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Viewing cable 04ANKARA3048, TIP: TURKISH MEDIA ATTENTION, MAY 2004

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
04ANKARA3048 2004-06-02 15:36 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED Embassy Ankara
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 ANKARA 003048 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR G/TIP, G, INL, DRL, EUR/PGI, EUR/SE 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL KCRM PHUM KWMN SMIG KFRD PREF TU TIP IN TURKEY
SUBJECT: TIP: TURKISH MEDIA ATTENTION, MAY 2004 
 
 
1. (U) In response to G/TIP inquiries about GOT anti-TIP 
public information, post provides as examples the following 
TIP press reports published in national and international 
news media.  Text of the articles (originally published in 
Turkish unless otherwise noted) is provided through 
unofficial local FSN translation. 
2. (U) Published Wednesday, June 2, 2004 by the English 
language Christian Science Monitor: 
     TITLE: 'Radical' shift in Turkey's judiciary 
     In a bid to join the EU, Turkish judges and 
     prosecutors are being trained in the fundamentals of 
     human rights law.  By Yigal Schleifer, Christian 
     Science Monitor 
     BEGIN TEXT: ISTANBUL, TURKEY - When a pro-Kurdish 
     politician accused of supporting a terrorist 
     organization was acquitted recently, the verdict made 
     front-page news here. "Radical," was how the daily 
     Milliyet described the case. 
 
 
     The nation's State Security Courts (DGMs), tribunals 
     that handle terrorism and political cases, cited 
     European human rights law as the basis of the decision. 
     In doing so, they marked a fundamental shift in the way 
     Turkey's legal system is beginning to operate. 
 
 
     "The DGMs Say Hello to Europe," the newspaper's 
     headline read. But the two courts are not the only 
     parts of the judiciary saying "hello" to Europe. Over 
     the past few months, some 9,200 judges and prosecutors 
     have been trained- in the largest program of its kind 
     in Turkey - in the basic foundations of human rights 
     law. It is a massive effort to help the country adopt a 
     model more in line with European standards. 
 
 
     The program, a project of the Turkish Ministry of 
     Justice and the European Union, is one of numerous 
     reforms undertaken by Turkey as it continues its bid to 
     join the EU. One of the largest obstacles on the road 
     to Brussels, thus far, has been the spotty human rights 
     record of its criminal justice system. 
 
 
     "This [training program] is part of being contemporary. 
     At a certain point you have to respect human rights," 
     says Demet Gural, executive director of the Human 
     Resources Development Foundation. "I wouldn't have 
     imagined 10 years ago that the Ministry of Justice, for 
     example, would be conducting human rights training for 
     its staff." 
 
 
     Reforms have ranged from ending the death penalty to 
     loosening the military's control over civil affairs. 
     Hoping to receive a positive answer from the EU this 
     year about when accession negotiations may begin, 
     Turkey has been passing reform packages at a rapid 
     clip. 
 
 
     So rapid, in fact, that the terrorism trial against 69 
     people accused of helping organize the deadly Istanbul 
     bombings last November was stopped as soon as it began 
     in a state security court Monday. The defense argued 
     that the case was not valid, since such DGMs are soon 
     to be replaced with new tribunals more in line with 
     European norms. 
 
 
     Organizers of the human rights training program say 
     they are trying to bridge an educational gap that some 
     Turkish jurists may have. "In Turkish law schools, in 
     their old program, there were no courses in human 
     rights," says Ebru Dabbagh, the training program's 
     coordinator. "They learned about human rights as a 
     small part of the penal code or through international 
     law, but they did not learn about it in detail." 
 
 
     International standards 
 
 
     Haluk Mahmutogullari, a judge who heads the Ministry of 
     Justice's training division, says that although Turkish 
     judges and prosecutors are not unaware of international 
     human rights standards, the practical application of 
     those standards has sometimes failed. 
     "For the last years Turkey has been punished by the 
     European Court of Human Rights quite often," he says, 
     "which meant that we definitely should do something 
     about it and find what we were doing wrong." 
 
 
     Looking at such basic principles as property rights, 
     freedom of association, and prohibitions against 
     torture, the program brought European legal experts to 
     Turkey to train a core group of 225 judges and 
     prosecutors who are now in charge of instructing their 
     colleagues. 
 
 
     The program is one of several initiated over the past 
     year that have attempted to familiarize Turkish judges, 
     prosecutors, and policemen with international human 
     rights standards. 
 
 
     Many experts say these programs reflect a change in how 
     the Turkish state is starting to view international 
     laws and standards. 
 
 
     "Turkish judicial circles had always kept a sort of 
     nationalistic approach to international human rights 
     law, but there is a change," says Turgut Tarhanli, 
     director of the Human Rights Law Research Center at 
     Istanbul Bilgi University, which has taken some 60 
     judges and prosecutors to legal seminars in Sweden and 
     the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, 
     France. 
 
 
     "They are now starting to look at cases through a human 
     rights lens," he says. "There are still problems, but a 
     real change has started." 
 
