TURKEY'S OPPOSITION CHP DEVELOPS "NUANCES" ON EU

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 003732

SIPDIS


E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/09/2013
TAGS: PREL PGOV TU
SUBJECT: TURKEY'S OPPOSITION CHP DEVELOPS "NUANCES" ON EU
POLICY IN WAKE OF MAY 28 NSC MEETING


REF: A. ANKARA 3509

B. ANKARA 3618


(U) Classified by Acting Political Counselor Nicholas S.
Kass. Reason: 1.5 (b)(d).



1. (C) Ref A noted main opposition CHP's general support for
the AK government's sixth EU reform package, which could be
brought to Parliament perhaps as early as this week.
However, in light of the May 28 NSC meeting and the
well-publicized opposition to the reform process among
hardliners in the military leadership (ref B),there are
signs that CHP is beginning to shift its stance on AK
EU-related efforts.



2. (C) Several CHP M.P.s -- including Bulent Tanla and
Foreign Affairs Committee member Hasim Oral -- have asserted
to us privately that the party will continue to support the
government's effort "fully and unconditionally."
Nevertheless, other, senior CHP M.P.s -- Deputy Group
Chairman Haluk Koc and Central Administrative Board member
Fuat Cay -- offered to us June 9 a more nuanced version of
the party's approach on the issues.



3. (C) While professing CHP's commitment to the EU, Koc and
Cay listed their objections to the current reform package:


-- Both claimed that allowing foreign observers to monitor
Turkish elections, as currently envisioned in the AK
government's draft, is unacceptable. Turkey already allows
OSCE observers, they argued. "We are not ARMENIA or
Azerbaijan," said Koc. "We aren't a third world democracy,
are we?"


-- Koc noted that CHP does not want state-owned TRT
television to be involved in any way in Kurdish broadcasting
-- another key, and controversial, provision in the AK
government's plan. Koc worried that "if Kurdish is allowed
to run on TRT, then legally State television will have to
give voice to all Turkish minorities," even the Circassians,
(who have long been integrated into the "Turkish" ethnic body
politic).


-- Cay strongly objected to the inclusion of a measure that
would allow the establishment of places of worship in
apartment buildings. "This has nothing to do with the EU.
We already have more mosques -- 80,000 -- than schools --
60,000."


-- While both endorsed AK's efforts to abolish article 8 of
the anti-terror law, Cay volunteered that "other mechanisms
exist, like article 312 of the penal code" (note: under which
PM Erdogan was jailed in 1999. End note) to protect the
interests and equities of the Turkish State.


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COMMENT
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4. (C) June 9 mainstream press reports indicate that AK is
shelving the provision on places of worship. Nevertheless,
this is precisely the kind of issue that routinely raises the
hackles of -- and provides ammunition to -- the "Party of
Ataturk" and the Kemalist secularist elites, whom CHP
represents. The party's subtle shift almost certainly
reflects attempts by Chairman Baykal -- known for aggressive
tactics of limited effectiveness -- to curry favor both with
the voters and military hard-liners. The comments of Cay and
Koc, particularly with respect to Article 8 issues, appear to
reflect such considerations. CHP's tactics could complicate
the reform package's prospects -- particularly if AK bucks
long-held Turkish State shibboleths and submits the package
to Parliament as promised before the NSC's meeting at the end
of June.
PEARSON