GOT ENGAGED IN INTERNAL DEBATE OVER IDP CONFERENCE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 ANKARA 005927 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/SE E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/19/2008 TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM TU OSCE SUBJECT: GOT ENGAGED IN INTERNAL DEBATE OVER IDP CONFERENCE REF: A. ANKARA 5566 ¶B. ANKARA 5745 Classified by DCM Robert Deutsch; reasons 1.5 b and d. ¶1. (C) Summary: Some MFA officials support a UN recommendation to hold an international conference on return programs for those displaced from the southeast during the PKK conflict; however, the Interior Ministry opposes. UNHCR believes the conference should also include the return of refugees from the Makhmour camp in northern Iraq. An international conference could lead to a returns program capable of drawing international funding. End Summary. -------------- UN Rep Proposes Conference -------------- ¶2. (C) Francis Deng, UN Special Representative on Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs),visited Turkey in May 2002 and reported a new, more open attitude among GOT officials on the issue of the IDPs who fled, or were forced, from the southeast during the height of the PKK conflict (the GOT claims 378,000 "migrated" from the region; various NGOs estimate that from 1-3 million left). Deng made a number of recommendations for turning this new attitude into concrete progress, including a suggestion that the GOT convene an IDP conference with international representatives aimed at developing return programs in concert with the international community. To date, Deng's report has not brought about any tangible changes -- the GOT continues with an IDP return program that has been widely criticized as limited and secretive. Potential international donors maintain that they SIPDIS cannot contribute to a return effort that fails to meet international standards. -------------- MFA, EU SecGen Support -------------- ¶3. (C) A number of officials in the MFA and the closely related Secretariat General for EU Affairs, the bureaucratic offices leading the EU reform drive, support the idea of an international IDP conference. They are anxious to show progress on an issue listed among the EU accession criteria (reftels). Asligul Ugdul, Secretariat General political affairs director, told us she and her colleagues will work to persuade high-level MFA officials, just returning from summer leave, to lobby for a conference. She averred that a conference would allow the GOT to present the IDP issue with all its complexities to the outside world. With any luck, international representatives would leave understanding that the problem requires a long-term solution, and Turkey would leave with a transparent returns program capable of drawing international support. Ugdul said this would be far more effective than the GOT's current "secretive" approach. "We always criticize everyone for not understanding us, but it's our own fault," she said. "What are we doing to explain ourselves?" Kaan Esener, head of the MFA Council of Europe Department, said the GOT has long resisted the idea of outside involvement in the southeast, but, he insisted, "there is going to be a change in our approach." -------------- Interior: Turkey Not a "Banana Republic" -------------- ¶4. (U) However, a number of contacts have told us the Interior Ministry is trying to block the effort. Nezih Dogan, Interior Ministry secretary general, confirmed this with his rejection of an international conference: "Turkey is not a banana republic. We don't need other countries telling us how to deal with this." Dogan defended the GOT's current returns program as effective and transparent. He said international grants or zero-interest loans could be helpful, but not if they come with strings attached. Dogan argued that international organizations impose uniform standards, on housing for example, that are not appropriate for Turkey's southeast. The GOT is best qualified to develop programs appropriate for its own people. -------------- UNHCR Wants Makhmour Included -------------- ¶5. (U) It is not clear how this internal GOT debate will play out. Gesche Karrenbrock, UNHCR Turkey Representative, told us UNHCR is still waiting for a response to a letter sent to the GOT in July proposing an international "stakeholders" conference on development and returns for the southeast. UNHCR is eager to work with the GOT and CPA to assist in the voluntary return to Turkey of refugees from the Makhmour camp in northern Iraq. To be successful, a return program for Makhmour would have to be tied into a larger effort that would include IDPs within Turkey, she said. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶6. (C) An international IDP conference would provide the GOT with an excellent opportunity to break the logjam on this chronic human rights issue. The Turks are right to argue that returns and economic development in the southeast are complex, long term problems. But Turkey's international critics are right to accuse the GOT of failing to make serious efforts to assist IDPs who want to return to their homes. European contacts have assured us the EU would provide funding for a transparent return program meeting international standards. If a conference leads to a program with international support, the international community will become Turkey's partner in the solution, rather than an outside critic. The returns issue will then be removed from the list of Turkey's human rights abuses and placed among its areas of progress. However, we doubt this will be settled in favor of international transparency. ¶7. (U) Baghdad minimize considered. EDELMAN