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Viewing cable 09ADANA55, TURKEY: ARREST OF DTP PARTY MEMBERS SPARKS PROTESTS

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
09ADANA55 2009-09-18 14:11 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Consulate Adana
VZCZCXRO9162
RR RUEHDA
DE RUEHDA #0055/01 2611411
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 181411Z SEP 09
FM AMCONSUL ADANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4766
INFO RUEHAK/AMEMBASSY ANKARA 1306
RUEHIT/AMCONSUL ISTANBUL 1080
RUEHDA/AMCONSUL ADANA 1373
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ADANA 000055 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PTER TU
SUBJECT: TURKEY:  ARREST OF DTP PARTY MEMBERS SPARKS PROTESTS 
THROUGHOUT THE SE 
 
1.  (SBU)  SUMMARY.  Turkish police apprehended 19 members of 
the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) during September 
11 anti-terror operations.  The arrests sparked a week of 
protests in Kurdish-populated areas throughout the southeast. 
Kurdish contacts have divergent assessments of what the arrests 
presage for the GOT's Kurdish initiative and what steps the 
Kurds should take next.  The detentions, as well as the recent 
deaths of 11 Turkish soldiers and eight PKK militants in 
anti-terror operations, have damaged hopes in the southeast for 
a lasting solution.  END SUMMARY. 
 
 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
--------------- 
 
"AN ATTACK ON DTP IS AN ATTACK ON PEACE" 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
--------------- 
 
 
 
2.  (SBU)  On September 11, Turkish law enforcement launched 
simultaneous anti-terror operations in Diyarbakir, Sirnak, 
Mardin and Van in what many of our Kurdish contacts perceive as 
a harassment campaign targeting DTP members.  In the early 
morning hours, media report police raided the homes of DTP party 
members, arresting them and seizing computers and documents. 
(Comment:  This is not the first such police operation against 
the DTP:  in April 2009, police detained more than 50 DTP 
members in what Kurdish activists called the ruling Justice and 
Development [AKP] party's revenge for losing major cities to DTP 
during the March local elections. End comment.)  The detentions 
sparked week-long protests throughout the southeast, with 
thousands marching through the streets in Van, Diyarbakir, 
Hakkari and Sanliurfa, and smaller-scale demonstrations in other 
cities.  The illegal protests led to additional arrests of 
Kurdish demonstrators, further fueling tensions. 
 
 
 
3.  (SBU)  DTP contacts expressed surprise and outrage over the 
latest wave of arrests, which caught party officials by surprise 
given earlier momentum on the GOT-led democratization 
initiative.  One former party leader told us Kurdish hopes had 
been dashed and "an attack on the DTP is an attack on peace." 
He warned of growing pessimism, but said DTP would continue its 
"democratic reaction and demands."  Adana DTP Chairman Osman 
Dogan said the detentions dealt a blow to finding a solution to 
the Kurdish issue and blamed "forces within the state" for 
undermining the process and showing insincerity.  Two Kurdish 
attorneys expressed surprise the state would repeat the "wrong" 
of April 2009, and said it was mistake to arrest people involved 
legitimately in politics as it would merely strengthen the hand 
of Kurds resisting the process. 
 
 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
 
INTELLECTUALS:  PKK MUST DISARM 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
 
 
 
4.  (SBU)  Two leading Kurdish intellectuals told us the essence 
of the problem is the struggle between the civilian authority 
(GOT) and the stronger military.  The PKK's armed struggle 
highlights AKP weakness and undermines AKP's efforts.   They 
insisted the PKK must abandon an armed struggle so a legitimate 
civilian solution can be reached, removing the military's 
pretext for continued involvement in the issue.  The DTP, they 
observed, would receive far more domestic and international 
support if it showed itself the sole interlocutor in this 
matter.  One attorney said rather than putting the GOT in a 
difficult position by pointing to PKK as the interlocutor, the 
DTP should use its lawmakers to make its own proposals.  He said 
the military's announcement that it would cut down every last 
PKK terrorist - and the populist GOT's need to concur publicly 
with that sentiment - has shown that a solution, if even 
possible, will be very painful. 
 
 
 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
FROM HOPE TO SKEPTICISM 
 
 
ADANA 00000055  002 OF 002 
 
 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
5.  (SBU)  A prominent attorney in Batman said citizens have 
moved from early hope to skepticism about the GOT's initiative 
after receiving the bodies of 11 Turkish soldiers and eight 
PKKers killed in recent military-PKK clashes in the southeast. 
(Comment:  Government officials are refusing to release the 
bodies of five militants to their families, fueling further 
unrest among Kurds in Hakkari. End comment.)   He distinguished 
between unallied political agnostics, who do not blame the 
government for the recent detentions, and political-minded 
people who see the GOT's handing of the initiative as 
"unskillful."  He also pointed to divisions within the PKK, 
saying there are members who have not adapted to the initiative 
and would sabotage the process. 
 
 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
--------------------------- 
 
DETENTIONS PLANNED TO MOLLIFY THE OPPOSITION? 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
-------------------------- 
 
 
 
6.  (SBU)  A Kurdish freelance journalist living in Diyarbakir 
sees the detentions as AKP's carefully orchestrated attempt to 
mollify vocal opposition parties, which have accused the AKP of 
treason for opening a Kurdish initiative.  He said the 19 
detained DTP members were low-level bureaucrats, and AKP knew 
that this "pinprick" would agitate but not completely upset its 
delicate political chess game.  He observed Minister of Interior 
Atalay's rhetoric had changed right before the detentions. 
Before the detentions, he said, Atalay was insisting the GOT was 
listening to every opinion on the initiative and considering 
legal incentives to encourage PKK members to abandon its armed 
struggle.  After the war of words began with opposition parties 
CHP and MHP, with one ultranationalist politician calling the 
slain soldiers "martyrs of the Kurdish initiative," Atalay said 
amnesty would never be offered to terrorists.  The journalist 
believed the AKP was sincere, but as it has cast itself as the 
"party for all citizens of Turkey," it was walking a political 
tightrope.  He observed the DTP was taking advantage of the 
situation, pushing tension and fueling indignation to its 
advantage.  He said the DTP is a fractured mess, with even 
imprisoned PKK leader Ocalan criticizing a DTP lawmaker for 
mentioning separatism. 
 
 
 
----------------- 
 
COMMENT 
 
----------------- 
 
 
 
7.  (SBU)  While AKP leaders continue to use words of 
brotherhood and unity to maintain momentum on its Kurdish 
initiative, the recent arrests have led many Kurdish citizens to 
question its sincerity.  Despite the PKK's alleged ceasefire, 
terrorist attacks and bloody clashes continue in the southeast. 
Prime Minister Erdogan said the continued violence against the 
military was "sabotage to the democratization plan," and vowed 
that terrorist bullets would not halt the process that was 
supported by 72 million people.  Deputy Prime Minister Bulent 
Arinc urged people not to react emotionally to the murdered 
soldiers, and said the risks taken now would avoid further 
losses in the future.  While the AKP speaks with one voice, the 
Kurdish community is unified by hope at a lasting peace, but 
deeply fractured at how to achieve it. 
DARNELL