VZCZCXRO1190
RR RUEHDA
DE RUEHDA #0012/01 0421112
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 111112Z FEB 10
FM AMCONSUL ADANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4858
INFO RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 1401
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 1164
RUEHDA/AMCONSUL ADANA 1468

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 ADANA 000012 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR DS/IP/EUR, DS/IP/ITA, INR AND EUR 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ASEC PTER PINR CASC TU
SUBJECT: SE TURKEY SECURITY INCIDENTS: JANUARY 25-31, 2010 
 
¶1.  (U) The following security incidents for the period of 
January 25-31, 2010 were compiled by the security assistant at 
Consulate Adana from RSO sources, to include Turkish security 
contacts, government officials and media. The RSO uses the 
information to determine the security situation and trends of 
violence and crime throughout Turkey. The RSO shares the 
information with the country team and visas viper coordinator. 
 
¶2.  (U) Military operations against the Kurdistan Workers' Party 
(PKK) as reported by the Turkish General Staff (TGS): 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
-------- 
¶A.  Weapons, ammunition, and equipment seized: 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
-------- 
 
Mardin - 01.30.10: Security forces found and destroyed one 
anti-personnel landmine. 
 
Sirnak - 01.29.10: Security forces found and destroyed one IED. 
 
Diyarbakir - 01.28.10: One pressure-sensitive IED made of one 
kilogram of ammonium nitrate. 
 
Diyarbakir - 01.26.10: Two Kalashnikov rifles, 30 rounds of 
ammunition nitrate and three hand grenades. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
¶B.  PKK members captured or surrendered: 
--------------------------------------------- ------------- 
 
01.25.10 through 01.31.10: Security forces captured three PKK 
members. 
 
For January 2010: Security forces captured 22 PKK members. 
 
Gaziantep - 01.29.10: Security forces caught one PKK member. 
 
Sanliurfa - 01.28.10:  TGS relinquished one PKK member to 
Turkish security officials. 
 
 
¶3. (U) Media reports related to PKK and pro-Kurdish 
organizations: 
 
------------------------------------- 
¶A.  Anti-PKK operations: 
------------------------------------- 
 
Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) anti-PKK operations in SE Turkey 
continued in Diyarbakir, Mardin, Sirnak, and Hakkari. 
 
Hakkari - 01.30.10: TAF artillery teams bombed suspected PKK 
positions in N.Iraq. 
 
¶N. Iraq - 01.28.10: TAF artillery teams bombed the Zap region, 
no injuries reported. 
 
01.01.10 through 01.29.10: TAF confiscated or detonated safely 
14 kilograms of TNT, 200 grams of plastic explosive material, 52 
kilograms of ammonium/potassium nitrate and one landmine. 
PKK members carried out one attack by using explosive materials 
in the same period. 
 
 
 
 
 
 --------------- 
¶B.  Arrests: 
---------------- 
 
Sanliurfa - 01.31.10: Two people were sentenced for a cumulative 
20 months in prison on the charge of "making propaganda for the 
PKK." 
 
Siirt - 01.31.10: Security forces arrested six people on the 
charge of "joining in illegal action on behalf of the PKK." 
 
Mardin - 01.31.10: Security forces detained two people in two 
separate anti-terror operations on the charge of "making 
propaganda for the PKK." 
 
Mardin - 01.30.10: Security forces detained a member of the 
pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) on the charge of 
"making propaganda for the PKK." 
 
Sirnak - 01.30.10: Security forces arrested four minors on the 
charge of "joining in illegal actions on behalf of the PKK." 
 
 
ADANA 00000012  002 OF 003 
 
 
Sanliurfa - 01.30.10: Security forces detained an employee of 
the pro-Kurdish Azadiya Welat (The Free County) Newspaper on the 
suspicion of terrorism. 
 
Diyarbakir - 01.31.10: Thirteen people detained in a 2009 
anti-PKK operation went on trial for "assisting and harboring 
the PKK." 
 
Sirnak and Mus - 01.30.10: Security forces detained 11 people in 
anti-terror operations. 
 
Batman - 01.28.10: Security forces arrested one university 
student on the charge of "making propaganda for the terror 
organization PKK." 
 
Hakkari - 01.28.10: Security forces arrested four people on the 
charge of "making propaganda for the PKK." 
 
Adana - 01.28.10: Four members of the KESK (Revolutionary Labor 
Union) are on trial on the charges of "violating restrictions on 
marches and demonstrations." 
 
Adana - 01.28.10: Security forces caught one PKK member who was 
wanted for taking part in the 1994 Suveren Gendarme Station 
attack, the 1994 ambush of troops, attacking a train on the 
Elazig-Tatvan line, murder and kidnapping. 
 
Hakkari - 01.28.10: Security forces detained three people on the 
charge of "making propaganda for the PKK." 
 
Siirt - 01.28.10: Police detained two people in an anti-terror 
operation, bring the two-day total detained to 16.  Detainees 
were charged with "joining in illegal street actions on behalf 
of the PKK." 
 
Bitlis - 01.27.10: Security forces detained 11 people on the 
charge of "chanting illegal slogans in favor of the PKK and 
Ocalan." 
 
Diyarbakir - 01.27.10: Security forces arrested two people for a 
cumulative 21 years in prison on the charges of "membership in 
the PKK," and "violating restrictions on marches and 
demonstrations law." 
 
Siirt - Security forces detained 18 people, including BDP's 
center district Chairman Arif Karatas on the charge of "joining 
in illegal actions on behalf of the PKK." 
 
