TURKEY'S EMERGENCY RULE REGION (OHAL): A LEOPARD

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 008447 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/19/2012 TAGS: PGOV PHUM TU SUBJECT: TURKEY'S EMERGENCY RULE REGION (OHAL): A LEOPARD CAN'T CHANGE ITS SPOTS REF: A. 10/10 HANISH/SILVERMAN E-MAILS ¶B. 10/3 HANISH/KAPLAN E-MAILS Classified by Consul Greta C. Holtz for reasons 1.5 (b) & (d). ¶1. This cable was drafted by Consulate Adana. ¶2. (S) SUMMARY: Both government officials and NGO leaders agree that, throughout the Southeast, the de jure shrinking of the area under emergency rule (OHAL) has not measurably changed security conditions or quality of life. GOT and NGO representatives have radically different opinions as to whether this is good or bad. Look for OHAL, under the leadership of Governor Gokhan Aydiner, to continue under a new name. END SUMMARY. -------------- QUOTH THE GOVERNOR: &NOTHING,S CHANGED8 -------------- ¶3. (S) Travelling to Turkey's most southeastern province of Hakkari through a multitude of checkpoints, one has a hard time believing that the past state of emergency has been ended, or even relaxed. In the two-hour drive between the Hakkari-Sirnak provincial border, Poloff was stopped at checkpoints no less than five times (contrasted with three checkpoints in Diyarbakir province, still under OHAL rule, over a similar distance). Upon arrival, Poloff met with three of Hakkari,s six deputy governors. When asked what had changed since OHAL ended, all three immediately said ¬hing.8 Elaborating, deputy governor Adem Aslan asserted, &There were no problems under OHAL, and citizens enjoyed all their freedoms at that time. This has not changed.8 Such dissembling about of security restrictions echoed what Sirnak deputy governor Ugur Bulut had said in a previous meeting. ¶4. (S) In fact, OHAL Governor Aydiner seems to carry much administrative power throughout the Southeast, regardless of the fact that only Diyarbakir and Sirnak provinces remain under OHAL. In a copy of correspondence marked "secret" and dated October 11 which the Diyarbakir Human Rights Association (strictly protect) passed to Poloff, Aydiner ordered the Van Governor (who is not under his jurisdiction), along with 11 other governors, to warn, arrest, and punish any members of KESK (the State employee,s union) who take part in work stoppages or slowdowns. The memo is a clear order to the other governors, referring to the OHAL administration as &Bolge Valiligimiz8 (&Our Region Governorate8). Apparently, the OHAL governor continues to retain considerable informal control over security issues in &adjacent provinces,8 a term used to describe all of the former OHAL domain. -------------- REAPING THE WHIRLWIND -------------- ¶5. (S) One continuing troublesome issue throughout the current and former OHAL area is the village guards. These villagers, deputized and armed by the jandarma, under the auspices of provincial governors, offices, have proved as much a cost as a benefit. The conflict in the Southeast has given way to tribal and land-ownership squabbles, now with one party bearing arms, and often making use of them against their neighbors. In an October 18 meeting, Diyarbakir deputy governor Husaiyn Nail Atay told Poloff village guards could only be removed by attrition (death or migration out of the Southeast). Unfortunately, the guards are totally unwilling to disarm, Atay said as he recalled an old saying that &a Turk will never give up a woman, a horse, or a weapon.8 In any case, OHAL Governor Aydiner recently said that he has no plans to disarm or disband the village guards, which may number up to 90,000. (Turkish Daily News interview, October 31, 2002) -------------- QUOTH THE NGO,S: &NOTHING,S CHANGED8 -------------- ¶6. (S) The Diyarbakir Human Rights Foundation (HRF),which specializes in the treatment and documentation of torture, provided Poloff with a summary of reported cases of torture in Diyarbakir (one of two remaining OHAL provinces) this year. From January to September, 2002, 144 cases were reported (109 men, 25 women, and 10 children). June and July had the largest number of reported cases, with 22 people for each month. HRF officials acknowledge that this represents a slight decrease on reported cases of torture compared to last year. However, they say there has been an increase in less-detectable means of torture (such as use of water, exposure to cold temperatures, or beating with sandbags rather than fists),which may counter-balance the drop in reported cases. ¶7. (S) Also, the HRF argues, no changes have been made in governmental and judicial attitudes toward torture: policemen accused of torture are rarely convicted, while the alleged victims are often brought up on charges of slander or &defaming the state8 for leveling the charge. Poloff previously attended the trial of several young Kurdish women in Istanbul who had been charged with &defaming the state8 for saying police officers who had arrested them in the Southeast had sexually molested them. According to Diyarbakir,s HRF and HRA, there is no appreciable difference in practice between OHAL and non-OHAL districts, though the likelihood of torture may change in a given area due to a more or less humane commander. ¶8. (S) Diyarbakir Human Rights Association (HRA) officials were most concerned with continued threats and violence directed at villagers from both jandarma and village guards. Largely, they said, Kurdish villagers were being threatened both within and outside the OHAL district not to vote for DEHAP. Also, they alleged security forces continue to intentionally overlook abuses of power by village guards, as in the Bismil-township case (reftel A). OHAL authorities and the Diyarbakir HRA offer two different estimates of village returnee numbers. HRA believes 30,000-35,000 evacuees have returned to their villages. The governor's office says 51,000 people have returned to date. HRA says the discrepancy is due to the fact that OHAL may be counting evacuees who return to the region (but not their own village) as "returnees." (reftel B) -------------- COMMENT: THE MORE THINGS CHANGE... -------------- ¶9. (S) OHAL Governor Aydiner,s brand of emergency rule in the Southeast appears to have taken semi-permanent root. Though the name may change on November 30, 2002 (when the OHAL law expires),some form of &super-governorate8 has been discussed in the Turkish press. Aydiner,s attitude toward the provincial governors in the Southeast, and the persistence of tight security arrangements outside OHAL, signal that a quasi-police state will continue in the region for some time. END COMMENT. PEARSON