 
     Turkey's human rights record, eroded for years by 
     charges of torture, police brutality, and questionable 
     legal proceedings has been shaped by the country's 
     turbulent recent history. 
 
 
     State versus individual 
 
 
     A 1980 military coup led to a new constitution that 
     enshrined state order over individual rights. During 
     the bloody fight in the 80s and 90s against the 
     militants of the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party 
     (PKK), Turkey's courts were often used as a weapon in 
     that battle. 
 
 
     "In criminal law cases or civil law cases, mainly 
     during the era of struggling against the PKK, the 
     national interests of the state were a priority over 
     the rights of the individual," says Mr. Tarhanli. 
 
 
     But Turkey's hopes of joining the EU, as well as 
     pressure from the US and the country's own civil 
     society organizations, have changed the legal 
     landscape. 
 
 
     "At the state level there was no way [Turkey] could go 
     on with the old regulations," says Mrs. Gural, whose 
     organization began training jurists and policemen on 
     international human-trafficking laws this year. 
 
 
     Human rights activists point out that structural 
     problems still remain, with cases of torture and 
     freedom of expression violations still reported in the 
     country. An EU report last year found that parts of the 
     judiciary still do not always act "in an impartial and 
     consistent manner." 
 
 
     Tarhanli says "black holes" still exist in Turkish 
     daily judicial work. Training programs in human rights 
     law are a start, but he says a critical test is for the 
     country's judges and prosecutors to take what they have 
     learned and apply it in the cases that come before 
     them. 
 
 
     "The most important thing is to what extent can judges 
     and prosecutors use these international instruments of 
     law in their daily work?" he says. "To what extent can 
     they use the knowledge they got in this training?" END 
     TEXT. 
 
 
3. (U) Published May 18, 2004 in English and Turkish by 
Anadolu News Agency and circulated in multiple national 
newspapers. 
 
 
     TITLE: TURKEY SIGNS COOPERATION AGREEMENT WITH EUROPOL 
     BEGIN TEXT: ANKARA - Turkish Directorate General of 
     Security and the European Law Enforcement Organization 
     (Europol) signed on Tuesday cooperation agreement. 
     In the signing ceremony held in Turkey's capital 
     Ankara, Gokhan Aydiner, the Director General of 
     Security said that security forces should closely 
     follow technological developments, renew and make 
     national and international cooperation in order to 
     fight against crimes and criminals. 
     Aydiner noted that crime gangs were using advanced 
     technology to achieve their intentions and crimes had 
     gone beyond national limits and had international 
     dimensions. 
     Stating that only one country's fight against 
     terrorism and organized crime was not sufficient 
     today, Aydiner said that international cooperation was 
     obligatory. 
     Aydiner said, "Europol is a law enforcement 
     organization which handles criminal intelligence 
     activities of the European Union (EU). Its aim is to 
     improve the effectiveness and co-operation of the 
     competent authorities in the Member States in 
     preventing and combating serious forms of 
     international organized crime." 
     "Its mission is to assist the law enforcement 
     authorities of Member States in their fight against 
     serious forms of organized crime," Aydiner added. 
     Europol Director Juergen Storbeck stressed that 
     cooperation in countering terrorism was very important 
     for EU and world countries. 
     Storbeck said that terrorism was a global threat. 
     Cooperation was necessary to prevent terrorism and 
     capture criminals, Storbeck noted. 
     Storbeck said that countries should also cooperate 
     against illicit drug trafficking, human and arms 
     trafficking, and forgery of valuable documents and 
     credit cards. 
     They had established a database for especially 
     effective fight against drug trafficking, Storbeck 
     pointed out. 
     Touching on new Europol projects, Storbeck hoped that 
     Turkish Directorate General of Security would be 
     included in new Europol projects covering illegal 
     immigration and human trafficking in the East 
     Mediterranean. 
     Storbeck said that Turkish police was exerting 
     professional efforts in fighting against organized 
     crime especially. 
     Stating that Turkish police efforts constituted an 
     example for bilateral cooperation agreements, Storbeck 
     said that Turkey was a cornerstone in the fight 
     against organized crime and criminals. 
     Storbeck noted that they would have the opportunity to 
     join experiences of Turkish police with Europol's 
     facilities under the cooperation agreement. 
     Noting that Turkey was not an EU member country yet, 
     Storbeck said that however, Europol considered Turkey 
     equal to EU member countries in its projects. END 
     TEXT. 
4. (U) Published in Turkish in the May 10, 2004 edition of 
Yeni Safak, a Turkish newspaper with nation-wide circulation 
page 3: 
 
 
     BEGIN TEXT: Acting on a tip, Turkish National Police 
     security teams from Istanbul's Foreigners Desk 
     conducted an operation in Istanbul's Beykoz district, 
     detaining a jewelry courier named R.P., who allegedly 
     sold three Moldovan women A.T., V.P., and L.P.   In the 
     house, the police found 6 passports belonging to 
     foreign women.  It was said that the courier R.P. 
     married V.P., a Moldovan citizen, but recently divorced 
     her, though they continued living together.  The two 
     brought women from Moldova promising employment for 
     them, then kept their passports and sold them to men 
     including some businessmen and bureaucrats for 1,500 or 
     2000 USD.  The detainees were sent to the Public 
     Prosecutor. END TEXT. 
 
