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