TURKEY: RE-INTEGRATION LAW FOR PKK/KADEK ON HOLD

C O N F I D E N T I A L ANKARA 004682 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/24/2013 TAGS: PREL PGOV TU SUBJECT: TURKEY: RE-INTEGRATION LAW FOR PKK/KADEK ON HOLD FOR NOW REF: ANKARA 4499 (U) Classified by Charges d'Affaires Robert S. Deutsch. Reason: 1.5 (b)(d). ¶1. (U) Ruling AK Party July 23 withdrew from the floor of Parliament a "reintegration" law that would have reduced sentences for PKK/KADEK combatants and members of other terrorist organizations who agree to lay down their arms and provide information to authorities. ¶2. (U) During Parliamentary debate on the bill, opposition CHP M.P.s called for qualified majority voting (i.e., the motion would need a 3/5 majority to pass or 330 votes), because, they argued, the draft amounted to an amnesty. (note: according to Parliament by-laws, all amnesties require qualified majority voting in Parliament. end note) Deputy speaker of Parliament and CHP M.P. Yilmaz Ates, who was chairing the session, agreed to the CHP request. In the event, of the 392 deputies in attendance, 313 voted in favor, while 77 voted against and two abstained. The M.P.s largely voted along party lines; relatively few crossed the aisle. ¶3. (U) The press reports that AK will send the draft back to Parliament committees for review. Justice Minister and government spokesman Cemil Cicek told reporters after the vote that the government is likely to submit the proposal to Parliament again on July 25. ¶4. (C) Reftel noted: 1) the proposed draft's apparent weaknesses as they are seen by human rights and other Kurdish groups; and 2) opposition from CHP, which is against the idea in general. In a July 23 meeting with poloff, Mesut Deger -- a CHP Central Administrative board member and Kurdish M.P. -- offered a more thoughtful critique from his party's perspective. Deger explained that while he is in favor of reintegrating PKK/KADEK members into Turkish society, the current draft would also reduce the sentences, or even set free, members of Turkish Hizbullah and the perpetrators of a 1993 Sivas incident, in which a number leftist activists and Alevis were killed. Deger offered that if the bill is changed to exclude these groups, CHP may change its stance. ¶5. (U) We will continue to monitor closely the legislative process on this issue. DEUTSCH