 
5. (U) Published in English by Radio Free Europe/Radio 
Liberty April 22, 2004: 
 
 
     TITLE: Central Asia is becoming a major region of 
     origin for human trafficking. 
 
 
     BEGIN TEXT: Thousands of young women are either 
     abducted or lured away from the country every year and 
     sold into the sex trade. The problem is of particular 
     concern in Tajikistan, which is still struggling to 
     recover from a five-year civil war that has left many 
     people desperate to find economic prospects abroad. 
 
 
     Prague, 22 April 2004 (RFE/RL) -- Madina remembers 
     vividly her ordeal at the hands of a human trafficker. 
     This Tajik single mother was desperate to secure a 
     better life for herself and her two children. 
 
 
     Responding to an offer from a man she didn't know, she 
     left Tajikistan with the hope of a respectable job and 
     a good salary. 
 
 
     "I was working in a local market [in Tajikistan]. One 
     day a man talked to me and asked about my life. I told 
     him that it was too hard, that I had a lot of problems, 
     that I had two children and not enough money to feed 
     them," she says. "I [am] divorced from my husband. Then 
     he said: 'If you want you can come with me abroad. 
     There are a lot of jobs [there] and I can help you to 
     find one.' I believed what he said and I followed him." 
 
 
     Madina says the man promised her she would be able to 
     return home after just two months, and with a huge 
     amount of money. But it soon became clear this was not 
     the case. "We went to Turkey, but he tricked me. He 
     took my documents and sent me to a brothel," she says. 
     "I spent one year in brothels. It was a terrible time 
     for me. I was sick. And when I returned to Tajikistan I 
     had only $200. It was difficult to escape but finally I 
     managed to do so." 
 
 
     Madina is not alone. According to the International 
     Office for Migration, some 646 Tajik women were 
     forcibly trafficked by criminal groups from the country 
     in 2002. Their destination is mainly the Persian Gulf, 
     but some go to South Korea, Turkey, Southeast Asia, and 
     Europe. 
 
 
     Many leave believing they will find better economic 
     prospects abroad. With an average monthly wage in 
     Tajikistan of just $5, many women are desperate to find 
     a way out of poverty. 
 
 
     The actual figure of trafficking victims is difficult 
     to determine. Many victims do not know to whom to turn 
     in crisis situations and are afraid or ashamed of 
     publicizing their cases. 
 
 
     Until recently, Tajik authorities largely ignored the 
     issue. But they now admit the existence of the problem 
     and are trying to prevent it. In the country's new 
     Criminal Code, adopted about 1 1/2 years ago, two 
     articles were added addressing human trafficking for 
     the first time. 
 
 
     The Tajik parliament is now working on legislation to 
     further strengthen the prohibition against human 
     trafficking. Parliamentarian Sherkhon Salimov describes 
     some of the changes: "We made a few changes to Articles 
     339 and 340 of the Criminal Code.  According to these 
     articles, people involved in preparing forged documents 
     and in using those documents will be punished. We also 
     made changes on several Criminal, Administrative, and 
     Civil codes. Human trafficking is described as a crime 
     punishable with prison terms." 
 
 
     Until all these amendments are adopted, human 
     traffickers will remain punishable only under the 
     Criminal Code, which imposes jail terms of some 5-8 
     years for convicted traffickers. 
 
 
     But Tajik Deputy Prosecutor Azizmad Imomov says the 
     laws should be completely reviewed, rather than 
     amended, in order to ensure the country can fight human 
     trafficking efficiently. "Some new articles from the 
     Criminal Code -- which basically dates from the Soviet 
     times -- are not enough to prevent human trafficking, 
     because in the laws, the role of the prosecutors, the 
     court and the police is quite unclear," he said. 
 
 
     Meanwhile, the Tajik government is supporting 
     preventive campaigns designed to inform the public -- 
     especially young women -- about the dangers of human 
     trafficking. In particular, the campaigns urge people 
     to be wary of offers of work abroad. 
 
 
     Nigida Mamadjonova works for the International Office 
     for Migration (IOM) in the Tajik capital Dushanbe. She 
     says because it is difficult to help women who have 
     already fallen victim to traffickers, preventing 
     further such incidents is crucial. "According to 
     unofficial data, more than 300 Tajik woman and girls 
     have been arrested and imprisoned in the United Arab 
     Emirates for prostitution. We are not involved in 
     releasing them. Preventing them from being involved in 
     this traffic is more important. It's our priority." 
 
 
     The IOM has been carrying out countertrafficking 
     information campaigns, spreading the word through 
     television documentaries, talk shows, radio 
     announcements, and the distribution of leaflets. The 
     organization also set up an information center in 
     Dushanbe earlier this year to help migrant laborers be 
     aware of the risks. 
 
 
     (Sojida Djakhfarova of RFE/RL's Tajik Service 
     contributed to this report.) END TEXT. 
 
 
EDELMAN