Batman - 01.27.10: One minor was sentenced to 14 years in prison 
on charges of "membership in the PKK," and "joining in illegal 
actions on behalf of the PKK." 
 
01.27.10: Pro-Kurdish Dicle News (DN) reported almost 1,500 
people were arrested in anti-KCK (Kurdish Democratic 
Confederation/Turkey Council, the urban arm of the PKK) 
operations in 2009. In December 2009 alone, 1,366 people were 
detained and 491 of them were arrested by court order. 
According to the Diyarbakir branch of the Human Rights 
Association, security forces detained 4,475 people in 2009 and 
1,444 of them later were arrested. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
¶C.  Other media stories about the PKK: 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
Hakkari - 01.31.10: The pro-Kurdish Mesopotamian Culture Union 
(MEYA-DER) held a lunch activity in order to support the 
families of PKK members who were killed in clashes. 
 
Batman - 01.28.10: Security forces seized unregistered rifles, 
hand grenades and dynamite in an anti-terror operation against 
four village guards, who had recently been detained in anti-KCK 
operations. 
 
Sanliurfa-Diyarbakir-Sirnak-Batman: 01.28.10: Demonstrators, 
including BDP members, gathered to protest the recent anti-KCK 
operations. 
 
Hakkari - 01.27.10: PKK has established an execution team named 
GAIT (Gever Agent Execution Team) that operates in the 
mountainous terrain of Hakkari Province.  GAIT aims to catch and 
kill PKK members who want to defect from the organization, or 
who have already left. 
 
01.27.10: PM Erdogan signals more cross-border operations 
against the PKK. 
 
01.27.10:  A six-member group from the Council of Europe's 
Committee for the Prevention of Torture European anti-torture 
delegation visited PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan in prison after he 
 
ADANA 00000012  003 OF 003 
 
 
complained about living conditions. 
 
¶4.   (U) Media reports on significant crime or security 
incidents: 
 
01.31.10: Pro-PKK Firat News reported that drug and human 
trafficking in the Turkey-Iraq border area is under control of 
the GoT and JITEM (clandestine wing of gendarme intelligence 
unit). 
 
01.31.10: According to UNODOC's report, Turkey is the leading 
country in drug trafficking.  Drug traffic in the Europe is 
organized by 93 separate Turkish mafias, which constitute the 
main drug suppliers of the continent.  In 2009, 85 tons of drugs 
transited Turkey to European countries and Turks control 93 
percent of the market. 
 
01.31.10: A Pegasus Airlines plane made an emergency landing in 
Ankara after an unfounded bomb threat was called in during its 
journey from Istanbul to Van. 
 
Van - 01.30.10: Twenty-six people were wounded in a firefight 
when two families clashed for unknown reasons. 
 
Hatay - 01.30.10: Security forces seized an alleged 
assassination pistol (Glock) prior to the Justice Minister's 
visit to Erzin District. 
 
01.29.10: The Council of Europe criticized Turkey for failing to 
disband its village guard system and said compensation awarded 
for damages to victims of terror remains a serious concern. 
 
01.29.10: Since the beginning of 2010, media has increased 
coverage of stories about missing children, prompting police to 
state there is no evidence to support widely held beliefs that 
"organ" mafias are kidnapping children.  Police say 1,462 of the 
missing children are 13-18 years old and 195 of them are age 12 
and under; 562 are boys and 1,062 are girls. 
 
Adana - 01.28.10: Fake bombs threats for two Adana-Izmir flights 
caused delays. 
 
Mardin - 01.28.10: Unidentified people left a television set in 
front of BDP's door in Kiziltepe District with a bomb threat 
note. 
 
01.28.10: An investigation launched into the death of a senior 
gendarmerie sergeant initially thought to have been killed in a 
clash with the PKK has shown that he was shot by one of the 
region's village guards. 
 
Diyarbakir - 01.27.10: Security forces detained 30 people in an 
anti-organized-crime operation. 
 
01.27.10: A number of civil society groups in Mardin organized a 
protest against the Sledgehammer Security Operation Plan, an 
alleged coup plan devised by the military in 2003. 
 
¶5. (U) Illegal immigrant arrests: 
 
01.26.10 through 01.30.10:  Security forces captured and 
deported 95 illegal immigrants from Edirne, 
Hakkari, Hatay, Mersin and the borders of Iran, Syria and 
Greece. 
 
¶6.  (U) Counter-narcotic operations: 
 
01.01.10 through 01.29.10: TAF forces confiscated 9 kilograms of 
poppy gum, 858 kilograms of heroin, 1054 kilograms of hashish 
and 66,000 units of drug pills. 
 
Gaziantep - 01.28.10: Security forces stopped a vehicle 
travelling from Gaziantep to Antalya, detaining three people. 29 
kilograms of hashish were seized. 
 
Van - 01.27.10: Security forces confiscated 21 kilograms of 
hashish and detained one person. 
 
¶7. (U) Attack on Consulate Adana 
Assailants on a motorbike opened fire at the Consulate with an 
AK-47 rifle at a distance of approximately 65 meters from the 
main gate in NW direction.  Gunmen fired 28 bullets, 13 of which 
hit the Consulate building and west police booth.  No one was 
hurt in the incident.  TNP detained six men believed to be 
involved in the attack, released all of them, re-detained three 
of them, and formanlly charged those three.  The TNP 
investigation continues. 
DARNELL