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Viewing cable 09ADANA82, TURKEY: UNREST CONTINUES IN SOUTHEAST TURKEY FOLLOWING

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
09ADANA82 2009-12-31 11:33 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Consulate Adana
VZCZCXRO8891
RR RUEHDA
DE RUEHDA #0082/01 3651133
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 311133Z DEC 09
FM AMCONSUL ADANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4826
INFO RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 1368
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 1132
RUEHDA/AMCONSUL ADANA 1435
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000082 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PTER PINS PINR PGOV TU
SUBJECT: TURKEY:   UNREST CONTINUES IN SOUTHEAST TURKEY FOLLOWING 
ARRESTS OF KURDISH LEADERS 
 
REF: ADANA 0080 
 
1.  (SBU) SUMMARY.  The Kurdish community in SE Turkey continues 
to manifest its outrage following December 24 arrests of more 
than 60 Kurdish leaders including seven incumbent mayors. 
Significant street protests continue in Hakkari, Sirnak, 
Sanliurfa, Diyarbakir, and other heavily Kurdish-populated areas 
of the southeast.  Banned DTP leaders Ahmet Turk and Aysel 
Tugluk's decision to respond peacefully to their arrest warrants 
and appear before the Ankara Heavy Penalty Court on December 31 
may help ease tensions, according to one contact.  Kurdish 
contacts said the recent arrests heightened feelings of 
humiliation and embitterment, and that marginalization of 
legitimate political actors will lead to increased violence. 
END SUMMARY. 
 
 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
----------------------- 
 
5,000 PROTESTERS CLASH WITH POLICE IN DIYARBAKIR 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
----------------------- 
 
2.  (SBU) Contacts confirm media reports that around 5,000 
protesters gathered in the Baglar area of Diyarbakir to hear 
members of the Free Citizen Association read a press statement 
protesting the recent detentions and arrests of more than 60 
Kurdish leaders.  Diyarbakir MP Ayten Kisanak delivered a speech 
saying the GoT was pursuing a "hostage policy" by imprisoning 
DTP lawmakers and party members and said the Kurds could "no 
longer be deceived."  She said the democratic struggle would 
continue.  Protesters clashed with police, who responded with 
tear gas.  Dramatic images of the Baglar protest aired on 
evening news channels. 
 
 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
SE ATTORNEYS RALLY TO END ETHNIC DISCRIMINATION IN JUSTICE SYSTEM 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
3. (SBU) Contacts confirm 300 lawyers from the Diyarbakir Bar 
Association together with nine regional bar association 
presidents marched on December 30 to the Diyarbakir Court Hall 
where they held a press conference to denounce ethnic 
discrimination in the judiciary system.  Attorney Tahir Elci 
said the group wanted to call attention to the "unreasonable and 
heavy sentences for Kurdish children who throw stones at police 
during protests, continued repression of freedom of speech, and 
recent detentions of prominent Kurdish lawyers punished for 
activities on human rights cases." 
 
 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
-------------------------------- 
 
VIEW FROM HAKKARI:  "SITUATION LIKE A DERAILED TRAIN" 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
-------------------------------- 
 
4. (SBU)  In the city of Hakkari, protests continue to spill 
into the streets, and many retailers have shuttered their 
stores.  Hakkari Bar Association President Necip Korkmaz said 
the situation in Turkey is a "mess," likening it to a derailed 
train.  He blames the state for "playing with the hopes of the 
people," and contrasted AKP's statements about brotherhood and 
democracy playing out before scenes of arrests of prominent 
Kurdish leaders.  Frustrating, too, is the fact that the 
government's democratic initiative remains undisclosed and 
opaque.  Korkmaz urged the GoT to make announcements that would 
"comfort the people" and at a minimum, to announce short-, 
medium-, and long-term policies concerning the Kurdish issue. 
 
 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
--------------------- 
 
NEW RHETORIC, BUT "SAME OLD MISTAKEN POLICIES" 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
--------------------- 
 
ADANA 00000082  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
5. (SBU)  Attorney Esat Canan, former CHP lawmaker representing 
Hakkari, said the continued arrests of people engaged in 
legitimate politics "forces them to be engaged in illegality." 
Despite the GoT's rhetoric about the democratic initiative, he 
said, AKP is pursuing the same old mistaken policies of the past 
25 years:  shutting down parties, arresting lawful Kurdish 
political actors, and trying to eliminate the PKK by military 
means.  He said the recent detentions were a big misstep for 
AKP, and its inability or refusal to provide details on the 
"democratic opening" has undercut its political efficacy.  "The 
government should broaden the field for politics if it really 
wanted to bring down the PKK from the mountains," he said. 
Canan also acknowledged mistakes by DTP officials in insisting 
that jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan be taken as an 
interlocutor in the democracy dialogue and by "indexing" itself 
to the PKK.  In the end, he said it was unfortunate common sense 
did not prevail. 
 
 
 
------------------------------------- 
 
TURK, TUGLUK TESTIFY 
 
------------------------------------- 
 
6. (SBU)  Former DTP politicians Ahmet Turk and Aysel Tugluk, 
who were stripped of their parliamentary immunity when their 
party was banned by a December 11 Constitutional Court decision, 
appeared in an Ankara court on the morning of December 31 to 
answer questions.  Attorney Tahir Elci views their peaceful 
submission to a court order as a positive development that could 
help calm tensions in the region. 
 
 
 
---------------- 
 
COMMENT 
 
---------------- 
 
7. (SBU)  As Elci noted, Turk and Tugluk's behavior stands in 
sharp contrast to Diyarbakir Mayor Osman Baydemir, whose use of 
profanity on national television on December 24 shocked the 
country and resulted in a lawsuit against him (one of some 18 he 
has garnered in 2009).  For Kurds in the southeast, the recent 
arrests of prominent Kurdish leaders have been both startling 
and humiliating.  Emotions are running high with no signs of 
decreasing violence levels.  One journalist contact said the one 
thing that could quell some of the tension is a substantive 
gesture from AKP on the democratic initiative.  It remains to be 
seen whether such a gesture will be forthcoming.   END COMMENT. 
DARNELL