DESPITE REFORM EFFORTS, HUMAN RIGHTS COMMUNITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 008740

SIPDIS


DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE


E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/29/2007
TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM TU
SUBJECT: DESPITE REFORM EFFORTS, HUMAN RIGHTS COMMUNITY
WARY OF NEW GOT


REF: ANKARA 8586


Classified by Polcouns John Kunstadter; reasons 1.5 b and d.



1. (C) Summary: Turkey's three leading human rights
organizations are wary of the new GOT, despite its nascent
reform efforts (reftel). One of the groups, which is
Islam-oriented, suspects the ruling AK Party will avoid
promoting Islamic rights; the others, leftist and Kurdish
oriented, fear AK will pursue a hidden Islamic agenda at
their expense. A controversial police inspector report may
present the first test of the GOT's commitment to progress on
human rights. End Summary.


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MAZLUM-DER: AK IGNORING ISLAMIC ISSUES
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2. (C) Yilmaz Ensaroglu, chairman of Mazlum-Der, an
Islam-oriented human rights organization, told poloff he is
not convinced that the ruling AK Party, despite its perceived
Islamist roots, will promote religious freedom. He said AK
leaders are making every effort to avoid issues related to
Islam, such as the wearing of headscarves in universities and
government offices. He noted that the new government
includes more ministers formerly from the center-right ANAP
party than from the (now closed) Islamist Fazilet Party.
Even the openly Islamist former PM Erbakan made no progress
on the rights of Muslims -- during his brief tenure large
numbers of students were expelled from universities for
wearing Islamic headcover -- and it is unlikely AK will do
better. The GOT's proposed legislative reform package does
not appear to include many Islam-related issues. AK Party,
he said, appears more focused on staying in power than on
promoting the rights of pious Muslims.



3. (C) When pressed, however, Ensaroglu acknowledged there
are indications the new administration could be more
supportive of human rights reform than its predecessor, even
if reform is not focused on Islamic issues. He is very
pleased that DPM Yalcinbayir was given the human rights
portfolio. He said Yalcinbayir was a strong advocate of
human rights reform during his tenure on the parliamentary
Constitutional Committee, often clashing with ANAP leader
Mesut Yilmaz, who was less supportive of human rights in
Ensaroglu's view. The current 550-member Parliament includes
10-15 deputies sensitive to human rights issues; if the right
people are selected for the key committees, they could make
an impact. He said an "outrageous" report by police
inspectors released November 28 presents the new
administration with its first human rights test. The report
absolves police officers from charges of beating a student
during a November demonstration in Ankara, despite the fact
that the incident was captured by TV cameras, and instead
blames the police official who freed the student. He said
the government's response to this travesty will provide an
indication of its sincerity.


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HRA/HRF: AK HAS HIDDEN ISLAMIC AGENDA
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4. (C) Husnu Ondul, chairman of the leftist, Kurdish oriented
Human Rights Association, and Yavuz Onen, chairman of the
Human Rights Foundation (affiliated with the Association)
view the issue of AK and Islam from the opposite angle. They
suspect AK has a hidden Islamic agenda. Obviously, they
argue, AK is planning Islam-related reforms, but no one knows
what they are. Ondul was the most dismissive of the proposed
reform package, asserting that no administration could
introduce a package without the endorsement of the Deep
State. New legislation might look good on paper, but would
not be faithfully implemented. Onen noted that the reform
package did not appear to address many Kurdish issues, or the
problems of the southeast in general. AK does not have a
good image among the Kurds, having opposed previous reforms
relating to Kurdish language rights.


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COMMENT
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5. (C) Though HRA, HRF, and Mazlum-Der are broad-based,
nationwide organizations, each has a discrete agenda. They
are reluctant to recognize reforms not focused on the issues
most important for their members. They are also
understandably skeptical of AK's ability to implement its
proposals, having been burned by past reform efforts that
failed to live up to expectations.
DEUTSCH