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Viewing cable 03ADANA130, SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY,

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
03ADANA130 2003-05-06 15:02 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED Consulate Adana
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 0130 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PINS PGOV PHUM TU IZ ADANA
SUBJECT:  SOUTHEAST TURKEY PRESS SUMMARY, 
          MAY 6, 2003 
 
 
1.  This is the Southeastern Turkey press summary 
for May 6, 2003.  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, SECURITY, HUMAN RIGHTS 
 
 
2.  Turkiye: Although the US had announced the 
PKK/KADEK as a "terrorist organization," the US 
gave permission to the PKK/KADEK to open an 
office in Mosul. It is believed that the US has 
been disregarding Turkey's warnings about the PKK 
because, after the collapse of Saddam's regime, 
the US turned a blind eye to the PKK's seizure of 
some of Iraq's weapons in northern Iraq. The PKK 
has expedited its reorganization in northern Iraq 
and has opened many offices throughout the 
country, including Mosul. It is further claimed 
that the US is trying to take its revenge from 
Turkey because of the TGNA's failure to endorse 
the motion that would have allowed the deployment 
of US troops in Turkey. It is also reported that 
the PKK has been making serious preparations to 
infiltrate into Turkey again. 
 
 
3.  Evrensel: In order to protest the shortening 
of the time allowed for Abdullah Ocalan to meet 
with his family and lawyers at Imrali prison, all 
KADEK defendants in Turkey will boycott their 
weekly meetings with their families. Making an 
announcement on behalf of all KADEK inmates, 
Nasrullah Kuran, said shortening Abdullah 
Ocalan's meeting with his family and lawyers to 
15 and 45 minutes respectively was inhumane and 
illegal, and such applications are intended to 
undermine the Kurdish-Turkish brotherhood. 
 
 
4.  Sabah: Sabah paper claimed that, according to 
two documents seized from Saddam's Secret 
Intelligence Organization's (SIO) archives in 
Baghdad, the PKK and Osman Ocalan had established 
ties with the SIO. The first letter, written by 
Osman Ocalan, gave information about former Prime 
Minister Ecevit's visit to the US in January 
2002, and suggested persuading the Prime Minister 
about the Northern Front. The second document 
suggested taking advantage of the PKK for 
contacting the DHKP-C (Revolutionist Peoples 
Communist Party-Front) which wanted to attack 
Incirlik AFB in Adana. The documents indicated 
the presence of a liaison between the PKK and 
Iraq's Intelligence Organization. 
 
 
5.  Turkiye: The President of the Executive Board 
of Gaziantep-based Sanko Holding, Abdulkadir 
Konukoglu, gave a one-million USD check to Prime 
Minister Erdogan in order to address the wounds 
of the earthquake in Bingol. The money was raised 
in a campaign in Gaziantep to help the earthquake 
victims. 
 
 
6.  Turkiye/Milli Gazete/Milliyet: The Chief 
Public Prosecutor of Bingol, M. Ali Erbay, said 
an investigation was started against the 
contractors, comptrollers, and project designers 
of the buildings that collapsed in the 
earthquake. Erbay said a warrant of arrest had 
been issued for the contractor of the boarding 
school that collapsed killing 84 students. The 
contractor would face between one to six years of 
imprisonment for failure of his obligations. In a 
recent cabinet meeting, the government decided to 
build 2,566 houses for the earthquake victims by 
the end of the year. The government blamed the 
PKK for the earthquake-victims' demonstrations in 
Bingol. After the quake in Bingol, the boarding 
schools in the region are being inspected. 
Because of cracks in the buildings, 500 students 
in the boarding schools in Batman were sent to 
other schools. 
 
 
7.  Turkiye: The sound-bomb that exploded in 
front of the Finance-Investment building on Inonu 
Street in Mersin at 22:30 last night caused 
material damages. No organization has claimed 
responsibility. According to police officials, an 
investigation is underway. 
 
 
8.  Cumhuriyet: In his address at DEHAP's 
Provincial Convention in Diyarbakir, DEHAP's 
Chair, Mehmet Abbasoglu, claimed that his party 
did not compete with other political parties in 
the November 3 General Elections; rather, DEHAP 
competed with the public prosecutors. Abbasoglu 
stated, "As a political party founded five years 
ago, the government did not give us any financial 
support, and was trying to close us down 
permanently." Abbasoglu added that the Prime 
Minister did not visit the Bingol Municipality 
after the earthquake to express his condolences 
to the people, and, therefore, the Prime Minister 
should apologize to the inhabitants of Bingol. 
Abbasoglu claimed that isolation was being 
imposed on Abdullah Ocalan at Imrali Island, and 
it was a shame that people from Turkey could not 
go to the island. 
 
 
9.  Bolge: Because of the rumors that DYP's Adana 
Provincial Chairman, Yavuz Tekeli, and Seyhan 
District Chairman, Mustafa Tumer, will be 
terminated by the party's headquarters, both 
chairmen will resign from their parties today. It 
is also reported that DYP's chairmen for Yuregir 
and Kozan districts have also been making 
preparations for their resignations. 
 
 
ECONOMIC AND AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENTS 
 
 
10.  Tercuman: The Mardin Cement Plant signed an 
agreement with Syria to export cement to that 
country. According to the first phase of the 
agreement, 250 thousand tons of cement will be 
exported. The director of the plant, Ilker Guner, 
announced that they already had achieved their 
export goals for 2003, and they were now working 
on their export objectives in 2004. He added that 
they would make USD 11 million from the exports 
to Syria. 
 
 
11.  Radikal: After four months of closure, the 
Habur Border Gate between Turkey and Iraq was 
reopened to transit transportation as of 
yesterday. The people in Silopi and Cizre are 
extremely happy with the reopening of the gate 
because the gate is perceived to be the artery of 
the economy in the region. 
HOLTZ