tunceli's Mazgirt district.  DTP Tunceli Provincial Chairperson 
and DTP Mazgirt District Chairperson also attended the funeral. 
The security forces are reported as taking intense security 
measures during the funerals. 
 
¶20.     ZAMAN / HURRIYET (CUKUROVA) / EKSPRES / BOLGE:  The 14th 
of Adana's Altin Koza Film Festival will be held between June 4 
and 11.  Mayor Durak said that the festival would gain an 
international status this year.  Durak further announced that 
the theme of this year' festival will draw attention to global 
warming and child abuse. 
 
¶21.     BOLGE / EKSPRES:        Twenty-two sheep of a 300-sheep-herd 
died immediately after drinking chemical waste water leaking 
from broken pipes on the premises of a factory in Adana.  The 
owner of the herd said that he would file a complaint against 
the factory owners. 
GREEN