SIXTH EU-RELATED REFORM PACKAGE IN PARLIAMENT,

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 03 ANKARA 003974 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/19/2008 TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM TU SUBJECT: SIXTH EU-RELATED REFORM PACKAGE IN PARLIAMENT, SEVENTH IN THE WORKS REF: A. ANKARA 2909 ¶B. ANKARA 3410 ¶C. ANKARA 3618 Classified by Polcouns John Kunstadter; Reasons 1.5(b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary: With the Turkish Parliament beginning its consideration of the GOT's sixth EU-related reform package in the past two years, the ruling AK Party has moved forward despite an attempt by the military-dominated National Security Council (NSC) to delay the legislation and the outspoken opposition of military leaders to elements of the package. The GOT plans to pass a seventh reform package, aimed at reducing the political influence of the military, and may adopt an "amnesty" for PKK terrorists before Parliament goes into recess. End Summary. -------------- Committee Approves Controversial Reforms -------------- ¶2. (U) The full Parliament June 19 began to review the sixth EU-related reform package following the Justice Committee's unanimous decision to approve it with no significant changes. The Committee left intact controversial measures relating to anti-terror legislation, Kurdish language rights, and international election observers that had been opposed by leading elements of the military (reftels). The lone concession to the military was the removal of an article that would have allowed the establishment of places of worship in apartments (Note: A separate amendment reported reftel (A) removing an obstacle to the construction of free-standing non-Muslim places of worship was left intact. End Note). The package is part of a series of reforms the GOT plans to adopt before the parliamentary recess, which is scheduled to begin July 1 but could be postponed. ¶3. (C) The AK Party moved forward with the package despite an attempt by the military-dominated NSC to delay the process by deciding at its May 28 meeting to continue discussion of the package at its next meeting, June 26 (reftel C). Mehmet Elkatmis, chairman of the parliamentary Human Rights Committee, called this move "a victory not for AK, but for the country," and predicted to us that the full Parliament would quickly pass the package with no significant changes, a view echoed by other contacts. -------------- New Definition of Terrorism -------------- ¶4. (C) All of the measures described reftel A remain in the package. These include the revocation of Article 8 of the Anti-Terror Law, which outlaws written and oral communication "aiming at damaging the indivisible unity of the State." Some GOT officials have reportedly argued that the "vacuum" created by the abolition of Article 8 should be filled by expanding other speech-related laws, such as Article 312 of the Penal Code, or enforcing them more aggressively. In addition to abolishing Article 8, the package also narrows the legal definition of terrorism. Under the new definition, an act must be carried out through the use of "force" or "violence" to be considered terrorism; under current law, acts involving "intimidation" or "threats" could also qualify as terrorism. (Note: Turkey has been widely criticized for charging people with terrorism for controversial speech, often involving comments promoting a Kurdish identity or criticizing the State. End Note). -------------- Private Kurdish Broadcasts -------------- ¶5. (U) The package would also allow private radio and TV outlets to broadcast in Kurdish and other traditional non-Turkish languages. Previous reforms allowing Kurdish language broadcasts were followed by restrictive implementing legislation limiting such broadcasts to the state-owned TRT media company, as well as placing strict time limits. TRT has not produced any such broadcasts, and recently lodged a legal challenge to the regulation directing it to do so. This latest amendment is an attempt to break the logjam by opening up non-Turkish broadcasts to the private sector. -------------- - Seventh Package To Reduce Military's Influence -------------- - ¶6. (C) Meanwhile, the GOT is working on a seventh package, which PM Erdogan has vowed Parliament will pass before going into recess, even if that means extending the session until August. Our contacts say the seventh package is still in draft form and under review in the Justice Ministry, and therefore there is no firm information on the details. However, a number of contacts -- including Elkatmis; Seref Iba, deputy director of the parliamentary Legislative Department; and Murat Yetkin, Radikal newspaper columnist -- confirmed reports that the seventh package will challenge the political influence and independence of the military more directly than any of the previous legal reforms. The legislation may be changed significantly before it is introduced in Parliament, but our contacts said recent press reports on the package, though vague, accurately reflect the draft in its current form. Reported elements of the package include: -- Parliamentary discussion of the Defense Ministry budget will be open to the public. The government will be given more power over the details of the budget. -- Military spending will be included in the general budget. -- The number of military representatives on the NSC will be reduced from five to two (or one, according to one report), and force commanders will not serve on the NSC. -- The provision stating that the NSC Secretary General must be a general will be revoked, opening the position up to civilians and lower-ranking officers. -- The Jandarma -- under joint military and Interior Ministry control -- will transfer some of its law enforcement authority in urban areas to the (civilian controlled) Turkish National Police. -------------- PKK "Amnesty" Planned -------------- ¶7. (C) In addition, Elkatmis said the GOT is considering including an "amnesty" for PKK terrorists in the seventh package. Elkatmis and Yetkin both told us AK leaders are discussing the details of a law that would be narrower than a full amnesty, but broader than past "repentance laws" (Note: These laws were ineffective because they required PKK members to "confess" and apologize for their actions, which very few were willing to do. End Note). Yetkin said the new law will exclude only the top PKK leaders from benefits, and will require other PKK fighters only to lay down their weapons and forswear future violence. Elkatmis said controversial terms like "amnesty" and "repentance" will not be used in the law; its title will be along the lines of "Social Peace Law." -------------- Transparency in Government -------------- ¶8. (C) Elkatmis said the GOT is also developing a Transparency in Government Law that, he claimed, Parliament intends to pass before going into recess. He said the law will grant Turkish citizens greater access to Government information by narrowing the definition of "secret" information. He said the new definition of secrecy will include only information directly related to national security. He said the law will also require Government offices to be more responsive to citizens; for example, under the law, officials will be required to perform quickly routine transactions, such is issuing licenses, or provide a written explanation of any delay. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶9. (C) Though PM Erdogan and FM Gul publicly vowed to protect the sixth package from dilution and pass it before the June 26 NSC meeting, our AK contacts, wary of stiff military resistance, were skeptical. Now the advancement of the sixth package is a victory for Erdogan and his government. AK has thus earned, at least for now, the right to claim it is in control of the human rights reform/EU membership process. As always, however, reforms adopted by Parliament will not be realized unless they are implemented by the bureaucracy, which to date has consistently undermined legislation deemed threatening to the Kemalist State. Reducing the number of military NSC members will not necessarily reduce the military's influence over the body. Eliminating Article 8 of the Anti-Terror Law may, in the short run at least, mean only that prosecutors will rely more on some of the other authoritarian, speech-related laws still on the books. PEARSON